What Inspired You To Write Room 46?
There were a few influences behind the story of Room 46. The first was visiting an elderly friend in a nursing home and seeing how such places are run. The staff do such an amazing job as do the volunteers who so freely give their time to bring some joy into the life of the residents there. Another was the way that people can get lost in the welfare system. I am certainly not saying that people don't deserve to get welfare, more that they don't always have the right support to realise their own potential and that there can be a positive way forward.
You have used the 'story within the story' again with Room 46? Is this your preferred book format?
No, not really. It just happened to be the way the story came out. The stories within the story are a bit different with Room 46 though as they are seemingly unrelated to begin with. That was the challenge for me - how to weave them together into a novel. I'm fairly sure my next book will follow a more standard novel format as I would like to try that style of story as well.
Are any of the characters based on real people?
No, not entirely. Grace is based loosely on somebody I saw on a news story once, but of course not knowing this person I have added my own interpretation to the character. The character of Marion is a combination of a few people and I think she is the kind of person that most of us have met somewhere in our lives.
Speaking of Marion it is not often that a cleaner is a pivotal character in a novel. Was this a deliberate choice?
What I wanted to do with Marion was to illustrate that sometimes the people we overlook in life are actually much more substantial than we give them credit for. Marion loves her job and sees it as a genuine career, which goes against the grain of what society at large thinks. We can often take people like that for granted without acknowledging what they contribute to society.
There were a few influences behind the story of Room 46. The first was visiting an elderly friend in a nursing home and seeing how such places are run. The staff do such an amazing job as do the volunteers who so freely give their time to bring some joy into the life of the residents there. Another was the way that people can get lost in the welfare system. I am certainly not saying that people don't deserve to get welfare, more that they don't always have the right support to realise their own potential and that there can be a positive way forward.
You have used the 'story within the story' again with Room 46? Is this your preferred book format?
No, not really. It just happened to be the way the story came out. The stories within the story are a bit different with Room 46 though as they are seemingly unrelated to begin with. That was the challenge for me - how to weave them together into a novel. I'm fairly sure my next book will follow a more standard novel format as I would like to try that style of story as well.
Are any of the characters based on real people?
No, not entirely. Grace is based loosely on somebody I saw on a news story once, but of course not knowing this person I have added my own interpretation to the character. The character of Marion is a combination of a few people and I think she is the kind of person that most of us have met somewhere in our lives.
Speaking of Marion it is not often that a cleaner is a pivotal character in a novel. Was this a deliberate choice?
What I wanted to do with Marion was to illustrate that sometimes the people we overlook in life are actually much more substantial than we give them credit for. Marion loves her job and sees it as a genuine career, which goes against the grain of what society at large thinks. We can often take people like that for granted without acknowledging what they contribute to society.
