TEA AND TALK AT SALLY LUNN’S…

Today at Sally Lunns I would like to welcome a fellow writer  I have known since 2009 when our first books were published.

Welcome Pauline, it’s great to have you here, hope you’re not finding the weather too cold.

Not too bad, I brought a very heavy coat, scarf, boots and thick gloves knowing how chilly it is here!

Many people already know about you, but for those who don’t would you like to give us a little background on yourself?

I’m married and we live down on the lovely island of Lanzarote in the Canary’s with our two little rescue doggies. Before moving to this beautiful island we lived for several years in Holland which was a great place for one of our hobbies – rollerblading.

I know you have three published novels, would you like to tell us what brought you in to writing?

As a child I wrote songs and poems before going onto writing short stories. Later, my work took me into corporate communications and writing was a large part of my day. For years I wrote magazines, press article, web sites and much more. I loved my work, but it was only when we decided to move to the Canary’s that I took up story writing again and in the last four years I have written three novels, Magnolia House, Satchfield Hall and Sometimes It Happens…

All three are very different, did you deliberately set out to do this, or did the ideas for each one just happen?

Yes, the ideas for each one just happened, though the original thought behind Magnolia House was based, very loosely, on a true event. The other two books came from ideas that popped into my head. As the stories played out in my imagination and the characters became more real, the stories took off.

You set up a blog for your fictitious character Peggy Stanton.  Who did you model her on?

Peggy is modelled on several people taken from real life and TV, but the voice I hear in my imagination is the one of Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge) from Keeping Up Appearances. Peggy is not a snob, but she likes to know what is going on. She as a real talent for interviewing characters on her chat show and always puts them at ease, but insists on getting down to the nitty gritty about their lives! She is a feisty woman and I love her! You can find her at http://peggystanton.blogspot.com

I know that you’ve created the writers’ website, Famous Five Plus to showcase fellow authors from around the world but tell us about your new project Strictly Sagas.

Strictly Sagas is a new web site and is designed to be a one stop place for readers who love family sagas. The web site will only showcase sagas, so readers know when they browse the Books page they will find only great family saga reads. To populate the web site, authors who write family sagas are invited to have their novels added to the site. http://strictlysagas.blogspot.com

What are your plans for the future?

To continue writing, it’s always been part of my life and I can’t imagine not being immersed in a new story or surrounded by characters who in their own way tell me their story.

Thank you Pauline for taking time to call in and indulge in Tea and Talk at Sally Lunn’s

Thank you for the invite and the delicious afternoon tea, I hadn’t realised how much I missed the wonderful British tradition of afternoon tea and at Sally Lunn’s it is perfect.

Pauline is the author of three novels – Magnolia House, Satchfield Hall and Sometimes It Happens…

Sometimes It Happens… in 2012 received a B.R.A.G. Medallion award http://www.bragmedallion.com/medallion-honorees/2012/sometimes-it-happens

You can find Pauline on the following websites: www.paulinembarclay.co.uk and http://paulinembarclay.blogspot.com

Catch up with her on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/paulinembarclay

Follow her on Twitter @paulinembarclay