Welcome Sam Smith! Sam’s here to tell us a little behind his
new book. Trees, published by Safkhet Publishing.
Take it away, Sam!
First of all I have to confess that, although I’ve done many
things sub-literary in my writing life – organised poetry festivals and book
fairs, run a small press, Original Plus, and for nearly 20 years now the poetry
magazine The Journal (once ‘of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry’); and
although I’ve had many publishers of my work, 2 of which went disastrously bust
while I was working as editor for them, Safkhet Publishing is the first that
has suggested that I be a guest blogger.
The novel by the way is Trees and Safkhet are based in
Germany.
We know from the opening chapter that the narrator's adopted
daughter, Hazel, is going to die. But when? After the steroid treatments that
make her into a slip-slopping bag of water? Or after discovering that her
biological father is the millionaire Gustaf Eriksson, a man obsessed with the
reforesting of England? Or will it be when her mother gives up her café and
herself becomes involved with The Tree Prospectus?
Trees, Alder through to Yew, naturally feature.
I’m based in the UK on the Cumbrian coast. Maryport
describes itself as ‘By the sea near the Lakes.’ Not wholly sure how I ended up
here, suffice to say that I like walking over mountains and I’ve moved about a
bit. And my daughter Shelley Carmen was living in Edinburgh at the time we last
moved. My usual author biog says, ‘… I was born Blackpool 1946, am now living
in Maryport, Cumbria. A freelance writer, I have been a psychiatric nurse,
residential social worker, milkman, plumber, laboratory analyst, groundsman,
sailor, computer operator, scaffolder, gardener, painter & decorator....
working at anything, in fact, which has paid the rent, enabled me to raise my
three daughters and which hasn't got too much in the way of my writing.’ All of
my daughters, Shelley included, and grandchildren, now live in the south, which
annoyingly means I see a lot of the M6.
Here’s a picture of me sat on a trig point, mountains
behind.
The currently popular singer Sam Smith by the way is a clone
and one of many talented individuals, male and female, bearing my monicker. We
altered singer Sam’s DNA and gave him a musical gene. Hope that clears up any
confusion.
But about Trees… The initial publicity says ‘As H was for
Hawk will T now be for Trees? D for Distraction? P for Platonic? S for Sam? Or
Smith?’ Which I hope will give putative readers a decent clue to the book’s
contents. ‘H for Hawk’ concerned itself with a reconciling of the bereaved
through falconry. Trees has a different death, an adopted daughter, and the
mother finding solace through helping her birth father in his attempt to
reforest as much as he can of England. Consequently each chapter has throughout
descriptions of trees and diagrammatic representations of trees. (A labour of
love Trees has taken me years to complete.)
Although death might be the central feature of Trees what it
mostly concerns itself with is the nature of family, and of those relationships
beyond. Of friendships, and resentments, people we work with, of in-laws and
outlaws. Of desires contained, physical capabilities and incapacities, sexual
orientation, and trees.
Safkhet has set 31st October as the release date for Trees.
You can read more about Trees here – Safkhet Publishing
Other of my books are featured here - http://samsmithbooks.weebly.com
The Journal and Original Plus here – http://thesamsmith.webs.com/
My thanks to Sheryl Browne for asking me to guest on her
blog.
