The Lonely Life Of Biddy Weir Book Tour – Interview WIth Lesley Allen

Lesley Allen lives in Bangor, County Down, with her teenage daughter. She is a freelance copywriter and the press officer and assistant programme developer for Open House Festival. Whilst crafting words for other people has been her bread and butter for the past two decades, her heart lies with writing fiction. Lesley was named as one of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s 2016 Artist Career Enhancement recipients for literature. She is using the award to complete her second novel.

1. Can you tell us what your book ‘The Lonely Life Of Biddy Weir’ is about?
   It’s called ‘The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir’ and in a nutshell is about the long-term effects of bullying. At the beginning of the book we meet Biddy Weir, a shy young loner who lives a solitary existence with her old-fashioned, emotionally crippled father. Biddy is happy to exist in her own wee world, sketching seagulls and examining bird poo – until she is branded a ‘Bloody Weirdo’ by the golden girl at school. What follows is a heart-breaking tale of bullying and redemption, which spans from the late 1970s to 2000. Biddy’s is a story with universal appeal, which ultimately affirms the value of being different.
2. To the readers of the website, can you tell us about yourself and how you got into writing?
   I’ve been writing in one form or another pretty much my whole life long. As a child I was always happy when I had a book (or a comic) or a notepad and pencil in my hand. If I wasn’t reading, I was writing, and if I wasn’t writing I was reading. I did a degree in Drama and English – more reading, more writing; stumbled into a career in pr and copywriting – more reading, more writing. In my early thirties I decided to ditch the pr and focus on being a freelance copywriter, which meant lots and lots and lots of writing, which was great – but, in my heart what I really wanted to write was fiction. I wanted to ditch the ‘copy’ part of my job title and focus on the writer. The thing was, I just didn’t have the guts to do anything about it. I was knee-high in a big muddy puddle of ‘I could never be a real writer’ gloom. As I approached my 40th birthday I read ‘The Lovely Bones’ by Alice Seabold, and it was like a huge big brick had been thrown into the puddle and soaked me. I knew I couldn’t allow myself to be approaching my 50th birthday without at least trying to get out of the mud. So I finally joined a creative writing group, and the relief I felt by the end of the first hour almost made me weep. Fast forward 13 not-quite-straightforward years and here I am, a writer – finally! And as a lovely touch of symmetry, my book launch will be held in the same building where I took that writing course.
3. What’s your favourite book of all time?
   This question causes me soooo much anxiety! Do I really have to pick just one? It’s like asking which of your children you like the best! (Actually, that would be an easier choice for me, as my daughter is my glorious one and only – but when it comes to books, blimey!) I’ve had more book crushes than men-crushes over the years, from ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott, to ‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath; F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, to Hardy’s ‘The Trumpet Major’; Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’, to David Nicholl’s ‘One Day’ – and a multitude in between. But if you force my hand, I guess I’d have to go with ‘The Lovely Bones’ as it was the book that finally made me join that writing group.
4. If you were to start your own book club, what authors would you ask to join?
   It would have to be my fellow authors from Twenty7 Books: TeamT7 we call ourselves. We’re an eclectic bunch of first-timers who were all thrown into the publishing playground at the same time and have become ridiculously close. Twenty7 Books is an innovative and dynamic new imprint that champions new writing and gives debut authors a voice. We were hugely privileged to be their first group of debuts, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted just how well our voices have blended. You should hear us when we all get together, especially if there’s a glass or several of something involved!
5. What’s your favourite opening line from a book?
   It’s back to ‘The Lovely Bones’! ‘My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie.’ Hooked me and reeled me in! (See what I did there? Salmon … hooked! I’m overdoing this, aren’t I.)
6. What has been the highlight of your career so far?
   There have been two so far. Getting ‘The Call’ from my agent to say that Twenty7 Books had bought my novel was the first. It was a gloomy February evening and suddenly the room was drenched in sunlight. Luckily I just happened to have a bottle of fizz in the fridge! The second was holding the book in my hand for the first time just last week. It was other-worldly. My book baby! The only thing that’s come close to the feeling was holding my actual baby after she was born, almost nineteen years ago.
7. What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
   When you think ‘oh shit, I can’t write that’ – and then you realise that it’s fiction, and you can write whatever the hell you want!

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8. If you were stranded on a desert island, which three books would you bring with you to pass the time?
   See, here we are with the anxiety thing again! All the books I own are literally jumping up and down, yelling at me ‘Take me! Take me!’ So, sorry books, but for my first choice I’m going to pick one that I don’t actually own and have never read, but sometimes (ok, often) pretend I have: ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce. Next, and this is really hard, like really hard, because my home is literally bulging at the seams with brilliant books, I’m going to say ‘Tall Oaks’ by Chris Whitaker because it’s rare that a book can make you laugh, cry, scream, and shout out a four-letter word beginning with f in the space of one sentence – but this one did. (Also he’s on Team T7 and he’s promised to be my blog tour groupie!) And finally, it has to be ‘The Lovely Bones’, doesn’t it? I mean, if I didn’t chose it you’d probably be wondering, ‘um, what about ‘The Lovely Bones’?’
9. When sitting down to write, what is the one item you need beside you?
   The only thing I really need is my computer. But from now on, I think I’ll always keep my first copy of ‘The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir’ beside me when I’m writing. What better inspiration could I have when things aren’t going to plan and the words aren’t coming the way they should?
10. And finally Lesley, do you have any projects or releases on the horizon which you would like to share with the readers of the website.
    I’m currently working on my second novel, ‘The Possibilities of Elizabeth’, and I’ve been very lucky to receive support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to help write it. It’s about a girl, Elizabeth, who is in a coma, the result of a car crash which may or may not have been an attempt at suicide. She can’t remember. But she does know that the choice to live or die is hers, and hers alone. I think dark subject matters seem to be my thing!

Follow Lesley Allen on Twitter Lesley Allen for updates.

You can pre-prder [amazon_link id=”1785770381″ target=”_blank” ]The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir[/amazon_link] and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 3rd November 2016.