Guest Author, Charlotte Chalmers

Today's Guest Author is the effervescent Charlotte Chalmers, whose romantic comedy The Madness of Celia Summers is guaranteed to make you smile. Charlotte writes with a wit and poignancy that is impossible to resist, and once you pick up the book, you won't want to put it down. (Can you tell it's on my keeper shelf?)

My thanks go out to English teachers everywhere who praise their students' work and offer encouragement in a world where that seems at times to be an anomaly, but special thanks go out to those who encouraged Charlotte, because if they hadn't, we wouldn't have this gem of a book to enjoy. Welcome, Charlotte, and belated Happy Birthday!

Who are you?

Who am I? Good question. Well, at the moment I feel as if I have an identity crisis, as must many women, who are mothers/writers/workers and all round busy bees.

As women, I think we are nurturers by nature—I certainly am, with my son, who’s had some health problems recently, and my damaged rescue dogs to care for—and, I suppose sometimes, we tend to be cheerleaders for those people in our care. If you’re a mother, wife or significant other, perhaps a daughter to ageing parents, it’s easy to see that as your role and to neglect celebrating your own achievements. So, you’ve made me think, what have I achieved?

Well, I have an art degree, and I’m currently studying for a higher diploma in animal behaviour and psychology (vis-à-vis boarding sick or older animals in future). So, I suppose I’d class myself as a doer. I think most women are. Those who write certainly are—multi-tasking a must! If a room needs decorating, I do it. If a floor needs tiling, I do it. It took a while for me to realize I had some things I needed to do for me. For instance, I was terrified of spiders. Totally! We’re talking someone who backed so far away from one eight-legged fiend, she fell over the banister at the top of the stairs and landed in a heap on the hall floor. My son wasn’t impressed. So, I took a cognitive therapy course, and…OK, I don’t love spiders, but I can live with them now. I didn’t like heights, I threw myself out of a plane. Um, that jump was made with a parachute though. Son was, I have to say, impressed this time. I wanted to write, I wrote, and wrote, and wrote. The submission bit…ugh! There were many times I thought my heart would break. But I kept at it. And I did it, and here I am, after almost twenty years. Motto of story: Be proud of your achievements, be they big or small.

What type of stories do you like to write and why?

I like to write humorously, therefore I tend to lean more towards romantic comedy, basically because I think there is too much sadness in life sometimes and we all need to smile. That said, I do strive to write about things I care about. About real people with the whole gamut of emotions—including men, they being human too :), real situations, good or bad, happy or sad, because often, when we stand back from what might have seemed like a tragedy, we see the comedy. How often do you see—if you stop to look, and I do—people perhaps remembering someone at a the saddest of family gatherings, start to smile at their shared memories. Then, before they know it, they’re laughing. Okay, it might be humour tinged with sadness; they might laugh until they cry, but no-one can deny that laughter is wonderful therapy when a wounded heart needs lifting.

And, what do I care about? Those pushed aside, abused or neglected or rejected by society, be they man or animal.

What type of stories do you like to read and why?

I think I can read anything that has good characterization. I have to believe in the characters--protagonists/antagonists, male/female—utterly. Identify with them and be able to absorb myself in them. Obviously, as I write romantic comedy, I do tend to read a lot of it, but if you look at someone like Marian Keyes--whose first novel Watermelon made me hoot, despite the diabolical predicament the heroine found herself in—she has the ability to do just that: bring you into the character. The novel mentioned was one of a series based around the lives of the sisters in one family, so a bit of family saga going on there. I love a good family saga, looking at the real dynamics of the family unit.

I can’t write it (maybe, one day!), but romantic suspense I can’t get enough of, especially where an author has the ability to splice in snippets of humour that make you smile at, and with, the character.

I also adore historical romance. I’m always in awe of author who can allow you to let go of your trials and tribulations and lose yourself in another era.

When do you write?

I’m self-employed, so I try to work straight through on “work” days, leaving late—with grand ideas of putting fingers to keyboard when I get home, once I’ve fed the dogs, and cooked and got changed, and … Ye-es. That doesn’t work too well! Being self-employed though, means I can steal time all to myself on non-work days--family crises, doggie illnesses, parcel deliveries for the neighbours, washing machine breakdown, and nervous breakdown permitting.

The thing that really annoys me is that—like many writers—ideas pop into my mind while I’m drifting off to sleep. Or worse, while I’m starkers in the bathroom, obviously, therefore, without the implements with which to write them down. Oooh, the frustration.

When do you read? Where?

Lately, I read late at night with my book perched on my Jack Russell. Sometimes, during the day, if I really want to read something. But then, I always feel guilty. Why is that, do
you think? Because I’m indulging myself, I suppose, when there are so many other scintillating things to be done, like cleaning the bathrooms. Oh, and don’t get me on the oven subject. I pretend I haven’t got one.

Where do you go to think?

I go to the park—or the woodland—with my dogs, though walking is a bit of problem with Snoops, who is blind and sometimes, sniffing something on the air, refuses to walk. So, I tuck him in his baby-sling…yes, I know, completely crackers—total bag lady…and carry on regardless, whatever the weather. It’s not so much my thinking time though, I find, as my freeing-my-mind time. I get mentally exhausted. Too much going on in there and not necessarily productive writing stuff. Family problems, work problems, as well as writing problems, can be a massive drain on your energies. So, I might not come back full of ideas and ready to write, but I do come back invigorated.

Why do you write?

In short, because I’ve tried not to, and I can’t! Seriously, I came from a large family. I was always the one at school with the hair parting that wasn’t straight, one sock up, one down, you know (cue violin music). Anyway, I tended to think I didn’t excel at anything much, and if I got noticed, it was usually to be told to pull my “sock” up. So, when My English teachers (one in particular, who gave me 10+ out of 10 for an essay—God bless Mr Tenby) started to sing my praises... Well, once I’d finished looking over my shoulder to see who they were talking about, I picked up my pen and started to realize I could write. Even better was the realization that I enjoyed it. And that, at the end of the day must be what it’s all about, because if you don’t enjoy it, there is absolutely no point. What use is something that becomes yet another chore?

Charlotte Chalmers is a mum, works on a self-employed basis in financial services and is an author, currently published with The Wild Rose Press Charlotte has been writing seriously for almost twenty years. She lives in the small town of Droitwich, in the UK--where she strives to stop her witty son typing – THE END – halfway through her manuscripts, and to keep up with the demands of her rescue dogs. Charlotte has a degree art, and is currently studying for a Higher Diploma in Animal Behaviour and Psychology with a view boarding sick animals in future.