A very special announcement to make today, for those of you who don’t know already from the Bookseller’s announcement, we have signed the incredible and inspiring Katie Piper!

We are all over the moon to have her on board and look forward to her first book Things Get Better coming soon.

Katie Piper – Things Get Better from Quercus Books on Vimeo.

Recently I saw the film YOUNG ADULT with Charlize Theron (it’s good, I recommend it) and got to thinking about its title. In the context of the film, “Young Adult” is a play on words: the protagonist is a 30-something author who acts half her age and writes a sugary fiction series aimed at teenage girls.

“Young adult” (or “YA”) is a term that is used throughout publishing for literature of any genre that is written for an audience of about 12-17 years old. YA novels are often shorter and less stylistically complex than adult works, but contain some exploration of adult themes. These include (but are not limited to) love, sex, peer abuse, substance abuse, family problems, growing pains, irrational adolescent anger, and so on.

There are certain genres where the YA market is particularly strong. Recently, this has been the case with fantasy, science fiction and horror… it seems we can’t get enough of supernatural teenage thrillers.

Quercus’ fantasy/sci-fi YA list is small but strong. Our book Ashes fits pretty cleanly into the dystopian fiction genre and has been sweeping up praise from critics left and right. John Marsden’s series, which begins with Tomorrow When the War Began, is another example.

That said, YA doesn’t always have to be genre fiction. Many of the best examples are set in the modern day and centre around the banalities of school cliques, embarrassing siblings, and teenage hormones. Cat Clarke’s novel Torn, for instance, is a brilliant example of non-genre YA, albeit with a slightly macabre twist.

Now, we at Quercus are all 18 years + and huge fans of Torn, This brings me to the heart of this thought exercise: it appears that YA fiction is no longer the sole domain of sprightly fifteen-year-olds (if you need proof of this just look at the number of adults with Twilight tattoos.)

At some stage in the not-so-distant past YA starting attracting a pretty significant adult fan base. When did this happen? Was it after the emergence of that book-which-will-not-be-named? Or, was it some time earlier? Is it nostalgia alone that makes us older folk love YA or is there another, more profound, reason?

Send us your thoughts and you may just get to read Torn for free (hint: it never pays to teach that annoying popular girl the lesson she so deserves.)

Wonderful web words

Until its first use in emails in 1971, the @ symbol was an obscure object used to indicate pricing levels in accounting. Since then, it has become one of the world’s most widely-used symbols, and has gathered a bewildering and colourful variety of different descriptions in different languages.

Several of these printer’s terms survive to this day online: from the abbreviation “em” signalling “emphasis” (type in italics) to the use of the tag “strong” to signal bold type. Technological times change fast – but words have their own momentum.

This week on the Quercus Couch we’ve got the wonderful Siobhan Hayes, author of Poison Heart, one of the most dark and magical tales of the year.

Alice Hill: Where were you born and raised?

S.B. Hayes: I was born and raised in Crosby, Liverpool, and I still live very close by, in an adjoining suburb.

Alice Hill: How many brothers and sisters do you have? Is anyone else in your family a writer?

S.B. Hayes: None of my family are writers. I have three children, all boys, and I hope that one of them will be interested in becoming a writer, but they show no signs of it yet!

Alice Hill: Did you enjoy school? What is your most vivid memory of your school years?

S.B. Hayes: I loved school although I was quite shy. I attended a single-sex convent school that was very strict and demanded the highest standard of behaviour. My most vivid memory is being caught swearing about a lengthy homework assignment. I thought I was safe at the back row of the class but my teacher excelled in lip reading. I was made to stand in the corridor for a double lesson with our headmistress, Sister Scholastica, on the prowl.

Alice Hill: What educational qualifications do you have? Have you had any formal tuition in creative writing? If so, where and what? Did you find it useful?

S.B. Hayes: I studied Humanities at university but my course didn’t involve any creative writing. My only tuition has been the literary agents and publishers who were kind enough to give me their feedback and advice on how to increase my chances of being published.

Alice Hill: Did you always want to be an author? If not, what did you originally want to be and when and why did you change your mind?

S.B. Hayes: Yes, I always wanted to be an author. I can remember being as young as six or seven and spending all my pocket money on a notebook to write in. I loved being faced with a pristine blank page because of the endless possibilities it presented.

Alice Hill: What were the first pieces of writing that you produced? e.g. short stories, school magazine etc.

S.B. Hayes: My first piece would definitely have been a poem. I was obsessed by rhyme, rhythm and the repetition of words. I would compose endless verses in my head when I was supposed to be doing math or something boring.

Alice Hill: Who were your role models? Which writers have influenced you the most? Which person do you most admire?

S.B. Hayes: I admire so many writers, both modern and classic, I couldn’t pin down just a few and, of course, I would love to be able to write as well as all of them, but it’s important to find your own voice and literary style.

Alice Hill: What jobs did you have before you started writing?

S.B. Hayes: I’ve always worked in offices in different roles but I don’t think I was a model employee. I was often sneakily writing poetry or short stories instead of processing pension applications or insurance claims.

Alice Hill: Do you write full-time? If so, when did you start?

S.B. Hayes: I would love to write full-time but it never seems to happen, though I do try to work on something every day, if only proofreading my previous efforts. If I’m found slacking I try to convince people that I’m mentally preparing, always important before beginning a story.

Alice Hill: What was your goal then? What is your ambition now that you have achieved success as a writer? What is the next challenge for you personally?

S.B. Hayes: My goal was always to have a novel published. My current ambition is simply to have the opportunity to continue writing for Young Adults and maybe younger teenagers. It’s such a pleasure and a privilege, I couldn’t ask for more.

Alice Hill: Have you ever written in other genres? Under pseudonyms?

S.B. Hayes: I’ve tried my hand at writing romance for women and a psychological thriller. I’ve also written children’s novels for middle readers. I’ve used pseudonyms in the past, some of which I’m really embarrassed about.

Alice Hill: What personal experiences do you feel have informed your writing? Do you have a connection with or fondness for particular characters or locations?

S.B. Hayes: I probably do draw on my own personal experiences but it isn’t a conscious thing. I’m just as likely to gain inspiration from being observant in everyday life; people-watching is one of my hobbies. I have a fondness for characters with plenty of flaws and definitely in jeopardy.

Alice Hill: What inspires you?

S.B. Hayes: I’m inspired by the whole process of creating something out of nothing and it still amazes me that one small idea can evolve into a full-length novel. Every other writer, published or unpublished, also inspires me for being brave enough to turn their thoughts into words and engage with a reader.

Alice Hill: How do you write each book? i.e. do you block out the narrative first, take each page at a time, create the central character, build a cast of characters etc? Any anecdotes about the research or writing of your books?

S.B. Hayes: I never have any trouble creating characters, they’re firmly fixed in my imagination and by the time I come to describe them they already feel like old friends. I take more time with the plot of a novel and often work out a chapter-by-chapter sequence of events with all the twists and turns before I begin, otherwise I literally lose the plot! If my inspiration wanes I’ve been known to take a long bus ride. The sheer boredom always concentrates my mind.

Alice Hill: Have any of your books been televised? Who by and when were they screened?
No, but I live in hope.

Alice Hill: What is a typical writing day? What time do you start? Where do you write? Do you break for lunch? What exercise do you do?

S.B. Hayes: My writing schedule is inconsistent and is often dictated by my other commitments. I always want to do more than I’m able and have guilty dreams where I’m sitting at my computer furiously tapping at the keyboard.

When I wake up I’m always annoyed that I can never remember what I’ve written! I write in my spare bedroom which is south facing and always warm. My lazy cat lies on the window ledge next to my desk, mocking my endeavours.

My daily exercise is sauntering to the nearest coffee shop for a latte and chocolate pastry.

Alice Hill: How long does it take you to complete a novel typically?

S.B. Hayes: With a coherent plot I could write a novel in less than six months but with the important editing process, it can take up to a year.

Alice Hill: What do you do when you are not writing? How do you relax? What are your hobbies?

S.B. Hayes: There always seems to be a million and one things to do and never enough hours in the day, but I’m not unique in that. My husband has his own business in which I’m gainfully employed. (Although he might disagree with this statement!) In general I find it really hard to relax but I love going to the cinema and theatre, or visiting flea markets to buy anything old, worn or slightly battered. I’m l lucky to live close to the sea and I like to walk along the beach, particularly in winter.

Alice Hill: Have you started your next book? Can you tell us a little bit about it?

S.B. Hayes: Yes, I have started my next book. It combines the quest for a missing person with a love story that to succeed has to defy the immutable laws of time. I adore my latest heroine; she has an attitude problem, is impatient and, after a brush with death, feels that time is slipping through her fingers.

She is drawn to an atmospheric manor house in the search for her brother where she has to undergo certain trials, but her ultimate test will be to preserve her soul and be reunited with her one true love.

Alice Hill: What single thing might people be surprised to learn about you?

S.B. Hayes: I was born on Friday the thirteenth, something I tend not to share.

Alice Hill: Anything else you’d like to add?

S.B. Hayes: So many talented people help in the production of a novel and without their dedication it wouldn’t get off the ground. It’s important that an author doesn’t get all the credit. The only other thing to add is – having my first novel published is wonderful. I’m still expecting to wake up!

1) There is an exceptionally strong sense of time and place, with the Australian countryside a presence in its own right. Other reviews have suggested echoes of and a homage to Cormac McCarthy.

While I didn’t find Bereft as visceral as The Road, there’s no denying that Womersley’s post-WWI Australia certainly shares elements of McCarthy’s apocalyptic nightmare.-Lizzy Siddal

Read the full review over on Lizzy’s Literary Life.

2) The image of central New South Wales is a stark and beautiful one – harsh and rugged. I could almost smell the dust and feel the heat. The prose was unique and conjured vivid sensory reactions as I read it.

This is a novel that I could read a few times and get something different from it every time. It would also be a great novel to discuss as part of a book club, because of its subtlety and the variety of issues it raises. Highly recommended.

Read this review in full on My journal of becoming a writer.

3) The prose it beautiful, the characters fully drawn, there is also a mystery at its heart giving it that page turning quality, yet never at the expense of any of its other winning factors.

It also covers a very interesting period in a countries history I knew nothing about yet came away with the atmosphere still lingering with me long after finishing the book. Highly recommended.

I am really glad I read this book, I have instantly started wondering if its eligible for a certain award this year but wouldn’t want to jinx it, it is only January after all.

I am saddened to see that you can’t get his debut novel ‘The Low Road’ in the UK as yet, as I would definitely like to read more of his work. Has anyone else read that? Who else has read this one? I would love to know if readers in Australia have heard as much about this book as I imagine you might.-Simon Savidge

Read this wonderful review in full over on Savidge Reads.

If you’d like to read a free extract of the novel we have an interactive flipbook available now!

Afterwards you can listen to Chris on the fantastic Litopia:

In keeping with the strategy of expanding the depth and breadth of our fiction, non-fiction and children’s offerings, while maintaining the momentum of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, we are pleased to report that revenue from non-Larsson titles during the key final quarter of 2011 increased by 83% over the comparable period in 2010. Notable titles were The King’s Speech by Peter Conradi, The Mayan Prophecy by Steve Alten, Born Fearless by Phil Campion, The Blackhouse by Peter May and Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson.

The Stieg Larsson franchise performed robustly and while 2010 saw the peak of Millennium Trilogy sales, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest were three of the Top 10 bestselling books in the UK over the course of the year.

We continue to benefit from our significant investments in digital publishing and marketing, website development and social networking. For the year as a whole, Quercus generated approximately 11% of its income from digital revenues, while the growth in ownership of eReading devices over the Christmas period contributed to an increase in eBook sales of 270% in comparison with the previous December.

In addition, the Directors can report that for the full year ended 31 December 2011 trading is anticipated to be in line with market expectations. Net cash at 31 December 2011 was £4.3m.

Mark Smith, Chief Executive of Quercus commented:

“The Directors are pleased with the performance of the Company over the crucial Christmas trading period and are satisfied that the improved quality of our revenue and earnings will continue into the future. The New Year has started positively with Peter May’s The Lewis Man reaching the number 4 spot on the UK Hardback Adult Fiction chart, Christie Watson’s Tiny Sunbirds Far Away winning the Costa Best First Novel Award and A Cold Season by Alison Littlewood being chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club.”

John’s amazing book From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg is out now, for an exclusive peek inside, check out our amazing interactive flipbook.

Tom Chatfield, author of the book 50 Digital Ideas,was good enough to answer some questions for us about the book and the ever expanding digital world.

Daniel Fraser: How did you come to write 50 Digital Ideas?

Tom Chatfield: I was already aware of the series of 50 Ideas books, and when Quercus approached me to ask if I was interested in adding one about digital ideas, I jumped at the chance. From when I was young, I’ve always loved “explaining” books that take a field and open up some of the most fascinating things about it to those with an interest but no specialist knowledge. It’s something that a well-made book does delightfully well, and this series is one of the very best at doing it.

Daniel Fraser: Your book deals with some very technical subject matter, what methods do you employ to explain them in an accessible way?

Tom Chatfield: Much like editing an article in a magazine, I try to imagine I’m writing for an intelligent reader who has no prior knowledge of the topic – and so you can be sophisticated, but you can’t leave any begged questions. I also try to focus on those aspects of a topic I think are inherently interesting, rather than only of interest to specialists: the human stories and histories behind them, and the ways in which something is actually, tangibly being used.

Daniel Fraser: Do you think that this is a particularly important time for the development of the digital world? Do you think its presence in society and business will continue to expand for a long time?

Tom Chatfield: The present is the most exciting moment yet in the brief history of digital technologies, undoubtedly – and the question isn’t so much whether there will be growth, as just how world-changing this growth will be. Digital technology will, I believe, continue to expand its role in our societies until it in some way affects every aspect of our being: for better and for worse, we have created tools whose ultimate complexity may come to rival our own.

Daniel Fraser: What was the most difficult aspect of writing your book and how did you get over it?

Tom Chatfield: Fifty ideas sounds like a lot, but the moment you start thinking about a word as huge as “digital” and what it can mean, you start coming up with hundreds of things that could go in. So choosing the ideas themselves was tough – and I got over it partly by lots of thinking, and partly by being clear that the focus was what has the most impact on the way people are living now, often without them quite knowing that this is the case.

Daniel Fraser: Did you find your background in the industry a help or a hindrance when trying to break down the various concepts explained in the book?

Tom Chatfield: I’ve dealt with and worked with a number of technology companies, and this was a great help, together with the opportunity to talk to people who work in these industries. I’ve never been an insider or a true techy person, though – my skills are more to do with words and analysis, and in that sense my experience of working as a commissioning editor at Prospect magazine was definitely the most useful training I’ve had for explaining concepts.

Daniel Fraser: If you hadn’t become a writer, what do you think you’d be doing today?

Tom Chatfield: I always wanted to write from when I was very young, so this is a hard question. But I might have studied medicine in some capacity: health and the body fascinate me, and both my wife and many of my best friends are doctors, so there’s obviously something drawing me towards it.

Daniel Fraser: What are you working on now?

Tom Chatfield: I’ve just finished a new book, exploring what you might call the philosophy of technology; and I’m now working on some fiction, articles, a couple of consulting projects, and a few video gaming projects too. I like to stay busy.

Daniel Fraser: Who is your favourite writer? And who is your least favourite?

Tom Chatfield: Among living writers, I’d have to say I look forward to a book by Terry Pratchett with more pure pleasure than one from perhaps anyone else. In literary terms, some of the big 20th century Americans – Hemingway, Faulkner, Bellow in particular – leave me breathless at their best. One of the few recent novels to leave me similarly moved was Adam Foulds’s The Quickening Maze: a minor masterpiece. I don’t tend to read authors I don’t like; but I have a particular dislike of some well-made recent “Bookerish” books that could have been written at any time in the last half-century.

Daniel Fraser: Do you have a favourite quote?

Tom Chatfield: One of history’s wisest quotes, for me, is Hegel’s line about history itself: “What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.”

Daniel Fraser: What do you think the digital landscape will be like in the next decade?

Tom Chatfield: Things are changing so fast that it’s hard to say. But one immensely significant movement is the explosive growth of powerful, internet-connected mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers. In a decade, when almost everyone has that kind of power and connectivity available all the time, I think we’re going to see a new level of integration between daily life, and the objects and activities that comprise it, and digital services.

Daniel Fraser: What do you do when you are not writing?

Tom Chatfield: Lots of stuff – but two things make me especially happy: playing the piano, and going for long walks. Not at the same time, obviously.

Tom recently wrote an incredible piece for the Guardian where he discusses how to find time for what’s important in the ever increasing speed of the digital age.

Most native English speakers have never had to slog through English language verb tables, because part of learning a language from when you’re little is knowing what sounds right without a second thought.

For this reason, it’s near impossible to have a logical relationship with your own language.

Russians, for instance, will smile sympathetically and tell you “learning Russian is very hard!” without truly understanding how confusing cases are for the English-speaking mind.

Following this, native speakers have little conception of what foreigners find difficult in English. I will help to enlighten you. Look at this table:

Drink     drank     drunk
Drive     drove     driven

The first column is the infinitive: the unconjugated verb, which also serves as the present tense.

The middle column is the simple past and the far column is the past participle. In case you don’t know what those things are in context, here are some sentences:

1. I DRINK 50 cups of tea a day, all made for me by my assistant.

2. I DRANK the entire bottle of Yorkshire cider and then fell asleep.

3. I HAVE DRUNK my weight in herbal remedies.

Now, that might sound straightforward, but these verbs are all IRREGULAR. I will show you why. Look at these REGULAR verbs:

1. I cry/cried/have cried over my terrible manuscript.

2. I torch/torched/have torched my many rejection letters.

3. I submit/submitted/have submitted it to another publisher.

BUT

4. I write/wrote/HAVE WRITTEN the sequel already!

In case you’re a bit slow on the uptake, the last sentence included an irregular verb! Now, I hope you understand that rather flurried grammar lesson. I will leave you with two parting thoughts:

1. I designate 100 points to anyone who can coherently explain the logic behind all this.

2. Contemplate the horror: Dream /dreamed / dreamt/dreamed / dreamt

Sweet dreams and see you next week!

So, we thought we might add a little competition in for you all: We’ve got 3 copies of Matt Fitzgerald’s fantastic Iron War. All you have to do is post your favourite obscure or weird irregular verb. Best 3 verbs by 4pm win!

Clare Corbett is the reader for three Quercus Audiobooks in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Rose Tomaszewska met her at Strathmore recording studios to find out more about an actor’s role in the creation of audiobooks.

Rose Tomaszewska: Not many people know what your job is like. Would you tell us how you came to be a reader?

Clare Corbett: I won the Carlton Hobbs audition in 2001 after studying at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, and was chosen to be on the BBC Radio Rep. At first, I was asked to do various smaller readings, and then I got my first chance to do ‘A Book at Bedtime’. That got me into the flow of reading and being a part of that world.

After I left I got a voiceover agent who introduced me to new companies like the BBC audio books, Chivers, who got me into reading children’s books, and now I’ve progressed to reading adult books.

Rose Tomaszewska: And you’re also a stage and TV actress; is there one area you enjoy the most?

Clare Corbett: I should say reading books! I do enjoy reading books. But my favourite is theatre, because it’s a live experience; every night is different and you’re reacting off someone.

You’re just there, and that’s when you get the buzz of the job. With books, it’s more about the preparation that you do. Then in a play you have just one character. Whereas the beauty of a book is that you have every character and you’ve created that whole audio book. That’s the only job actually where you do: you’ve created everything from start to finish, with the producer’s help. It’s your little gift, from putting all this work in.

Clare Corbett: With a book, I read it once through, the whole thing, noting down the characters, where they’re from and the through-story. And then I read it again and work through any specific accents I’m not clear on.

With a script for theatre, or TV, you’re looking for the reasoning behind things- it becomes more in depth into the one character; whereas with a book you don’t have time to concentrate on one character. If you’re in first person, it’s a bit easier, but with a book like we’ve done today, it’s more about getting the overall view and feel for the book.

Rose Tomaszewska: We’ve just finished doing ‘A Room Full of Bones’, the fourth title in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Have you enjoyed reading her books?

Clare Corbett: This is the third one I’ve done, and they’re really exciting books. It’s all about a forensic archaeologist, Ruth, she’s always digging up bones and of course her findings lead to further investigations.

Then there’s a guy called Harry Nelson, who’s the police detective inspector, with whom she’s having a kind of relationship, and it’s a really lovely relationship. It’s nice to do a series of books, because you get to explore those characters.

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you have a particular affection for one character in the book?

Clare Corbett: Ruth is the most important person for me, even though it’s not written in the first person- because when I play Ruth, it is my own, natural voice. I have more affection for her as a character and I generally agree with what she says!

Rose Tomaszewska: There are a lot of different characters, how do you bring across their personalities in their voices, where do you get your inspiration?

Clare Corbett: You find it from the text, which will explain what the characters are like, and then you’ve got license to go anywhere you want – the producer guides you in that. So Harry Nelson is quite a brusque guy, forthright and thinks that men should be in control, and because of those descriptions you know what to do, naturally. As anyone would, I imagine, when reading a book; because when you read a book in your head, you’re kind of playing the characters.

Clare Corbett: Norfolk I had never done before I came to these books, which was a bit scary! I thought it was going to be in first person with a Norfolk accent. I’m from Bristol originally, and the accent is very similar to Norfolk, so I had to work on it quite a lot.

I go on a website which has people talking in different accents, and I listen and make notes phonetically on the page. In the book there are often Northern and Norfolk characters speaking to each other, and I find I have to switch accents quickly, which is quite difficult! But it’s just a matter of working hard, and listening, and having a good ear for accents, which I now have because of all the work I’ve done.

Rose Tomaszewska: Is that one of the hardest things about reading audio books?

Clare Corbett: No, the hardest thing is the long time spent in a studio. Normally with a voiceover, you only do an hour and sustain just one character. But with a book there are so many characters, and you’ve got to sustain the through-line of the story – you can make a book very bland if you just read it, deadpan – you’ve got to hook the reader in.

That’s where a producer and a sound engineer come in handy, they can say, “can you make this a little quicker,” or “bring up the intensity of the situation.” But you naturally have an instinct for that if you’re a good reader, and I hope I have.

It’s sustaining that concentration when you’re in the studio from 10am – 6pm with 3 breaks that can be hard. With a good producer, and with enough preparation- which is the key to doing audio books, you’re ok. And with enough cups of tea and coffee!

Rose Tomaszewska: How do you look after your voice?

Clare Corbett: I actually looked into insuring my voice the other day, because it’s making me enough money to worry about it! I don’t go out drinking the night before I do a book, or shout at festivals! If I have any worries with the voice, I have a steam, which is good for the throat, drink lots of water. Lots of boring things!

Rose Tomaszewska: And you’ve always been that good?

Clare Corbett: No, not always. I’ve learnt my lesson!

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you have somebody in mind when you’re reading?

Clare Corbett: I do that more with children’s books, because it’s more immediate. But with adult books, because I’m sitting in a studio, I’ve got the producer sitting opposite me so I’m reading to them and watching for their reactions through the glass window. With a children’s book, I kind of imagine the microphone to be a child.

Rose Tomaszewska: Would you ever want to do something really difficult like Virginia Woolf?

Clare Corbett: I’d love to! I’d love to give it a go. I did a book called Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allen, which is in the first person. There were so many different characters, and she was in a mental home, it was brilliant to play.

Because I’m an actor, the first person sits more happily with me than narration, because it allows you to be completely in the book: not flicking between characters. You’re in someone else’s head and their way of speaking, so you naturally start to physicalise it as well.

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you ever do that, gesticulate?

Clare Corbett: Yes. Too much! And get told by the engineer to stop moving, because as soon as you move, your face in moving towards or further away from the microphone, which is not conducive to a good reading, and you can bang the table as well, which is not good for a reader!

Rose Tomaszewska: Storytelling is quite an old tradition, probably one of the oldest dramatic, or even entertainment forms that there is in human culture. Do you ever think of how you’re a part of that tradition?

Clare Corbett: I do actually! It’s a wonderful thing to do. As a child, I used to get my Dad to read Goldilocks and the Three Bears over and over again. There’s something about it that is so warming, and makes you feel like home.

It draws you into a different world, and I think even at that age you want to escape and take your imagination to different worlds. I think that’s where it comes from, people wanting to draw on these mythical worlds. I’m very happy to be doing audio books, and I hope that that affects people, that they’re taken somewhere else when they’re listening.

Clare Corbett: Well, when you have to prep books all the time your mind is usually in a work mode when you’re reading! I did recently read a book called The Cry of the Go Away Bird, by Andrea Eames, about a young Zimbabwean white girl growing up on a farm during all the tensions in the 1990s.

I was doing it as an audio book but I read it through the first time round without making any marks on it, because I was so drawn in to the book. It was fantastic, a beautiful book to read. And that’s the nice thing about audio books, is that you read books you might not have chosen to read.

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you have any tips for someone wanting to be a voice actor?

Clare Corbett: Everyone wants to be a voice actor! What I always say is practise reading out loud, even record yourself, because you may think you can read, but you have to have a lot of support and breath- and as an actor you have to train in that- and you need to sustain a lot of characters. So practise practise practise!

Rose Tomaszewska: What other work have you been doing lately?

Clare Corbett: I’ve just come back from Scarborough, where I was playing Ruth in Blithe Spirit at the Stephen Joseph Theatre- which was fantastic! Before that I played May-Ella in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. So two completely different characters! May-Ella is a Deep South girl who’s abused by her father and accuses a black man of rape. Then Ruth is a poshest of the posh lady from a Noel Coward play.

Rose Tomaszewska: That’s a good reflection of your voice capabilities, doing such different accents.

Clare Corbett: Yes, I do tend to approach a character with a voice and go from there; that’s my training from radio. It’s allowed me to focus on the voice and then find the physicality and everything else which comes with that.

Rose Tomaszewska: Do you listen to your own tapes?

Clare Corbett: Aghh, it’s like watching your own TV performance, it’s horrible. I never used to, and then I was made to at drama school, to listen back to things that weren’t right. And when I do kids voices, which I do a lot of, I listen back to make sure they sound authentic.

I don’t really listen to audio books because I don’t really want to listen to my own voice, I talk enough as it is!

Clare Corbett: I enjoy the kid’s books, because you can go for very silly accents and different characters, whereas the adult books have to stay in the realm of reality. In the Elly Griffiths books, the Irish priest was quite characterful, and Nelson’s mother, I’ve made rather outlandish! I like to create larger than life characters, because I believe there are people out there who do sound like that.

When we see them on TV or hear them, we think ‘ah, there aren’t really people like that,’ but there are! You observe people every day in London, and the characters you see – you think ‘my God!’ I’m a bit of a one for listening to people in restaurants. Sometimes I do use that for inspiration…so watch out!