From Fountain Pen to Published Author

Quick-Fire Q&A with Richard Clubley

Join us as Richard Clubley, author of The Sea All Around, takes part in our series of quick-fire Q&As!

What is a quick-fire Q&A?

We have our interviewee pick a number at random and we ask them the general question listed next to it.

Shortly after we switch to asking book-specific questions, to give you a brief insight into our wonderful writers and their books.

What is the most difficult thing about being an author?

The editing process.

I find the writing quite easy; I love it, and I enjoy it. It seems to come quite easily to me, but I'm a bit disorganised with it. When I get to the end, I've got jumbles of bits and pieces, and I have to be careful to eliminate duplication and errors.

Whether it's me editing or somebody from the office editing and sending me edits to look up.

What inspired you to start writing books?

I can remember the very first lesson I had in junior school. The teacher put some joined-up writing words on the board for us to copy. I loved the mechanical process of using a pen. I loved the process of copying these words that I copied more than she asked for, and I worried that I was going to get into trouble filling my book with more words than I was asked for.

I've loved the process of writing ever since. Whether it's shopping lists, stories, letters or Christmas cards, I just love it.

I have a fountain pen which I write letters to people. I write my books in Word, but I love to use a fountain pen when I get the chance. I wrote a letter to somebody the other day who I had not seen recently, and she emailed back and said, ‘Why have you written a letter?’ And I said, ‘I was just desperate for something to write.’

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I don't think of myself as an author. I was a schoolteacher till I was 53 and then I set myself up as a plumber. I didn't start writing my books until I was 60.

I suppose, I do think of myself as an author now, but it's only been a retirement hobby. After four books, I do say to people now that I am a freelance writer or I'm an author. I feel I can say that.

Where is your favourite place to write?

We moved to Orkney in 2017. We had a house built for ourselves and there are only two of us, but it's got six bedrooms, so I've used one of the bedrooms as a study.

There’s a great thing about a writer's room. I've seen several magazines and newspaper articles where writers get interviewed about their rooms. They are important places.

I guess, my favourite place is this room, my study. This is where I do 95% of my writing. But it's also very true that a retreat is a great place to write. When I've been writing about Scottish islands, if I've gone away to stay on the island for a week or month or whatever and I've had a holiday cottage there alone. That's a very good place to write.

But what is your favourite thing about Scotland?

I could write a book about my favourite things about Scotland. I mean, there are so many. The people, the scenery, the wildlife, the history, the archaeology, the music, the food, everything. Absolutely everything. I don't know why. It just gets me. It's a love affair.  I know that's corny, and I know it's a cliche.

Before I lived here, I used to spend all my available disposable income travelling up to Scotland for a week or longer to visit. When I would leave to go back south, I was heartbroken. I know that's a that's a powerful phrase, but I was. I'd get to the last motorway service station in Scotland before I crossed over into England and I would go into the service station and look at old postcards of Scotland.

To pick one thing. would be impossible.

What was your favourite thing about writing this book?

I decided, before I wrote it, that I was going to let it all hang out. When I wrote the first book, I lacked confidence as to whether somebody would want to read it. I concentrated on the facts. I mean, I have done in this book as well, as far as possible, I've made sure it's all factually correct. But in the first book, I concentrated solely on the facts and didn't allow myself any personal input of feelings, views or opinions.

As my confidence grew and I got to this book, I thought ‘I'm going to let it all hang out because this is probably going to be my last one.’ I poured my heart into it – what I thought about Scotland and what I thought about the issues, the wildlife and ecological problems.

I've read bits of it back to myself after it's been published and I thought, yes, I did. I said what I wanted to say. I've got it down there in black and white and that's what pleased me about this one.

If you were to summarise the book in five words, what would they be?

All my feelings about Scotland.

Why should people read this book?

People tell me that my passion for Scotland shines through. They've said that right from the first book. This book, the title I submitted to Luath Press was The Sea All Around: travels in Scottish Islands. At the 11th hour, somebody at Luath suggested we change it to The Sea All Around: A Passion for Scottish Islands. I thought that was a better title, so I stuck with it.

I think people will get heartfelt writing about the various things that I've written about.

What is your favourite chapter from the book and why?

Probably the ones where I'm talking about what it all means to me specifically. There are lots of very short chapters, some of them are only a page, where I'm talking about what I feel. I’d say they are my favourite.

Why did you choose the cover that you did?

It was a sunny day in Skye. I was waiting to look inside a particular village hall, but I couldn't go in because the ladies were having their fitness class. So, I waited outside in the sunshine and I and I looked out to the sea, and I saw that view. I just snapped it.

But then when it came to the title, The Sea All Around, it fit perfectly. It’s a snap of islands with the sea all around.

Is the finished book, what you expected when you first started writing it?

Yeah, I think so. It was important to me to not hold back. It was important to me to say what I felt and what I thought about things. That came out of increasing confidence. I've written three books before this one. They've been pretty well received. Gavin [our director at Luath Press] had asked me to write another and I thought I must be doing something right, so I'll put more of myself into this one.

When I look back at it, I have this little thing that I do whenever anybody says to me, ‘Oh, I liked your book.’ I go back and I read the part they liked the most just to try and see it through their eyes. It allows me to connect with my readers.