Publication Day Blog:
Moonlight Over Studland Bay by Della Galton
As a writing tutor as well as an author I’m often asked if my stories are autobiographical. My answer is a resounding: YES.
I think most writers draw from their own lives to a certain extent.
The question that usually follows this one is: does it matter?
My answer to that is no, it doesn’t necessarily matter – we all know the maxim, ‘write what you know’. However, life does not translate totally to fiction very well. Therefore, I think that what writers do – certainly what I do – is to use elements of my life mixed with fiction.
The people closest to me say that I write in code. There is truth in my stories and there is wild fantasy and working out which is which is difficult even for those who know me very well. Phew. That’s a result then!
So today I plan to confess which bits are true in Moonlight Over Studland Bay and which bits are ‘not quite as true’.
Sam, my protagonist is a woman who is passionate about giving up her day job to live the dream. I can relate to Sam. Twenty years ago, pretty much to the day, I gave up my day job to live my dream (writing fiction).
Sam loves animals and dreams of making her animal boarding business by the sea her main profession. Animals figure very highly in my life. Currently, I have rescue dogs and rescue chickens. In the past I’ve had goats, horses, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, cats and endless dogs.
Sam is an audio typist for a group of structural engineers. I had that very same job once. I think I was about nineteen at the time. I never dreamed it would ever feature in a novel, but actually I think it’s a very fine plan to give your characters jobs you know well. It helps with research. The structural engineers in my novel bear no relation to the ones I once knew. Just to clarify that one!
It’s also good to use a setting you know well. Sam lives by the sea in Dorset. My mum lives by the sea in Dorset. I live in the countryside in Dorset, but I have spent a big part of my life on and around the coast. The area I write about – Studland Bay – is one I know and love.
Moonlight Over Studland Bay begins with Sam driving her best friend Abby who is in labour, to hospital. I am very thankful I’ve never had to undertake such a mercy mission.
Most of the scrapes that Sam gets herself into have never happened to me, although there is some truth in the one that features the goat!
However, like Sam, I do believe in the power of female friendship and I also believe in love. If I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t write Romcoms.
I hope you enjoy reading Moonlight Over Studland Bay as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading.
Moonlight Over Studland Bay is available in ebook, audiobook and paperback. Get yours now by clicking on the cover below.
