Perspectives...of a Bestselling BBC Radio 2 Book Club Author - with Hazel Prior
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Could you give us a little background about you and what you do?
I am a novelist and a freelance Celtic harpist. My books (published by Penguin) are wildlife-themed, book club reads with quirky characters and an overall uplifting feel. The best-known one is Away With The Penguins (American title = How The Penguins Saved Veronica), which is a number one bestseller in audio and kindle. There are two more in the penguin series and a couple of standalone books. When I’m not writing, I’m often wandering in the countryside or enjoying various musical activities with friends. I live with my husband and a very old, adorable ginger cat who is blind and deaf.
With what three words would you describe yourself?
Eccentric, emotional, chaotic.
What led to your decision to become an author?
It’s not actually something I decided. I’ve always enjoyed writing though and, after many years of debilitating pain and - finally - life-changing surgery, I’d been out of a job too long to get normal work. Yet this new chance at life made me realise the importance of doing the things I truly loved doing: music and writing. So I started playing my harp again. And I wrote some short stories and entered them for competitions. To my surprise and delight I won several, so then thought I’d try for a novel writing competition. I’d only properly written the first few chapters of my book, but I was longlisted and had to write the rest in the space of 10 days! I’ve never worked so hard as I did during those 10 days and did think at times I might explode from the effort, but at the end of them I had something resembling a novel. It then seemed sensible to try and get it published!
I kept meeting older people who impressed me with their taste for adventure; one was skydiving in his 80s and another was a learning harp at the age of 90!
What motivates you to write?
I have an agent who negotiates deals for me, both in this country and abroad, so I’m contractually obliged to come up with more books. It’s not always easy, especially at the beginning when I’m trying to activate my rusty old brain. But once I get to know my characters the world and its worries drop away and my story starts unfolding of its own accord. I have to keep going because of the deadlines inflicted on me, but I also do it because I’m intrigued. I am often quite surprised at the words that come out on the page.
Has this changed since you started?
Yes. When I started I had no idea I would be published, so I just wrote to please myself. I try to do that still but I’m much more aware that people are waiting for the next book, and I sometimes feel the pressure of expectation. On the other hand it’s utterly wonderful when readers contact me to say how much they’ve loved one of my books. Some have even said my stories have lifted them out of depression or reawakened their love of reading after a slump. It’s so humbling and heartening. It often seems to happen when I’m feeling down myself, and it really, really spurs me on.
I’d never read a novel in which the main character has chronic pain. I thought it was important to get one out there.
How did you get the ideas for each of your books?
The plot for my debut novel, Ellie And The Harp Maker, came from ponderings about how life is transformed when you’re brave enough to follow your dreams. It’s also inspired by the stunning Exmoor landscapes where I live.
The idea for my second book Away With The Penguins, came from the fact I had a two book deal with the publishers Penguin! I’d also been thinking about the healing power of penguins, since a dear friend of mine was finding solace in taking photographs of penguins after her husband died. At the same time I was wanting to write about an elderly character because I kept meeting older people who impressed me with their taste for adventure; one was skydiving in his 80s and another was a learning harp at the age of 90! So Veronica McCreedy marched into my imagination, and kept marching for three whole books!
Life And Otter Miracles was an entirely different mix. After my years of pain I’ve become aware that so, so many people suffer from it (ME, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia… the list goes on) yet I’d never read a novel in which the main character has chronic pain. I thought it was important to get one out there. But I didn’t want it to be a sob story all about illness, which is why I interwove a twisty mystery, a touch of romance and the joyfulness of otters.
Has it been easier or harder writing the sequels in the 'Penguins' series compared to first/standalone novels?
On balance I think it’s been easier because I already have the characters fully formed in my imagination. It’s been hard to make sure a new reader can understand what’s going on if they haven’t read the others in the series, though. And very hard to keep coming up with different penguin plots!
Once you have your idea, how do you plan and write your books?
My idea is always very vague and I’m the world’s worst planner. My system seems to be a frantic whirl of just scribbling down any scenes that come into my head in any order. That means that later there’s a lot of structural work to do. My initial scenes are little more than summaries, but during the edits I add masses of extra detail… and then end up cutting thousands and thousands of words because it’s all become too much. To be honest, it’s an inefficient and exhausting process. But I’ve tried planning a whole book in advance and it just doesn’t work for me because I always change my mind and get other ideas as I go along.
What do you think the biggest misconceptions are about authors?
A lot of people think it’s like hobby writing: fun flights of fancy when you’re in the mood. The reality is that you’re not very often in the mood but you have to do it anyway. You have to create whole, rounded characters and interrelationships and hundreds of interesting or dramatic scenes and you have to knit them together into a 300 page story - and you have to achieve it all with nothing but your own imagination. It takes forever… and that’s before the endless rewrites. Few people realise how many rewrites and edits are involved. John Lutz said that writing a novel is like having really hard homework for the rest of your life, and it really does feel like that sometimes.
There’s also grievance amongst traditionally published authors about how little choice they have in important matters like their book’s cover and title, and an increasing feeling that the writers themselves aren’t valued.
How do you feel about the role of social media in your personal work and in the broader industry?
Such mixed feelings! As a traditionally published author, I’m lucky to have a publicist, yet I’m still expected to do a massive amount of publicity myself. It’s lovely to connect with readers, and the book blogging community is particularly brilliant and supportive. In this day and age, reviews are everything and make a massive difference to book sales. Authors are also great at supporting each other on social media. However, Twitter/X and Instagram and now Threads eat up way too much of my time – time that I really need to be spending on the writing itself.
What do you think the big debates or issues are within your industry?
Whilst most authors appreciate how fabulous it is to be published, celebrity writers are resented because they’re given so much more publicity (not to mention shelf space in the bookshops) and often their works are written by ghost writers. This makes it really hard for even the extremely talented debut novelists to get a look in. There’s also grievance amongst traditionally published authors about how little choice they have in important matters like their book’s cover and title, and an increasing feeling that the writers themselves aren’t valued. This is compounded by the developments in AI, which are particularly worrying.
Your books centre on and highlight important environmental issues – what are your thoughts about the role of an author in world issues?
As a novelist I always feel that my job is first and foremost to entertain. I’m aware that people who are reading my books will be seeking escape from the real world, and many of them will be going through tough times in their own lives – perhaps grieving for a loved one or going through illness. So it’s important for me to help them smile and feel hopeful about humanity. It’s also, I think, great to give perspectives of characters who think in very different ways, which might further empathy and understanding. I like to read thought-provoking books myself, so I’m not averse to provoking a few thoughts. Any writer’s values are likely to show up through their words, which is fine by me. If I can inspire anyone to care for the environment a little more than before, that can only be good.
What or who inspires you?
Memories, mistakes, music, dreams, wildlife, walks, starry skies, the land, trees, animals, penguins, courage, kindness, Mary Oliver, Jane Austen, C.S Lewis, a whole load of modern novels, my husband, my friends, my choir, my cat.
Thank you to Hazel for kindly taking the time to participate in this interview and providing fascinating insight into her life as a traditionally published author. I reached out to Hazel after reading Life and Otter Miracles and resonating with the main character's experiences of 'The Otter Effect' and was thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed as part of the "Perspectives" series.
Where can you find Hazel's brilliant books?
I would always first recommend trying your local independent bookshop - mine was quickly able to order Hazel's books for me and have them ready for collection or delivery. However, if that isn't an option for you then you can find all of Hazel's books at the links below!
Bookshop.org
Away with the Penguins (Book 1 of 3) https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/away-with-the-penguins-the-heartwarming-and-uplifting-richard-judy-book-club-2020-pick-hazel-prior/1941632?ean=9781784164249&next=t
Call of the Penguins (Book 2 of 3) https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/call-of-the-penguins-from-the-no-1-bestselling-author-of-away-with-the-penguins-hazel-prior/6207222?ean=9781784166243&next=t
Gone with the Penguins (Book 3 of 3) https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/tw-untitled-prior-the-brand-new-uplifting-novel-from-the-bestselling-author-of-away-with-the-penguins-hazel-prior/7623375?ean=9781804993330&next=t
Amazon
Please find Hazel's website here: https://www.hazelprior.co.uk/home
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