Swapping downstairs for upstairs… How hard can it be!?
Look up the phrase ordinary girl and you’ll see a picture of me, Gemma Goodwin – I only look half-decent after applying the entire contents of my make-up bag, and my dating track-record includes a man who treated me to dinner…at a kebab shop. No joke!
The only extraordinary thing about me is that I look EXACTLY like my BFF, Abbey Croxley. Oh, and that for reasons I can’t explain, I’ve agreed to swap identities and pretend be her to star in the TV show about her aristocratic family’s country estate, Million Dollar Mansion.
So now it’s not just my tan I’m faking – it’s Kate Middleton style demure hemlines and lady-like manners too. And amongst the hundreds of fusty etiquette rules I’m trying to cram into my head, there are two I really must remember:
1) No-one can ever find out that I’m just Gemma, who’d be more at home in the servants' quarters.
2) There can be absolutely no flirting with Abbey’s dishy but buttoned-up cousin, Lord Edward.
Aaargh, this is going to be harder than I thought…
1. Thanks for stopping by, Sam. What is it about
Downton Abbey that appeals to you so much?
Period dramas
fascinate me since, socially, times have changed so much. I like seeing how
characters cope with what life throws at them, within the emotional and social
restraints of their day. The plots are also gripping (most recently the fall-out
from the attack on Anna) and Fellowes has created characters that we care
about, from out-of-place Branson and kind-hearted Mrs Hughes, to the
sharp-tongued Dowager Countess and butler Carson. Plus there have been some
real villains, vile valet Green being the latest.
I read an article recently which suggested Americans loved Downton because the
series was rather like glamorous Dynasty – a show I also loved! – and certainly
the sumptuous costumes and grand setting are a great background to the dramatic
storylines.
2. Do you think the
public's attitude towards 'reality TV' has changed since the very first series
of Big Brother?
Fly-on-the-wall
reality series have always been around, for example Seven Up, but yes, I do think
our attitude to reality shows has changed. To a degree, we have been given the
power of some Caesar, with the ability to turn our thumbs up or down.
However, I am a big
fan and the vast array of these shows now available. Perhaps they appeal to me
as a writer, as I enjoy the peek into the human psyche. Plus, on a practical
level, some enable contestants to learn a new skill or – in the case of Million
Dollar Mansion featured in Doubting Abbey – offer people the potential to win
enough money to make a real difference to their lives.
The reality genre
will always be one of my favourites, so long as it doesn’t detract from the
money and time given to making dramas and comedy shows with real actors.
3. How did Doubting
Abbey come about, and did you start with the plot or the characters?
I asked myself how
a modern gal would cope, being thrust into a stuffy, old-fashioned aristocratic
home – so I came up with the idea of pizza waitress Gemma having to pass
herself off as her posh friend Abbey, for two weeks. So really, the plot came
first – closely followed by the title. Before beginning I needed to do a lot of
research into stately homes and visited the lovely Lyme Park near me in
Cheshire. This building isn’t from exactly the same era, but the interior gave
me ideas for how to furnish my fictional Applebridge Hall. I also needed to
check my facts on aristocratic titles and find out how one would address an
earl, his wife and their son.
4. Do you have a
different approach to writing dramatic scenes and comedic scenes?
Adding in emotion
is very important for the dramatic scenes and something I have really worked
hard on. An editor from the short story world told me this was one of my
weaknesses, so during the last year or so I have really tried to up my game –
after all, it is getting the reader emotionally involved which is going to make
them care for your characters, like in Downton Abbey where, for example, we
really feel Daisy’s pain at her unrequited love.
As for comedic
scenes, I really let myself go. In Doubting Abbey there is farce which has to
be carefully written so that it doesn’t come over as unrealistic – Gemma is an
impulsive, wacky character and I found it difficult to reign in my sense of
humour! Fellowes does it so beautifully with the Dowager Countess’ and Carson’s
one-liners and po faces!
5. Would you
consider yourself a genre author?
I consider myself a
romance writer, albeit of romantic comedies. But I also write short stories and
having sold over 80 now to women’s magazines, was recently thrilled that Alfie Dog Fiction brought out a collection of my feel-good stories called Sweet Talk.
I love everything
paranormal, though, and might one day shift into that sector of the romance
genre!
6. How did you find
your agent / publisher?
My journey to
finding an agent and publisher has been a rocky one – I started writing in 2005
and finally bagged an agent in 2011, with several manuscripts, by then, under
the bed. However, I feel this is a rite of passage for many authors, and if you
can survive those years it stands you in good stead for dealing with the
challenges of published life. Writing and selling short stories during the last
couple of years has really helped boost my (what had become a rather
weather-beaten) writerly ego and I wish I’d started writing and sending those
out years ago.
But yes, it has been very sweet fulfilling my ambitions of first getting an
agent and then a novel deal. If I can do it anyone can – determination is
important. I have Samuel Beckett’s quote stuck up on my wall:
“Ever failed? No
matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
7. What's your next
writing project?
I am contemplating a sequel
to Doubting Abbey which is very exciting for me! Watch this space!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter
Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/
Novel: http://doubtingabbey.blogspot.co.uk/
