This week I am delighted to have a slice of cake with S.E. Smith.
Crediting her Nana May for instilling in her a love of history, and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the East End of London at the turn of the 20th Century, Sarah took on board the adage write about what you know and created Symington Byrd. A gentleman detective whose foray into the East End leads him into all kinds of danger.
A great fan of the West Wing, Pokemon Go, and Doctor Who, Sarah’s biggest claim to fame is the day spent with the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, chasing Daleks down The Strand.
What kind of stories do you write?
This is going to sound very bizarre, but I’m the secretary taking dictation from characters shouting the loudest and I embellish them with what I encountered in the books, films and tv programmes I adored whilst growing up. The humour of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. The golden age tales of justice penned by Dorothy L Sayers and Agatha Christie. They stem from my almost obsessional love of Doctor Who, Blakes 7 and everything out of the Lew Grade stable – especially The Avengers and PJ Hammond’s Sapphire and Steel. Intelligent, educated heroines, who can fight their way out of most situations; Debonair, flawed heroes – who take the lead but know they’re part of a team; and villains who can become the most unlikely of allies. They’re also tales whose endings take me by surprise, probably because I’m being dictated to.
Can you describe your writing why?
I write because if I don’t I lose who I am. It’s something I’ve always done and when work takes control, I get cranky and resentful that it’s supplanting something that is so central to my existence.
I suppose being an only child I developed my imagination as a way of giving me friends to play with at weekends. Remember, I’m older than the mobile phone. I didn’t get a car until the second year of University. During my teenage years, we lived out in the rural idyl of North Wales. If I didn’t imagine, I didn’t feel like I lived. One of my earliest published characters has the same name as my imaginary childhood friend: Lucy. I didn’t realise until Dad pointed it out; reminding me he was forever shutting her fingers in the car door. A couple of years ago, I found a book of my writings whilst looking for something else and there on the pages was a policeman – Sir Charles Carter. Near enough the same CC lurking in my current work. A bit more rounded now but recognisable nonetheless.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most
Beddgelert 1867.
It was a lovely green afternoon, and local sheep were taking advantage of the sunshine to eat, drink and be bleaty. In the distance, the mountains – normally so menacing in their stark greyness – seemed benign presences. Turning my back to the bridge, I stared out towards The Royal Goat, trying to catch sight of the folly that is Gelert’s grave. But the sun was in my eyes, and all I could see was the dust motes twinkling their way from heaven to earth.
Tell us about your latest project
2020 was a year of change. Lockdown not only altered how I worked (teaching from home) but coincided with the end of my contract with my previous publisher, so I decided to use the time to take stock. Having a publisher was great, but I wanted to be more involved in all aspects of the process which meant taking what some might feel is a retrograde step and go in house and indie. But the husband was coming up for retirement and he’s a darn good project manager, so why not use him.
I knew I wanted to focus on the crime fiction for a while and was at the point where there were three Byrd’s in the ‘ooh that’s an idea, I wonder if has legs?’ stage. I had a good first draft of a fourth and ready to editor fifth – to complement the two already published. It, therefore, made sense to delve more into this arena; try and master the craft because I was on a roll and seriously, I’m at home in this turn of the twentieth-century world.
Because of the dictated process – if you’ve ever watched the delightful film ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ you’ll get this – I found I knew more about my characters and their world than I did in 2015. I went back to the first two books – A Cowardice of Crows and An Unkindness of Ravens and tweaked them in light of this new knowledge. A couple of sections changed perspective. A couple of things originally only hinted at, were fleshed out and told for the first time. I honed the “I brought you all here together” sections; hopefully tightening them.
My editor put me onto a proofreader. That was an eye-opening part of the publishing process. I learned so much. She also put me onto a publicist.
Which left one thing. The thing you should never judge, but always do…
I headed to the internet, asked some of my usual readers for their opinions. Research and their feedback indicated that every so often – book covers change. Sometimes authors have a bit of a name change.
I decided to do the same. Get rid of the Sarah. Go more crimey with initials.
I approached a designer – famed for her rebranding abilities. She took my ideas, asked loads of questions. Went to work. Came back with six options. Narrowed down to two.
Cover finalised, Steve got his head ‘round working with traditional printers, the publicist, and how to get books into the local indie bookshops, while I got my head around KDP.
By January we were ready to go. A Cowardice of Crows came out on the 1st of Feb. An Unkindness of Ravens the 15th. A Disappointment of Owls hits the shelves on March 2nd.
Owls is a bit of a departure from the usual linear narrative of Byrd’s investigations, taking place as it does in the middle of Ravens. But it was so much fun to write because, while I couldn’t develop Byrd’s complicated ‘will they won’t they?’ love life, I could develop his relationship with said love interest’s uncle. It’s also given me a chance to write about some intriguing and highly illegal working-class practices and bring in a nemesis, or Moriarty like figure – if you will - to complete the ensemble.
This all done means I can focus on A Terrifying of Tailorbirds, also set in the middle of Ravens. This book has more of a supernatural feel to it – based as it is on an ancient Egyptian cult who just happen to have a weapon which Byrd’s new nemesis wants to get his hands on.
Hopefully, if I iron out the missing middle – the discovery of yet another dead archaeologist – Tailorbirds should be on the shelves end of 2021.
What is your favourite cake?
Even as a newlyish diagnosed coeliac, cake’s never been my favourite of things. I despise fruit cake with a passion – even Christmas cake can sit festering and unloved well into the New Year. To be honest, the only decent thing about them is the icing, which I pick off, leaving the alcohol-laced fruity bit festering …and the only reason I had one at my wedding was that Mum promised there would be lashings of icing.
Perhaps I should have had a wedding cake made of cheese.
Now there’s a cake I do like: Cheesecake. A colleague of mine makes an amazing almond flour cheesecake, which is beyond delish. It is to be welsh for a moment tidy and lush and I’m quite partial to a Yule log – providing I make it myself, and am in sole charge of the amount of buttercream put on it. It’s my comfort food. My guilty pleasure.
You can connect with S.E. Smith at the following places:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SymingtonByrd
Website: https://sesmith.pub/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SymingtonByrd
Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Rachel Ford.
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Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.
