In the first of what I hope will be an occasional series of "Cornflower in conversation", I am delighted and honoured to welcome Alexander McCall Smith as my very special guest. Formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, now best-selling, much-loved author whose books have been translated into forty-two languages, Sandy lives in Edinburgh, a city about which he writes with a great deal of affection. He kindly took the time from a full and demanding schedule to talk to me about his work.
Your latest book, La's Orchestra Saves the World
, has recently been published. It
is set largely in Suffolk during the war, and I wondered why you chose that
time and place - a departure from your series of novels - set in Edinburgh and
Botswana, for example - with which we are all so familiar ?
I decided to write about
Suffolk for two reasons. One of these was that the subject of the book is the
Second World War, and the involvement of one person in that event. There were a
number of air bases in Suffolk during that time and so it was a suitable
setting from that point of view. The second reason is that it is a county that
I rather like and I was keen to write about its landscape.
La's Orchestra is about a young woman who starts an
amateur orchestra to help boost morale and bring people together at a terrible
time. Music is clearly very important to you, it features in your books, and
you founded and play in The Really Terrible Orchestra (who have a concert date in New York coming up soon!). Is music a source of relaxation or excitement (or even
frustration!) and apart from Mozart, which composers or styles of music affect
you most?
Quite a number of my books do indeed deal incidentally with
musical issues. I often write to a musical accompaniment - I find that
listening to music assists the process of writing. The music has to be
appropriate in mood, of course, to the book in question. I find that I can
write quite easily with Mozart playing in the background, but I enjoy many
other composers. In particular, I like listening to Arvo Part. There is a radio
programme that I like listening to, called Late Junction, on Radio 3. I often
find, through this programme, that I am introduced to the work of composers of
whom I have not heard.
When I mentioned recently that a new McCall Smith book had just come out, a
reader asked "when does he ever eat or sleep?"! You are
extraordinarily prolific, and given the many other demands on your time, how do
you do it? Is there such a thing as a typical day for you and how much writing,
roughly speaking, would you be able to accomplish? Further to that, would we be
right to assume that you rarely have to do much re-writing and that you have
the gift of producing finished work without the need for many drafts?
I suppose I do write rather a lot. These days I bring out four novels a year,
which means that I have to be quite careful about my time. The main claims on
my time at present are writing and touring for the books. The latter can be
quite demanding and time consuming. I spend many months of the year attending
literary events and giving talks throughout the world, which can be quite
exhausting. I find that there are only five or six months of the year during
which I can write. If I am at home in that period I would probably spend about
three or four hours a day writing. On a very productive day I would write over
5,000 words - a more average day would be about 3,000-4,000 words. I work in
the mornings and evenings. I usually don't write in the earlier part of the
afternoon. I realise that I am very fortunate in the way in which I write
without redrafting - and I am very grateful for this good fortune. I find that
I do not have to think a great deal in advance about what I am going to write;
I sit down and it just seems to come. It is a little bit like being in a
trance.
You have recently undertaken another daily novel, writing Corduroy
Mansions for The Daily Telegraph website. Is a London setting proving
more difficult than your familiar Edinburgh territory (and people), which was featured so successfully in the 44, Scotland Street
series?
Writing Corduroy Mansions, which is set in London, has been a most enjoyable
experience for me. I know London a bit, but there obviously isn't as much local
detail in this series as there is in the 44 Scotland Street series, where I was
writing about a city I know intimately. Yet Corduroy Mansions has not proved to
be more difficult to write. I found that the characters came to me very easily,
and the whole process has been most enjoyable.
As with Scotland Street, Corduroy Mansions has a canine resident, and the
Pimlico Terrier Freddie de la Hay, like gold-toothed, beer-drinking Cyril, is
an excellent addition to the cast. Which of the human characters in the new
daily novel are proving most appealing to you as a writer, or most difficult to
work with?
Freddie de la Hay is proving to be quite a favourite of the readers! I have
very much enjoyed the company of Terence Moongrove, and that of Caroline and
James. As in the Scotland Street series, however, I find that I have rather
enjoyed all the characters of Corduroy Mansions. I have not found that any of
them have been difficult to write about, although I have very little sympathy
for Oedipus Snark.
I think it would be fair to say that Alexander McCall Smith books are
characterised by estimable qualities such as benevolence, gentleness, good
nature and general decency. Writing in that vein, did you set out to prove that
the reading public does respond enormously positively to those qualities, given
that so many popular, successful books nowadays show a much less pleasant,
darker view of humanity, or has that just been a happy by-product of your
immense success?
I write in a positive key, I suppose, because that is the general view that I
have of the world. I write that way, not because I think that is what people
really want to read - indeed I was rather surprised to discover that people had
such a large appetite for books of a positive nature.
I know that like many Cornflower readers, you are a fan of E.F. Benson's, and
W.H. Auden features often in your work. What do you love about them, and which
other writers do you turn to most frequently?
I admire the work of W H Auden immensely. I think that in Auden we hear a voice which is profoundly understanding. I like the Mapp & Lucia books, and I am very fond of Barbara Pym and R K Narayan.
Can you enlighten us on the question of titles? The latest Isabel Dalhousie
book has been published here in Britain as The Comfort of Saturdays, while in the US it is called "The Comforts of a Muddy
Saturday" - why the change? Are any other alterations required for the
non-British markets?
The titles of my books are usually agreed upon in discussion with my editors in
Edinburgh, London and New York. There is sometimes a lot of debate about them
before agreement is reached. I come up with the initial suggestion and this may
be modified by my editors until we reach something that everyone is happy with.
Usually we have the same title in the UK and the USA; the different titles for
the latest Isabel Dalhousie book was unusual. My New York editor felt that we
needed an adjective. The titles of the books in the translated versions in
other countries can vary widely. Many of the books have titles which bear no
relation to the original titles!
On the subject of The Sunday Philosophy Club
, many people have said that the
Dalhousie novels are their favourites of your books. It must surely be very
gratifying that these "slightly exciting" stories with their emphasis
on moral dilemmas and the life of a woman of conscience should be so popular?
I have been very pleased with the reception of the Isabel
Dalhousie novels. They are obviously rather different to the Botswana
novels. I
like writing these particular books because they give me a chance to reflect on
a very wide range of issues, and they are also, in my mind, rather romantic. I
think of them as one long love story.
Are you at liberty to tell us what you are currently working on?
I am currently writing a new Von Igelfeld
book in the Portugese
Irregular Verbs series. I am also starting very soon on the next Isabel
Dalhousie book, finishing off Corduroy Mansions, and writing a screenplay for a
film.
With so much work in progress, we must leave you to get on, but on behalf of Cornflower readers, thankyou very much indeed for joining us.
I loved La's Orchestra, it was my first read of 2009. I am enjoying the second Isabel Dalhousie at the moment - it's a great thing that he is such a prolific writer, there is always something to look forward to!
Posted by: Carole | 15 January 2009 at 08:22 AM
Thank you for the interview. It was a really nice surprise! :) Looking forward to reading more books by this writer.
Posted by: Kristina | 15 January 2009 at 10:18 AM
Oh Karen, what a wonderful coup, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this interview, such an unexpected treat to enjoy with my coffee, I'm very glad I stopped by.
Posted by: Rebecca | 15 January 2009 at 11:34 AM
What a treat! I am especially fond of the Sunday Philosophy Club series, and have been following Corduroy Mansions in the online edition of the Telegraph. Thank you for this unexpected pleasure.
Posted by: Karen/NYC | 15 January 2009 at 01:07 PM
Lovely to see this on here, Cornflower! What a very nice man AmCS is, and it shows in his work. But I still can't get my head round FOUR NOVELS A YEAR!!!
Posted by: adele geras | 15 January 2009 at 01:36 PM
Likewise, Adele - and 5,000 WORDS A DAY!!! If I ever achieved that, I'd be lying down in a darkened room the next day!
A prolific talent - and a lovely interview too.
Posted by: Deborah Lawrenson | 15 January 2009 at 01:45 PM
How good to hear that our unfortunate linguist is making a comeback: he has been absent for too long!
Lovely interview - thank you
Posted by: Fiona/Aberdeen | 15 January 2009 at 01:45 PM
What a lovely surprise, and very apt as I am just finishing The Comfort of Saturdays. AMS is a bit like good chocolate: slips down a bit too quickly but leaves a lovely aftertaste. It's good to know there's more to look forward to. Well done you for setting this up.
Posted by: Georgina | 15 January 2009 at 02:44 PM
Oh, Karen. I don't have words for the joy I felt reading this. The world is really a better place for having this man in it, whether or not he ever wrote a book. Thank you, thank you for this interview. I thought your questions were excellent and beautifully phrased. I begin to wonder if Edinburgh is a city of truly kind, nice people.
Posted by: Nan | 15 January 2009 at 05:32 PM
Interesting interview, Cornflower. But 5,000 words a day, written in a trance with no need for editing? Four books in only five or six months??? Phew. Potential novelists may be dismayed by this phenomenal output, but don't worry, this isn't normal. Many of us are glad to achieve 500 words a day (with revision!)
Posted by: Susie Vereker | 15 January 2009 at 05:34 PM
I love author interviews. Thanks so much for that, Karen.
Posted by: Nicola | 15 January 2009 at 08:16 PM
Like Nan said - what a joy! And what a privilege!
If anyone asked me "Who is the (living) person with whom you would most like to have dinner?" this would be my choice!
Posted by: Barbara MacLeod | 15 January 2009 at 09:54 PM
What a lovely treat, Karen. I am currently reading The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday, and look forward to enjoying a cup of tea or two with Mma Ramotswe this winter. Like Barbara, I would also like to be sitting next to AMS at a dinner party!
Posted by: Lisa W | 16 January 2009 at 02:09 AM
Brilliant 'conversation' Karen, I'll look forward to more.
Posted by: dovegreyreader | 16 January 2009 at 04:52 PM