Sussex


<p>You’d be hard pushed not to be creatively inspired when living in East Sussex’s Ashdown Forest &#8211; something Sunday Times best selling author, Karen Swan, knows only too well. As a former fashion journalist with tenures at Vogue and Tatler, she left the Big Smoke in 2006 for the South Downs where she writes two books a year: one beach read and one Christmas tone.</p>



<p>Karen writes a selection of stories the latest of which is <em>Christmas By Candlelight</em>, out now, to help with the countdown to the festive season. It’s not your standard chick flick, oh no, this tale follows Libby who reluctantly pops in to a university reunion with her new boyfriend, Max, following a wedding. It’s three days before Christmas. They are snowed in. Secrets begin to be uncovered. Oooooooh.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Teasing Muddy with more thriller style action, Karen reveals all, and shares her secret spots in Sussex.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-inspired-you-to-write-christmas-novels">What inspired you to write Christmas novels?</h3>



<p>I never intentionally set out to write Christmas novels and in fact my first Christmas-titled book, <em>Christmas At Tiffany’s</em>, was set over the course of a year, beginning on New Year’s Eve and ending at Christmas. But what I learnt from the success of that title was that there was an appetite for books set in the festive season. I don’t let it affect the plot so my books are often not considered ‘cosy’ for Christmas but rather I’ll use it as a backdrop, a ticking timer, to the action. In <em>Christmas by Candlelight</em>, the characters are struggling with the hardships of no light, power, communications or running water in the run-up to Christmas but there’s still a lovely festive vibe with roaring fires, snuggling under blankets, an oversized Christmas tree and of course, lots of candles.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-will-readers-enjoy-about-christmas-by-candlelight">What will readers enjoy about <em>Christmas by Candlelight</em>?</h3>



<p>The past/present storyline is very pacy and means it’s easy to pick up and hard to put down. When I was editing it &#8211; usually a turgid, painful process – I couldn’t believe how I raced through it. The characters are a great bunch: eclectic and well-drawn I hope in being relatable/likeable but also flawed. The action also takes place over a few days and that intense timeline means we really live and breathe with them. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/1-5.jpg" alt="Christmas by candlelight Karen Swan" class="wp-image-66784" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/1-5.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/1-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/1-5-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/1-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/1-5-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-festive-fiction-is-usually-romance-focused-did-you-want-to-be-different-deliberately">Festive fiction is usually romance focused, did you want to be different deliberately?</h3>



<p>year, I get through a lot of content. It would be hard for me to sustain my creative interest if I was only ever writing about ‘boy meets girl’, but by launching into a meaty plot with some twists and red herrings, I can ensure that I’m keeping my own interest going – and therefore the reader’s. It would be easy to find a formula for a successful book and keep repeating that but I want every book I write to feel fresh and I always experiment with the different ways to tell a story – be it narrating through multiple characters or alternating timelines. I hope my readers would agree that my books are varied but united by a distinctive Karen Swan tone.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-it-about-christmas-that-makes-a-good-backdrop-for-fiction">What is it about Christmas that makes a good backdrop for fiction?</h3>



<p>As much as anything, Christmas provides a definitive ‘pause’ to everyday life. Shops and offices are closed, everyone goes home and it’s an opportunity to take a breath and reflect. There’s a pressure for Christmas to be perfect in a way that isn’t applied to Easter or Halloween, for example, but it also means we try that bit harder to make the day glossy and super special. I know that my readers want to feel that heightened sense where, for one day at least, life is as good as it can be: families are happy and united, we sing, overeat, play games, collapse on sofas…It’s an illusion of course but there’s no other single day that carries this weight of collective expectation and that hope and promise and carries over very well into the fictional world.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-5.jpg" alt="Karen Swan" class="wp-image-66785" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-5.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-5-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-5-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption>Karen Swan</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-are-your-favourite-spots-in-sussex-to-write">Where are your favourite spots in Sussex to write?</h3>



<p>Nowadays I’m generally confined to my study but when my children were younger, I would write in the café of Uckfield leisure centre while they had dance/ taekwondo lessons, or sit in the car in the car park at Tulleys Farm during Halloween. I’ve developed the ability to block out everything when I’m working so I really can write absolutely anywhere. Funnily enough though, I could sit and write in the middle of a building site but if you played the radio or put on music, I would have to get up and move; songs burrow into my brain and there’s not space for sentences <em>and</em> lyrics!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-do-you-love-about-sussex-why-do-you-live-here">What do you love about Sussex, why do you live here?</h3>



<p>I’ve lived in Sussex for 17 years now and I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to raise my children in such an open, green, safe place. I love the vast swathes of common lands, such as the heaths, the Ashdown Forest and the Downs National Park. Sussex never feels overcrowded or overdeveloped. The reason we started looking over here, and eventually moved here from London, was because it was where my mother lived when she first came over from Ireland when she was 16  and that gave us the feeling of having some local roots. I can’t imagine living anywhere else in the country and I hope it will be the place my children return to, in time, when they come to have their own families.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-4.jpg" alt="Christmas reading" class="wp-image-66772" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-4.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-4-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/2-4-788x525.jpg 788w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-your-favourite-hidden-gem-in-the-county">What’s your favourite hidden gem in the county?</h3>



<p>It used to be Nutley Antiques in Nutley but they closed their doors this Autumn so now I would have to say it’s <a href="https://www.gorringes.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gorringe’s Auction House</a> in Lewes (even though it isn’t hidden at all). I love going to the previews on a Saturday morning, before the Monday sales, and then mooching around the Antiques stores over the river. It’s my husband’s idea of hell but I can’t get enough of it!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-there-any-local-spots-in-sussex-that-help-inspire-you">Are there any local spots in Sussex that help inspire you?</h3>



<p>I walk on the Ashdown Forest with my dogs every morning and that really helps me to work through plot knots and decide on what I’m going to be writing that day. I love the Japanese concept of ‘tree-bathing’ and I can really feel myself rejuvenate and calm as I walk through the trees. It lifts my mood but also boosts my creativity as well.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/3-3-1000x667.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-66774" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/3-3-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/3-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/3-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/3-3-788x525.jpg 788w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2023/11/3-3.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-feel-pressure-after-writing-best-sellers-for-each-book-to-perform-as-well">Do you feel pressure after writing best sellers for each book to perform as well?&nbsp;</h3>



<p>It’s definitely there, in the background, although I try my best not to obsess over it. Sometimes a book I’m super-proud of, doesn’t perform as I hoped and another I was a little disappointed by, exceeds expectations! It can be tempting, if a book has done particularly well, to want to replicate that but I consciously prioritise the creative process and giving my readers a fresh take each time; after that, I can only trust and hope it lands as I wanted. Sometimes the Top Ten can be ‘hijacked’ by external factors such as a film adaptation or a viral TikTok but even if you’re not sitting as high in the charts as you might like, so long as its selling through consistently, then you know it’s reaching the readers and that’s what I’m focused on.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-can-local-sussex-women-get-involved-in-fiction-writing">How can local Sussex women get involved in fiction writing?</h3>



<p>I’ve never done a course myself but my best advice is that if you want to be a writer, you must first be a reader. Expose yourself to different voices, vocabularies and worlds. Quite often, when I find myself at a really critical point in reading a book, I break off and try to imagine what I – as the writer – would do with the plot at that point. It’s a good exercise that pumps the creative muscle and helps get you into the mindset of becoming a writer. There’s no right or wrong to it; so long as you have your own voice, there will be stories that only you can tell. So much finessing happens in the edit stages later on but getting the words down in the first place is a discipline that becomes a skill and, in my case, a way of life. &nbsp;</p>



<p><em><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/christmas-by-candlelight/karen-swan//9781529084290?sv1=affiliate&amp;sv_campaign_id=626889&amp;awc=3787_1699453404_a673d77251ca2183b6e2172dd7d56d7c&amp;utm_source=626889&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=Preisvergleich" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Christmas by Candlelight</a> by Karen Swan, is out now,  £8.99, Pan</em> <em>Macmillan</em></p>


Muddy meets: Local author Karen Swan

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