I think that, like a favourite movie, it’s hard to chose a favourite writer without considering mood, genre, style, etc., but there are two writers who really are mine. They are both British. They are both men. One is alive, one has passed on. Both have written around the same number of books (in the twenties) and the first writes for children, while the second wrote for adults. They have similarities, yes, but there is only one reason that they are my favourites. Because they can tell a story like no one else. Their names are John Rowe Townsend and Nevil Shute.
As I wrote RESTORING HARMONY, I knew that it was a departure from my usual writing, and in a way, I could see it as a story that either one of these men might write, so I kept that in mind as a way of staying on track. I did not reread their books looking for clues on how to tell it, but while I wrote I do think that in the back of my mind was the conscious thought, “how would Mr. Townsend or Mr. Shute tell this story?” and it sort of kept me going. They often write adventures, and I’d never written one before, so it was helpful to keep asking myself that.
While I wasn’t consciously thinking of these writers in terms of the story, imagine my surprise, when the other night, I picked up Nevil Shute’s book, TRUSTEE FROM THE TOOL ROOM, and in it there is a boat called the Mary Belle. In my book there is a boat called the Marybelle. I have read TRUSTEE before, but it’s been at least fifteen years. I did not choose to name my boat this on purpose and had no clue it was in this book. In fact, I read it a few times before I started wondering if that really was the name of my boat too and I had to go look it up! At first, I thought, maybe I should change it, but I had already intended to dedicate my book to both of these writers, so I decided to leave it. I think it’s kind of cool, a tip of the hat, as my husband said when I told him.
Do you tip the hat to anyone when you write? On purpose?
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