Grahame Peace
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
England, UK
Good morning, Grahame, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the site for art and books and the people who love them. Can you tell us a little about what you've written?
I’ve just finished my seventh book, The Mystery at Winterburn Manor, which should be out early July 2019 worldwide on Amazon. This is the fifth book in my ‘Ghost from the Molly-House’ series. My book genres are all fiction and they are humorous, paranormal-historical-fantasy, mysteries, and fashion fiction.
What is your favorite genre to write?
I would say I enjoy writing anything which contains humor; I also like history and fashion.
Favorite food.
Most things apart from seafood, I’m not a great shellfish lover. If I had to choose a cuisine, I would say Italian food; I love it.
Tea or coffee?
Both, but I’m a terrible coffee snob; it has to be freshly ground, and preferably from Italian Coffee Beans.
Both and lots of it! I love them both.
Wine or beer?
White wine, a nice chilled new world Chardonnay.
Where would you like to visit?
Oh, now that’s a hard one to answer, because there are so many places I’d love to visit, but I’ll say Australia.
May I suggest Venice? It is fabulous. It's like another planet! Favorite musical artist. Do you listen to music when you write?
Oh, yes, all the time, I love all kinds of music, I love classic artists like Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, to modern artists like Suede, I love electronic sounds from people like the British bands The Pet Shop Boys, The Human League, and the German band Kraftwerk.
What makes you laugh?
Well, I’m from the UK, and I think I have a very British sense of humor, I like all the British ‘Carry On’ films, and British comedians, people like the late Joyce Grenfell, Dame Margaret Rutherford, and Victoria Wood, I loved her, also people like Dawn French and the actress Julie Walters.
This is an art and author site, so I am obligated to ask: Favorite work of art or sculpture.
I love the artwork of the late Swiss artist Paul Klee, not that I could ever afford to buy an original!
I love his work, too. How old were you when you started writing?
In terms of writing seriously, I was 55 years of age.
Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?
I do some planning, I would describe my style as research-based; I do a lot of historical research for my books, but it’s also improvisational.
Describe your perfect evening.
Enjoying a good film with my partner, with a nice glass of chilled chardonnay, at our lovely home.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Good question! I think it comes from my historical research. One thing tends to lead to another. If I’m writing about fashion, well, that just flows out of me, it’s a great passion of mine, it finds its way into all my books. Sometimes as I’m writing one book, it gives me an idea for another. I’m just about to start on my eighth book, which is about a social media and reality TV star called Patrina Fletcher, she made several appearances in my book ‘The Psychic Agency’. I enjoyed writing her character so much; I’m going to do a book about her crazy life, she’s great fun and very 2019.
Sounds fantastic! What do you do when you get a writer's block?
Pick up a book and read; it usually works for me. Failing that, I put some words on a page, it could be anything, and I find that starts me writing. It might be something as simple as, ‘Once upon a time’.
Who is your favorite author?
In all honesty, I don’t think I have one; I try to read so many different genres, the only thing I will say is I don’t like books with a lot of social problems, violence, sex, and bad language.
Best book you ever read.
A book I really like is a book called ‘Camberwell Beauty’ by Jenny Éclair, it’s a laugh out loud story, but it’s also quite dark, somehow, everyone you know is in the book. Of course, there are many others.
Last book you read.
The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the original 1890 version, I loved it.
What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?
In fantasy land, I would love to have been a fashion designer for a top haute couture house like Chanel or Dior. One can dream!
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
My partner helped me to believe in myself, we’ve been together 22 years and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
Without a doubt, the late Spanish haute couturier Cristobal Balenciaga described as the most celebrated fashion designer of all time. I would want to know all about his life and creative process.
What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Do it for the love of writing, not to become rich and famous, and don’t expect to be an overnight success.
Do you have some links for us to follow you?
My social media links are:
Thank you so much Carol.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Grahame! Come back and see us again. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are my kind of person! Your Ghost Mystery’s sound so good and I love ghost mysteries and you are a Barbara Streisand fan. I have been a huge fan of hers since the 60’s. I enjoyed your interview ��
ReplyDelete