Interview with Rachel Brimble
Interview with Rachel Brimble
Rachel Brimble lives near the beautiful historical city of Bath, England with her husband, two daughters and beloved chocolate Labrador, Tyler. Her latest series is set in Pennington’s, Bath’s finest Edwardian department store (Aria Fiction). When she’s not writing, she likes to walk the English countryside, knit or watch far too much TV.
When you write, do you outline first, or are you a pantser?
I am lucky enough to write full time which I appreciate every single day – I’m the ultimate plotter. I start with character sketches, then a chapter plan and synopsis before diving into the first draft which I write from beginning to end without looking back. The hard part comes with the following drafts!
What type of characters do you like to create?
I am all for female empowerment and love creating strong heroines whose pasts still affect them today. There is nothing better than writing a story where a woman overcomes past hurts and atrocities to live the life of her dreams.
Tell us about your new book or series.
My latest series is set in an Edwardian department store – Pennington’s is a magical place and full of opportunity for every single employee and customers. The series starts in 1911 and sees the characters cope with class changes, women’s suffrage, divorce and murder. All the books can be read as single titles and perfect for readers who like drama, intrigue and romance!
The latest book, Christmas At Pennington’s, releases September 19th and is my favourite Pennington’s book so far.
What motivates you for a perfect writing day?
I’m not sure there is such a thing as a perfect writing day! When you’re under contract, you write, no matter what. In an ideal world, I would start at 8.30am, walk the dog around 10.30am and have some thinking time before diving back in to around 5pm – of course, this day would ideally take place on a sprawling country estate like Downton Abbey…
How/where do you get your plot ideas?
Plot ideas are everywhere! I get a lot of inspiration from historical documentaries where real life people did extraordinary things, TV shows and historical places of interest. I have a computer file with three pages of one-line ideas so have plenty to keep me going. I think looking for story ideas takes practice but once you start to recognize them, there are too many to cope with!
What is the most difficult thing about creating and developing characters?
I don’t find developing characters too hard – my struggle is always stretching a plot idea from an initial nugget to 100,000 words. My tip for any writers struggling with character development is to make their backstory as eventful (and plausible) as possible before you start writing. Through the backstory, the writer discovers their motivation, internal conflict and goal. This is the backbone of any story and will drive the narrative forward.
What is your favorite thing about being an author?
I just love to write! I feel blessed that I get to disappear into a make believe world every day and write their lives as I want them to be. That certainly isn’t the case in the real world, so I relish every minute I’m at the computer.
How many books do you currently have out on the market and what genres do they fall into?
I currently have over twenty novels on the market and they fall into contemporary romance, romantic suspense and historical romance. For the last couple of years, I’ve been concentrating on historical and just signed a new three-book contract for my next Victorian series so it will be awhile before I write any contemporary books again!
Will you be attending any book signings or conventions?
Not this year, but I have a few things in the works for 2020 – watch this space!
Pass on some words of wisdom, please, to aspiring authors.
The best piece of writing advice I ever received was… ‘Give yourself permission to write a crappy first draft.’ I took this to heart and have written this way for years now – once you allow yourself the freedom to just write, you enjoy the process more and your output will quadruple. Anything on the page can be fixed. A blank page… not so much!
Please give us the following contact information:
Personal web page https://rachelbrimble.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/RachelBrimble
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rachelbrimbleauthor/
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