Here at Olympia, we love hearing from our authors, getting an insight into their lives in writing and asking them what their advice would be to future authors. This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Philomena Marshmallow about her book.
How old were you when you first wrote something substantial?
It was probably my ‘o’ level essay, my English teacher said it was the best piece of writing he had ever submitted for marking.
Did you ever have aspirations to become a writer?
Although my English teacher believed I could write well I didn’t believe it. However, I always knew I was a storyteller.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Song lyrics have probably provided me with lots of subliminal advice, my favourite being from the song ‘Nothing else matters’ by Metalica
I love the line that states: forever trusting who you are:
My advice to any aspiring writer is obvious:
Forever trust in who you are and don’t try and copy or be like other writers.
What did you find easiest and hardest about writing?
I have a vivid imagination so trying to think of things that haven’t been thought of before isn’t difficult, I loved making up bedtime stories for my two sons when they were little. However, I do struggle to get my conceptual ideas into a grammatical framework.
Was it faster to write your book or to have it published?
Not sure how to answer this question. Writing-wise, the story had been on the back boiler for quite some time. I didn’t initially believe I could write what I was thinking. Once I actually decided to commit I realised how much time I had to dedicate to producing a book worthy of reading. For me, I had to keep re-reading to get the continuity and wording right. On this book, the writing took me a long time, I seem to have adopted a style now and my second book happened much more quickly. Getting the book published was quite a revelation, where do you go who do you ask? I didn’t get any replies from the literacy agents I contacted. Apparently, you need to be published before they will consider you but how do you get published? Thankfully Olympia considered my work. However, they have to proofread, design, proofread again and all of that also takes time. My patience levels have definitely improved since the start of my writing journey.
What was your favourite part of your book to write?
I think this has to be my dedications and acknowledgements.
Do you have any plans to publish more work?
I have already written, submitted and had accepted my second book. With the help of Olympia, It has been a quicker process than the first book.
If you could review Olympia publishers in just a few words what would they be?
A safety net that catches the unknown writer. Thankfully they are there to help and support people that the bigger publishers haven’t got the time to consider.
