Have you ever regretted how you ended a story and wish you could change it? I find there is a point in each book – fairly late on – where the ending is fixed, and no other version will do. If you could swap lives with one of your characters, who would you choose and why? I would not choose to live in the sixteenth century.ġ7. But as soon as they enter the world of the books, they are fictions.ġ6. Some of my characters are based on historical figures, such as James VI. Are any of your characters based on yourself or people you know? Not consciously.
Where would you like to be right now, anywhere in the world? At home, with my family.ġ5. What one thing would improve your life? Worrying lessġ4. Not that you would believe it, if you saw my manuscripts.ġ3. If you weren’t a writer, what would you be? A proofreader, as I am still. On a good day, two of the three may be willing to stop.ġ2. Who are you generally writing for? One of three. What’s the best experience you’ve had while writing a book? Finding words that say exactly what I want to say, in exactly the way I want to say it, where sound and sense pitch perfectly. But I have a persistent agent, to whom I am extremely grateful.ġ0. It would never have occurred to me that no need not mean no. Polygon rejected Hue & Cry (the first book in the series) twice before accepting it, once it was revised. How easy was it for you to find a publisher? I think there is a huge amount of luck in this. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to be a writer? Write. silence, a particular genre of music, only working in the morning, only working in your underpants?) I like to write at night, when I’m not disturbed.Ĩ. Do you have a routine when you’re writing (i.e. But I think Great Expectations has the most perfect plot.ħ. What’s your favourite book, and why? I don’t have one. What keeps you motivated as a writer? Self-indulgence, really. The lady in the children’s department of James Thin’s in the early 70s, who knew precisely the right book. What inspired you to become a writer? Reading as a child.
What is your favourite scene or moment in the book? The final one. Each book is framed, however obliquely, by a definitive historical event – in the case of Queen & Country, the death of Mary, queen of Scots.ģ.
Hue and cry shirley mckay series#
The inspiration for the series is the life and progress of the young King James VI, as he struggles to maturity, and this provides the context for the struggles in the books. What was your inspiration to write this story? / Was there a particular moment of inspiration that pushed you to write this? Queen & Country is the fifth in the Hew Cullan series, and naturally evolves from the fourth book, Friend and Foe, which ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger. My books are quite heavily populated, and I enjoy the challenge of creating a panoply of new characters while developing old ones.Ģ. Meg and Giles too are perennial favourites. Do you have a favourite character in the book? It has to be Hew, the hero of the series, though he can be exasperating at times. Shirley works as a freelance proofreader.ġ. She was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. She went on to study English and Linguistics at the University of St Andrews before attending Durham University for postgraduate study in Romantic and seventeenth century prose. At the age of fifteen she won the Young Observer playwriting competition, her play being performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. Shirley McKay was born in Tynemouth but now lives with her family in Fife.
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