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Kathryn Haig Interview
Posted on 28 January 2004. © Copyright 2004-2024 WriteWords
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Writewords talks to romantic novelist Kathryn Haig, who also runs creative writing courses in an idyllic part of the New Forest
Tell us something about your background.
I’ve had six books published, the latest being A Time to Dance (Corgi) and have been writing since about the late 80s. I write historical novels, most set in the early part of the last century.
How did you start writing?
At school, I couldn’t wait for the days when we did Composition. It didn’t matter what topic we were given by the teacher – What I Did In My Holidays or A Day In The Life Of A Dog or Grandmother’s Tale – I was off and scribbling. In my teens I wrote a truly dreadful book, heavily influenced by my favourite authors of the time, Georgette Heyer and Jeffrey Farnol. I keep it as an awful warning! Then life got in the way and I didn’t start writing again until my daughter, Rachel, went to school.
Who are your favourite writers and why?
That depends on when you ask me and what mood I’m in. If I’m in a comfortable frame of mind, Jane Austen can be re-read and re-read. I can always find something fresh and new in her writing. Susan Howatch’s early historical novels were great favourites. My daughter introduces me to newer, younger writers and I’m always surprised by how much I enjoy her choices.
How did you feel when you first sent your writing out into the world?
Much as I did on Rachel’s first day at school – bereft!
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Comments by other Members
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 Zigeroon at 17:51 on 31 January 2004
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An insight into rejection and how to brush yourself down and pick yourself up.
Somehow you don't think about a third novel receiving the same critical assessment as the first but of course the publishers investment, both financial and emotional, must be similar. A warning that you are only as good as your last story, so they all have to be of the same high standard; or higher if you want to get published; if your not already.
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 Dee at 10:16 on 05 June 2004
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I know two published writers. One has had four novels published and the other has just sent her third to her publisher. They both say that they still feel as nervous about submitting manuscripts as they did the first time.
Kathryn’s early years are a strange echo of my own. I carry a very old memory of my English teacher handing back a story I’d written and telling me that for the first time in years she had really enjoyed reading a piece of homework. And I read every Georgette Heyer novel ever published. In the 80s I wrote a gruesome romance which came very close to being accepted by Mills & Boon. They suggested I make a few changes and re-submit it but, again, life got in the way and I didn’t follow it up. Can’t believe how stupid that was!
The course sounds very attractive. Off to Amazon now to check out those Kathryn Haig titles.
Dee.
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