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Eileen Ramsay - Author
Eileen is an author having written over fourteen romantic novels. Born in Ayr, She was educated in Dumfriesshire and Edinburgh and was a Patrol Leader in the Guides."Believe in yourself. Self-doubt kills creativity - in any field."
Absolutely. Perhaps more nearly accurately, a place I visited just called out for me to set
a novel there. It's difficult to say which comes first, the place or the characters or the idea
because they seem to run around in my head for a while before I really know they're there -
if that makes any sense.
But to get back to the place... a few years ago I visited some friends near Achahoish in Argyll.
Driving in, I had thought the scenery spectacular but when I woke up on my first morning, opened
the curtains and saw the beauty of Argyll I knew that was the view my heroine had to see every
morning of her life.
At that point I didn't know who she was or what she did but I did know where she lived. Readers
as far afield as Canada and Australia have asked me about the cottage in the novel Someday,
Somewhere - one even wanting to buy it - but it exists only within the pages of the book.
Actually I'm very grateful to be alive now. I am so used to instant hot water, heated homes, cars, medical services; the list is endless. Therefore I'd have to say now and I'm very happy with the beautiful county of Angus.
I loved Dumfriesshire too and when I was a student I spent a lot of time youth-hostelling in the historic Borders. Last year I did a book tour down the west coast - fantastic scenery.
That's an easy question. Someday, Somewhere is my favourite novel. It was the first
of my books to be translated into several foreign languages and it feels wonderful to know that
I'm communicating with readers all over the world. I like to think of a woman in Holland or
a woman in Argentina sitting down and losing herself in the story.
It's also what is known as a 'break-out' book, that is, it's the book that made me known. I
had written almost twenty books of one kind or another before it was published and I had wanted
to write it for a long time.
It took over five years to write and to be published; many people told me that no one would
be interested in a story where the male lead is an operatic tenor. That's the assumption that
says opera is for the elite, an art form that can't be understood by a working class woman living
in a wee flat in a poor area of any big city.
Nonsense. All types of women read it and many of them write and say, I was always a wee bit
afraid of opera but I tried some of the music Blaise sings - and it's great. Many readers
admire the paintings too - often I hear that someone has looked for one in a gallery - (they
exist only within the pages of the book) - but they look at other paintings while they're there.
I've just heard that it's been on the bestseller list in Germany for several weeks - and that's
lovely. I'm also proud of it because although I'm my own harshest critic I'm pleased with the
language and the structure of Someday.
I told a group of elderly ladies that I was going to stop writing sagas in order to concentrate
on more contemporary fiction. One dear lady stood up and cried, 'Aw dinnae stop writing them
till I'm deid.'
That was rather sweet but a German lady wrote to tell me that Someday, Somewhere had given her
to the courage to go out into the world again and find love. I find that unbelievably moving
and hope that she is still happy.
First of all, believe in yourself. Self-doubt kills creativity - in any field. Then read as much as you can across a wide range of material, not just the books or magazines you love but try new genres.
It's a bit like trying new food - you can't say you don't like Spanish food or Chinese food
or whatever unless you've tried it - and more than once. Then start. Actually you'll earn a
lot as you go along but there is nothing like that first burst of enthusiasm that spills the
words out onto the page.
Later, unless you're a genius, you will need to edit it again and again. Remember too that it's
not always necessary to start at the beginning. Sometimes an absolutely fabulous idea for a
scene will come into your head. Capture it, put it down on paper because, if you leave it, it
will disappear, as the Scottish saying says, 'Like snow off a dyke'.
I fall in love with all my characters. If I don't, then probably the reader won't either. There
are several favourites. The Canon in Someday, Somewhere is a truly good man but, of course,
that's a different kind of love.
Then there are the two young men in Harvest of Courage who do the best they can often
in appalling circumstances and the father of one of them who goes to war because he's ashamed
of his son who is a conscientious objector and dies protecting someone else's son.
I love them all. But if I were to marry one it would have to be the tenor, Blaise Fougere. He's
physically attractive - in fact, he's drop dead gorgeous - and he has an amazing voice, but
he's very very human. Like all of us he's flawed. He makes mistakes by thinking he is doing
the right thing and actually, he could not act in any other way. I'd never tire of hearing him
sing but it's his humanity and integrity that made me love him.
Learning semaphore - but don't anyone ask me to demonstrate! I used to walk miles out into the country with my friend, Grace, and we'd send messages to each other that we swore we understood. Great fun.
This is a difficult question in the 21st century and I can only answer for myself, and possibly for my characters.
I think women should be compassionate, nurturing, devoid of prejudice, broad-minded. They should be prepared to try to see the other person's viewpoint, and be prepared to stand up for what they think is right - and, although it's not a value - they should, of course, be able to be in several places at the same time.
Unfortunately neither I nor any of my characters is a saint. We muddle along doing the best we can in the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
First of all you have to understand that my answer would be different depending on which area
of the United States I had lived in. It's an enormous country.
We lived for five years in the capital, Washington DC, and for thirteen years in California,
and although we have driven from one coast to the other and visited several states en route,
I can't really say that I 'know' Georgia or Texas for example; I do know quite a bit about our
two main places of residence.
We've been resident in Scotland since 1982 and so my answer again might be different if I had
just gone and returned. In Washington DC I lived and worked among very wealthy people from all
over the world and in California I worked among some of the poorest residents of the States,
many of them illegal aliens.
Meeting so many different people from so many cultures was mind opening. I was a schoolteacher
and the great lesson I learned was that every decent parent, no matter how poor or uneducated,
how rich or sophisticated, wants the best for his child. Again a Scots saying, 'We're all Jock
Thomson's bairns.'
The people I love most in the world were with me - my husband and my sons - and so I was very lucky. All I can say is that I missed snowdrops and primroses.
Fidelio. Fidelio is the name of Beethoven's only opera. The character after whom
the work is named is a woman, Leonora, who dresses as a man to go into a prison to look for
her husband, Florestan, who is a political prisoner.
Leonora is faithful and courageous and, when I'm listening to the music, I see her as very beautiful.
Now horses to me are very beautiful and racehorses are exceptionally courageous - possibly they're
faithful too. Therefore Fidelio is a perfect name.
To find out more about Eileen please see her website
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