Author Interview with Sarah Scholefield

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from?

I live in a fabulous town in Somerset, England with my husband, our children and our fantastic ginger cat. Primarily I write contemporary adult fiction but I also like to dabble in children's fiction and short stories, the odd poem may fall out of my pen too!

How long have you been writing? 
I've been writing since around 2003 but that was all fairly primitive. I was really writing with intent from around 2010. I did an MA in Creative writing in 2013/14 which helped to hone my skills and take my work to the next level.

What was the inspiration for your most recent book?
Redferne Lane all started with the school run. I was lucky to have an idyllic walk along a pedestrian only path next to a meadow when I took my children to school. I imagined a set of houses at one end and a big old house at the other end of this path and that became Redferne Lane. Grace was a character that has been in my head for quite a while and as soon as I started daydreaming about Redferne Lane I knew it was her setting.

What was the hardest part about writing this book? 
It was definitely getting the two different time lines to make sense and to slot together, as the time periods were getting further apart. And then making that have a coherent arc as a novel. It took a lot of reworking to make it right!

Do you often develop characters from your personal experiences or draw from that of others?
A bit of both. I don't like to make my characters too much 'me', but of course there are certain aspects of all my characters that have a little bit of me in them. I do borrow bits from people I know but it's never a whole person and a lot of aspects of my characters just come from my imagination.

Are your comfortable writing in different genres? What is your go-to genre?
I love to write contemporary romantic fiction, often from the first person point of view. But it's fun to play with other styles sometimes and its good for my writing in general to try other styles sometimes.

Is your writing genre one that you read a lot of? Why or why not did you decide to/not to write in this genre?
I read a lot of contemporary fiction. It seemed so obvious to write in that genre that I didn't really consider anything else. Now though, I like to diversify and play with other styles. But my first love will always be contemporary romantic fiction.

Do you have a favorite writing theme?
There is always likely to be some sort of boy-meets-girls scenario.

When did you decide that it was time to take your writing public?
After I finished the MA it felt like the logical next step.

Is writing your first job? If not, please tell us what you do when you’re not typing or writing away.
I wish! When I'm not writing I work at my local library, which I also love. I get to be around books all of the time and also to meet lots of people.

What’s something that you do to help find new inspiration?
I tend to leave the physical writing alone if I feel its not going well. I might go for a run or a walk and just think about the characters, maybe think about how they might act in a totally mundane setting like going shopping or cleaning the house. This lets me see a different aspect of my characters. Often, thinking time helps me to sort out any difficulties.

What is your next writing project?
I'm working on a contemporary novel at the moment. I don't want to say too much yet as its still in the early stages!

Now for one of my favorite requests - tell us a random fun fact about yourself.
I love watching ballet. The dancers are so incredible, strong and yet graceful. The costumes really rock my world too. In another life I am definitely a ballet dancer!

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Ezra had it all when he died. A good job. A nice house. His loving wife, Grace.

Grace doesn’t even realise she’s struggling to keep herself together. Until Torin turns up in Redferne Lane. It’s been nearly two years since Grace has seen Torin. Since Ezra’s funeral. Now Torin is back in her life, emotions from the past are resurfacing and Grace begins to realise elements of her life are going wrong. She’s not sure she can take control.

But Grace isn’t the only one with problems in Redferne Lane. Josie has a husband and young family to contend with. Ada is facing the difficulties of old age. Jerome thinks he’s found the perfect girl. Eliza just wants to grow up. And Torin isn’t sure he should have what he wants. They all begin to turn to Grace for answers. Can Grace look beyond her own difficulties and help those around her, even while she’s trying to save herself?