A Moment With…Alice May

I’m so pleased to be welcoming Alice May to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Mid-life Trials of Annabeth Hope.

Two very different worlds are about to collide.

Feisty country girl Annabeth Hope has sworn off men since her ex abandoned her. Juggling three resentful step-teens, a hyperactive toddler, a smallholding, and a herd of rescued llamas, she has her hands full.

With the roof about to collapse on her crumbling New Forest home, she is desperate to find a way to hold her patchwork family together. The last thing she needs is an attractive distraction moving in next door.

Burnt-out inner-city doctor Rick Mahon has left London and his medical career behind in a moment of professional crisis. A malpractice lawsuit is on the horizon, and the cancel culture mob are snapping at his heels. His plan to stay under the radar is thrown off course when he meets his new neighbour and sparks start to fly.

Annabeth and Rick couldn’t be more different, but maybe they hold the key to each other’s happiness…

Alice joins us today to chat about inspiration and people watching so without further ado, it’s over to you. 

I love writing family dynamics. Finding the inspiration to write teen characters can be tricky, especially when you are trying to replicate their interactions with the adults in their lives. When I worked as a school librarian, it was interesting that pupils using the library often forgot that I was there. While I quietly moved around the room emptying the returns box and filing books back onto shelves, teenagers would chat openly with their friends about things they would never share in front of an adult. I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping, but it was impossible to do my job without hearing what was being shared quite openly around me. Snippets of random conversations triggered ideas, situations and character quirks that went on to influence my writing.

For example, in the early days of writing The Mid-life Trials of Annabeth Hope, I wanted to make Annabeth’s prickly relationship with her teenage step-daughter Daisy as realistic as possible. I was struggling to pitch the tone of how Daisy might talk to her step-mother, given the fact that there is a lot of underlying conflict between them. A hushed one-minute gossiping session from the far side of the non-fiction geography shelving was the key to my dilemma. One sentence was all it took. While I would never disclose the details of the actual conversation that took place, overhearing what one teenager claimed she had said to her mother during a row, struck a chord and helped set the family dynamic for Annabeth (Beth for short) and Daisy at the start of the book. By the end of that wet cold Friday afternoon at work, I had built an entire fictional scene around it in my mind that I couldn’t wait to get home and type up.

The following excerpt is from that scene. (Please note that Jack is Daisy’s twin brother. They are sixteen. Grace is their four-year-old half-sister. They are on their way to school.) The words I borrowed from the girl in the library are underlined, everything else is complete fiction.

*****

“Used to stony silence from Daisy on all car journeys, Beth was astounded when the teenager spoke.

‘I’m going around Noah’s after school today, yeah? Like, to study.’

‘He’s in the year above and you aren’t doing the same subjects. How you going to study?’ scoffed Jack.

‘Shut up, Jack!’ said Daisy.

‘Hasn’t Noah’s mum just had a baby?’ asked Beth.

‘I love babies,’ declared Daisy.

‘No, you don’t,’ said Grace. ‘You hate babies. You said so.’

‘Well, maybe I do, but I love you, Grace – you know that.’

‘Of course, you love me. I’m not a baby.’

Beth met Grace’s gaze in the rear mirror. A flare of alarm shot through her chest as she recognised Daisy’s defiant attitude reflected in the younger girl’s eyes. ‘No. I want you home at the usual time today, Daisy. No going to Noah’s.’

‘You’re not my mother. You can’t stop me.’

‘I’m the adult responsible for you. You can see Noah at the weekend,’ said Beth.

‘I heard Noah went clubbing last Saturday and got totally bladdered,’ said Jack.

Daisy slapped the top of her brother’s head. ‘Butt out, Jack.’

‘Stop it, both of you. Daisy, you’re coming home and that’s final. You need to study,’ said Beth. ‘Think of your future.’

Daisy huffed. ‘At least I’ve got a future.’

Jack whistled. ‘Savage.’

‘I beg your pardon, Daisy?’ asked Beth.

‘Just because you’re old and your life’s over,’ Daisy hissed, ‘doesn’t mean you can wreck mine. If I want to go out, I will. So there!’

‘Yeah!’ chimed in Grace. ‘So there!’

Enough. Beth hit the brakes and swerved into a lay-by.

‘Hey! Go easy,’ protested Daisy. ‘Why are we stopping?’

Jack shot Beth a look. He opened his mouth, then very sensibly closed it again and hunched down in his seat.

Beth gave Daisy a steady stare via the rear mirror. ‘You’ve got two choices. Apologise and agree to come home at the usual time, or get out of the car.’”

*****

It was immensely satisfying as a writer to work out how the conflict between Beth and Daisy would change as the main story developed. I wanted to find a resolution that would bring them closer together, but I had to be mindful of the fact that family dynamics are never all sweetness and light. Staying realistic was a challenge and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it was all thanks to an unexpected moment in the library.

I guess the moral of the story is to beware what you say wherever you are. If you are out in public, whether you are in a coffee shop, on the bus, or walking down the street, remember that there are writers everywhere taking notes…

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of The Mid-life Trials of Annabeth Hope as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Love

Alice

About Alice May –

A former GP surgery manager, school librarian and art teacher, Alice May is mum to four not-so-small children. She is married to the most patient man on the planet, and they live in the New Forest.

Alice started writing in 2016 and she enjoyed playing with words so much that now she can’t stop.

Say hello to Alice via her website, Instagram, You Tube, TikTok, Facebook and X.

The Mid-Life Trials of Annabeth Hope was released on 28th October 2024. Click to buy via The Book Guild, Hive, WHSmith, Waterstones, Cole’s Books, Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.