Welcome to the final stop on the blog tour for Corinna Turner's "The Siege of Reginald Hill."
If Turner's name sounds familiar, it is because she is the author of the gripping "I Am Margaret" series (
my review here), the heart-wrenching "Someday" (
my review here), the fantastical alternate history "Elfling," and the quirky "Mandy Lamb and the Full Moon." I love her works, even though she writes them faster than I can review them!
For her sixth entry in the world of "I Am Margaret," Corinna once again delves into matters of faith and future, and what it means to truly battle for a soul. I was intrigued by the premise of the book (which I got to preread in beta) and was excited to get a chance to interview Corinna about the unique challenges of writing "Siege," formatting/tweaking for American audiences, and her favorite holiday traditions!
Q: Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you first
conceive of Margo and her world? What was it about that idea, of all the ones
spinning in your head, that captured your literary imagination and demanded a
book? Well, a series of books!
A: I had the core idea for ‘I Am Margaret’ in a dream whilst
on retreat at a convent and the rest of the plot developed very quickly. It was
definitely a ‘has to be written’ idea, and a lot of that was because of the
faith element. I’d been writing books aimed at the mainstream market and was increasingly frustrated at having to leave my
faith out of them (faith doesn’t sell in the mainstream; at least it doesn’t in
the UK). Faith was so integral to the ‘I Am Margaret’ plot that I decided to
just write the book exactly as I would write a mainstream novel—but with the
faith in.
Q: Out of all the secondary characters in the IAM books, how
did you decide that Reginald (of all people!) was the next who needed his story
told? How did you choose Kyle as protagonist?
A: Although Siege is a sequel to the whole series, I also
see it very much as a sequel to ‘Brothers’ specifically. Kyle thinks a lot
about his biggest fears in that novella, and in Siege he suddenly has to face
them, and at a time when he no longer expects them. From that point of view,
despite the long time gap between the chronology of the two books, it’s very
much a continuation of ‘Brothers’. As for Reginald Hill, he’s been the main
‘bad guy’ of the series right from ‘I Am Margaret’. Although several ‘bad guys’
appear at the end of ‘I Am Margaret’, Hill was always (leaving aside Lucas
Everington) the most well-developed and was the one who carried on through the
series, making appearances now and then and threatening Margo and those she
loves in various ways. And he really, really
hates Margo (Full English Breakfast, Mr Hill?). So I didn’t consciously choose
Hill, he was just the one who would do something like that, and the one who
would be hardest for anyone to love.
Q: Any thoughts on what stories you might tell next in the
IAM universe?
A: Next in the IAM universe I intend to publish a short
story collection, but the main item in it is actually a novella called ‘A Saint
in the Family’, which follows up on ‘The Siege of Reginald Hill’. I also have
an idea for a novella or short novel about Luc Verrall, at the time of his
eighteenth birthday, tentatively titled ‘Beyond the Wall’ but I can’t honestly
say when I will be writing that. I really need to finish writing the ‘Yesterday
& Tomorrow’ series!
Q: I find the surgery/torture scenes in the series really
difficult to read. How do you write them? What do you hope your readers will
take away from them?
A: I very deliberately avoid
almost all graphic physical descriptions, and convey what is happening almost
entirely through the reactions of characters or the dialogue. This leaves how
‘much’ the reader ‘sees’ largely up to the reader’s own imagination. But I do get some readers with strong
imaginations who seem to believe that there was a detailed, gory, graphic,
blow-by-blow description, so it’s not a foolproof way of handling an unpleasant
event.
They’re there for the dual purpose
of putting the reader fully in the shoes of the main character and making sure
they identify fully with what he/she faces throughout the book, and to
highlight what many martyrs over the centuries have faced, what they (and maybe
we) could face in the future, and what, indeed, in some form or other, many
Christians are facing right now. I hope they will challenge readers in their
faith, and make them think about what they would really endure for Christ. Is
out faith more than skin deep?
Q: The SEIGE in the book is one of the Soul, and it makes
for some powerful but very heavy reading. Was it tough to write? I felt the arc
was very believable, which is immensely difficult to do with a storyline of
this type, so kudos for that!
A: It was a harder book to write than usual, because I think
I was writing very much from the deepest parts of me, and the book is very
close to my heart as a result. The story really pulled me in and I lived inside
it a lot of the time. However, it wasn’t as hard to write as ‘Three Last
Things’, which I’m hoping to publish in the first part of 2019. That story
ripped me to shreds inside—the Holy Spirit practically took my hands and forced
me to write it. I love the resulting novella, but it was the most difficult two
weeks of writing I’ve done in my life. Siege would be the second most
difficult, and wasn’t anywhere near as bad.
Q: We’ve corresponded now about three novels and one short
story of yours in which I’ve primarily focused on catching what we’ve termed
“Britishisms.” It’s been pretty fun and enlightening to learn more about some
of the cultural differences between our shared-language countries. Is there
anything that has stuck out to you as particularly surprising or humorous? What
has been the most difficult for you in managing clarity for two audiences like
that?
A: The most difficult thing is actually when I pick up an American edition and
see ‘Z’s’ and missing ‘U’s’. Still makes me wince, ha ha! It was a big surprise
that I couldn’t find a completely equivalent word for ‘layby’. I had to pester
my US test readers over that one, and ‘rest area’ or ‘shoulder’ was the closest
we found. Then there were the ‘dry stone walls’ from ‘Mandy Lamb and the Full
Moon’. Turned out they literally don’t exist in the States, and I had to go
with ‘stone fence’. Sometimes when I make a word up translation is difficult,
as well, and the US version ends up with something boring and official that’s
in the dictionary instead.
Q: Speaking of Britishisms, can you tell us what the holiday
season will look like for you over in the UK? What are some of your favorite
Christmas traditions/songs/foods, etc?
A: In my family we like a real Christmas tree, never a fake,
and a big one! We also tend to have goose, which is a more old-fashioned
Christmas dinner. For most people the Christmas dinner of choice tends to be
Turkey. Goose is juicer, though! We also have ‘pigs in blankets’ which are
sausages wrapped around with bacon, and Brussel sprouts and satsumas are also
synonymous with a British Christmas dinner. Perhaps we should re-name them
‘Brexit sprouts’ this year? Christmas crackers and party poppers and Amaretti
Biscuits, which nobody likes, but if you roll the wrapper and set fire to it,
it takes off and flies up into the air. Although, the other Christmas I
confidently rolled and lit one to demonstrate to my brother’s in-laws, who had
somehow reached the age they were without encountering this custom, only to
have it burn down into a miserable puddle of ash on the plate. It turned out
we’d bought a box made for the American market, instead of the Italian ones,
and the wrappers had been changed. Health and safety gone mad, perhaps?
Terrible disappointment, anyway! We actually considered taking them back for a
refund!
An odd surge filled my heart as I looked at him, sitting there in that chair: so old; so evil; so broken; so... alone. A warmth. A caring. A... love. I loved him. Just another poor sinner who need my care...
SAFETY IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF DANGER, BUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
Fr Kyle Verrall is living a quiet life as a parish priest in Africa when he’s snatched from his church one night by armed assailants. He’s in big trouble—his sister’s worst enemy is hell-bent on taking revenge on the famous Margaret Verrall by killing her brother, just as slowly and horribly as he can.
What could possibly save him? The humble young priest is defenceless—or so Reginald Hill believes.
But Kyle has a powerful weapon Hill knows nothing about. And he’s not afraid to use it.
Is Reginald Hill really the hunter?
As for Mama? I'm doing really good. Not perfect--the headaches I've struggled with for years are back, but right now they seem easier to tame than previously. I can't remember the last time I was in the ER with a migraine. Yet despite having about two difficult headaches a month, my post-pregnancy life has been an improvement in life.
There have been hiccups, of course, mainly sleeping, colic and allergen issues, but after some trial and error and seeking expert advice we have ironed those out and it makes a huge difference for baby. I cannot recommend highly enough being aware of the effects of food allergies, trying elimination diets, and learning what acid reflux in babies looks like (and how to manage it). Now we're entering the world of nap schedules and teething and a baby who is starting to get mobile...wheeeeee!
