“I found the joy of putting the right words in the right places so that I truly felt them.” – The Dorset Book Detective

Author, Artist, Poet and Nature Lover Amanda Marks talks to me about her work so far, her inspiration and what’s next for her writing career.

Please tell me about your writing. What books have you written so far?

You know those writers who say they’ve been telling stories since the age of five? Well, that’s not me! I’ve always read huge amounts but never believed I had the skill or imagination to write creatively myself. It took me until I was 50 to even try.  Why did I start? I had one small idea and it wouldn’t leave me. So I began writing just to get it out of my head – and I didn’t stop. My writing was awful at first. I would read it back and cringe.

But slowly, with persistence (I am quite stubborn), I began to learn what sounded right, what made me smile, what flowed – I found the joy of putting the right words in the right places so that I truly felt them. That’s a huge thing. It still is. For me, writing is all about emotion. I am a character-driven writer, but sometimes my ‘character’ is a tree, a herb, a place or the weather. And I don’t plot (can’t plot!). I am very firmly in the ‘panster’ camp. I love this because, like my readers, I get the excitement of not knowing what’s going to happen – to find out, I have to keep writing!

To date, I’ve written a magical realism novel, a travel memoir-cum-journey of self-discovery story, and a raft of poems (currently unpublished) that connect with my artwork.

The True is an adventure through time and trees searching for redemption and belonging.

Chasing Lions is a woman’s journey of 55,000 miles through the Middle East and Africa in search of her inner lion and her place in the world.

Tell me about your career before you became a writer. How did you get published?

For the 25 years before writing my first novel, I ran an award-winning travel company with my husband, specialising in wildlife and nature. I wrote the brochures and marketing content of websites and documents. I loved it. Before that, I was an overland tour leader for 3 years, travelling as a driver/leader with up to 20 adventurers in a 16-tonne truck across Africa and the Middle East – the subject of my second book.

After six years of writing in the evenings after work, I tentatively sent out my first novel, The True, to 13 agents in 2019. Most replied and a few gave me positive comments, especially about my ‘literary style’. However, they were unsure how they’d position my cross-genre book – a problem no-one was willing to risk for an unknown author (and, in my view, especially one without any formal education in creative writing). Yes, I could have sent it to many more agents and publishers, but I decided to publish independently. That was the right decision for me,  though, having said that, if a trad publishing company was keen to take me on now I’ve proved I can bring in sales, well . . .

How do you integrate your other forms of art into your writing and vice versa?

As well as writing novels, I also love writing poetry to accompany the paintings I make in soft pastel and also in wool.

For The True, an artist friend painted the cover and did the internal illustrations, but I’m about two-thirds through a sequel and might bite the bullet and do my own artwork for this one.

What books do you like reading yourself? Any authors you’re particularly fond of?

I’m currently reading Elif Shafak, who I respect hugely. I love a good murder mystery if it’s not too gory, especially if there’s an element of history, such as with CJ Sansom.

As you might expect, I do particularly enjoy a good time-slip story (eg Barbara Erskine or Suzanne Kearsley) or magical realism novels by Isabel Allende, Laura Esquivel, Salman Rushdie… I rarely read full-on fantasy books, but I think life is better with a sprinkle of magic.  

If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, on a writing project, who would it be and why?

I’m not too sure I’m made for collaborative work if it’s creative. I’ve never tried it but I fear that if it was someone I hugely admired, I’d be too nervous to come up with anything good! Even on my own, it takes me a long time and much effort to persuade myself that I’ve written something worthwhile. I get there eventually but I’m very self-critical. Having said that, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able write with and learn from such varied authors as Barbara Kingsolver, Elif Shafak, Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, Kate Mosse, Philip Pullman, Isabel Allende, John Steinbeck . . . Oh, my list would be endless!

What’s next for you? Any new projects you’re excited about?

I’m dying to get to the end of my current work in progress. I need to find out what happens! After that, I’m considering collating my poems and artwork into a book too. But that might be a while in coming to fruition.

Do you have anything to add?

Thank you for asking me about my writing.

Huge thanks to Amanda for her time and for answering my questions so thoroughly. To find out more about her work, check out Amanda’s website HERE.