INTRODUCING
MARIAN L THORPE
Hi Marian!
Hi there!
Where are you at the moment?
Canada or England?
Canada. Been back since the end of March.
How nice to be able to jump around.
It is. An advantage of being retired.
Nice!
OK, this will only take a few minutes.
First question:
You're a birder! Does that tie into your
writing at all?
I've been birding a few times, and the
quiet and calm makes my wheels start turning!
It shows up in my world building, both in
including the birds that are appropriate for
my setting, and b/c all the travelling we've
done for it has taken me to settings either
exactly or close to where I set my books.
When I bird at home, by myself, the solitude
and quiet is wonderful thinking time, yes.
Such a nice way to incorporate on passion
into another.
Your work is often set a long time ago.
Yes, everything except my short stories,
somewhere between the 5th C and 7th C.
The timeline doesn't follow real history, so I
draw on aspect of much of what happened
in n. Europe in that period.
Have you felt a kinship to that time
in actual history?
A sense of connection perhaps more than kinship
When I walk along the Roman road close to my
winter home in England, or look at the Saxon
churches, I know the people who were there could
have been my ancestors. So I feel that thread
of connection.
You mentioned a class that you
once took that seemed ridiculous,
because the teacher didn't seem to
know enough about science in a
literature setting.
It was a required course called Writing for
Scientists, supposedly to teach us undergrad
scientists how to write for scientific papers and
journals. Except she didn't know how scientists
wrote, or how to cite correctly, and since my dad
was a scientist, I did. We had words.
Good grief!
Would you consider teaching a class like that?
Yes, I probably would now. If someone asked!
Fingers crossed.
All right, last one:
Your focaccia bread.
Would you consider sharing the recipe?
*She said YES! See Marian's Famous Focaccia
recipe at the bottom of this page*
recipe at the bottom of this page*
Have a wonderful weekend!
You too. Thanks again!
STANDARD TWEEP TATTLER INTERVIEW
1) Where do you live?
Ontario, Canada, for most of the year; Norfolk, England, for the rest.
2) What is the first thing you remember writing?
A play about an astronaut finding water on the moon. I was...7?8?
3) Why do you write?
Because I have stories to tell that no-one else can, and because my characters will not be quiet about their lives.
4) Have you published any of your work?
Yes; three novels, one short story, several poems.
5) What are you currently writing?
The fourth book in my series.The first three, the Empire’s Legacy trilogy, is to be followed by a second trilogy (Empire’s Reprise) set a generation later.
6) Are you currently querying?
No. I am published by an indie press cooperative, and am happy with that. I prefer to maintain a high degree of creative control.
7) Finish this sentence (three lines or less):
“Tell me IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, the evening I was born?”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It wasn’t. And that would only be an old-wives tale, anyhow. You can’t blame your diagnosis on the weather.”
8) Which activities do you like to participate in, in the Twitter writing community (VSS365, etc.)? VSS365,mostly.Some of the month-long activies like WIPWorldBuilders. I use the WriteLGBTQ hashtag a fair bit, and this month, IndieApril. And random questions!
9) Do you have any formal training/education for writing?
The only formal training was an undergrad course called Writing for Scientists, ridiculously taught by an English major who had no idea how scientists wrote or how to cite correctly in scientific papers.
10) Do the people in your life know that you write?
Absolutely.
11) Tell me about the people in your life. Family? Pets?
Husband of 39 years, Brian Rennie; one cat, Pye.
12) Where do you wish your writing to take you?
I’m pretty comfortable where it has taken me. I have a small but solid readership, slowly expanding. I have a good set of writing friends. I do a lot of volunteer work related to writing. I’m living the life I wanted to have as a teenager.
13) What did you expect when you joined the Twitter writing community? Did it turn out as expected?
I really didn’t know. We were in England for our 3 mo stay, away from my writing groups and friends, and I wanted more people to talk to. It’s been both fun and educational, and very supportive.
14) Where do you write?
My study, and cafes.
15) How much time do you dedicate to writing, weekly?
Specifically on my WIP, between 10 and 15 hours. But I do a lot of other writing-related things, including a monthly column for our community newsletter, my blog, book reviews, plus beta-reading and editing, so it works out to pretty much 40 hours a week.
16) Do you have other talents?
I’m a fair visual artist, as long as the subject is a bird.There are examples on my website. And I make really good focaccia.
17) CHOOSE ONE:
- I do not mind when other writers ask for advice.
Writer of historical fantasy and urban fantasy for mid-teens and up. The Empire's Legacy series explores gender expectations, the conflicts between personal belief and societal norms, and how, within a society where sexuality is fluid, personal definitions of love and loyalty change with growth and experience.
The world of Empire's Legacy was inspired by my interest in the history of Britain in the years when it was a province of the Roman Empire called Britannia, and then in the aftermath of the fall of the Roman Empire. In another life, I would have been a landscape archaeologist, and landscape is an important metaphor in the Empire's Legacy trilogy and in all my writing, fiction and non-fiction.
I live in Canada for most of the year, England for the rest, have two cats, a husband, and when I'm not writing or editing, I'm birding.
Title List:
Empire's Legacy Trilogy (Arboretum Press): non-magical historical fantasy
Empire's Daughter (2015)
Empire's Hostage (2017)
Empire's Exile (2018)
In an Absent Dream (Vocamus Offcuts) (2018) illustrated short story chapbook: urban fantasy
MARIAN'S FAMOUS FOCACCIA
1 ¼ c lukewarm water (300 mL)
1 pkg or 1 Tbsp dried yeast
Add the yeast to the water and let bubble for 10 minutes.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
By ½ c measures, add flour and mix with a fork. 00 flour is best if you can find it, but regular all-purpose flour works too. After 2 c, start adding smaller amounts. When the mixture is just dry enough to make a ball, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 4 minutes, adding small amounts of flour to the mixing surface as needed. The dough should feel silky and pliable under your hands, not stiff. I listen to REM's Losing my Religion as I knead; it's the perfect length and the perfect beat.
After 4 minutes, place the ball in an oiled bowl and let it rise somewhere warm for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, oil an 8 x 14" baking pan well. After thirty minutes, turn the dough onto the oiled baking pan and using your fingers, spread it out until it covers the pan. Then hold your fingers stiffly and poke the top of the dough so it becomes covered with little craters.
Toppings are optional. I like to brush the dough with olive oil, then grind sea salt onto it, and add garlic and herbes de Provence. Or ground rosemary.
Now you have two choices. If you've been organized, you've made this first thing in the morning. Cover the focaccia with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 8 hours or more for a cold rise. If you haven't been organized and dinner is in an hour, leave it in a warm place.
Preheat your oven to 425, (220 C, 200 fan oven, gas mark 6), and place the focaccia on a middle shelf. Bake for 13 minutes, turning once if your oven cooks unevenly. Let it cool on a rack for at least 5 minutes before slicing.
I cut the recipe in half to make pizza dough for a 12" thin crust pizza.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Marian
It's good to meet you, Marian! I enjoyed reading your interview. I had to chuckle at your comments about the unfortunate Writing for Scientists course you took as an undergraduate. I'm writing faculty, and I've made it very clear that teaching the writing process and teaching the conventions of writing outside of the humanities are two very different things. Most English faculty, myself included, aren't equipped to do the latter.
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