Burned-out author Dee needs fresh inspiration. Impetuously, she abandons London and her good-for-nothing boyfriend to go wherever her literary quest takes her. Journey’s end is a remote village on the shores of a wild estuary, overshadowed by a ruined pele tower. She rents Winter Cottage and waits for a story to emerge.
The bleak beauty of the whispering dunes, the jacquard of colour and texture of the marsh and a romantic tree in a secluded glade—The Trysting Tree—all seduce Dee. Nevertheless, the secretive behaviour of a handsome neighbour, lights across the marsh, a spurious squire and a bizarre, moonlit encounter all suggest there is something odd afoot.
Local gossip and crumbling graveyard inscriptions give Dee the opening she needs. She begins to weave hints about the tragic history of a local family, feuding brothers and a fatal fire into a sweeping historical saga. Her characters clamour for a voice as the tale spools effortlessly onto the page—demanding to be told. Dee feels more like its instrument than its instigator.
As she becomes enmeshed in the local community, Dee is startled to find her fiction unnervingly confirmed by fact, her history still resonating in the present-day.
Is she being guided by echoes of the past?
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Q&A
Whom did you inherit your love for books/reading from?
My mum was a great reader. She took me to our local library every week when I was a child, and I read my way through the entire children’s section! Mum was never without a library book on the arm of her chair, the kitchen table or by her bed. She introduced me to writers like Elizabeth Gouge, Noel Streatfield and LM Montgomery. Later, she bought me books by Norah Lofts and RF Delderfield. These authors are not widely read these days, but their stories really endure.
Where can I find you when you are reading?
Pretty much anywhere I can find a quiet half hour. I read in doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms, in the relaxation area of the spa, in cafés and even on the loo! My ‘official’ reading time is just before bed, although, by then, I’m often too tired to concentrate. These days, I listen to audiobooks as well as reading physical and ebooks. Audiobooks keep my mind occupied whilst I’m doing mundane things like ironing or housework.
Where can I find you when you are not writing/reading?
I’m a homebody. I like to potter in the garden and walk in our local area, which inspired my new book, The Cottage on Winter Moss. We live in a remote corner of the UK. The scenery is amazing and watching the way the seasons impact it is fascinating. We are now they proud owners of a caravan, and I enjoy our adventures in that. I think most writers will tell you that even when they are not writing, they are thinking about writing, and that’s true for me too.
What goes through your mind when you hold your new book in your hands for the first time?
Truthfully? The first thing that comes into my head is that I wish my mum and dad could see it. The second thing is a kind of wonderment, that I have produced this thing.
How did you come up with a title for your book?
It’s tricky, because the title has to tell the potential reader so much. It’s the big hook that must draw the reader in. How do you condense a hundred thousand words or so into a snappy two- or three-word title? This book is a dual timeline novel, a book-within-a-book. In it, an author writes a novel inspired by a strange and evocative tree she finds in a secluded copse. She names it The Trysting Tree because she feels sure that it has been the site of many romantic assignations, and it becomes the title for her book. I was tempted to use it as the title for my book too, but I worried that it only told half the story. The cottage in the title plays a pivotal role in both timelines. The book is set in wintertime and the local landscape plays a huge role in my book, so I settled on The Cottage on Winter Moss.
How do you come up with the names for your characters?
You get a feeling for these things. You try out a few different names and one of them seems to fit. Also, character names have to be appropriate to the period the book is set in. I do quite a bit of research into names that were popular at the time. Sometimes I begin with one name and change to another. For example, in this book, a character who started off as Tom became Todd. As he developed, the character became too cruel, troubled and sinister to be a Tom, which happens to be the name of my son.
Which character would you like to be in this book?
Dee, for sure! She is the writer I mentioned earlier. The idea of six months in a beautiful cottage amidst that amazing landscape with nothing to do at all but write is absolute bliss! Also, she gets to have amazing sex with one handsome, well-honed, rugged chap and to discuss literature over coffee with another who is equally attractive as well as wise and very well-read. What’s not to like? Plus, once she has started her story, it pours out of her as though she is little more than a conduit. Oh! That it was really that easy!
How do you pick a cover for your book?
Like the title, the cover has to do so much. For his book I knew immediately which artist I wanted to work with. Sarah Reid at Redraw Studios has an amazing feel for the landscape, for light and texture. I tried to give Sarah as much information as I could, sending her extracts and photographs, but in the end, I needed to allow her use her own talent and insight. On this occasion she actually came to the area that is featured in my book, to see for herself the colour of the landscape, the textures of the marsh flora and the character of the silver birches that grow in such atypical and unusual ways here. The cover she came up with is just fantastic, exactly what I saw in my mind’s eye.
Have you started writing your next book?
Yes, although it feels disloyal to have moved on to something new before this one is hardly out of the blocks. The length of time between writing ‘the end’ and the actual publication is quite protracted, while the beta readers, the editor, the cover artist and the graphic designer all do their thing, and while I gather my launch team and organise the blog tour. Those things all take time and work but they aren’t creative. I get an itch that only writing can scratch. I’m working on the next book in my ‘Widows’ series.
What is the title of the next book on your ‘to read’ pile?
I’m currently reading ‘Sea of Poppies’ by Amitav Ghosh and listening to ‘Katherine’ by Anya Seton. The next book on my kindle is ‘Emotional Geology’ by Linda Gillard. I really like Linda’s writing so I am looking forward to it
Thank you
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About the author
Allie Cresswell was born in Stockport, UK and began writing fiction as soon as she could hold a pencil.
She did a BA in English Literature at Birmingham University and an MA at Queen Mary College, London.
She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a book-keeper, run a B & B and a group of boutique holiday cottages. Nowadays Allie writes full time having retired from teaching literature to lifelong learners.
She has two grown-up children, two granddaughters, two grandsons and two cockapoos but just one husband – Tim. They live in Cumbria, NW England.
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Author Links
https://www.facebook.com/alliescribbler/
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Book Link
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cottage-Winter-Moss-timeline-literary-ebook/dp/B09YYHRR5J/
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