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Hootcat Hill
A Novel
Why I loved writing this book:
Hootcat Hill really started with my
son’s obsession with owls. We were doing some research
on a project together, and came across the old East Anglian
dialect term for a barn owl. It was hootcat, and from then
on, the word swished around in my head, nudging me and asking
me to do something with it. Then, one morning, I saw a place
called Hootcat Hill in my head, and that was the beginning
of the novel.
I’d always wanted to write something longer
so that I could explore how my characters really ‘ticked’.
Lots of writers start off by knowing a start-to-finish outline
of the plot, and can therefore write a proper synopsis to
send to their publishers. I find that really hard! So I had
a vague outline, and just wrote the first 6 chapters, letting
the story tell itself as I went along. Unfortunately, after
that I really did have to have a synopsis to give to the lovely
sales people at Orion! So I concocted one, under protest (though
it was very good for me to do it!), with lots of excuses like
‘of course, the plot might decide to do something different
in the end’ (Needless to say, it did!) I wrote the last
bit of the book in Donegal, Ireland. Kind friends lent me
a fabulous cottage at a place called Paradise Pier, right
on the edge of Bruckless Bay. I typed away for almost all
of one January, looking out at two swans (who I named Aonghas
and Caér), with different weather rolling majestically
in from the sea every hour. It was a most creative place to
be, and I hope I shall be allowed back there to write my next
novel.
Linnet, as the Maiden and main character, had
a strong voice from the very beginning. She’s quite
obstinate, and very often when I wanted her to do something,
she refused and went off in another direction entirely. Typical
teenager! But, like any mother, I am pleased with and proud
of the way she’s turned out in the end. One of the things
she has to contend with is terrible bullying at school. This
is something I feel incredibly strongly about, having suffered
it myself, and having also come across it more recently too
in my children’s lives. Obviously, the way Linnet comes
to terms with it is unique, but I hope that reading the book
might help someone who has been or is being bullied to realise
that being different—in looks, or race, or religion,
or sexual orientation or character or any other thing that
sets people apart—can very often be turned into a strength,
just by a shift in your own attitude about how you feel about
yourself. Just practicing saying inside ‘I am a good
person’, and believing it, can really turn things around.
There are lots of great websites to help those who are being
bullied, and you can find a collection of the best of them
at http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/Page.asp
The Anti-Bullying Alliance. It’s important that we all
do something, however small, to stop it wherever it rears
its hideous head.
As you can see elsewhere on the website, I love
fantasy. In Hootcat Hill I wanted to use the concept
of fantasy in a different way. Lots of readers are turned
off by the swords-and-sorcery type of book, so I chose to
write a fantasy book for non-fantasy lovers, set in a world
that is nearly this one, but not quite—perhaps it is
best described as ‘two worlds over to the left’.
I loved the freedom of being able to take bits and pieces
of ancient myths and legends from both the Norse and Celtic
cultures and mix them up and shake them about till something
totally new appeared. I am a terrible magpie for all sorts
of weird and wonderful arcane scraps of information, and I
was able to use some of them here. It was fun rewriting Malory’s
Questing Beast as Gladysant, pink wings and all, and putting
in a reference to King Arthur and Guinevere as Artur Mac Uthair
and Jennivere, and to William Shakespeare as Shakspear, to
point out only a few. Nearly every name in the book has a
rational reason for being there—but I’m going
to leave my readers to have fun working them all out.
Finally, my editors wanted to know why
the spells in Hootcat Hill are written in Gaelic. Well, it’s
a wonderfully ancient, vibrantly musical language, which originally
comes from Scotland and Ireland. Long ago, Gaelic was commonly
used every day in those countries, but because of historical
events and the spread of English, it has become increasingly
rare to hear it spoken. Luckily, more and more people (especially
in the USA) are beginning to learn the language and get in
touch with their Celtic roots.
I wanted to use it here because of my own Scottish ancestry,
and because I wanted a magical language that was real—and
that sounds great when shouted out loud! So have fun twisting
your tongues with the words—and Slàinte
(or good health)!
You can read Chapter One of Hootcat Hill right now! Just click here
You can read Lucy's interview with 'The Truth About Books' here
You can read Lucy’s interview with Doodled Books here.
'You can watch Lucy's TV interview about Hootcat Hill here.
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