I was so thrilled when Penelope Wilcock agreed to help me conduct an interview on this blog! Recently my sister-in-law-once-removed-ish friend, Rebekah, ordered the first three books in the
Hawk & Dove series for her personal library but sent them to my house so I could read them. When I was finished and told her how much I had enjoyed them, Rebekah ordered the next three, which are now sitting upon my shelf waiting for time to be read. You can find the details about the first three books
here if you aren't so fortunate as to know anything about them. I hadn't even heard of the series before Rebekah posted a gripping quote around Easter time on Facebook and I demanded to know if I could borrow the book. At any rate, the
Hawk & Dove series centers around the lives and relationships of a monastery in the medieval period of England. The authenticity of Penelope's voice was part of what made the books so lovely...and when I asked her about it, her answer was just as delightful! Read the following interview and you'll see what I mean. :) (my questions are in
bold, Pen's answers are not, and any side-comments I make are
italicized)
How
are you doing on this lovely May day?
Enjoying
the sunshine here on England’s south coast. Our garden is a haven
of birdsong and roses, herbs and wild flowers.
You live in England and have a garden? Lovely! It's a dream of mine.
Have
you always been a writer, or is this a relatively recent foray?
I
have written stories since childhood, but my first published book
(1990) was The Hawk & the Dove, the short novel that began the
series of that title.
How
did you get the idea for your Hawk
and Dove series, and do
you remember where you were when it came to you?
Yes,
indeed I remember. I have five children, who were all born within
six years. When they were little, their father worked hard to take
care of us all so I could be the home-maker for our family. A
musician, he taught school by day and often worked in the evening
teaching adult education classes, and playing or conducting in
orchestras or dance bands. So I spent much time alone at home with
little children – and though their company delighted me, still in a
way I felt lonely. In a rather solitary childhood, I had always
invented imaginary friends, and it occurred to me that I could do so
again. Once I invented my band of characters and began to tell
myself stories about them, I wondered if they might be worth sharing
– if others would enjoy the stories too. The first three novels
were written while my children slept or played, and the subsequent
Hawk & Dove novels came much later, when I decided to revisit the
series for fun after seeing it run for twenty years without ever
going out of print.
What a neat story! I love it when books grow out of a interesting case and not because someone is originally a writer by profession.
Through
the series I personally grew very attached to Brother Tom, and
Peregrine. Were those men based off of real people you have met?
I
feel as though I have met them, but the reality is they came into
being by themselves with no help at all from real life.
Do
you work better in silence and solitude, or do you prefer company of
some sort, be it music, a pet, etc?
I
work, and live, mostly in silence and solitude.
What
do you drink while writing-- coffee? tea? lemonade? nothing?
Nettle
tea. And sometimes Earl Grey.
What
inspires you?
As
a person, I am inspired by the ocean, woodlands and hills, beautiful
architecture, music, and by light of every kind – starlight,
sunrise, wood fires, candles, moonlight, sunset, and the light that
shines from all living beings. In my life I have been significantly
inspired and influenced by St Francis of Assisi. As a writer, I am
inspired by human interactions that I observe randomly wherever I go.
Initially,
was it hard to sell the idea of a book about a quiet, undramatic
community of monks to agents and/or publishers?
Not
at all. Our lodger at the time worked for a publishing house, and
took my manuscript to the office. He left it on the desk of a
commissioning editor who read it and loved it. There followed twenty
years of happy professional relationship working with the same
editor. Then I married him. After that it got harder because he can
no longer commission books from me straightforwardly, as I am now his
wife. They have to pass various tests-by-committee.
Haha, that's so funny. And what a blessing that you actually had a publishing-house employee living with you...definitely handy. And now an editor as a husband? Very nice. ;)
The
stories in the books are presumably actual accounts passed down from
mother to daughter through hundreds of years till the "present
day" when they reach Melissa. Is Melissa at all based off of
you?
Ah,
no. Remember I said I have five children? I thought they would
enjoy to see their lives in print, so the modern-day frame tale is a
kind of digest of our home life at the time, with some real family
anecdotes. My second daughter’s second name is Melissa.
Makes me wonder about Cecily. I have a five sisters of my own and I had to laugh every time I read a bit about Cecily...it sounded so much like Anna!
I
love the presence of Light all through your books, and the way you
unashamedly present the Gospel, yet I never felt that your style is
preachy or stifling. Do you think it is because the books occur in a
church-setting and the subject is perfectly natural, or did you take
pains to make certain you were not doddering along?
I
like to think it is because Jesus is real, and my experience of Him
is real, and if I write about that honestly my readers will catch a
glimpse of the wonder of His presence in my life.
Well said! This is how I hope to come across in my own writing.
You
portray medieval monastic life quite vividly and
accurately--what were your research methods, and how long did it take
you to grasp the era?
At
different times in my life I have lived and worked with both monks
and nuns, and monastic spirituality has substantially influenced my
own practice of Christian faith. And then I was greatly blessed to
study at the University of York (I read English), where I walked
every day through the ancient streets and worshipped at beautiful
York Minster. During that time I got to know some of the Benedictine
monks at Ampleforth, and I lived in an interdenominational lay
community. My studies included the literature of the Middle Ages –
Chaucer and so on – and I learned about the structures and language
of those times.
Absolutely fascinating! It must have been so neat to read English in such an historic place...I think your story is the most authentic of all "research" methods I've yet to come across. This made me smile.
Who
is your favorite character in the series?
I
change my mind about this. Hard to say. I have a soft spot for
Brother Cormac. I think you haven’t yet read books 4, 5 & 6,
have you? A character is developed in those books whom I have come
to love dearly.
They are on my shelf! Cannot wait to "make friends" with this fellow!
I
won't spoil the series for anyone who hasn't read them, but we know
that a certain beloved character is dispensed with in the third
book--was this a hard decision for you to make?
I
have worked as a care assistant in various places where chronically
and terminally ill people are nursed, and as a hospice chaplain. In
the third Hawk & Dove novel, The Long Fall, I wanted to give a
voice to those hidden lives. In many novels and dramas, it is the
doctors and nurses who are the stars, the people they care for having
merely supporting roles. I wanted to give back centre stage to
people who had been pushed by illness to the margins of their own
lives. The character you refer to offered to be the one who would
make the slow, painful journey.
What
is your number one tip for aspiring writers?
What
most people call “writing” – tapping out words on a keyboard –
is but the end of a long process, the tip of the iceberg. Writing is
holistic; it includes listening, thinking, dreaming, exploring,
imagining. So, when people ask you: “Are you writing at the
moment?” always say, “Yes.” Refuse to feel guilty in the long
empty dream-time of gestating a book, when you feel restless and
uneasy and have nothing down on the page as yet.
Again, well-said. Thanks for acknowledging those "awkward" stages of "in between books"!
And
would you like to give us an entirely random piece of advice,
writing-related or otherwise?
You
can have two. Never walk backwards in a grocery store. Eat ripe
peaches in the bath.
Hahaha! Thank you so much, Penelope, for your time, your words, and those two priceless pieces of advice at the end. They made me laugh aloud. :D Everyone else, if you'd please thank Ms. Wilcock for dropping by and visit her at
Kindred of the Quiet Way, I am certain she'd be pleased to say hello! And don't forget to check out the
Hawk & Dove books...they are going down on my personal favorites list. :)
Everly,
Rachel
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