StoryWorld: TALK: Terri Nixon

Terri Nixon is the Plymouth-based author of Maid of Oaklands Manor. She spoke to StoryWorld about her writing, myth, and the authors that inspire her.

Tell me about Maid of Oaklands Manor!

This book won the historical category of the Piatkus Entice Romantic Fiction awards in 2012, although, as you can see from the reviews, readers have suggested that category is perhaps misleading. It is deeply romantic, in places, but there’s intrigue and mystery in there, and a strong element of the espionage thriller. We join Lizzy as she begins work in 1912 as a scullery maid in a large country house, and follow her as she reaches the lowest point in her life, and the most dangerous, and (hopefully!) cheer her on as she pushes through it all with a new realisation of her own strengths. People really seem to like and relate to Lizzy; my favourite review quote is from Saskia Sarginson (The Twins) who said: “Ms Nixon has created a heroine to fall in love with.” I love that!

And tell us about Lynher Mill!

Lynher Mill is the name I’ve created for the setting of my Mythic Fiction series: The Lynher Mill Chronicles. It’s based on the village of Minions, on Bodmin Moor, where I grew up, and it takes ancient Cornish folklore characters and twists it all together with modern life. There’s a lot of mischievous, and some downright evil, playing with the weather, and three warring factions of elemental spirits – the Moorlanders, Coastals and Foresters. And then there are the mortals who get in their way, but who they reluctantly need.

This series is my ‘baby,’ if you like! It’s been a lot of years in the writing, and no matter what else I’ve been doing, I always came back to it, and I believe in it SO strongly that I have self-published the first book, The Dust of Ancients, and the second, The Lightning and the Blade, is due out this June (2014.)

How do you write? Do you have a plan, a place, a time to write?

I work full-time, so any writing time is a luxury and I have to balance it with time spent promoting. It’s bloomin’ difficult! I just sit on my sofa with my laptop on a card table in front of me, and push the table away against the wall when I run out of time. Usually when I can’t actually keep my eyes open any longer ... or it’s time for Coronation Street!

Are you writing anything at the moment?

I’m working on book three of The Lynher Mill Chronicles, The Western War, and also the third book in the trilogy that started with Maid of Oaklands Manor. (The second, Lady of No Man’s Land is currently out on submission with my agent, Kate Nash.) I also have a traditional Edwardian ghost story set in Helston, called Penhaligon’s Attic, bubbling away on the back-burner.

Who/what are your writing influences?

I don’t remember who made me first want to write, but when I read a Stephen King book, or a Diana Gabaldon, or a George Eliot, it definitely makes me want to write better. So I read them often. I hope it works!