Linda is quite the angel

Heyyyy!

Thanks for checking out this week’s interview. If you haven’t read our last interview already, you can check it out here.

Today we had a lovely chat with historical fiction, family saga, and short story author, Linda Lake, a poet known for bringing colourful and lovable characters to life.

We hope you enjoy learning more about her favourite poems, why readers enjoy her stories, and what she would change in her novels if she could as much as we did!

1 – Hi Linda! Thank you for agreeing to do this interview with us today. Could you introduce yourself and your book/s to our readers?

Hello to the Seriality Team, and to your readers. Many thanks indeed for asking me to do this interview.

I am married with a lovely large family, and I have a great many interests, with a huge passion for writing. My novel is called Terrible Angels and is published in four volumes, available on Amazon. I also enjoy writing poetry and short stories.

2 – You’ve published about four books now and written several short stories. How did you start writing? Do you remember your first story?

I have been writing since I was a small child. If I remember rightly, my first juvenile story was about a little Mole who caused havoc in a country garden. (Rather prophetic, perhaps, because we have one here now, chewing up the lawn!) I cannot remember what the Mole was called, nor the name of the story…probably rather fortunately!

3 – Terrible Angels seems to be set in England in the 1970s. Is there any particular reason you chose this decade for your story?

It’s a decade which I find interesting, and so different to today. I placed Volume One of Terrible Angels in that era because of that fact, and to avoid becoming too wrapped-up in social media concerns for the characters in the initial stages of the story. Subsequent volumes of Terrible Angels are set nearer our own time, however.

4 – With several volumes to its name, I imagine Terrible Angels has quite a few characters. If you had to pick a favourite from them all, who would you choose and why?

That’s a difficult one because I must admit to loving so many of them! One of my favourites is the homeless man who changes his name to suit his mood ~ known as Art, at one stage (because he shelters in Art Galleries during rainy weather!). In addition, I am extremely fond of his dear friend and companion, Billy, as I delight in his kindness and simplicity, and in his cherishing of butterflies and all wildlife. I also admire how much he cares for the older woman called Rachel, of whom I am also fond, as she struggles through what seems to her an alien world.

And, although he perpetuates a horribly heinous deed, I cannot help feeling compassion for Frankie, struggling with life after a truly terrible upbringing.

Among the main characters, I am extremely fond of Julia, Penny, Aunts Grace and Doris. I like Simon, too, despite all his flaws and the fact that he can be extremely exasperating! But…my favourite character of all…? That would probably have to be Maya/May.

5 – You’ve mentioned on your website that readers will feel bereft upon leaving the lives of your characters. Why do you think this is?

I believe because readers become deeply engaged with the characters as they weave through the story, identifying with some; feeling empathy for others. Kind comments along those lines have been made to me by various readers of Terrible Angels, and a review that was left about Volume 4 on Amazon expressed similar feelings. I shall cut-and-paste that review below…

Kindle Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Sorry it’s finished.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 March 2022

Verified Purchase

I have loved being immersed in all the characters of this family saga .
Totally different to anything I have read before. I can imagine this being made into a serial Drama Would love to see all the Characters come to life.
So really hope that the story will be continued
Very beautifully written.

6 – If you could go back and alter anything in any of your stories, would you? If so, what would you alter and why?

Even though they are among the minor characters, I might like to give the relationship between Billy and Rachel a little more time to overcome their shyness and reticence about their feelings for each other before tragedy strikes.

7 – We understand you’re something of a poet. Do you mind sharing your favourite pieces with us? (Bonus points if you include one of your own poems too)

I have so many favourite poets and poems that choosing just a few is extremely difficult. My bookshelves are crammed with collections from Auden to Wordsworth. But a particular favourite poem of mine (which is also quoted in my novel, Terrible Angels, by the way) is from “The Sonnets to Orpheus: Second Part” by Rainer Maria Rilke…

This is the creature there has never been.

They never knew it, and yet, none the less,

they loved the way it moved, its suppleness,

its neck, its very gaze, mild and serene.

Not there, because they loved it, it behaved

as though it were. They always left some space.

And in that clear, unpeopled space they saved

it lightly reared its head, with scarce a trace

of not being there. They fed it, not with corn,

but only with the possibility of being. And that was able to confer

such strength, its brow put forth a horn. One horn.

Whitely, it stole up to a maid – to be

within the silver mirror and in her.

I love becoming immersed in deeply emotional poetry by great poets, past and present, but humorous poetry appeals to me, too, offering some lovely light relief, including these short ditties by Spike Milligan…

Porridge

Why is there no monument

To Porridge in our land?

If it’s good enough to eat

It’s good enough to stand!

On a plinth in London

A statue we should see

Of Porridge made in Scotland

Signed, “Oatmeal, O.B.E.”

(By a young dog of three.)

Rain

There are holes in the sky

Where the rain gets in,

But they’re ever so small,

That’s why rain is thin.

Here is one of my own poems, called “Dwelling”, which was inspired by Part Two of “To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf, and was originally published in The Bulletin of The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain. There is more of my poetry on my website plus some short stories.

Dwelling

As the moon sinks, the air

bustles around each bleak nook,

swallowing and extinguishing hard edges of old pain

left in the dying, rhythmical

breath still resident.

The lamps are out, the fire

burned down; none to speak,

even hear. Airs in ramshackle corners soon resign

to their whispered cries; call and they call,

gently considering their lament.

Weaving, the breezes all conspire,

airily; make fresh talk

with the rose walls which they, fluttering, explain

are questions about time to fill,

the ravishment

of books, letters, flowers; the stair

lit by a wandering, pulsing look

directed from the sea. Breezes asking, where and when?

and lingering an interval,

gathering transient

thoughts. Billowing dreamscapes offer
no clear sense of lives once lived, of idle talk

clinging to the furred saucepan,

china left to mould; ruinous hangings, receptacles

of hollowness; monument

to forgotten family days, meals to share

happily, or with discord. The open page of a book,

fluttering – no person here to divine –

can give no clue; nothing. All

is aimless air, and ambient.

No weary word spoken, here,

even of banality. Winds pluck,

nosing, rubbing, with no reason

to forbear, no lull

to consider; none repent

the loss. Gatherings recur,

but no sign now of the periodic,

longed-for, family mustering. The hope seems vain,

yet one day soon the candle

will light, burn, nodding assent.

8 – Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I love reading, and I also spend a great deal of time gardening, especially in wonderful weather! I enjoy sketching, painting, garden design, music, theatre, art appreciation and art history.

9 – Most of us are not full time authors. Do you have a different day job?

On a part-time basis, I help a friend with work for her own company, which I do from home.

10 – And last but not least, if you describe yourself in three words, which words would you choose?

“Pain in Arse” initially sprung to mind! But… I have just asked my husband to help me with this, and he suggested ~ Loving, Loyal, Funny (I am hoping that the last of those refers to my sense of humour, suggesting that I can be amusing, rather than my being, perhaps, “Funny Peculiar”, instead of “Funny Ha! Ha!” But I dare not ask!) I do agree with the spouse about my being Loving and Loyal, plus I certainly have a well-developed sense of humour, but I might have to ditch that last choice in favour of adding that I can also be extremely Stubborn! So…Loving, Loyal, Stubborn!

Many thanks, again, to Seriality Fiction for inviting me to do this interview. Warm wishes to you and all your readers…and Happy Reading & Writing!

Thank you once again for taking the time to answer our questions, Linda. It was a pleasure to hear your thoughts and we wish you all the best with your books in the future  (and hope you manage to sort out your mole issue while you still have a lawn!)

As previously mentioned, Linda Lake is the author of the Terrible Angels Saga. You can find all four volumes here on Amazon.

You can find Linda on Twitter and Instagram too!

~ The Seriality Team