Meet the Author Monday: Tina Pritchard

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 Tina Pritchard, author of The Sea Glass Beach.

About Tina Pritchard:

After a life dedicated to bringing up a family, taking a social science degree, working as a lecturer, a trainer and more recently an independent celebrant conducting funerals, weddings and naming ceremonies, Tina addressed her burning need to write a novel. Her first book, In A Deep Dark Wood, reflects her belief that scratching below the surface of ordinary lives can reveal a rich seam of material. She enjoys reading books about regular people with regular lives who, very occasionally, have terrifying and momentous things happen to them.

Tina loves to write and has won competitions for both her short stories and her poetry. She lives in a beautiful part of the world and gains much of her inspiration from walking her badly behaved terrier Horace in the Derbyshire countryside.

About The Sea Glass Beach:

In 1950’s southern Ireland, single mother Theresa gives birth to a child she names Roisin. Arrangements are in hand for the adoption when Theresa changes her mind. The child, gifted and intuitive, is viewed by the local community as ‘odd’. Reeling from the news of Roisin’s heart-breaking expulsion from convent school, Theresa makes a momentous decision. To protect her daughter, she must send her away.

Canada’s wild beauty serves as a backdrop to a year of challenges for Roisin. She encounters trauma and devastating loss, but also gains a new family and finds love with the enigmatic Cal. Death, grief and culpability are potent forces she must somehow come to terms with. Can a tiny model boat unshackle her from her past and help her journey into a hopeful future?

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Author Interview with Tina Pritchard:

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1. What is the first book that made you cry? 

Little Women when Jo cut her hair.

2. Does writing energize or exhaust you? 

It can do both. I suffer from insomnia so my brain works overtime at night and I can find it hard to muster ideas when I’m tired from lack of sleep.

3. What are common traps for aspiring writers? 

Assuming your reader ‘gets’ what you mean.

4. Does a big ego help or hurt writers? 

It probably works well for some to have a big ego. Personally I find it an off- putting trait in a writer.

5. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? 

It’s going to be interesting when books written by an AI start to become mainstream. I like to think the emotional investment I put into my writing resonates with my readers in a deep and meaningful way. I’m not sure if it’s possible to be a writer if you don’t experience the emotions personally, but I’m prepared to be proved wrong!

6. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? 

Age 9 and being asked by my teacher to explain my use of the word ‘bedraggled’ in a story. He actually led the class in a round of applause following my explanation. It was a very heady experience.

7. What does literary success look like to you? 

It’s a fairly modest ambition. If a few people read my books and enjoy them then that’s good enough for me.

8. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice? 

Not spiritual exactly, but I do become so enmeshed in what I’m writing I zone out and lose track of time. I usually snap back into reality when the dog starts demanding a walk.

9. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? 

I used to be a celebrant conducting weddings, namings and funerals. Of all the jobs I have had over the years, that was the most rewarding.

10. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones? 

Like most writers, one bad review, especially early on in your writing career, can send you plummeting into the depths of despair primarily as it’s such a one sided process. I’m attempting to develop a thicker skin!

11. When did you start writing? 

As a child I was always scribbling away writing little stories and poems. During my teens and into adulthood other things had priority. Joining a writing group and honing my skills led to me entering and winning a few writing competitions. I thought I would have a go at writing a psychological thriller a couple of years ago. I was lucky to have two publishers show an interest and In a Deep Dark Wood was published in February 2021. 

12. Have you always wanted to be a writer? 

I believe I have.

13. What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out? 

Keep persevering.

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