When Fiction Becomes Fact

Matthew took one more look at the neat, black-stained, weatherboard buildings along the bank. ‘Just out of interest, who owns the boat yard?’

It’s always strange when a topic I’ve been writing about suddenly pops up in the news or is reflected by real life. Have I picked up something in the ether or is it coincidence? It’s even stranger though to discover incidents which have shaped my imaginary landscapes taking place in their physical counterparts.

The heroine of my novel, Turning the Tide, Harry Watling runs a boatyard which is not based on any one place in particular but owes a debt to the sleepy backwater on the east coast where we bought our first boat. It’s a proper ‘boaty’ boatyard with a gentle bustle of activity which is all about enjoying being out on the water rather than showing off.

In my novel, Harry wants to preserve and protect her business without selling out, but her problems begin when a property developer buys the old yacht club across the water and turns it into a vast modern restaurant. It was a bit of surprise to see that not only had a number of the old sheds been spruced up as I’d imagined them in my story, but also that a striking new building was rising up in the boatyard that inspired me!

Another theme in Turning the Tide is about reinvigorating lovely old faded seaside towns whilst preserving all that’s unique about them. The town behind the real life boatyard remains charmingly salty and brimming with character. I particularly enjoyed sitting on the sea front with Tom and Ma and hearing a woman chastising her two dogs as if they were naughty children. ‘Just give Teddy the ball, will you, Rupert!’ she shouted and I half-expected to see my characters Frankie and Trevor following along with their troublesome Jack Russell terriers, Phil and Kirstie.

In Aldeburgh, further along the coast, we went in search of Maggie Hambling’s shell sculpture where some of the residents are still less than delighted to see this monument to the composer Benjamin Britten. ‘The beach is beautiful without it,’ one café owner told us, ‘it doesn’t need adornment.’ A controversial artwork dividing local opinion is one of the threads running through my novel, Move Over Darling, but it’s no coincidence that I’m mentioning it here this week. Choc Lit are currently running a Goodreads giveaway for the book and you can enter to win one of three free copies here.