Carla Acheson

Many people ask me what it is that inspires me to write, and also what I am inspired to write about.

Well the reason I actually want to write is because I am creative; I often get the urge to tell a good story or research a good topic for an article; and lastly, well because I think that I might actually be good with words: I think!

My actual inspirations for writing are partly down to what I am experiencing emotionally at the time, coupled with what sort of topics/subjects currently interest me.

For instance: the writing of my book ‘The Last Gift,’ came about after a very long love affair with all things Victorian related. Oh yes, I can’t tell you how many times I visualised myself in those corsetted dresses running around vivid green fields, waiting for the handsome Heathcliff to return from his hillside escapades. In reality-ville, it’s a t-shirt, jeans, a cuppa and my other half returning from work looking incredibly stressed out. So not exactly the same kind of romantic scene is it? Part of writing is living out a fantasy. We create the fantasy, often we become the characters, because only by becoming the characters (ask any actor/writer) can we truly portray them three dimensionally!

So for my first attempt at a book I decided to escape to the Victorian days, though part of the problem (commonly found) was finding a single original idea. How could I write what hasn’t already been written, or thought of, or at the very least attempted before?  I grappled with various plot ideas and mulled over the archaic prose whilst digesting everything I could of the late nineteenth century. Mostly I found a lot of very sad stories of death, disease and poverty, and so I took endless notes on all of these things and they formed the basis of my book.

My heroine began her life as a poor girl in very undesirable surroundings, obviously when writing a novel such as this it is very important to make it is as realistic as possible whilst still maintaining and developing a fictional tale. To anyone attempting a novel set in a historical period I suggest leaving no stone unturned as far as research goes. It is imperative to know everything about the period from how peoples thoughts differed culturally, right down to whether toothpaste was available or not.

I wanted to make sure when I polished my book that my heroine would not suddenly pull out a mobile as her carriage set off down the pebbled lane, (which yes ok.. that might be a tad obviously stupid to include,) but one would be surprised at what can occur in amateur novels when you are so embroiled with the mechanics of your plot, dialogue etc.. that you inadvertently make silly mistakes. Everyone, and I mean everyone.. does it. That doesnt make anyone a bad writer, there is always time to polish up.

So my inspirations come from life, interests, emotions, dreams and fantasies. Put all these in a blender and you can mix a fantastic literary milkshake!

‘The Last Gift’ hits heights on author website Authonomy.

Well my debut novel “The Last Gift” is steadily climbing up the ranks of Harper Collins website Authonomy. Since uploading just after Christmas 09, the reviews and comments have been phenomenally positive. Some of these comments are posted here so check out the link to the right.

I really can’t express how shocked and brilliant it feels to have written a book which has been so positively received. I cannot attribute myself to the text at all, except to say that it takes a heck of a long time to get from the first Chapter to the last, and then there is the struggle to find the motivation to edit the entire lot. But it happened and there it is complete at approx 60k. As they say hard work pays off later, laziness pays off now!