Q&A With Nova Scotian Author Lesley Crewe
1.What gave you the idea to make your most recent book?
Remembering the party line at my grandmother’s house when we were kids.
2.Do you think there is value in fiction set in the Maritimes?
There’s value in fiction set anywhere on this planet.
3.Was any character the most fun or most difficult to write?
Vera the dog was a hoot in The Spoon Stealer and the bereaved mother in Relative Happiness was the hardest.
4.How long have you been working on it?
The new novel coming out in Sept. 2023 (Recipe for a Good Life) took me two months to write.
5.What do you hope people get from your work?
Comfort.
6.What are some of your favourite books/authors?
Children’s books.
7.Is there any non-book media that influences your writing?
Everything contributes to my nonsense.
8.Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what?
God no. I need total quiet. Not a creature stirring…not even a mouse.
9.What is a book that you think is underread/underappreciated?
Most of them, if you’re the author.
10.When did you start writing?
I started writing novels when I was fifty.
11.What is the best and/or worst writing advice you’ve ever gotten?
The best was “Cut off the first three chapters and start there.” The worst was “Cut off the first three chapters and start there.”
12.What is your favourite genre to write? Do you want to try writing in other genres?
My favourite is fiction. I did a screenplay once and it took five years off my life.
13.What is an unpopular book you like and a popular book you dislike?
I don’t know any unpopular books, because what other people think of them is none of my business. I read them for myself. I don’t care if someone else doesn’t like them. The only book I’ve ever objected to, for personal reasons, is The Notebook. It was great as a story, but as someone whose parent had Alzheimer’s, the reality of that experience was given a Hollywood ending, so that didn’t ring true for me.
14.Tea or coffee?
Coffee.
Remembering the party line at my grandmother’s house when we were kids.
2.Do you think there is value in fiction set in the Maritimes?
There’s value in fiction set anywhere on this planet.
3.Was any character the most fun or most difficult to write?
Vera the dog was a hoot in The Spoon Stealer and the bereaved mother in Relative Happiness was the hardest.
4.How long have you been working on it?
The new novel coming out in Sept. 2023 (Recipe for a Good Life) took me two months to write.
5.What do you hope people get from your work?
Comfort.
6.What are some of your favourite books/authors?
Children’s books.
7.Is there any non-book media that influences your writing?
Everything contributes to my nonsense.
8.Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what?
God no. I need total quiet. Not a creature stirring…not even a mouse.
9.What is a book that you think is underread/underappreciated?
Most of them, if you’re the author.
10.When did you start writing?
I started writing novels when I was fifty.
11.What is the best and/or worst writing advice you’ve ever gotten?
The best was “Cut off the first three chapters and start there.” The worst was “Cut off the first three chapters and start there.”
12.What is your favourite genre to write? Do you want to try writing in other genres?
My favourite is fiction. I did a screenplay once and it took five years off my life.
13.What is an unpopular book you like and a popular book you dislike?
I don’t know any unpopular books, because what other people think of them is none of my business. I read them for myself. I don’t care if someone else doesn’t like them. The only book I’ve ever objected to, for personal reasons, is The Notebook. It was great as a story, but as someone whose parent had Alzheimer’s, the reality of that experience was given a Hollywood ending, so that didn’t ring true for me.
14.Tea or coffee?
Coffee.