An Alternative Author Interview:

TCL’s Countdown Questions.

This week I’m featuring author
Rachel Joyce!

When I first read “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” I knew I had a new favorite author in Rachel Joyce. Everything I’ve read by her since then has not just reaffirmed this feeling, but cemented it and essentially, carved it in stone. Although I’ve tried to get ARCs of her books, much to my chagrin, I’ve never gotten one (yet). Still, I have no qualms of buying my own print copies (I’ve already pre-ordered her next book)! Yes, as I said in one of my reviews of her books “Hello. My name is Davida, and I’m a Rachel Joyce addict!” You can therefore imagine my thrill when she agreed to participate in this little meme of mine. Let’s see how she answered my five, fast, and fun questions.

• If you could visit five (5) places you’ve never been, where would you go and why?

I still haven’t been to New Caledonia which is the setting for my new book. (Miss Benson’s Beetle.) I want to explore Iceland. I have only been to Reykjavik and I fell in love with the landscape, the people. I love Cornwall. A remote Scottish island. I was lucky enough to visit China a few years ago and realised how little I understood. I would love to go back there. But I love my home too. I love feeling rooted.

• Name four (4) foods or dishes that you enjoy so much that they’ve practically become part of your personality.

Coffee. I go through half the day with coffee. I was allergic to shell fish for years and suddenly I am not. But a cheese sandwich would keep me happy. We are trying to be more vegan – so actually a plate of good veg.

• There is the past, the present, and the future – if you could choose, which of these three (3) would you prefer to live in, and why?

I am fearful by nature and maybe a little reflective but I still believe the best place for me is the present.

• Best and/or worst – you choose which – name two (2) of either your best moments of your life, worst moments of your life, or one of each.

I don’t really think of my life in this way. Of course the memorable days are the ones when my children were born, or the moment I first caught sight of my husband, the day I got a phone call to say I had a publishing deal… but equally the day I watched mistle thrushes (today). And my honestly worst moments are by their nature things I want to bury.

• Name one (1) book you’ve read in the past year (or so) that you wish you had written, and why.

Everything I have read and loved. I think that’s how good books work; you feel that you might somehow (if things were slightly different) written them yourself. My latest favourite is Anne Patchett’s The Dutch House.

Thanks Rachel! (I can hardly wait to read your next novel, “Miss Benson’s Beetle” when it comes out in June – or maybe (hint, hint) sooner!?!?)

Rachel Joyce is the author The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which was short-listed for the Commonwealth Book Prize, and longlisted for Man Booker, and translated into over 30 languages, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and The Music Shop, as well as a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories, which included the digital short story A Faraway Smell of Lemon. Joyce was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards New Writer of the Year in 2012. She is also an established writer in radio and has written over 30 original plays for Radio 4, dramatising both classic and new novels, and has written a period drama for BBC television. She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, and winning a Time Out Best Actress award. Rachel lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and four children. 

And coming June 11, 2020!