Welcome to Inside the Mind where we here at The Faerie Review interview authors and creators.
Our guest today is Alicia Thompson, the author behind Something Else

Lily:  Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview Alicia, I’ve enjoyed reading Something Else. What inspired you to write this?

Alicia:  Thanks Lily, I’m so pleased to be invited into The Faerie Review’s space and perhaps meet a few more US readers.

The story came to me through a mix of experiences and visuals (I tend to see my stories unwind cinematically and dictate what I see as best I can). I guess when you get past a certain age, all your experiences in life, whether they be real or fictional (books you’ve read, movies you’ve seen etc) all bubble away in your subconscious and pop through the caldera at random, unexpected places!

I can say though, that there is a lot of me in David (and every character I write, to some extent) and some of my own experiences (fictionalised) have been used in this story. I also have a lot of gay friends, so it seemed natural to me to use an LGBT vehicle for telling this universal love story. I liken it to Tim Winton’s Breath, where everyone thinks it’s ‘just about surfing’ but actually he’s used surfing culture as a vehicle for telling a powerful coming of age story. I’d hope, for that reason, not to simply have my book described as an LGBT book, I’d hope for it to be seen, ultimately, as much more beyond that, and to reach a broader church of reader. In that way, you encourage readers to experience life niches they may otherwise not have.

Lily:  You did an excellent job, especially with the imagery. I felt like I was watching it unfold, and it was always a bit of a shock to return to my living room when I had to (reluctantly) set it down. If you could spend a day with Martin and David, what would you do?

Alicia:  Ha. Interesting concept…not sure I’d want to be a third wheel! I could happily have a glass of wine over dinner with Martin…David…well. We’d probably have some kind of argument before the day ended haha.

Lily:  Hehe it would definitely be an interesting day I think! Were David and/or Martin based on anyone?

Alicia:  As I said before, there’s a lot of David in me…that was a starting point so that I could put myself in his shoes and understand how he would react and feel about things, but he took off and became his own person very early on. He may physically resemble someone I know…but that doesn’t matter, because every reader will picture their own David.

Martin is a total figment of my imagination, except for a few things that come out of his mouth, and his imagined resemblance to someone I would have known if he’d grown up.

Lily:  I think it’s wonderful you used yourself as a starting point for David. Without spoilers, do you have a favorite scene?

Alicia:  Ooh. I’m afraid my favourites probably are spoilers, sorry. Those where the story raced fast with tension and conflict, that just blurted fully formed onto the page because I was so in them. Recalling that energy, furiously dictating from god as it were, you are so present, and ‘in the flow’. As a writer, I dream of conjuring that nirvanic bliss again; it makes me re-read those scenes with the hope that it can be repeated in other stories.

I must admit I that I do have a soft spot for Pamela, and I really like the scenes she features in in the second half of the story. Again, a lot of me in her, but so much her own sassy personage, despite the pain she carries.

Lily:  Pamela was wonderful, and I can see how those scenes would be among your favorites. Now we’d like to talk about you as a writer. What’s your favorite time of day to write?

Alicia:  I usually take a while to get fired up – I suffer back pain and don’t sleep well, so mornings aren’t on the agenda much anymore (although that would be my preference so I’m free to do other stuff for the rest of the day). Sometimes I can get into it in the afternoon, sometimes I procrastinate it away, but night always feels too late, like I’ve missed the boat of the day’s energy. Short answer: any time I can glue my butt to that chair.

Lily:  Hehe totally understandable. I’m not much of a morning person myself. Can you tell us a little about your writing process?

Alicia: I’m a plotter. When I get the germ of a novel idea, I let it percolate for a while, usually while I’m writing the current book there’s always something new knocking at the mental door. I’ve heard you can kill an idea by trying to capture it too soon, and I think there’s some truth to that.

When I feel it’s built up enough steam (the knocking’s getting mighty loud and insistent), I might write about the character or scene I’ve been imagining, or, even better, I will sit down with a blank notebook for a few hours and write Chapter 1 (this is what happens) Chapter 2 (then this), Chapter 3 (then this) until I roll to the end. That’s when I explore and discover other characters who pop in and contribute to the story with their subplots etc, and if it’s a crime story, where the clues or red herrings might be and how we will get to the conclusion of who really did it. It also gives you a summarised picture of the pacing of the story (where are you at the midpoint, is there a crisis at the right point, placement of cliffhangers etc).

Once I have that outline I start at chapter one and write. That’s where the real discovery and problem-solving starts, and you diverge from, or deepen, what you have in the outline. Your characters start to take the lead off you: that’s where the magic starts.

I heard Jane Harper talk about how she wrote The Dry: she said she blurted out about 50k of words and after getting advice from readers, went back and coloured in the setting, and deepened things. This really chimed with me as it’s how I wrote Something Else. I raced it out in less than three months, but I was like a stone skimming across the skin of a pond. It was all pace, plot and dialogue. Not sinking into the water of inner character motivations and reactions and the atmosphere of setting enough. I totally agree with Jane here: in a good crime novel, the setting is one of your key characters.

After that initial burst and getting feedback from a friend (who read every chapter hot off the press every day), I sent Something Else off for a manuscript assessment, and in addressing the queries and suggestions I received, I added 15k more with character motivation, subtext, enhancing other POVs etc. That’s where the texture and depth came from and also provided that rhythm we like as readers where we get that alternating rhythm of fast (dialogue and plot/action) then slow (character introspection, setting descriptions).

Lily:  That sounds like the perfect process to me. What does your ideal writing space look like?

Alicia:    Oh man. Far from what I have now. I’m housesitting and moving around all the time with all my stuff in storage (taking a vow of poverty so I can write!). I have been without my books for over a year now and it’s breaking my heart.

My ideal is a dual monitor set-up in an office with good natural light, preferably with a view of greenery where I can stare into space, where my reference books are all close to hand and my research accessible. My library of 1,500 books will be in another room for when I just feel the need to check some phrase or scene in some book I’ve read…how did Sarah Bailey handle those initial chapters in The Dark Lake again…?

Lily:  I don’t know if I could go a year without my books! The few months while we were getting ready to move almost killed me. Let’s finish up with some fun questions and get inside your mind. What’s your favorite dessert? Do you have a least favorite?

Alicia:  Due to my long-term poor sleeping, I’ve become a sugar addict, so I’m constantly trying for abstinence. But oh dear, yes, the gooier the better. Cheesecake is a long-term favourite, and give me chocolate mousse and cream any time. Ice cream, of course! I also make a mean tiramisu: recipe with variants available on request LOL Least favourite…hmmm. Anything with meringue.

Lily:  I could totally go for some cheesecake…or gooey cheesecake chocolate brownies. What’s your dream vacation?

Alicia:  Being Australian, I understand travelling long distances to get to where you want to be. Many things I want to see are in the opposite hemisphere, so to make it worthwhile financially, you have to make longer trips. Maybe it’s partly because of that I’ve always loved catching trains (so I love a good Paul Theroux!). That sensation of travelling long distances, gazing out at ever-changing scenery, but still able to immerse yourself in a book or your trip-planning. I also love journalising a trip rather than taking photos. As John Steinbeck said: ‘One goes, not so much to see but to tell afterwards.’

I also love seeking out writers’ homes (for example when in Hartford Connecticut I was lucky to find that Mark Twain and Beecher-Stowe were neighbours. And the Dr Seuss museum only a short train ride away). On my next trip I intend staying in Rodmell, south of London, where Virginia Woolf lived…walking around the countryside wondering if I’m following in her foosteps in her many local walks that she did. Also some wandering around Paris after reading Proust and Hilary Mantel’s A Place of Greater Safety…and then there’s London, the setting for innumerable books…I LOVE London and could walk its streets forever, a la Dickens.

I love to research my trips and get in the mood by reading novels set there, and they do end up dictating places I want to visit as well, whether where the author lived, or settings used for books so that you can really feel like you’re there. Truly immersive reading! A great example of this for me was reading The God of Small Things while in Kochi India. Wow. And of course walking up to Top Withens when you’ve just read Wuthering Heights. Double wow.

You’ve caught me on my double-love subject: books and travel, so I’d better stop now before I go on for another hour…or day… LOL

Lily:  Hehe it sounds like you’ve had quite a few adventures! I’ve always wanted to do a cross-country train trip, it’s on my bucket list. Do you have a TV show or movie you could watch over and over and never get tired of it?

Alicia:  I weaned myself off TV when I left home at 17 (how else to make time to read and write??) and I generally do not enjoy sitting on my backside being passively entertained with hundreds of ads thrown in at double-volume telling me I’ll never be enough unless I buy their products <dismounts off soapbox>.

Funnily enough, being in a movie theatre feels like an ‘outing’ so I’m okay with that LOL. I love movies based on true stories and real people (especially writers) and certain ones based on books. The Imitation Game, based on the life of Alan Turing, gets me in every time (the third arm of my passions is film soundtracks and this film has a doozy). And I think I watched Fellowship of the Ring seven times in the cinema when it came out…partly to finally get my head around all the characters names, but also due to the magnificent soundtrack and New Zealand scenery. I was finally able to approach the books after that, as I couldn’t possibly wait another three years to find out what happened?!

Lily:  I will not admit how many times I’ve seen the LOTR trilogy, lol. Let’s just say it’s a lot, and I’ve come close to wearing out DVDs before we switched to Blu-ray. Do you have any pets? (If you don’t, what pets would you have if time/space/money were no problem?)

Alicia:  I grew up with working dogs on a farm. After my first true love died (of old age and injuries) I never bonded with another. Being working dogs they can come and go fairly quickly sometimes…that’s real life on a farm. Flat living in a city makes caring properly for a pet very difficult. I’m with David and Dan: you wouldn’t have a smart dog stuck in a flat, or even a yard, while you’re at work all day. It’s too cruel.

I used to imagine I’d have two black and tan Great Danes (because I’m six feet tall myself): one called Sally and the other Hector, but I think I’m at a stage where I couldn’t really manage them properly and give them the life they’d need, so a more realistic ambition is now two Burmese cats called The Blooms (Leo and Molly).

Lily:  I grew up with dogs, and I do miss having them, but I totally understand not being able to give them the life they need. Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Alicia:  I’m currently trying to hunker down and get my next book (crime/mystery genre, dual timeline, rural Australia) to my manuscript assessor and hopefully to be then finished and find a home with a mainstream publisher before the end of the year. 

And I have a third book in first draft ready to go after that, also crime/mystery, this time with a London and Australian setting. Both have a supernatural element in the plot which I hope might distinguish me a bit from all the other crime being released right now. And then there’s this fourth one I’ve started…more ideas than life left to get them all written!

If you are interested in finding out more about the current work in progress, I will soon be posting little snippets and tasters about it on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Lily:  I look forward to seeing your next books! How can readers discover more about you and your work?

Alicia:  My website www.aliciathompson.com.au contains info about my book, me and author events coming up. You can also click on BLOG in the menu and that will take you to my corporate website www.efolio.com.au where I have info on my past and upcoming events, writing work, creative writing classes and travel writing and photo gallery from my travels.

You can buy Something Else (in hard copy) off my website if you live in Australia, but I also have links to my US publisher www.ninestarpress.com where you can buy the ebook. You can also order an ebook or physical copy from Amazon (US), Book Depository (UK) and Booktopia (Australia). But I really like to encourage people to support bricks and mortar bookstores…your favourite bookshop can order you a copy from Ingram Spark/Lightning Source on request.

On a more practical, up-to-the-minute level, my handles for both Facebook and Instagram is @aliciathompsonauthor

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