Sue McFarlane
Repawter: Lisa Greener
How long did it take you to write your first book?
The poems didn’t take that long to write, about over about a year for the first book. The editing took a lot longer, well no it didn’t take a lot longer, it felt like the editing took a long time because once you have written all the poems and you have decided what you want to put in the book you want to get it out there and you want to share it after you've convinced yourself that somebody else might actually be interested in reading it and sharing the words.
You went to a creativity writing group didn’t you? What was it strictly poetry or was it all creative writing?
It was poetry and it was at the national Holocaust Centre and it was poetry about things that we could see in the museum or in the ground of the museum. The facilitator brought along photographs and artefacts that were in the museum. So it was what was stimulated from that. There are a couple of poems based on that experience and those workshops. I joined a writing group led by the facilitator. I continued to attend those, not necessarily regularly but when I can.
What inspired you to write the book?
Well the first book, really it's about celebrating life and appreciation and gratitude. I was in a a group which were doing a gratitude challenge and a lot of the poems sort of were sparked by prompts that we had on a daily or weekly basis by that group and this sparks a little idea. Anything can spark a poem. That's the thing I mean there is a poem. I can’t remember which book, one of the three, that was written around eating an orange.
It can be anywhere. Literally the inspiration for a poem and it's it is literally plucking it and putting it down on the page and otherwise somebody else might get that idea and they might take it somewhere else you don't want it to go.
Do you write anything other than poetry or is it just poetry?
It does tend to be just poetry. I like the succinctness of poetry. Writing a novel hasn't occurred to me as yet, or even short stories hasn't occurred to me. I see a poem as an absolutely short story. In a story you really have to evaporate everything that's superfluous and you end up with a few lines. Maybe even a couple of pages of words that tell the story from the start to the finish. In a poem generally you don’t do the description of characters and things and I think you rely much more on the reader's imagination. I think it revs up the imagination even more somehow. I am a heart led poetry writer rather than head.
Are you writing or have you written another book? I know you've written two others. Is there a fourth one in the pipeline?
Possibly, life has sort of taken over a little bit and I've not had as much time to to write. But when the inspiration does come I do try to sit down and write it, write it down. Sometimes it's hard at 3:00 in the morning to find a pen and paper. I think there will be another book but I'm not putting any time scale on it because I cannot write under pressure.
What is your favourite book of all time?
My favourite book, oh you should have asked me this in advance. I actually like, it’s a bit weird, the original Grimm’s Fairytales because they are not nice stories really. They have real meaning and the other one would one would probably Aesop’s Fables where there is a message. I know it's not always hidden it's. It's sometimes very clear what the message is that the author is trying to get through to you. So I would probably go for those two.
One piece of advice you would give to someone writing their own book
Just get on and write it. Don't think like I did for several months. Nobody would want to read it. It's no good. Just don't do the self imposter syndrome stuff. If the book is coming to you, then write it down and then share it. Don't keep it to yourself. It's a gift from the universe and it is being gifted to you in whatever format to share and whatever experience you're able to put into it upon a personal basis that will just adorn it and embellish it as much as possible.
What is your greatest accomplishment?
I think actually getting book one written, published, in my hand and selling a copy. That was just an unreal feeling and you cannot replicate that because your firsts you can't. You can't replicate your first kiss or your first boyfriend or your first pet. Your first sunrise. You can't replicate with firsts.
What's your favourite food
I cook quite a lot myself. I love Thai food. It sits very well with my dietary requirements and I also really enjoy going out to eat Thai food. I don't think I’ll travel to Thailand. It's not out of the question but I don't think I'll get that far but you never know. It would be nice to have genuine Thai food, but I had some amazing Malaysian food on a trip out there and it has lots of similarities regard to spicing and ingredients. No I go for Thai
What is your favourite type of music?
I have quite an eclectic taste in music but I would, it would have to be a ballad a good ballad, maybe a power ballad and I do love female vocalists so that that will probably and of all time I would go with Karen Carpenter.
Where is your favourite place to be?
I was raised at the seaside and did all my schooling at a seaside town and I now live in Nottinghamshire which is a long way to get to the sea. So I have to say whenever I have the opportunity to put my toes into the sea wherever that might be, especially at a sunrise or sunset, that's my ultimate meditation state.
