Linda Buckley-Archer: A Self Portrait
Linda Buckley-Archer Revealed
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. It's great! But there's still work to do...
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. I don't know who said this first but I often think of it: If you do what you've always done you'll get what you've always got...
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. Perfect happiness is impossible to describe because it's the one occasion when your internal commentator on life does not feel the need to speak.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. To be the last one standing
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. In Scotland, standing on white sand and looking out over the Western Isles
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. In truth
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. To tell good jokes without forgetting the punch line...or may be to be able to sing in tune
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. A terrible propensity to be late - even when it really matters
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. Puddleglum in C.S.Lewis' THE SILVER CHAIR: the world needs more Puddleglums
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. The Vicomte de Valmont in Laclos' DANGEROUS LIAISONS
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Walking in the country or in England's great gardens with friends and family
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Honesty; Warmth; Curiosity
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. Steak and a green salad
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. Ian McEwan Rose Tremain Philip Pullman William Boyd Jane Austen
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. RESTORATION by Rose Tremain ANY HUMAN HEART by William Boyd ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J R R Tolkien THE GREAT GATSBY by F Scott Fitzgerald
- Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
- A. Writing is a long and richly complex process - don't rush it, enjoy it.
- Q. How did you come to write Time Quake?
- A. For the conclusion of The Gideon Trilogy (called The Time Quake Trilogy in the UK) I wanted a truly compelling hook to sweep me (and hopefully) my readers to the end of the narrative. When re-reading the first volume of the trilogy (The Time Travelers (US)/Gideon the Cutpurse (UK)), I was reminded how horrified one of my eighteenth-century characters was that not only would Britain lose its American colony, but America would also become a superpower. Suddenly it struck me that, as a novelist, I was allowed to pose - and answer - counterfactual questions such as "If a villain wanted to go and back in time and change the history of America - what could he do?" So I sought a historian's counterfactual advice and during a book tour in the US found time to stand on the banks of the Delaware River in New Jersey. Very slowly a story started to take shape...
