It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to F.J Beerling.
About F.J Beerling:
Faye Beerling is an accomplished children’s author. She began her writing career back in 2014 and has immense success and 20 titles published to date.
Her credits include becoming the first children’s author on record to receive official endorsement from the Ministry of Defence. They agreed to license RAF100, a commemorative book for children celebrating the first 100 years of the Royal Air Force.
She is also the first author, on record, to write about pioneering aviatrix Amy Johnson, for children, the Wellington bomber on display at Brookland’s Museum and the Spitfire on display at Biggin Hill Airport.
Her books sell in the UK, with distribution through iPG in the USA and Woodslane in Australia.
Even NASA has sold her space-themed books at some of their Space Centre gift shops.
She has also received letters of thanks from HM Queen Elizabeth, the former president of Australia, Martin Turnball, and a blessing from the Pope, but that is not book-related!
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Books by F.J Beerling:
- Twisty Tales V.01
- Amazing Planes
- The Lions of Britannia Bridge
- Wheels & Wings
- Our Rainbow of Hope
- Matilda: Queen of the Desert
- Little Willie
- Bored Brian
- History of the RAF
- Wellington Comes Home
- Sally B & Me
- RAF100
- Hurricane Harry
- Spitfire Pilot
- Medieval Peasant
- Tales from Dover Castle
- A Country Ramble
- Tales from The Clock Tower
- Race to the Moon
- Nautical Chaos
- Twisty Tales V.02 — coming soon!
For a listing of all of her books, visit www.misspotterltd.com.
Author Interview with F.J Beerling:
- What was the first book that made you cry?
Charlotte’s Web. When Charlotte did not make it back to the barn. After spinning her golden egg sack, Charlotte is exhausted and Wilbur, desperate to keep his friend alive, even offers to carry Charlotte the rest of the way. I think it was Wilbur’s fragility and determination that reminded me of myself, and of the harsh reality of life, death.
- Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I think it would be quite difficult to deliver to readers what they want and to be able to keep on delivering what they want. Be original. Do not be afraid to be original, find your style and develop it. Then you can enjoy your writing journey and the adventures it will take you on.
- What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
There are two parts to answering this question. If I am writing a commission book, I work closely with the client and pay careful attention to the brief. Sometimes they will give me all the background I need as bullet points to include in the book. Sometimes they leave it all up to me and from there I will research as much as possible about the subject matter until it feels right. Until it feels like I have enough information, and according to the size of the book, as this can limit the number of words.
If I am writing one of my short stories for my new set of books titled, Twisty Tales I read book reviews and listen to what people are saying about other children’s authors latest releases. If the reviews are damming, I make sure to exclude whatever it is that, that author is being criticized for. I guess you could say, I learn from their mistakes, I want my books to be loved, laughed at and learnt from, as they all teach children valuable lessons in life, or about life’s history.
- What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
I am dyslexic and I struggle to transfer ideas in my head down onto paper. When I am fatigued, I struggle even more and sometimes when I re-visit a piece of writing I notice that some of the words in a sentence need to be moved around to make better sense.
- What inspired you to start writing?
That is an easy question to answer. I love history and I love telling stories. It brings me great joy when children laugh and learn from the stories that I have written and from history that I have transformed into engaging, entertaining, and educating children’s books.
- Describe a typical writing day.
A typical writing day for me starts with waking up early and excited. I love to write and there are always plenty of ideas going round in my head. Before I write I have some breakfast and spend an hour playing with my beautiful Bichon Frise called Monte. He likes a lot of attention and cuddles. I enjoy sitting in the sun, so whichever room is the brightest in the bungalow I will go and sit in that room and breathe in the sun, enjoy the warmth of it on my face and then I am ready to write. I have a laptop and mostly sit in the conservatory when I am writing. I take regular breaks, if I do not, I burn out and my quality of writing is diluted. I do not force myself to write, I am always relaxed and happy and make sure other work-related things are attended to before I begin. That way nothing else is on my mind or distracting me.
To learn more about F.J Beerling, follow her on Twitter: @FayefairyB
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