FIONA VEITCH SMITH hears about novelist Prue Phillipson's quest to get into print.
AS anyone who has had a story to tell knows - who's dared to scribble it down on paper, then dared again to tap it out on keys - it's darned hard to get published.
The rejection slips pile up, friends and family wonder when you're going to get a proper job, and that light of inspiration which once burned so strong starts to peter out.
But not if you're Prue Phillipson. Prue was 68 in 1997 when she decided that she was sick of waiting for bigname publishers to get back to her and took things into her own hands. “My granddaughter read my first book and said that others should read it too. I agreed with her,” said Prue.
She had been writing since she was six years old. She wrote through school, university, a world war, a teaching job, church work, charitable work, a marriage, five children, 10 grandchildren and the nursing of three elderly parents. She is now 75.
“I always tried to be published, but what with bringing up the children then looking after elderly parents, I didn't have the time to pursue it as much as I wanted to,” Prue explained. “But I kept on writing. My mother died at the end of 1989 and my youngest was finally off to university, so I had time, space and opportunity to pursue things more seriously.”
Two of her six novels currently on the market.
The question was, what would she work on? In addition to the reams of work in progress, built up over 40 years, Prue had a new idea. It was a trilogy of books based in Northumberland and aimed at young people. Rossimon is the story of two boys from very different backgrounds who forge a strong but at times uneasy friendship. One is from a stable Christian family, the other from a broken home. The three books - Rossimon, Simon and Ross, and Wintertree - follow the boys from their meeting aged 11 to their university years in Durham.
Prue's work was first released by internet publisher E-b Alliance (www.e-bshop.co.uk). Since this foray into electronic publishing she has written three other novels, this time for older readers: Siege (a thriller), Legacy (a family saga) and The Love of Jessie (a romance). She has also set up her own publishing house, Tyne Books, to publish the books in a more traditional format. She does all her own marketing and distribution.
Apart from The Love of Jessie, all of Prue's books are set in and around Northumberland. She was born and raised in Newcastle but went to university in London, where she read English Literature. She returned to the North East with her husband Alan in 1974 and settled in Hexham. Alan is a former Tynedale Council planning officer who appears as a 'character' in some of her books.
Although she's now 75, Prue Phillipson believes it's never too late to learn a new trick. She has taught herself how to use a computer and does most of her research on the Internet. Picture: Fiona Veitch Smith
Settings are also thinly disguised, with 'Brynford' being easily recognisable as Hexham. Siege is roughly set in the Morpeth to Rothbury area, and Legacy is in Cullercoats, Whitley Bay, Newcastle and Hexham.
“What can I say about Tynedale as my inspiration for Rossimon? Well, it was everything,” said Prue. “The walk by the river to the meeting of the North and South Tyne is one Alan and I have loved ever since we came to Hexham 30 years ago. I could picture the two boys exploring along there, Ross in his madness jumping into the river - the Bryn, I call it - in February. Their climb to Morton Hill (Warden Hill), another walk we do, is a special climax place in both Rossimon and Simon and Ross.
“Living in Newcastle all my childhood, I was taken on picnics to Northumberland where I set Siege. I love the whole of the North East and like to write about what I know well, including the local accents, so that I can achieve authenticity.
“Going to university in London helped me see my native county in perspective, viewed from the southern angle by several friends who'd literally never been north of Watford and thought Northumberland was all coal pits, and Newcastle was just about on the Scottish border! How I loved the sight of Durham Cathedral as the Flying Scotsman bore me home at the end of each term and then, joy of joys, the Tyne Bridge.
“Yes, I would like my books to be taken over by a bigname publisher, particularly because now that I'm 75, driving up and down the country to bookshops is becoming more difficult. I wish big publishing firms were not so afraid of a book with even a hint of Christian values. They still seem to think the grim, ghoulish and sordid novels will sell much better than the positive and hopeful. They may get more media coverage, but I'm sure there is a huge longing out there for something which leaves a sweeter taste in the mouth.”
And it seems they finally have taken notice. Her romance, The Love of Jessie, recently reached the Longshort List of the Lit Idol competition, run alongside the London Book Fair. Now a leading secular agent has requested to see more of her work. Her other books are currently being considered by four separate publishers. •
* Prue's books are also mentioned in Jim Mackenzie's JOURNEY TO THE HIDDEN KINGDOMS (published this spring by Powdene Publicity), along with more than 100 other works of children's literature set in the region.
If you would like to know more about Prue's books, e-mail her at pru.phillipson@btopenworld.com or telephone (01434) 604636.