A Journey To The Darker Side of Other People's Lives: Meet Chris Macfarlane

Ladies and gents! You got a chance to meet yours truly on the blog last week, so it is now my pleasure to introduce you to one of my most beloved MA colleagues and fellow Where the Wild Words Are author, Chris Macfarlane.  Last year I had the pleasure of sharing a workshop group with Chris, and I was always struck both by her unparalleled sense of story both in her own writing and in her feedback to others.  I'm thrilled that she decided to develop her piece, A Girl Called Harry, into a full manuscript.  It's a book for teens with a strong moral compass and I'm getting excited right now imagining this novel finding its way into the hands of its intended readership! So, without further ado, I'll let the woman speak for herself.  Dear readers, I give you Chris Macfarlane!


1) Your novel.  Pitch it in a sentence please? (Chris says: "You are joking?" I say: "Would I joke?" ;) )

When Harry, 16, who has become a carer for her Gran (Gran is losing her grip on reality), gets a chance to appear on a popular TV show with famous rock star drummer, Mike Jenessen, this turns out to be the start of real problems which take her on an unpredictable journey into the darker side of other people’s lives. It’s about love, friendship and loyalty and having the guts to stand up for what you think is right.

(I say: That was two sentences, but I think we can make allowances ;) That's a pretty darned good last sentence!)

2) Who in your novel do you think you are? And who would you most like to be?

The thing is with writing, as you well know, if the characters are any good, believable, then they take on a life of their own. I don’t think writers set out to inhabit one person; they just scatter their own attributes and issues, sometimes unconsciously, through the text. If that process was conscious the book would be an uncomfortable read.

When I read a novel I sometimes identify with a character. In that way, I most identify with Simmsy, Harry’s Deputy Headteacher; been in similar situations to Simmsy, though she’s quite different from me. 

Who would I like to be in the novel? Well, no one really. It’s painful being a teenager; some of Harry’s adults need a good talking to; maybe the lovely Lola, slim and gorgeous, with a purple sports car - though a little vacant… or make-up artist Suze? 

3) If you were stranded in any alternate universe, where would you want to be? What 3 items would you have with you?

Not Brobdingnag, Narnia, nor Cittagazze. There are days when Middle Earth appeals and the parallel Oxford of Lyra in Pullman’s Northern Lights is intriguing. If I really had to choose though, I might just go down the rabbit hole to Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass; Alice had some really cool trips! Imagine shrinking or walking hand in hand with the Walrus and the Carpenter or watching the Cheshire Cat fade into a smile? I would take a trusty notebook and pen, a camera, and some container for things like cake labelled Eat Me. 

Best of all I would make up my own alternative universe… watch this spot.

4) Do you have any writing rituals? If so, care to share?

No, I don’t have any behaviours or tendencies which might be called ritualistic. I gave up religion some while ago and feel no pull toward such things. I have some habits, the most important of which is Sit at the desk…otherwise it won’t happen. This really works. Once the backside is in contact with the chair, the brain and the fingers start to write. Magic.

5) If you could've written any book, what would it be and why?

Where do I start? Animal Farm for its brief and simple genius; His Dark Materials for the breadth of imagination and the fabulous characters; Harry Potter too, for the idea and the characters and the loyalty to them you develop along the way; though I think Pullman’s Fantasy is better written; Barry Unsworth’s (Adult) Morality Play for the setting and the telling of a tale. All these have in common a brilliant idea and the masterly crafting of it.

6) When you’ve inevitably raked in the millions from your debut novel and are staring at the screen as your twitter followers multiply… you know, in that inevitable world… What is the first thing that you are going to do?!

Apart from the party and the champagne? Give each of our kids enough to get a house. I think it’s mad out there at the moment. It doesn’t matter how hard they work, and all four of them work really hard, it’s so difficult to get into that housing thing. Then, geeky as it sounds, I shall start another book, or poem, 

7) Anything you want to add?

You know I’m partial to poetry.

(Yes, she is folks, and she brought in some brilliant children's poetry last year! Anyhow, hope you all enjoyed getting to meet Chris.  She is one to watch!)