Book Tour: Days 9 and 10
Well, its the last two days of my book tour with The Starling Dance and its been fantastic. Thank you to all the bloggers and reviewers that have hosted us and, once again, many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for organising the tour.
On Day 9, I was interviewed by Mai at Mai’s Musings. She asked me about my characters and the inspiration for The Starling Dance. There were, of course many influences – my time living in Paris and Rome; my experiences as an international journalist, learning to film; the people I met there; and the books I love.
But I also wanted to shine a light on people suffering with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD.
OCD is often associated with the stereotypes we see on TV or in popular culture – an obsession with cleaning or precision, for example. However, this doesn’t tell the whole story. The obsessive part of OCD often manifests as persistent unwelcome and distressing thoughts that can have a serious negative impact on people’s lives. It has been likened to having a bully living in your mind, constantly accusing you of things that make you feel uncomfortable. Many people who suffer from OCD never share their distressing thoughts with anyone, feeling too ashamed. They don’t realise that they are experiencing common symptoms of OCD, which affect at least three quarters of a million people in the UK alone, according to OCD UK.
The good news is that OCD can be cured or greatly improved through therapy. If anyone has been struggling with persistent distressing thoughts, I really encourage them to look up OCD on trusted sites and seek professional help. In The Starling Dance my character, Viviano, unknowingly suffers from OCD, accusing himself of wanting to harm people, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
You can read the full interview here.
On day 10, the tour concluded with a mention by Literary Hoarder and a lovely review from Ritu at But I Smile Anyway… I love that Ritu picked up on the ‘little fantastical elements’ that are part of the story. Which, she says, give the book ‘an added sparkle’.
There are couple sources of inspiration for the touches of magical realism that I’ve included in The Starling Dance.
The first comes from my own reading. I’ve always loved the magical realism in Latin American literature, in books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende and Laura Esquivel for example. I like the way those touches of magic add a different dimension to their stories. They always make me smile and add to the general wackiness that I enjoy when I’m reading.
I had also imagined The Starling Dance as a film, and often would think about how these slightly fantastical scenarios would play out on the big screen, beautifully filmed and full of colour.
I didn’t want to make the book completely unbelievable. Instead, I wanted to find the edge of what could be possible, but probably would not happen in reality.
You can read Ritu’s review here.
Have you got your copy of The Starling Dance yet?