A chat with Annie Murray and a coupon for her new book

Over the months ahead, we’ll be looking at new releases by some of our favourite authors. This month, Annie Murray tells us about her book “The Doorstep Child” . . .

Q Could you tell us a bit about the plot of the novel?

A “The Doorstep Child” takes as its main character one of the other “War Babies” from my previous novel. Evie Sutton was born in 1943 into a harsh family where her mother has rejected her. She is the sort of loveless child who the neighbours feel bound to keep an eye out for. Evie finds a friend in another neglected child of the street – Gary, one of eight boys whose mother has died. The story is about Evie’s young life – its betrayals and tragedies and how later in the story, though she and Gary have gone their different ways, she meets him again – with sad consequences. But it does end on a note of hope.

Q

Who was your favourite character to write?

A Evie is my main character, so I stayed close to her. And I enjoyed writing Gary. But some of the happier aspects of the book are those where we meet neighbours from the books that have gone before, like Dolly and Mo Morrisson and they are always a pleasure to write.

Q What’s your personal connection to Birmingham and what makes it unique as a setting? A I lived in Birmingham for 10 years and felt very at home there as my mother was from the Midlands. A great deal happened while I was there – including the births of all four of my children!

Birmingham has an industrial base that has been uniquely varied – it’s the city of 1,000 trades – so there is a lot of interest there and an awful lot going on. There is also a really great, dry sense of humour!

Q Fans of yours speak highly of your believable characters. What’s the key to writing a credible and engaging character? A It has to be empathy. Some characters work better than others for a variety of reasons, including the situation they are in. But if you can’t really imagine your character’s life and how they feel, they are not really going to show themselves to anyone else in a convincing way. You get to know them better and better as you write. One of the key things is also knowing what their earliest experiences have been and what has shaped them from a very young age.

Q What’s the hardest part about writing – starting? Finishing? Editing?

A All the above – but in fact the really hardest part is not starting or finishing but keeping going through the middle.

Q In your own time, do you prefer to read print or on an e-reader?

A Print – every time.