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Death in a Shetland Family

It is lovely to welcome author Marsali Taylor back to the blog to discuss her writing and, particularly, her new book Death in a Shetland Family. I am grateful to Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines for including me in the tour to help launch this book.


Thank you for taking time to chat with me today, Marsali. I know how busy you must be when you have a new book to promote'

Thank you for having me back to you blog Val, It is always nice to chat with you, especially about my new book! What would you like to know?


What inspired you to write your most recent book?

This one showcases my love of horses, and all the fun times I had when we kept Shetland Ponies – their personalities, and all the work involved in taking them to the local show. Cass’s partner, Gavin, does all the animal work at home, and I felt Cass was rather taking that for granted, so I landed her with it all.

I also wanted to look at alcohol in Shetland. Drugs get the headlines, but alcohol is linked to a lot of crime: driving accidents and assaults, of course, but also wife- and child-abuse. With the character Ertie, I wanted to show a quietly functioning drunk: someone who still gets to work each day, and who wouldn’t say he had a drink problem, until he was handed an extra problem. We see the effect on him, and on his family. However I also wanted to show there can be hope in this scenario.


Who is your favourite character in this book and why?

I always have fun “being” Cass as I write in her voice; she’s the quick-witted, resourceful Everywoman heroine we’d all like to be. I’ve got very fond of Gavin and all the other characters, but I also enjoyed writing the bits with teenagers Rainbow and Vaila – sometimes I think it’d be fun to write a spin-off with Vaila as the main character. She’s energetic, resourceful and clever, and she’d love to investigate a crime. Maybe a YA book someday...?


What was the first piece you had published?

The absolute first was the story of an Egyptian cat in the school magazine when I was ten, but the first as an adult was actually in French – I won a competition run by the French Institute in Edinburgh, on the theme of Voyage. My first in English would have been one of a series of articles for the magazine Shetland Life ... my first book was Two Shetland Plays, published by Fair Play Press, my first prose book was Women’s Suffrage in Shetland, a two-year labour of love which was meant to be a pamphlet and ended up 320 pages, and finally, my first published novel was the first in the Cass series, Death on a Longship.


Do you have another story planned or in progress?

Always! In this case, I’m 70,000 words done of the next Cass: the title’s something like Death in the Shetland Waves. Cass is spending the winter working on one of our inter-island ferries, and naturally it’s not long till there’s a death.

When can we expect to see that?

Next year – April, maybe.


Who is your favourite author?

I have so many. I‘ve always have been a keen reader and I read almost every kind of book. At the moment I’m reading crime solid – there’ll be 36 authors at Shetland Noir, and I want to read one book by each of them, and two for the writers I’m chairing, or on a panel with. I’ve discovered several cracking writers: Adam Oyebanji, Alix Hawkins, Tom Benjamin. My favourites are old-fashioned: Rumer Godden, Mary Stewart, John Dickson Carr, Ellis Peters, Dorothy L Sayers, and my teenage love, Georgette Heyer, who’s my absolute go-to when I feel ill. I studied English at University, which in those days meant starting at Beowulf and working your way forwards, but of course there wasn’t time to read everything, so I’m also reading my way through the many classics I missed. My next one will be John Galt’s Covenanter novel, Ringan Gilles.


What do you like to do when you’re not planning or writing your next book?

I’m always doing one or the other, but the theory is that getting the next book in to the publishers at the end of May leaves me free to concentrate on sailing for the summer. Cass kindly allows me to borrow her small yacht – or maybe that’s the other way round! – so I mess about in our beautiful local waters, and help teach sailing at our local club. My Personal Best time from our doorstep to out in the middle of the voe with the sails up and the engine off is 16 minutes. I dander up the voe, watching the wildlife – birds, seals, otters, dolphins and even the occasional whale. I also have a rather “natural” garden, and have fun in autumn slashing it back to be ready for all the bulbs to appear in spring. Winter is drama time, and I’m a keen member of our local group. We do a Christmas or New Year pantomime – my favourite role ever was the witch in Sleeping Beauty, which we did in C18 costume, and I got to fly across the stage on my broomstick, waving my wand and cackling. After that we go straight into rehearsals for the Shetland Drama Festival, in March. I’ve played all sorts of wonderful classic roles for that: Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Olivia in Twelfth Night, Abigail in The Crucible, Cynthia in The Real Inspector Hound and, most recently, Andromache  in Women of Troy.


When did you know you wanted to write novels?

I’ve always written – the earliest example of my “work” is diary-style stories in a little notebook. Going by the spelling, I was aged 5 or 6. My first full-length book dates from my teenage years, and I have five (yes, FIVE!) unpublished novels on my writing room shelf – two C18 romantic novels, and a trilogy of Shetland crime.


Do you write in other genres?

I have two factual historical books, Women’s Suffrage in Shetland and Forgotten Heroines, my editing of the diaries of an old lady I knew when I was a child – she drove an ambulance on the Russian front in WWI, as part of the all-women Scottish Women’s Hospital. I’ve also written one historical crime novella, Footsteps in the Dew, and a series of short stories about Rupert, Prince Palatine, who was a key Royalist General in the English Civil War.

I wrote a whole series of articles for Shetland Life, on all kinds of topics, and I’m a columnist for the magazine Practical Boat Owner.


What do you like most about being an author?

Loads of things! First and foremost, the lovely letters I get from people who enjoy the books. It seems so amazing that I’ve created these characters and they’re as real to other people as they’ve become to me. A fan letter always makes my day, and many now feel like friends! Two in particular make me feel that spending my day writing is worth doing (it’s such fun it feels self-indulgent!): one was from a fellow-sailor who was given one of my books as she began cancer treatment – she told me being out on the water with Cass helped her survive hospital. The other is a man I’ve never met, on Death Row in America. He has a pen-pal who’s a friend of mine here, and she’s not allowed to send him gifts except through Amazon, so she sends him my stories of our Shetland world. She says he loves them, and passes them round his fellow inmates. I can’t think of anything worse than sitting waiting to be killed, so if my books take them out of that cell for a bit, that makes me feel the work I put into them is worthwhile.

Also, going to crime festivals is wonderful fun. You see interesting places – I’ve been to Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime in Canada, Iceland Noir , the German Moderische Schwesteren (Murderous Sisters) conference and all over England for the CWA conferences. Crime writers are such a lovely bunch, so friendly, and it’s grand meeting up again.

Do you have a specific routine for writing?

Definitely! I try to check on emails and FB before breakfast, then after it I head to my desk and write until mid-morning coffee with my husband, who’s a composer, and working away in his room too. My writing is supervised by one or both cats – Miss Matty, the original of Kitten, is on my lap right now, with front paws and chin on my left elbow, and I get a squeak of protest if I type too hard. After coffee I go out till lunchtime, down to the boat, into the garden or for a walk, to loosen out my muscles and refresh my brain. After lunch I do an hour’s practice on the flute, then admin till 4, when I lie down (with cat) and read. After dinner, more writing until bedtime, unless it’s Wednesday or Saturday, which are Film Nights at our house. I take the weekend off – I need that break – and do housework on Saturdays, church on Sundays – then back to admin and re-reading last week’s work on Sunday evening, ready to launch in on Monday.


Is there a special place or particular tool you use?

My writing room has a large desk, with my computer and the paper copy of my work in progress – Daughter Cat, Génie, is usually on top of that, which causes problems with the notion that I print out each chapter as I finish it, then if I have a good idea I flip back and  scribble it where it has to go, for the re-write. I don’t use any writing programme – the computer’s just a techie typewriter. There’s a window right beside my desk, with a tree for watching interesting birds, and if I crane my neck I can see how the boat’s doing. I have two little mascots on the desk: a Canadian dancing bear, and, watching him with admiration, a little ceramic hare from the Lake District.


What advice do you have for other writers?

Write! Find a time when you can write, even if it’s just fifteen minutes a day, at a time you’re bright and alert (mine was before the alarm clock for everyone else, but if you’re a natural night owl, stay up later) and write. Every day. Even if you can manage only 100 words at first, writing daily keeps the story percolating in your head, and you’ll be amazed how it grows – and how you’ll soon find you make yourself more time because you want to write what happens next.


If your book were to be made into an Audiobook, who would you choose to read it?

Most of my books already are Audiobooks, read beautifully by Scottish actor Angela Ness – the voice of Cass for many fans.


If your book were to be made into a movie, who would you like to play the main character?

I’d love my books to be made into a film – Shetland’s long, low hills would look gorgeous on widescreen. In fact, if there are any rich backers out there, my dream film’s already in the air -  a former pupil who went on to drama college has a script for one of them, A Handful of Ash. The plan is to use local actors as much as possible, and of course my yacht Karima and I will sailing-double for Cass. We’d need to find a Gavin, but an incredibly talented member of our group would be perfect for Cass. If someone would help me with the Callas-style make-up, I’d audition for Maman! I do hope it’ll happen...

The Blurb


Shetland sailing sleuth Cass Lynch is definitely out of her comfort zone when she helps round up a prize-winning stallion escaped from the renowned Klaufister stud. She's even less impressed by its owner, Keith Arthurson, a returned city slicker who's already made enemies in his community.


An unexpected visit to the Arthursons shows Cass the tensions simmering within the family. When Keith's found dead, can she uncover the motive for his murder without putting herself in danger?

The Author


Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland’s scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland’s distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and is an active member of her local drama group.


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