#Interview: Julia Ibbotson, author of the Drumbeats Trilogy #FindingJess @JuliaIbbotson

It’s a real pleasure today to welcome author Julia Ibbotson as my guest on Being Anne. It’s not her first visit: she wrote me a lovely guest post on writing timeslip in August 2017, just after the release of A Shape on the Air (read it again here). Her latest book, Finding Jess, is the final part of the Drumbeats Trilogy, and published on 10th August by Endeavour Media. I’ve now met Julia twice – when I spent my lovely day with the Belmont Belles at Leicester (we’re both rather looking forward to the Christmas party…!), and at last week’s RNA Afternoon Tea at York – and I’m delighted to welcome her back.

Let’s meet Julia and find out more – you’ll find more details about the whole trilogy further down the post…

Julia, welcome to Being Anne – would you like to introduce yourself?

It’s lovely to be here, Anne. I’m now a fulltime writer, having recently retired from the university where I had a very demanding job as senior lecturer and researcher, and I’ve published six books now – unbelievable to think that’s in 6 or 7 years! I live in the heart of the English countryside and love walking, swimming and the gym, which all gives me time to think about the next part of the work in progress! We divide our time between England and Madeira where we have an apartment overlooking the ocean, and where we swim, hike and sail.

I’m sure many readers are already aware of your books – particularly The Old Rectory and A Shape on the Air maybe – but I’d like to talk first about the Drumbeats trilogy. Can you share a short summary of the complete story?

The first of the trilogy, Drumbeats, starts in 1965 and is about Jess who goes off to Ghana, West Africa, on a gap year, to find adventure but also finds the turbulence and danger of civil war, tragedy and romance with Jim, an American Peace Corps medic whose activities are rather mysterious! Walking in the Rain continues Jess’s story when she returns to England, and is a hard-hitting novel about marriage, divorce and living with someone with mental health issues. The last, Finding Jess, is set in 1990 and sees her having to rise above adversity, betrayal and disasters, to find peace at last. The trilogy is ultimately a feel-good story about the rise of the human spirit and the strength of women.

Was it always your plan to write a trilogy?

Yes, it was all basically planned out and plotted as a trilogy – although characters have a tendency to go their own way in an unexpected fashion, which led to a few alterations in the plot! Jim got more mysterious, Simon became a darker character, Polly became more treacherous, and Jess, understandably, got more mired in tragedy! I changed the ending completely as I worked on Jess’s character in more detail and ‘got to know’ her better.

Tell me more about that Ghanaian connection…

I always wanted to write a novel about Ghana ever since I lived and worked there as a teacher and nurse. It’s a fascinating country, but of course it’s changed considerably since I was there. I hope I’ve reflected the feeling of the location, the sights, sounds, smells. I like reading about exotic locations and different historic times, so I hope that’s what my readers get out of the trilogy themselves.

Who might enjoy the trilogy? When you were writing, did you have a reader in your mind? A certain background, or age group maybe? Are they exclusively female?

I didn’t imagine the reader as exclusively female, and I certainly have male readers too, but I think the issues are perhaps more women’s concerns. I think women can identify more readily with Jess, whether they’ve actually experienced those things or not. Relationships tend to be particularly interesting to a female audience, and the trilogy is certainly for 18+ because of some of the issues I deal with. It’s quite dark in places, although hopefully readers will feel happy and a sense of resolution at the end.

Your books certainly aren’t confined to a single genre – as well as the trilogy we’ve seen a children’s novel and a historical timeslip (which I still haven’t read – I am sorry!). But then there was The Old Rectory: Escape to a Country Kitchen. Did its success surprise you?

I started my writing career in a haze of finding my way; I just needed to write, no idea what! It’s been an obsession since I was a child. There was no particular genre I favoured in my own reading or in my writing. I’m very catholic in my tastes. I really love reading crime and psychological thrillers but I decided that I probably couldn’t write those! The Old Rectory: escape to a country kitchen was my first published book and it evolved because I researched our rectory and its former occupants, and I became fascinated by the idea that their lives were still somehow part of the fabric of the house. Yes, I suppose I was surprised about its success. It’s a bit different, a memoir, history, recipe book – it defies genres! I wrote it for myself really but it was picked up by a publisher, which was wonderful, and won awards.

Then I had always wanted to write the Ghana trilogy, Drumbeats; I just had to tell that story. But as I used to be a specialist in children’s literature, I also decided to try my hand at a children’s book: S.C.A.R.S, which is a medieval fantasy time-slip that I’d actually written years before, although I had to rewrite it for current children’s tastes in plotting. That led me to my medieval historical time-slip mystery for adults, A Shape on the Air, which is the direction I am now developing in further books. I think I’ve finally found my genre now!

I’d love to know more about how you write – what’s your routine?

I start my day at the swimming pool and gym, and then I sit at my laptop at my antique desk in the conservatory. I have a study too but I like to look out on my garden, and my eyesight is so bad I need natural daylight! I address emails first and then try to write for a morning and afternoon session (never in the evenings!), Monday to Friday, if possible. But I’m not too intense about it. I try to restrict going on social media so that I don’t get distracted. I research (a lot!) through the summer as I can often do that outside, if it’s reading books, articles and papers, and making notes by hand. I do most of my novel writing in the winter and dive out for country walks when the weather’s OK. I’m not an indoor person and I find being cooped up difficult.

Planning, writing, editing, getting ready for launch, doing the publicity – what’s your favourite part of the whole process? And the most difficult?

Researching is my favourite part; I have to try not to get carried away and do too much. I get very absorbed in whatever historic period and location I’m setting my story in. The writing itself depends on whether I’m on a roll or if I go blank! But mostly it’s lovely. I’m terrible at the publicity stuff where I’m expected to seek out avenues to self-promote but I enjoy interviews!

I’ve just been reading, on your excellent website, about the Archbury Consultancy, your 1:1 editing support service for writers. Tell me more about where the idea came from – and how it’s working out…

Oh, thank you, Anne! Well, I have many years’ experience of editing students’ work and fellow authors’ draft manuscripts and I was asked so many times to help that I decided to set up a supportive editing/mentoring business. I enjoy helping people; it’s rewarding. I undertake both creative writing (I edit novels for fellow authors before they submit to publishers or agents) and for students’ academic work too (dissertations etc). It fits in very well with my writing time. I’ve always got room for more if anyone needs my help! I will always continue to support and mentor through the process if required, via email, skype or phone. It depends what someone wants/needs. Details are on my website so you can always contact me through that to find out more and ask me about what you need.

I know you have a strong Madeira connection – tell me more about that. Are you still planning to set a novel there?

Funnily enough …! Yes, my WIP is set in Madeira and is another medieval magical mystery, this time a multi-period in three time zones: 14th century, 16th century and the present day, all connected by two special objects that seem to have a magical hold on the characters through time. We meet again the same protagonists as in A Shape on the Air, Dr Viv and Rev Rory. I’m very interested in the history of Madeira; it’s a fascinating place. The working title is Azulejo and it starts 15 million years ago with the volcanic eruption which created the island (there IS a special reason for this!).

And what writers do you particularly admire? if someone said “your writing reminds me of…”, who would you like them to mention?

Again, funnily enough …! Recently, I was thrilled to bits with a lovely review in the Historical Novel Society’s review journal which labeled A Shape on the Air as “in the best Barbara Erskine tradition”! I love Barbara’s magical historical time-slips, along with Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley and Nicola Cornick, so I’d love to be regarded as in their company!

It’s been lovely chatting to you, Anne, thank you.

And lovely to welcome you again, Julia – you must let me know when Azulejo is ready for publication and I’ll be sure to read and review (it looks just the kind of book I love). Let’s look again at the books in the Drumbeats Trilogy (click on title or picture for buying link).

Drumbeats

It’s 1965 and 18 year old Jess escapes her stifling English background for a gap year in Ghana, West Africa. But it’s a time of political turbulence across the region. Fighting to keep her young love who waits back in England, she’s thrown into the physical dangers of civil war, tragedy, and the emotional conflict of a disturbing new relationship. And why do the drumbeats haunt her dreams?

This is a rite of passage story which takes the reader hand in hand with Jess on her journey towards growing into the adult world.

 

Walking in the Rain

Jess happily marries the love of her life She wants to feel safe, secure and loved. But gradually it becomes clear that her beloved husband is not the man she thought him to be. She survived civil war and injury in Africa, but can she now survive the biggest challenge of her life?

A captivating story about a woman’s resilience, courage and second chances.

 

Finding Jess

It’s 1990 and single mother, Jess, has struggled to get her life back on track after the betrayal of her beloved husband and of her best friend. On the brink of losing everything, including her family, and still haunted by her past and the Ghanaian drumbeats that pervade her life, she feels that she can no longer trust anyone.

Then she is mysteriously sent a newspaper clipping of a temporary job back in Ghana. Could this be her lifeline? Can Jess turn back time and find herself again? And what, exactly, will she find?

Finding Jess is a passionate study of love and betrayal – and of one woman’s bid to reclaim her self-belief and trust after suffering great misfortune. It is a feel-good story of a woman’s strength and spirit rising above adversity.

About the author

Award-winning author Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and concepts of time travel. She studied English at Keele University, specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in linguistics. She wrote her first novel at 10, but became a school teacher, then university lecturer and researcher. Julia spent a turbulent but exciting time in Ghana, West Africa, teaching and nursing. She has published both academic works and fiction, including a medieval time-slip, a children’s novel , a memoir, and the Drumbeats trilogy (which begins in Ghana in the 1960s).

Apart from insatiable reading, Julia loves world travel, choral singing, swimming, yoga, and walking in the UK and Madeira where she and her husband divide their time. She runs an editing/critiquing service for authors: details on her website. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Society of Authors and the Historical Novel Society.

You can find her at:

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