 |
 |
About meI was born in Birmingham, where I went to the main Art College and trained in theatrical design, but changed horses after three years to become a teacher.I was married for seven years, but divorced and lived singly for fourteen more, during which time, I was a member of Kings Norton Motorcycle Club and rode my own Honda. I'm now married to my second husband, Ray. When I took early retirement, we moved from Birmingham and live in a cranky old cottage in Devon, where I've developed a new writing career. As well as writing, I've gone back to my theatrical roots and been, variously, a backdrop painter for drama companies (including the police!), wardrobe mistress at Cygnet Training Theatre, designed and painted sets and directed a play for Exeter Little Theatre, and done many years of backstage, wardrobe, set design, walk-on and wig- finding - and a little acting - for Topsham's Estuary Players. I've been a member of Exeter Writers since 1999, and Northcott Community playwriting group since 2004. In my spare time, I garden, make decorated Fabergé-style eggs, and organise craft fairs.
|
WritingI started writing seriously in 1982 and have won several competitions.I was asked once if I had a particular theme that recurred in my writing, and I said I didn't think so. On reflection, although I'll write about anything that takes my fancy, I do quite like writing about Outsiders, that is, people who don't quite fit in, who have demons to conquer. Once you have a character with a problem, you have your story. I am not the organised kind of writer that goes to her desk at 9.00 am and writes for three hours every day. We all have our own method, or lack of it. Mine is to start when I feel like it, stop after an hour or two or even a few minutes, do something else, and then come back. This may go on all day and half the night or not at all. I seem to need regular breaks so that I can come back to what I've written and rethink it. It's an untidy way of doing things, but stories get written all the same. As for novels - I have written two, at least one of which needs fairly drastic revision. At the moment I am concentrating more on competitions, which are an excellent discipline as well as a challenge. During my teaching career, I wrote many playlets and full length productions that were performed by the children, and nowadays I write pieces varying from one minute to two hours, some of which get performed. My full-length version of Cold Comfort Farm is currently under consideration with Curtis Brown, and subject to their approval, I am hoping to be able to publish it. |
Clare
Girvan E-mail: clare@claregirvan.co.uk
