Guest Author: Nicola Cornick
USA Today Bestselling author, Nicola Cornick stopped by today to share the “timeless” nature of her writing. Welcome to the World of Make Believe, Nicola!
Crossing Genres, Crossing Time
Hello and thank you for welcoming me to the blog! My name is Nicola Cornick and I write what is often called “timeslip” novels. By timeslip I mean a narrative that weaves together two or more stories set in different time periods rather than a book where a character or group of characters actually travels through time by some means. Of course it’s not always that straightforward. Timeslip books may also contain some time travel or magic or other paranormal elements. My first timeslip novel, House of Shadows, for example, combined three historical eras, a small amount of time travel, ghosts, visions, folklore and magic. Timeslip is a difficult genre to pin down and that may be part of the problem authors have sometimes with selling the idea of it to publishing professionals. It’s a type of novel that crosses genres as well as crossing time. There can be lots of different elements in the story: romance, crime, mystery and fantasy. A timeslip author is effectively writing three different sub-genres at the same time – contemporary, historical and paranormal.
It’s always interested me that there is a resistance amongst many agents and publishers to the idea of timeslip novels being big sellers when these are themes that appeal to a broad readership. Almost always, when I get into a discussion with an agent or publisher about the genre, the response is that it’s a small niche market, there aren’t sufficient readers who want books like that, and a timeslip author won’t ever sell in huge numbers. I’d like to challenge these ideas and try and change perceptions. Firstly I’d like to challenge the concept that insufficient readers are interested in timeslip. Okay, so my research into this is anecdotal, conducted amongst friends and fellow readers who love timeslip novels as I do but you only need to look more broadly at best-selling authors like Kate Morton to see that there is an appetite for books set in dual time periods. In the past few years there has been an explosion in books with dual narratives and literary authors as well as genre authors have been embracing the idea. If you look widely you will see that “timeslip” in its different guises is everywhere. “Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson, “The Time-Traveller’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger, even “Time’s Arrow” by Martin Amis all play with the same ideas or time travel or reincarnation or other supernatural elements. It’s even a fundamental theme in Dr Who. It has a long and distinguished history as well, via H G Wells, Daphne Du Maurier and Barbara Erskine, to name but a few.
What is it about writing timeslip that appeals to me? I love the idea of a mystery that occurs in the past and is then solved in the present, and I love writing about women who usually only feature in the footnotes of history. For my second book, The Phantom Tree, I researched and wrote about Mary Seymour, the daughter of Queen Catherine Parr and Thomas Seymour, whose story had fascinated me from childhood. My heroines are all strong women whose role in history has either been forgotten or neglected. I enjoy bringing their stories to light. Readers love the idea of there being connections between the past and the present and the way that stories from hundreds of years ago still resonate now. My aim is to tell a great story with richly layered characters within an authentic historical framework, and she that its message can be as relevant now is it was hundreds of years ago.
About Nicola
Nicola Cornick grew up in Yorkshire and studied History at the University of London and at Ruskin College Oxford. She worked in academia for a number of years before becoming a full-time writer. She is the author of acclaimed dual-time mysteries as well as of award-winning historical romance.
When she isn’t writing, Nicola volunteers as a guide and researcher for the National Trust at the 17th century hunting lodge Ashdown House. She has given talks and chaired panels for a number of festivals and conferences including the London Book Fair, the Historical Novel Society and the Sharjah Festival of Literature. Nicola also gives talks on public and local history topics to WIs, history societies and other interested groups.
She is a former Chair of the Romantic Novelists Association, Wiltshire Libraries Writer in Residence and trustee of Wantage Literary Festival, and in her spare time is a puppy walker for the Guide Dogs charity.
Where to Find Nicola
Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | YouTube | Instagram
0 Comments