Where the Bulbul Sings
by
Serena Fairfax
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Hermie - a headstrong and bewitching Anglo-Indian -
turns her back on the Anglo-Indian community and reinvents herself only to find
that a dark secret threatens to send her life spiralling out of control and
cost her everything.
Sharp-witted Edith, exiled in India from her native
Germany by Nazi persecution, faces stark choices in a future very different
from that she envisaged.
Enchanting Kay, separated by more than a generation
from Hermie and Edith, is haunted by a family mystery and risks her prospects
in London to pursue a quest for roots in India where fate hurtles her in an
unexpected direction. Can they confront the storms or are their dreams destined
to shatter?
Author in the chair - Serena Fairfax
I’ve always been interested in minority communities
and exiled people so thought I’d combine the two in a sprawling time-zone saga.
What does the title mean?
Well, a bulbul is an Indian songbird with a long
tale (no pun intended) and short, rounded wings with plumage that ranges from
drab to colourful. I chose the title before I embarked on the novel and it
wasn’t until I reached the end that I realised the title bore a double-edged
meaning! I leave that to the reader to figure out.
What is it about?
It’s a time zone saga spanning the dying days of
the British Raj - i.e. the end of British colonial rule in India - to the
present day.
Hermie’s the engine of the story and her early life
was far from easy. Although she’s scheming and manipulative- indeed your
average sort of girl! one’s always rooting for her. Will she, won’t she? She
takes a lot of emotional punches and never wavers. I hope the novel’s
appeal will extend to both genders from age 16 to 99 (the latter’s the age
Indian Railways records you as being when it doesn’t know your date of birth.)
It’s a satisfying happy- ever- after but in very different ways for Hermie,
Edith and Kay.
Was there a character you struggled with?
I struggled with Kay because I didn’t want her to
come across either as submissive or aggressive.
It has a powerful opening where a character commits
suicide; did you find such scenes difficult to write?
Oddly enough, no! I wrote it with clinical
detachment.
Going by the reviews, which say WHERE THE BULBUL
SINGS is rich in nostalgia your love of India shines. How did you distance
yourself from the nostalgia to “real” research?
A reader who has experienced life in India would
probably feel nostalgic – a sentimental longing for past times. But the
characters are living and breathing in an era that for them is the present .
Research was the horrendous part. It was hard graft but unavoidable and
for me completely devoid of nostalgia.
Are you living in India at present?
I’m living in England although I’ve just returned
from a holiday in India visiting the exotic, erotic 10th and
11th century temples of Khajuraho followed by
trekking in the Himalayas with views of the snow-capped mountain Nanda
Devi (elevation 25,643 feet and twin peaked - that’s probably why it was named
after the big breasted goddess Nanda Devi who’s both benevolent and wrathful –
not unlike Hermie). Interestingly, the CIA planted a telemetry relay
listening device on the mountain in the late 1960s in order to eavesdrop
on China but an avalanche consigned it to oblivion.
The main characters are Hermie, Edith and Kay. Did
you base any of these on real-life people?
Hermie, Edith and Kay are products of the
imagination. I don’t know anyone remotely like them!
If you knew them in real life, what would you say
to them?
Good on you Hermie, you wouldn’t take what life
dished out. Edith, you’d have made it wherever you lived. Kay, you can never
tell what’s round the corner and you followed your instincts.
WHERE THE BULBUL SINGS is described at a Literary
Romance. Is this your niche? Or have you written other genres?
"Literary romance”? Ooh, that sounds very
grand! Bulbul has strong elements of romance but I’m reluctant to categorise it
as literary. I started writing category romances and I still enjoy doing that.
Didn’t the poet Gibran say that life without love is like a tree without
blossoms or fruit? There are hugely successful category romance writers whose
skills surpass anything I’ve produced so far. IN THE PINK is a
completely different genre (I like experimenting with styles and would be
interested to hear what readers think!) My short story THE BOARDROOM is another departure as is THE SIX JUDGES and THE FEARLESS CHATTEE-MAKER which are short
stories for children.
How long does it take you to write a short compared
to a novel?
A short (50,000) would take about 4 months
(including “distance time”) and a longer one (80,000 to 100,000 words) probably
about 9 nine months.
Are you an indie/self-published writer or do you
have a publisher/agent?
STRANGE INHERITANCE and PAINT ME A DREAM were
published by UK publisher Robert Hale Ltd. The rest are indie-published. Thank
goodness for that opportunity.
Why have you gone the “indie route” when you had a
publisher?
Robert Hale Ltd ceased its Rainbow Romance imprint
(STRANGE INHERITANCE and PAINT ME A DREAM were published
under that). Then WHERE THE BULBUL SINGS didn’t appeal to it. I found an agent who liked BULBUL but
couldn’t match it to a publisher. It languished on my pc for ages after that
until in 2011 I stumbled across self-publishing with Amazon and Smashwords. I
submitted it to a third party professional editor who made some
very helpful and insightful editorial suggestions that had me
gnashing my teeth but after I’d thrown some crockery, I revised it
and voila posted it on both sites.
How do your juggle a writing schedule?
I’m still in the day job but I write every day,
even for a short while, to keep the momentum going. Often it’s just rubbish but
that’s better than nothing!
Does your day job help with your writing?
Yes, because I don’t give writing a thought during
the champagne of the day job and I resume the art of a wordsmith thereafter
entirely refreshed and intoxicated.
If you became world-known for your writing, would
you give it up?
Not unless my earnings from writing trumped those
of JK Rowling.
What's the worst part of being a writer?
Research is difficult because for me it’s hit and
miss as I find myself unable to identify the keyword that
will instantly reveal all I need. A lot of research is computer based but
there’s nothing like the British Library for the meat. Also, when researching
I find myself wasting a lot of time being lured off the beaten track
by interesting snippets that would make an interesting theme for another
story.
I was once Googling when my golden retriever,
Inspector Morse (IM) leapt up on to the keyboard – thump- the result being
wacky tips about listening carefully to your inner quadratic equation. Hmm...
Will that win me the lottery?
And the best?
Telling a story and making characters come alive.
What is the most productive time of the day for you
to write?
My pc rests on an oak Victorian bureau/bookcase.
In front of it, there’s just room for a crystal pen and ink
stand that I bought at an antiques fair. (A contrast between now and then). In
the upper part (bookcase) are a dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus and Brewer’s
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and a well-thumbed Dummies manual
on computers. In the bureau drawers are hard copies of my books and CDs of
films I missed when they were on general release and which I want to catch up
with. At my feet lies IM and through the study window I have a bird’s eye
view of the pretty garden that’s a joy in all seasons.
The only sound I can tolerate when writing is IM
slurping water, snoring and snuffling and drubbing his tail on the floorboards.
The chair is black leather, rather like that in Mastermind (the
popular British TV quiz programme that features a black chair where contestants
sit facing the Quizmaster). Oh, and the walls are covered with prints of
pictures by Picasso.
Do you start your projects writing with paper and
pen or is it all on the computer?
It used to be scribble, scribble, scribble
but I use a pc now.
Funnily enough, biographies and autobiographies are
very inspiring and set the imagination alight.
Whose biographies do you like? Which one has given
you the most inspiration?
Bill Clinton’s is riveting. Then there’s Ava
Gardner by Lee Server – she was a Hollywood legend. Love them or hate them,
both sprang from an ordinary background and ended up holding a stellar
place in world history. I would’ve loved to have met them , although
I must confess that Ava’s ability to engage the most amazing
admirers is nothing less than inspiring! I suppose the same could
be said of Bill but Ava had more jewellery and I’m a sucker for that.
Do you set yourself goals when you sit down to
write such as word count?
I write something every day. I make myself sit down
for at least three quarters of an hour, and five minutes before that’s
elapsed I find I’ve actually written a sentence. That prompts me to carry on.
Do you find that once you get working, it’s hard to
stop?
I get to what’s a natural break and stop there.
Sometimes the natural break is reached in two hours; at other times it’s a
longer process rather like a Trans-Siberian journey.
How do/did you deal with rejection letters?
Bin them.
Are you submitting to agencies/publishers? Or are
you happy being an indie author?
Currently, I’m happy being an indie author,
although I consider all options and never say never.
What do you think of the (sometimes) bad press
indie authors get?
It depends what the bad press is about. If it
relates to poor grammar, spelling, punctuation, proofreading or research, then
that’s justified. If it’s about a poor plot, excessive narrative, poor
dialogue or wooden characters the bad press is unfair
and disproportionate given there are heaps of books out there,
equally wanting in that respect that shouldn’t have seen the light of day
(published by mainstream publishers) that don’t get undermined or
humiliated.
Do you have a critique partner? Where do you get your inspiration for writing? What motivates
you?
Friends and family are too nice to be genuine
critique partners and I don’t inflict my writing on other writers. I paid for BULBUL
to be critiqued by a professional third party editor and found her insights and
comments very useful. Inspiration just pops into my head! As for motivation,
writing’s a challenge and I can’t resist that.
Do you pre-plan your stories, or are you a
by-the-seat-of-the-pants style writer?
Oh, definitely the latter. Obviously that’s not to
be recommended but it works for me in a disorganised, rambling sort of way.
What do you enjoy the most about writing?
Telling a story and making characters come alive.
Is there any part of writing that you don't enjoy? Research and, because I’m an indie writer, promotion and marketing
is like wading through treacle.
Do you have any tips on marketing that you can
share?
I’m happy to share my experiences. A website
and blog is pretty much expected. My eBooks are on Kindle and Smashwords. I’ve
joined and posted on forums run by Amazon, Kindle, Goodreads and Mobilereads.
I’m on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to LinkedIn. Scribd is a great place
to air the first chapter of one’s novel (a taster) and then there’s Pinterest
(although I don’t really have to grips with that).
What would you say to a new writer starting out
today?
Write what you know. Show don’t tell. Genius begins
great works, labour alone finishes them.
Serena Fairfax spent her childhood in India,
qualified as a Lawyer in England and joined a large London law
firm. Her first romantic novel STRANGE INHERITANCE (published
by Robert Hale Ltd in 1990) went into UK and USA large print editions in 2004
(published by BBC Audio Books Ltd and Thorndike Press) and is a Kindle and
Smashwords eBook. The second romantic novel PAINT ME A DREAM (published by
Robert Hale Ltd in 1991) went into UK and USA large print editions in 2004
(published by BBC Audio Books Ltd and Thorndike Press) and is likewise a Kindle
and Smashwords eBook.Fast forward to a sabbatical from the day job when Serena traded in bricks and mortar for a houseboat and embarked on WHERE THE BULBUL SINGS a time-zone saga set in India spanning the last days of the Raj to the present day. After a long gestation, this saw the light of day in 2011 as a Kindle and Smashwords eBook as well as a printed version. Then, wanting to experiment, she burst out of the romance bubble with IN THE PINK (Kindle and Smashwords eBook) a quirky departure in style and content.
But romance is hard-wired in her DNA so there’s GOLDEN GROVE, another romantic novel (Kindle and Smashwords eBook). WILFUL FATE is the latest release, a romantic story with a horse riding background. (Kindle and Smashwords eBook). THE BOARDROOM, a short story with a twist, features on Serena’s blog as does THE SIX JUDGES where animals get in a few light jabs at humans and THE FEARLESS CHATTEE-MAKER.
The saying age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety aptly describes the tug of law so Serena still enjoys the day job, although she has plunged into drafting a new time-zone saga with an exotic backdrop. A long standing member of the Romantic Novelists Association, Serena is convinced there’s not a more wonderful, supportive organisation. She and her golden retriever, Inspector Morse, who can’t wait to unleash his own Facebook and Twitter page, divide their time between London and glorious rural Kent. (Charles Dickens said: Kent, sir. Everybody knows Kent. Apples, cherries, hops and women).
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