INTERVIEW: Nancy Farmer

With the birth of her first child, Nancy Farmer found herself out of work at the age of 40. Unsure of what to do she felt that she had to write a story and since then hasn't looked back. Now with numerous titles to her name, and with the final part of her Troll's Saga about to be released we wanted the chance to chat with her about writing, her life so far and of course the Scandinavian adventures so far...

Falcata Times: Writing is said to be something that people are afflicted with rather than gifted and that it's something you have to do rather than want. What is your opinion of this statement and how true is it to you?

Nancy Farmer: I love writing, but it is something I am driven to do. If I don’t write I become physically and spiritually ill.


FT: When did you realise that you wanted to be a writer?

NF: I became a writer suddenly when I was over 40. Before that I was a free-lance scientist working for various companies on contract. But when I married and had a child, my scientific career ended. One day, while I was reading Margaret Forster’s The Park, the feeling came over me that this was something I could do. I sat down at the typewriter and two hours later emerged from a trance with a complete short story. From that time on I have been a writer. The Africans (I was living in Zimbabwe) said that I had been possessed by a shave, the wandering spirit of a person who has died without proper burial rites. Such spirits seek out people to impart their skills, and I had obviously been taken over by a story teller


FT: It is often said that if you can write a short story you can write anything. How true do you think this is and what have you written that either proves or disproves this POV?

NF: I think most authors are best at only one kind of writing. Play writers don’t do good novels and novelists don’t do good short stories. I started out doing short stories because I believed that this was how you learned the trade, but my real skill lies in creating a world people can walk around in. Anything less than 300 pages is unsatisfying.


FT: If someone were to enter a bookshop, how would you persuade them to try your novel over someone else's and how would you define it?

NF: I’m no good at selling books in a store. It’s embarrassing to urge people to buy one of my novels, somewhat like getting someone to take a stray kitten off one’s hands.


FT: How would you "sell" your book in 20 words or less?

NF: Please look at the reviews on Amazon and notice how many times the phrase “I couldn’t put the book down” appears.


FT: Who is a must have on your bookshelf and whose latest release will find you on the bookshops doorstep waiting for it to open?

NF: I will always get the latest book by P. D. James, Ruth Rendell, Conn Iggulden and Alexander McCall Smith. I also like to hunt for excellent books that never got noticed or have fallen out of print.


FT: When you sit down and write do you know how the story will end or do you just let the pen take you? ie Do you develop character profiles and outlines for your novels before writing them or do you let your idea's develop as you write?

NF: I know the beginning and the end of a book when I sit down. Nothing else. I usually don’t know what I’m going to write until it appears on the computer screen. I don’t even break the book into chapters until I’m finished.


FT: What do you do to relax and what have you read recently?

NF: At the end of the day my brain is going sixty miles an hour. I do sudoku and math puzzles to slow it down. Recently I’ve read The Mongols by W. B. Bartlett, God’s Middle Finger by Richard Grant, and Maggie by Lena Kennedy (one of the forgotten authors).


FT: What is your guiltiest pleasure that few know about?

NF: I love Barbara Cartland novels, especially the ones she wrote early in her career before she did short romances. They are a perfect picture of early 20th century society and surprisingly amoral. I also like that one of her war efforts in WWII was designing pretty underwear for service women. And that at age ninety she still lounged around in evening gowns covered in emeralds.


FT: Lots of writers tend to have pets. What do you have and what are their key traits (and do they appear in your novel in certain character attributes?)

NF: I love animals, but live in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. However, there is an incredible amount of wildlife around that the landlord doesn’t know about. Raccoons raid his garbage cans, squirrels fill up the rain gutters with nuts, and jays pull strands out of his welcome mats.


FT: Which character within your latest book was the most fun to write and why?

NF: I enjoyed writing about Schlaup, a half-troll who falls in love with the loathsome Mrs. Tanner, and who can sort out her musty smell from a thousand others when she’s hiding in a town. Trolls use both nostrils, giving them depth of scent in the same way we have depth of vision with two eyes. Jack and Thorgil are, of course, the heroes of Islands of the Blessed, and it was nice to develop the careful romance between them.


FT: How similar to your principle protagonist are you?

NF: Jack resembles Harold, my husband, and I am like Thorgil. In a way, the book is our love story.


FT: What hobbies do you have and how do they influence your work?

NF: Both Harold and I like exploring wild places. We never use GPS because half the fun is in getting lost. I often write about trekking through scary places where people or critters are out to get you.


FT: Where do you get your idea's from?

NF: I have no idea where my ideas come from. Probably from the shave that possessed me and taught me story telling.


FT: Do you ever encounter writers block and if so how do you overcome it?

NF: I have never had writer’s block. This fact has annoyed several reviewers and authors. In fact, I love writing and would do it all day if I didn’t have to take baths.


FT: Certain authors are renowned for writing at what many would call uncivilised times. When do you write and how do the others in your household feel about it?

NF: Things are easier now than they used to be. Harold is a writer, too, and so understands what it takes to create. Daniel, our son, never understood and I had to choose between writing and spending time with him. I chose him. The rest of the family has never taken my work seriously and sometimes they ask when I am going to write a Real Novel.


FT: Sometimes pieces of music seem to influence certain scenes within novels, do you have a soundtrack for your tale or is it a case of writing in silence with perhaps the odd musical break in-between scenes?

NF: I am heavily influenced by music. I can work through children screaming, leaf blowers, sirens, you name it, but if music is playing I have to stop and listen. Music puts me into a trance. It appears often in my books as a kind of magic or a glimpse into the divine.


FT: What misconceptions, if any, did you have about the writing and publishing field when you were first getting started?

NF: I started out in Africa where they were short of novelists and all I had to do was show up with a manuscript to get paid. I assumed America was the same. Big mistake. It took years to recover.


FT: If music be the food of love, what do you think writing is and please explain your answer?

NF: Writing is what St. Paul refers to as “the more abundant life”. The act of creation is the highest and most satisfying state of being humankind can experience. That’s why some people write for years without ever getting published. The act itself is the reward.


FT: What can you tell us about the next novel?

NF: I am writing an adult book called Young Fool. It is about two men who are retire at age 65 and discover that through years of mindless work they have lost contact with the living world. And so they get visited by all their dead friends. After that is finished, I will do a sequel to The House of the Scorpion.


FT: What are the last five internet sites that you've visited?

NF: Every morning I check the US geological survey site to see what earthquakes have occurred. Then I check the Times, the BBC and the Telegraph. Usually, I check Australian newspapers as well. Then I look at several US military sites because my son is in the Navy. During the day I look at the Daily Grail for Bigfoot sightings, etc. and the Drudge Report for sensational news. At night I look at Cute Overload with pictures of adorable bunnies and kitties.


FT: Did you ever take any writing classes or specific instructions to learn the craft? If so please let us know which ones.

NF: There were no writing classes in Africa. I trained myself with John Braine’s How to Write a Novel, Stephen King’s Danse Macabe, Joan Aiken’s Writing for Children and a few tips from Raymond Chandler.


FT: How did you get past the initial barriers of criticism and rejection?

NF: At first I sold everything I wrote (remember, it was Africa). Then I got rejected all over the place in the U.S. Yet I always got encouraging rejection slips and sometimes two- or three-paged letters. Still, I always got angry and depressed for several days. Harold talked me through it. I kept going because we were flat broke and needed the money.


FT: In your opinion, what are the best and worst aspects of writing for a living?

NF: The best aspect is that the act of creation is the most fulfilling thing you can do. The worst is that you have to spend time alone and can neglect friends and family.