DANCE WITH ME by Judith Crow

 Please welcome Judith Crow author of DANCE WITH ME

DANCE WITH ME

by Judith Crow

 

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GENRE:  YA (Fantasy)

 

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INTERVIEW:

What or who inspired you to start writing?

I don’t remember a time before I made things up. When I was very little, I had fantastic adventures with two little children called Din and Arthur. We had great fun exploring around our haunted house and the fields which surrounded it. When I was five, we moved away from the house with the fields in Orkney and moved into a house in a small English town. Din and Arthur didn’t come with us, obviously – they stayed in Orkney, which is weird given that they had never existed in the first place. 

Writing was a natural progression when engaging my imagination, especially as my Mum, brother and sisters are all writers too.

What elements are necessary components for this genre?
Any Young Adult book needs to be able to address the timeless issues which are faced by all generations of young people. At the exact time that they feel like they have the chance to do anything they want, the weight of the world descends onto their shoulders. In Dance With Me, Kelli is facing a very strange new reality, which seems largely because she’s in a new world, but really the issues she’s facing are very real. She has to come to terms with loss and mortality, as well as having her first real experiences of love: this is what being a young adult is all about, whether you’re in a fantasy world or just the twenty-first century!

 

How did you come up with your idea for your novel?

This is one of my favourite stories! I actually didn’t come up with the idea myself. At the beginning of 2015, Virginia, Clemencyand I set each other a challenge to complete a story that we had formulated an idea for without actually ever writing. I gave Virginia an idea I’d had for a historical novel about a working-class woman who defies social convention and becomes engaged to a young nobleman, only for him to die heroically on the eve of their wedding. Clemency gave me her idea about a girl winding up in a world where folk songs come to life. So far, I’m the only one who has finished the book – and it’s Dance With Me!

What expertise did you bring to your writing?

My first ever job was working with young adults. In fact, I was so young when I got the job that I could have been working with people older than me! This meant that I kept a good idea of what appeals to young people, and also managed to create characters who are believable. I wouldn’t say Kelli is based on any one young person, but she has aspects of children I’ve worked with as well as children I knew when I was at school.

In terms of the folk songs, I’m not sure that it counts as expertise, but I spend a lot of time listening to folk music and always have done. It’s always nice to write about something that interests you!

What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

I am a very big believer in keeping going and making the best of whatever is happening around you. This is something that I bequeathed to my main character, Kelli, and – in fact – a lot of the protagonists I have created in different stories. Kelli finds herself in a place which she doesn’t understand and ends up getting bounced around all over the place, but she still keeps trying to do her best and protect the people she loves and those who need her most.

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
Next year, I’m planning to release Honour’s Restwhich, for me, is the most “natural” book I’ve written so far. I wrote it in the space of a few weeks and created characters who I feel like I’m on a first-name basis with. In terms of works-in-progress, I’m writing a fiction book about King Arthur (or, really, about his foster-brother, Kaye) and a non-fiction book about graveyards.

 

If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?

The problem with folk songs is that a lot of them are really sad! Most of the people either face an ending themselves or else something happens to someone they love. If I had to pick someone, I would say Kelli, just because I am very familiar with her voice and there are important things that we already have in common.

 

Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?

Hee hee – cheeky! As well as the extracts included? I’ll tell you what, I’ll share another one with you – just because you asked! Since we’re coming up towards the festive time of year, here is Christmas in the book!

“I intend to have Sir Hugh and his son here for Christmas,” Lord Arlen said, as they sat in the drawing room waiting to be led into dinner. “We will attend church in the town and then have a day of feasting before the Boxing Day hunt.”

“Boxing Day hunt?” Kelli asked. 

Lady Arlen nodded. “You don’t have to go, Kelli,” she said. “I never do.”

“But you’re a good rider, aren’t you, Kelli?” William said.

“Well, it’s settled. It’s always enjoyable to have female company on the chase.” There was something about Lord Arlen’s words which suggested more than just agreement, they seemed aimed to offend his wife. Lady Arlen just turned her head away.

“Well,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else who was present, “I will have Edward to keep me company.”

Kelli had been to Midnight Mass once with her grandmother but experiencing it by candlelight was quite different. The church, where she had attended Barbara’s and John’s funerals months earlier, was covered in greenery and the congregation stood singing Christmas carols which were familiar to Kelli. There was something magical about the journey back to the Manor, as they all sat in the carriage, singing Gaudetetogether and just enjoying Christmas.

Kelli had made presents for everyone, during the many hours she had spent alone, but she had also bought a few trinkets for Edward in the village and, when they got back to the house and she had checked he was asleep, she stuffed them into one of his long socks and tied it to the end of his bed. Then, Kelli eased a rolled-up scroll of paper in with it, hoping she was doing the right thing in giving Edward the picture she had drawn of Ailric months earlier.

The following day was full of feasting, so they were more than ready for the ride on Boxing Day. It was a clear, cold day, but Kelli found she enjoyed riding out with the hounds, who seemed to live to please Lord Arlen. Sir Hugh made a good-humoured comment about how she rode like a man but, although she had been learning to ride side-saddle, she didn’t dare to attempt a gallop in such a precarious position.

 

Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
Really, I was born into a critique group. Because my mum and all five of my siblings are writers too, I have a group of alpha readers who understand the importance of providing constructive criticism. It was really interesting sharing Dance With Me with my family, not least because it was an idea that Clemency had started to develop herself.

 

Do you outline your books or just start writing?
I like to have an exercise book to work through, and usually try to outline what’s going to happen. I start by writing a blurb or synopsis and then break the story down into groups of chapters (Dance With Me splits very nicely into chapter groups) before planning each chapter individually. Of course, then I don’t actually do everything I planned!

Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?

This is a tricky one, and I lose a bit of respect for myself when I acknowledge the honest answer! I really loved writing about Lord Arlen, and I like reading about him too. He’s a very flawed individual, and I wouldn’t really like meeting him in real life, but I do think that he’s a very three-dimensional character. That said, he’s a pain in the backside: he’s a snob, he’s a chauvinist, he’s emotionally distant… 

Like I said: I lose a bit of respect for myself when I admit he’s still my favourite character!

 

BLURB:

 

Don’t tell anyone, but Kelli spends all her free time listening to folk music. Ok, it’s not what you’d expect from a popular fifteen-year-old, but that’s why she doesn’t want the whole world to know.

 

When Kelli follows the mysterious Tam Lane, she finds herself in a place where folk songs come to life. As she comes to terms with the world, she makes friends, uses her privilege to help others, and even falls in love.

 

But Kelli has forgotten the fates which await so many characters in the songs, and she soon finds herself surrounded by heartbreak. Determined to protect the people she has left, can Kelli change a fate which has been sung for centuries?

 

 

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EXCERPT:

 

 

“So, what is Carterhaugh?”

 

“It’s in the Scottish borders,” he replied. “You must have heard of it before, Kelli.”

 

Kelli thought about it. The name sounded familiar, but she knew nothing about Scotland to speak of, and certainly nothing beyond the visitor attractions in Edinburgh. “I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know where.”

 

“Well, it’s a kind of gateway,” Tam explained. “There are beautiful gardens, and the land is very fertile so it is said that any seed to touch the earth will grow into the greatest of its kind. It was the birthplace of the ancient kings.”

 

“What does that have to do with me?” Kelli asked. “Or with Jehovah’s Witnesses for that matter?”

 

“Nothing at all,” Tam replied. “But you must have asked about it for a reason.”

 

“Yes, I did,” Kelli said, thrusting the magazine back into Tam’s hands with her thumb marking the last page. It fell open as Tam took it from her, and a picture of smiling children covered most of the back page, with the title ‘Bible Questions Answered’ and a small amount of text. 

 

“Yes?”

 

“It was there!” Kelli said, a shiver running down her spine. She flicked through the magazine, but the page was nowhere to be seen. “It was there. There was a picture of a wood and a river.”

 

“That is Carterhaugh,” Tam said. “The birthplace of kings. You should go there. You’d like it.”

 

“How would you know?”

 

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Judith was born in Orkney, grew up in Lincolnshire and now lives in the far north of Scotland. Her writing is inspired by the experiences of her life so far and she loves picking up on quirks and immortalising them in fiction.

 

Judith’s new book, Dance With Me, combines her love of folk music and creative writing, and finds her main character in a world where folk songs come to life. Her debut book, The Backwater, was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019.

 

When she isn’t writing, Judith is a primary school teacher who enjoys crafting and music, as well as being a generally doting spaniel owner.

 

Website

www.judithcrow.co.uk

www.crowvus.com

 

Twitter

@jayzed_kay

 

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Me-Judith-Crow-ebook/dp/B08GC86MG7

 

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

PLEASE MENTION THE PRIZE THAT THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY: 

 

a $10 Amazon/BN GC

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3540