Treehouse Press

One of the great things about running a small press or a contest is to come across new and powerful voices. It’s like picking up a new book in a bookshop and thinking: Wow, this writer has been writing away in their room and now I’m lucky enough to read their work. That’s what it felt like when we first came across Becky Mayhew’s short stories in our Three-in-One Contest. Lost Souls (£12.99) will be published alongside the quietly disturbing photography of Paul G. Vine. We sent Becky some questions to Surbiton, and this is what she said about the writing life and the appeal of Reading…

This interview with Becky Mayhew can be dowloaded

Introduce yourself and tell us where you’re from.

I am Becky Mayhew (or Rebecca if I’m in trouble) and I’m from Surbiton, Surrey.

Are you a full time writer, or do you do other things?

I’m currently a PA / administrator in a residential home, and a part-time barmaid in a local pub. And, when I can get the work, a freelance proofreader – I’m one of those people who break out in cold sweats at misplaced apostrophes and randomly-placed capital letters. So I usually write when I’ve the time to sit and gaze numbly at the wall.

How long have you been a writer?

My mum used to staple bits of printer paper together when I was little so I could make books out of them. My first masterpiece, at the age of 4, was the highly literary and positively gripping comment on contemporary society, The Girl Who Would Not Go To Bed, closely followed by The Christmas Teddy. I’ve never really felt like a writer – I suppose I always felt a bit of a fraud calling myself one – so I’ve always used the rather more cautious title of ‘aspiring writer’, which I like to think excuses me if someone thinks my writing is rubbish.

What other work have you published and/or performed?

When I was 16 I wrote the script for a theatre company’s review show, which was a series of sketches very heavily influenced by Monty Python, with whom I’d recently become almost frighteningly obsessed. I also wrote a pantomime for a local junior school when I was 18, and my dad and I have self-published a school musical called Superheroes Anonymous, for which I wrote the script.

Tell us a bit about Lost Souls and how it came about.

I came up with the title “Lost Souls” when I realised that the majority of my short stories are about rather lonely, desperate individuals, which alarmed me a little. Each story has been written at a different part of my recent life, none of which were times when I was feeling particularly lonely or desperate, but I was able to unearth memories of how I felt when I have been rather in despair. I think the stories probably started as sparks that flew off books I was reading at the time. Which means I must read a lot of books about lonely, desperate people…perhaps I should rethink my life…

Your book deals with women who are quite isolated and on the edge, and yet you seem quite the opposite?! Can you explain?

I’m not particularly isolated or on the edge, no. I’m quite a silly person, really, but I do have my moments. If anything, the times I feel most isolated and on the edge are when I’m having a creative period. Writing can make me feel quite mad – I find myself narrating myself in my head – and it makes me drift around with a brooding expression and stare intently at things. I suppose desperation and despair fascinate me. We all have lost, desperate times, and I’ve had my own, which was a time when I got quite a lot of writing done because I discovered new feelings – not very happy feelings, but new feelings, which kind of excited me, as it gave me more things to write about.

Your work in general tackles the tricky relationship between men and women, as well as alliances and enmities between women… can you say a bit about this?

I don’t think I set out to do this specifically. I’m interested in relationships between very different people in general, so I was just shoving people together, really. I’m very much a character-is-plot writer, so I like to chuck a random character in and see what happens. Doesn’t sound very literary or profound, but ho hum.

Are there other themes that you are interested in exploring in your work?

Having worked at a local pub for many years I am totally fascinated by the public and private lives people lead. Also, in the pub setting, the public persona can sometimes be peeled away with the alcohol, and strains of the private seeps through, which I find utterly intriguing.

What’s your daily routine – and your antidote to writer’s block?

Writer’s block is a bastard and I hate it. I have spent so many lost hours staring at a blank Microsoft Word document with that little flashing curser screaming my inadequacy with every smug little blink, and I’ve often found that a good cure for writer’s block is to either read a book or get drunk.

Did you study writing?

I did English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and I’m about to start a Masters in Creative Writing and Publishing at Kingston University in September 2011. So, yes, I did. And, yes, I will.

Have you ever been part of a writers’ group?

No. Although I know it would probably be very edifying, I worry I wouldn’t be able to stand people saying things like ‘It flowed well’ and ‘I enjoyed the protagonist’s struggle’.

Do you work with the music on or off? When it’s on, what music do you listen to?

When I’m writing darker stories I nearly always put on my specifically-titled ‘Writing music’ playlist, which is basically a lot of atmospheric, ethereal, mainly electronic music I’ve found by trawling YouTube. They must be lyric-less though. I can’t have someone wailing in my ear when I’m trying to concentrate.

You’ve also done some writing for theatre. What do you feel is the main difference for you as a writer about the two genres?

I absolutely love writing dialogue, especially comic dialogue, which is why all my theatre writing has been comic. I suppose that was always my main aspiration, really: to be a comic scriptwriter and make people laugh. Writing these darker short stories is a way for my brooding side to get some air, perhaps.

What part of writing do you struggle with the most?

Having no deadline, nothing to aim for. Motivation, in other words. Knowing I could be spending all these hours bleeding over my keyboard for no reason whatsoever, because who would want to read or buy it? I know I should write for the sheer enjoyment of it, and I do, but I do struggle with enthusiasm when I feel I’m writing in a vacuum. I’m also terrible at self-discipline. I once drove to Reading just to avoid sitting down to write. I didn’t even need to go to Reading. I just drove there and drove back again. That’s 70 miles of procrastination.

What do you love about being a writer?

When it happens, the utter absorption of writing. The tapping of my fingers, and the sudden ‘waking up’ and seeing the words on the screen and realising I’ve been totally submerged. I love being surprised by myself, by what I come up with. I love it when a word or phrase just appears in my head and it’s so perfect. And I love WORDS. I get Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day email………..I’ve said too much.

What gets you excited about other people’s work? And who has inspired you over the years?

When I read a sentence or phrase that describes something in the best way it could possibly have been described. And when I exclaim out loud in public places over a book I’m reading. I said very loudly ‘Oh f**k’ on a bus full of elderly ladies whilst reading David Nicholls’ One Day. I love it when a book makes me embarrass myself in public. I’ve never been one for fanatically following an author, but Zoe Heller, David Mitchell and Patrick Hamilton always make me curse with how infuriatingly good they are. Their books are the books I’d like to have written.

What are the three things you (personally) need as a writer/artist?

An idea I’m excited about, a keyboard with good keys, and, if possible, a bottle of red wine.

Who were the people who encouraged you to be a writer? And inspired you, too?

Various teachers throughout my school life have been incredibly encouraging, and I’m very aware of how much effect that had on my self-confidence. My family always said I could do it, and my friends have always been encouraging. Just asking ‘How’s the writing going?’ is nice because it shows they’re vaguely interested, even if I want to punch them in the face because all I’ve done recently is wash the kitchen floor or driven to Reading.

If you weren’t a writer, what might you be?

I’ve tried never to consider a Plan B. I suppose being a writer is Plan B, because I was going to be an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress, but they never called me back. If I threw away all hope of being a writer, I’d probably launch myself wholeheartedly into a life of sin, depravity, and cakes.

What’s next? Any plans? Projects you’re working on? Things in the pipeline?

I have so many unfinished things on my laptop, so many promising starts. Having this published has motivated me hugely, told me I should plod on. So we’ll see. I’ll either come up with a hilarious theatrical social satire that people will say is better than Oscar Wilde, or a profound, deeply melancholic tome to rival Virginia Woolf. Or I’ll drive to Reading.

Order your copy of Lost Souls by Becky Mayhew

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