Or Forever Be Damned paperback giveaway on Goodreads

To celebrate the release of my historical saga Or Forever Be Damned's paperback edition, I've scheduled a giveaway. Goodreads will select 5 entrants to each receive a paperback copy. This will be open for entries from midnight on Saturday, November 1 through midnight on Friday, November 14. The offer is open to Goodreads members in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia.
 

[*This was a huge success, thanks to the 903 people who participated]

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Or Forever Be Damned

by C.S. Burrough

Giveaway ends November 14, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Soul Vomit: Domestic Violence Aftermath (Volume 2)

I was honoured to be a Featured Contributor to the 2014 Soul Vomit anthology, released October 18 2014 in paperback & Kindle eBook editions.

Soul Vomit is about awareness raising and helping end domestic violence and abuse. Stories, poetry, art, and essays are collected from all over the world to help victims and survivors be heard!

It aims to help society open its eyes to this painful epidemic hiding behind closed family doors all over the world.

Purchase links:

‪#‎CreateSpace‬ http://tinyurl.com/qf2j5ad
‪#‎AmazonKindle‬ http://tinyurl.com/pqyjz2v
‪#‎AmazonPaperback‬ http://tinyurl.com/pvd524a

C S Burrough interviewed by Fiona Mcvie

It was a privilege and an honour being interviewed by the prolific Fiona Mcvie -  posted at Here is my interview with C S Burrough

Fiona: Name

I write as C S Burrough and my name is Colin.

Fiona: Age

55

Fiona: Where are you from?

I began life in the UK then made Australia home 30+ years ago.

Fiona: A little about your self ie your education Family life etc  

I was an only child, studied Performing Arts fulltime until leaving school, then forged an entertainment industry career. I worked on many West End productions and toured shows internationally before seeking out other experiences about midway through my working life. I've never been a family person, value my independence and prefer cats to people – I just have the one silver tabby who is enormously special and presently demanding I stop typing this to pay attention to her. I ride a modest sports scooter and spend as much time as I can in Sydney's fabulous outdoors.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

It’s Spring here, I went to iconic Bondi Beach yesterday, my historical novel Or Forever Be Damned was released in Kindle edition recently and is next due for paperback release this month. It's available at amazon.com

USA http://tinyurl.com/ofgxhyh
UK http://tinyurl.com/lwdopgn
AUS http://tinyurl.com/naemqj8

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

In my teens and early twenties I travelled extensively with my theatre work, keeping road journals. These recorded initial impressions of places I'd later revisit and review my opinions of. My deeper thoughts and more abstract reflections were explored this way, as I matured. The page became an invaluable confidante and sounding board. I never set out to make writing an art form, it developed incidentally as a result of my written expression.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I got my first story published, at the age of 30.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

I wanted to depict interesting people and places, make telling observations that readers would connect with. It’s a way of relating, a form of remote intimacy.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I'm often told it’s evocative. I aim to to transport readers to other times and places, whilst inhabiting different characters' internal worlds, comparing their separate personal realities in any given circumstance common to them. I explore the differing viewpoints that form a relationship's dynamics.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

It sounded like the crux of a life defining ultimatum. Life presents you with a chance at something. Whether we use up certain of life's chances shapes and determines our future. It's the classic human dilemma (decision making, direction choosing, risk taking), the source of much inner conflict.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

That human conflict usually involves legitimate differing viewpoints, it’s seldom as cut and dried as one party being right and another wrong. Also that human nature has both a timeless primal side and an accompanying flipside, a more subjective side peculiar to times and places inhabited. Yesteryear's people placed in today's situations would make different choices and have different outcomes. Similarly, those stuck in one part of the world are limited to its available options. Unless they get out! Breaking free of one's roots is usually far easier in today's world than it was in times past.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?

It's very realistic according to the reader reviews. As historical fiction its very core is realism, authenticity, fact rather than fantasy.

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

No, the characters are completely fictional with no real life counterparts, the settings mostly times and places I never inhabited. I have, however, used my extensive  knowledge of theatrical lore to form the backdrop.

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?

In fiction, the great nineteenth century classics, especially Arnold Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. Also the later works of my favourite author, Jean Rhys. But I'm more a reader of historical non-fiction and biographies, from which I've benefited greatly.

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Jean Rhys. I think she was pure genius.

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

No. I'm an old fashioned reader.

Fiona: What are your current projects?

I'm spreading awareness on animal equality issues whilst slowly contemplating a collection of short stories.

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Fellow writers.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

More a vocation. 'Career' implies financial dependence, which for me is antithetical to creative integrity. Industrializing any art form I see as necessarily compromising. Careers in more commercial writing than the literary genres are maybe different, but I'd never want to be placed having to churn out words just to keep food on the table. I imagine the strain soul destroying. There would be no joy in that. I take as much time as I need to make my writing special and meaningful, regardless how 'marketable' it's considered.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No, it's exactly as it should be.

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Or Forever be Damned is an historical saga spanning eight decades. It follows the lives and families of two very different women who escape northern England's slums in the 1930s Slump. When Fate brings these dual protagonist/antagonists together, their instinctive, irrational loathing of each other is instant and remains lifelong. The reader is unpressured into siding with either woman, with each having sympathetic qualities and flaws blossoming as they mature.

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Getting first drafts done. I go for long periods with no words coming, then words erupt from me faster than my fingers can type. If only creativity was a more rational beast.

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

The late Jean Rhys. Her unique style has never been replicated. Her combined rawness of expression and literary skill remains breathtaking. Her incisive take on humanity's warped ways is so bravely, bluntly expressed, yet so poetically formed on the page. She was baring her soul in all her work. It was also often what she didn’t write – the unstated parts, the inferred elements that she left to the reader's imagination, rather than spelling them out – that gave her prose such impact. No other writer has conveyed so specifically my own personal experience of life. It's as if she read my mind decades before I was born.

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

No, for this one I needed to stay anchored in my regular focus zone. In the past, though, I've got a lot written whilst travelling, but not journeying anywhere specifically for any one project.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

The paperback print cover was specially designed by acclaimed Sydney artist Shayne Chester, a brilliant painter and photographer. He spent weeks reading the entire book first, not just the synopsis, to get the feel. We also discussed it over several weeks whilst he came up with several options. I love his beautifully eerie, evocative end result, which perfectly expresses my vision of this saga. 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?

My own insistence on historical accuracy and precision of detail. As it follows numerous characters through eight decades, I spent over two years painstakingly researching, situating each person geographically, professionally etc. and, of course, dressing them accordingly.

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Writing my most recent novel, I learned that hard-plotting, working to self-imposed deadlines, in fact 'industrial strategy' must sometimes be avoided to produce the best possible results.

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Try to avoid replicating mass produced material to jump onto the fast-selling gravy train – write what you know is your own special line. Integrity resonates and in the long run a dozen genuinely devoted fans are of truer value than any annual royalty income. 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Just thank you for 'getting' me (I write for you only).

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers.

 

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

Nobody made me laugh more than Lucille Ball in her TV shows. Nothing makes me cry more than human cruelty to animals, particularly all factory farming, chemical product testing for 'beauty' and of course hunting.

 

Fiona: Is there one person pass or present you would want to meet and why?

Queen Elizabeth I. She would have been such a fascinating person. Otherwise, her great adversary Mary Queen of Scots, equally fascinating.

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?

I'm into genealogy and have my family tree back to 843 AD.

 

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

British TV drama 'Silk' / Big screen period dramas and films noir of the Joan Crawford / Bette Davis type.

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music

Home cooked vegan dishes / Gold / 1960s sounds.

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

Work with animals.

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

Blog http://csburrough.blogspot.com.au/

Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/csburrough

Goodreads author page https://www.goodreads.com/csburrough

Or Forever Be Damned - article in Perth Gay News

Posted in Perth Gay News 22 September 2014:

C S Burrough's New Novel:

Or Forever Be Damned

C. S. Burrough, a.k.a. Colin Burrough, is best recognised by his tribe for contributions to queer literature, some archived in Australia's National Library. His first published piece was lesbian love story Box and Cotton in Pascoe's 1989 Australian Short Stories series. Over 25 years his words have adorned Australian gay publications: In Outrage magazine's anthology he documented tales of Sydney's early gay bar, the Rex Hotel, in Just Up The Road. His 1995 autobiographical novel, Keeping the Family Name, reached number three on local gay bestseller lists. Following his Capital Q Weekly column of some years, his 2001 fictional serial, Not Grunting Squealing, was a weekly feature in SX News' first six months. His 2009 story, Parlour, appeared in Gay-Ebooks' Christopher Isherwood inspired I Am A Camera.

But outside this niche he covers various genres, including historical fiction, which is where this novel sits. Or Forever Be Damned, a saga spanning eight decades, follows the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England's 'Cottonopolis', Salford. Brought together fatefully in the 1930s Slump, a simmering irrational enmity ignites when the two aspirant showgirls meet in youth, burns steadily until death, then lives on, transported to Australia by their progeny.

Burrough discloses that, while this is no gay novel per se, it features important, if not major, lesbian and gay characters. 'Ultimately for a wider readership, this epic also notes the shape of our queer predecessors. We aren't centre stage but cannot be ignored.' He reveals that the later chapters chart vital historical developments towards Gay Liberation: 'These strands are key to the fate of one protagonist.' He assures it is also richly endowed with elements traditionally satisfying to LGBT readers. 'There are strong theatrical threads and related campery. High drama too. And being about two warring women it gets suitably catty, in a nuanced way.'

At a generous 94,000 words approx, Or Forever Be Damned is published by Australian Silky Oak Press and now available eBook from www.amazon.com. Also paperback released from September/October 2014 also from Amazon.

Print covert art is by Shayne Chester.

Purchase this book via the links below:

http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Be-Damned-C-S-Burrough-ebook/dp/B00MGBYCPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408520001&sr=8-1&keywords=c+s+burrough

http://www.amazon.com.au/s/?field-keywords=Or%20Forever%20Be%20Damned&node=2496751051

Or Forever Be Damned review by Peter Dickerson

Or Forever be Damned 

Peter Dickerson's Amazon review

The author spent 2 years researching this historical saga. The research is obvious. There is great breadth and detail with regard to food, fashion, hardship, illness, culture and politics. The theatre backdrop to the story is essential and fascinating.

This soaring family saga covers generations and decades. It is grand in its involvement for the reader and in the shared experience of the pain and difficulty of the lives which have been endured.
The war decades are very like the despair and hardship described in Down and Out in Paris and London, and The Road to Wigan Pier. When reading during these decades one experiences the shortages, suffering and destruction. It is difficult to believe that humans could survive this horror. Many did not of course.

The characters are flawed, have strengths and talents, and affect each other positively and negatively. The story is very much a tragedy, but it is also a story of lives lived, of decades endured, or relationships shared and destroyed. It is difficult to actually like any of the characters. They are all so flawed and all cause so much destruction though their flaws. They are interesting to observe. The first half of the book is brutal and life is very difficult. The final half of the book is fascinating but remains harsh. The decades swept past.

I have to compare this book to the grand and majestic saga The Mists of Avalon which also covers generations and decades lived and endured. The similarities with the tragedy and suffering of the families in the two books seems worth noting.

A great and memorable read. The level of research and historical detail is noted and very appreciated.

Or Forever Be Damned review by author and performer Julian Wild

I was so grateful to acclaimed author and perform Julian Wild, who wrote on Goodreads:

“Or Forever be Damned…” is a thoroughly engaging family saga that is a work of true historical and social relevance, taking us from the height of British Imperial power and relevance and on through the ensuing decades of decline and decadence: Societal values changing; some for the better, many not so. It is a work of not only historical importance, relayed in painstaking accuracy, but it is a study of social structure, involving disparities of class, religion and region. I was intrigued by the premise of the novel and by the subject matter: such topics within the novel being personally relatable; career situations and regional flavor so on point that only one who truly had lived in these places or times and known these people and their lives could convey such to the reader. And how C. S. Burrough has painted his canvas with such devotion to detail, such accuracy! His evidently painstaking devotion to authenticity is the gift he presents to the generations of readers who will be drawn to this tale. It reads like the historical saga it clearly is, with an ease and flow that is well paced and involving. One is drawn into the storyline from the first chapter.

It is a book to be considered on many facets. There is the startling fact of the changing times’ effects on attitudes, formalities, manners and practices. Then there is the story itself, apart from social relevance. Characters are well drawn and true, memorable for possessing identities gleaned from an authenticity born of knowledge. This genuine flavor makes the characters live. There is not the orthodox protagonist verses antagonist, as characters display both endearing and unfortunate characteristics, being at once sympathetic, then flawed. I prefer this, as it calls upon you, the reader, to reach your own determination as to whom is the more sympathetic and worthy of our emotional investment, thus keeping the reader engaged in the story-line, allowing one to reach one’s own conclusion of any message to be drawn from the epic saga. And epic it is! This is a work to be considered. It is also a work that will live with you long after you finish it.

Whilst reading this work I was wondering what particular message the author might be trying to pass along to the reader, if he had one at all – consciously or otherwise. But as I concluded the final page it came into clarity, exactly what message, what conclusion ought to be drawn from this fine work. I am glad to have read this work for that, and I would wish to thank the author for his efforts to that end. I would highly recommend this work to anyone, and would challenge them to discover what their own sincere conclusions would be upon finishing. Whether or not the author intended it, there is a message.

Or Forever Be Damned review by artist Shayne Chester

Artist Shayne Chester wrote on Goodreads

This is a fantastic tale, built around strong, three-dimensional characters and set in a history recent enough for most readers to strongly empathize with. Although the story unfolds over several generations, the narrative drives forward like a locomotive and is at once poignant and exciting thanks to the impeccable wordsmithing talents of this author. I feel like Mona, Ambrose, Kat, Ginny, Thaddeus, Gideon, Martha, Lydia, Sissy, Seth and all the wonderful, warm, ensemble of neighbours have become an extended family. I'd fully recommend it, it deserves a place in the classics.

Or Forever Be Damned review by UK actor Sally Mortemore

Posted at Amazon

C.S. Burrough's extraordinary novel spans eight decades beginning in Salford, Manchester in 1935 as a young woman hangs out the washing across cobbled streets. It is a novel of great capacity not only stretching the years, but also counties and continents whilst exploring familial jealousy, desire, ambition, competition and personal success.

Beautifully structured with a compelling narrative, Burrough writes with great attention to detail and builds such clear, bright images one can taste them in ones mouth forever craving the next spoonful.
Thoroughly recommended.

Or Forever Be Damned review by UK author Wendy Steele

Posted at Goodreads by Wendy Steele

Mona Dingwall is the elder sibling to her brother Ambrose and lives with her family in a row of tiny terraced houses in Salford in 1935. His meeting and befriending of Kathleen Teal, begins a feud between Mona and Kat that lasts through the war and beyond.

Throughout the book Burrough includes references, products and advertising that describe Britain between, during and after the World Wars. Language and dialect are contemporary with each era. Life during this time is graphically described, evoking the smells, sounds, fear and destruction during the Blitz and the long years of rationing that followed.

Mona and her family are beautifully described, against the ever changing background of world events. I loved Sissy and Ginny!

This is a well-written and well-constructed book, following the lives of two women in their search for acclaim on the stage and the families and circumstances that aid or thwart them. For most part, I enjoyed the writing style, happy to look up words in the dictionary, but my only criticism is that sometimes, the descriptions were so long and full of so many long words, I forgot what they were describing! There were fabulous, magical descriptions and phrases but I felt they were sometimes lost in too many words as they didn't shine out as they should.

This is a recommended 5* read for those enjoying historical, well-written fiction.

C S Burrough interviewed by UK author T E Taylor

It was my great pleasure being interviewed by UK writer T E Taylor ...

whose transcript is posted on his blog

Welcome, Colin!  Tell us about your novel, Or Forever Be Damned. 

 

It's an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’, Salford in the 1930′s Slump.  Mona — a poor but respectable Protestant teenaged factory girl, is tormented by sibling rivalry over her favoured artistic younger brother, Ambrose. Untrained and against parental orders, stage struck Mona resolves to outshine Ambrose, furtively pursuing a theatrical career. Into her journey, Mona unearths her younger bête noire, Kat — a Catholic rough-diamond child-veteran entertainer who, conversely, yearns to escape theatre life. So begins their lifelong enmity — a simmering irrational enmity that lives on in modern day Australia.

What was idea that led you to begin writing the book?

 

I've always loved the great historical fiction classics, including family sagas, and thought it a shame, as trends change, seeing them phased out, shelved for posterity. Most popular contemporary fiction – crime, sci-fi, fantasy, whatever – does  little for me as a reader, so I'd feel a fraud as a writer, producing what I won't consume. I'd met countless classic saga fans who felt similar: browsed library shelves becoming dismayed, having exhausted this special genre of yore.  I thought, if nobody else will top up supplies, why not me? The challenge nagged at me for ages before I caved in and took it on. I've also, from decades of consuming historical non-fiction, acquired knowledge of various periods, which felt unused, sitting in my head. My passion for historical trivia needed expression. Then there was my weird theatrical background, which others were fascinated with. As a storyteller it made sense to combine these two fields at some point.

 

How far does the novel draw upon your own experience?

 

Very little. Like everyone, I have family experience, geographical experience and professional experience, which came in useful, but this story covers mostly times and places I didn't inhabit. The characters are entirely created, not drawn from those in my life.  

 

You have been writing since 1989.  Would you like to say a little about your earlier work?

 

When I first left England, many years ago, someone suggested I keep journals of my first impressions of places, to reflect on, in hindsight. I travelled extensively with my theatre work and spent many hours in trains, boats and planes, watching foreign places whizz past, passing my time just thinking and writing. After some years I had all these written words and had developed a skill I liked using. I did journal articles, weekly columns, essays, short stories, novellas, and along the way my memoirs. I think all those writing stages needed to unfold to get me to this one. I just kept going, doing whatever came next, it wasn't a planned, structured vocation. A lot never reached publication and some is listed at AustLit:

 

What writing projects to you have planned or in progress at present?

 

I'm tied up with this novel's release, which is in two phases. The eBook was released just weeks ago and the paperback is out in coming weeks. I'm not ruling out spinoffs or sequels, but have no time yet to plan anything.  I'll stay with literary fiction though, a book of short stories really appeals to me. Also a screenplay of one of my favourite classic novels is a far off dream, but I'd rather not say which, I might jinx myself.

 

How do you plan and organise your writing – any tips?

 

It starts with some character entering my head, in some situation. Then I do rough sketches, pastiches, let it evolve spontaneously. Only when I see a basic outline forming do I draft a short, rough plot outline. I resist predetermining the conclusion, the situations are driven by the characters' decisions as I write. I then rewrite everything many times from start to finish. I start this by condensing the word count until it's a tight as possible without losing mood, style or cadence. Then I reread and rewrite, over and over. I wake at strange hours and jot down insertions and adjustments that come in my semiconscious states. Hard plotting from the outset is my literary death – I leave that for the fast-fiction industrialists.

 

You have had a career in the performing arts.  Is this still a part of your life?

 

No. I grew up in theatre, trained full time in Performing Arts, then worked for a long time in the business until I craved different experiences. That world demands all of you, there is no other life when you're there. It remains an ingrained part of me though, and will always be in me.

 

Do you have any other talents or interests that you would like to share with us?

 

I'm fascinated with English history, hated it at school, maybe it's a nostalgia thing. I also love animals, sunshine and beaches. And I still travel when I can.

 

As someone brought up in Britain who has lived for many years in Australia, do you consider yourself British, Australian, or a bit of both?

 

I'm an English born Australian, a citizen of both and equally proud of both.

 

What question would you have liked me to ask that I didn’t?

 

Why do you keep writing?

 

And what is the answer?

 

Dogs bark, drunks drink, writers write.

 

Many thanks for those insights, Colin, and good luck with the book!

 

C S Burrough interviewed by Bulgarian author, journalist and TV commentator Ognian Georgiev

It was my great pleasure being interviewed by Bulgarian author, journalist and TV commentator Ognian Georgiev ...

... who posted these results on his excellent blog 

Questions:

1. What is your book Or Forever Be Damned about?

It is an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’ in the 1930′s Slump.

2. How you decide to write the story?

I was always fascinated with historical detail and love reading fiction classics, including family sagas. I also grew up around, and then worked in, the theatre for many years, so have a thorough working knowledge of that industry, its people, background and traditions. This peculiar mix of ideas has whirled around in my head, like a spectre which I wanted to exorcise, work out of my system by expressing it in my own unique fictional form. After writing various other genres I wanted, for a long time, to create my own dramatic saga, using my combined knowledge of history and theatre, and incorporating my own literary style and character creations.

3. What was the biggest challenge during the write up process?

My own need for historical precision. I spent two years painstakingly researching the novel's historical timeframe and geography, so as to accurately position each fictional character: geographically, circumstantially, socially, professionally, emotionally and stylistically. The more fine detail my historical research uncovered, the more fascinated I became and the more compelled I was to delve even further. It became challenging imposing my own limits onto this exercise, tempting to continue indefinitely.

4. Tell us something more about your main character? Is it close to someone from your real life?

There is no orthodox protagonist verses antagonist.  Instead I have two main female characters, each sympathetic yet flawed. Mona, who we meet first, is a poor but respectable Protestant teenaged factory girl, tormented by sibling rivalry over her favoured artistic younger brother, Ambrose. Untrained and against parental orders, stagestruck Mona resolves to outshine Ambrose, furtively pursuing a theatrical career. Into her journey, Mona unearths her younger bête noire, Kat, a Catholic rough-diamond, a child-veteran entertainer who, conversely, yearns to escape theatre life. So begins their lifelong enmity. The reader decides who is the more sympathetic, but is unpressured into siding. Neither woman is based on anyone from my personal life. Their various relatives, too, are entirely fictional, an exercise in human drama, explorations of the human psyche.


5. How much time you need to finish the story and to publish it?

This story took two years and is published. That timeframe is normal for anything I write. 


6. What about your other novels, short stories and novellas?

I've written and published various stories and novellas over 25 years, some are listed on AusLit  http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A18776?mainTabTemplate=agentWorksBy


7. Who are you?

I’m a Sydneysider who writes. I love cats, sunshine and beaches, ride a scooter and read a lot. My name is Colin.


8. What are your writing habits?

When tied to a project, I write at all times of the day and night. I also go for long periods without writing, to 'recharge' my creative motor.


9. Are you satisfied by the sales of the book and do you plan another one?

It is too soon to say about this book's sales, but I am delighted with its critical reception.


10. What are you doing to promote by the best possible way your book?

I mostly share information about it on social media.


11. Which is tougher to write, a theater production script or a novel?

I wrote scripts and produced theatre as a full time drama student. I find novel writing the hardest most demanding as that requires so much more narrative than mere dialogue and staging. Narrative style and rhythm is the essence of good literature, for me, not just plots and characters. 


12. Your version on who was hidding behind Shakespeare's works?

I believe he wrote his own material, borrowing from ancient Greco-Roman classics. I believe he also at times wrote under instruction from powerful political propagandists. I am unconvinced that his actual penmanship needs calling into question. He learnt on the job, in theatre, becoming resourceful and erudite via his educated patrons.


13. As a book reviewer, what are the most common mistakes that new authors are doing in their first novels?

1.      Not investing in having material professionally proof read. I've read and reviewed some really clumsily thrown together work. As a reviewer I'm far more forgiving than most readers I know who, once confronted with enough typos and errors, will just never consider another book by such and such a writer.

2.       Making writing choices based on what's popular. 'Impersonations' in attempts to cash in. Whether they're aspirants of the fantasy, supernatural or erotica varieties, there's this sense of  'if he/she can write this, so can I.' But fluke alone, not talent or skill, had much to do with those 'he/she' successes. The result is one great generic mass. Popular trends are creative comfort zones where operators gather for the safety in numbers, then struggle to compete with each other. It’s a mistake getting lured anywhere just because multitudes are already there and seemingly doing OK. The downside of following fashion is becoming invisible, indistinguishable, unmemorable.

 

C S Burrough interviewed by Euphonos

It was a great pleasure being interviewed by talented poet and author Euphonos ...

... who posted the transcript of My Conversation with C.S. Burrough on her wonderful blog, EuphonosBooks.

Tell us a little more about yourself?

I'm a Sydneysider who writes. I love cats, sunshine and beaches, ride a scooter and read a lot. My name is Colin.

Quickly, tell us about your upcoming releases?

My new novel Or Forever Be Damned, newly released eBook on Amazon, will be paperback released in September/October 2014. It’s  an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’ in the 1930′s Slump — a simmering irrational enmity that lives on in modern day Australia.

Do you have any specific inspiring incident that turned you out as an author?

After spending years on the road, touring with theatrical shows, many years ago, my closest loved ones died prematurely, each within a few years whilst I was away. With no remaining home base or people to return to, I began losing a sense of belonging, began questioning life and my sense of self. I kept journals expressing my grief and exploring my shaken psyche. The journals evolved into my first full length memoir and numerous short stories. My writing progressed from there.

Who designed your cover art? How did you choose the image?

The printed front cover art is by Sydney artist Shayne Chester, a brilliant painter and photographer who, being my very dear friend, had also helpfully read through and commented on my first finished draft so understood the story better than anyone. I wanted the image to resemble something fished out of an old attic chest of one of the main characters, to tie in with the narrative. It needed to look eerie, evocative and poignant. I love the end result.

Do you outline your work before you write?

Only maybe a few sentences, in synopsis form. I see solid, detailed outlines are as obstacles to creativity. I need spontaneity rather than self-imposed creative restrictions. A story needs the freedom to unfold organically as I create it.

How do you like spending your leisure hours?

I read a lot and when it's warm I love Sydney's beaches.

Which genre is far more appealing to you as a reader?

Non-fiction, mostly historical biographies. I also love some British 1920s-30s modernist literature and all the great 19^th century literary classics. 

What inspires you to write? Is there any level of similarity with the events or characters in your book and in reality?

I like the idea of character study, of creating a fictional person and watching them come to life as I write and discover who they are. My writing is all character driven. Plots are merely the characters' decisions and actions. I don't borrow from real life events to shape and steer plots.

Which is your current read?

A wonderfully thick, heavy hardback biography of my favourite author Jean Rhys, by Carole Angier, entitled Jean Rhys: Life and Work. http://www.amazon.com/Jean-Rhys-Life-Carole-Angier/dp/0571276415

What, in your opinion is the toughest part while carving your book?

Deciding whether to allow my characters to move in directions they seem to want to go in, which vary from what I anticipated. Sometimes when I'm reading back over an important scene it's as if one of them calls out to me: 'Excuse me, I'd never do that! This is what I'd do ..' (Of course, this is preventable by disciplined early plotting, which I'm strongly against, as I find over- plotting makes for a stiff, wooden feel to the end result. Many writers differ from me here, but that's my way.).

Share a word of advice with our readers and authors, if any?

Keep an open mind and low expectations when writing and reading characters. Try to get into their skin, not judge them. If they do things you wouldn’t that's surely all the more interesting.

Share one of your favorites from your music band collection, if any?

I'm a bit over band music nowadays, but I love the Café Del Mar series, most '60s &'70s sounds, classic jazz and most musical theatre. Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is? tells a wonderful tale I love to listen to:  http://youtu.be/_I8aJTxy8DY

If you’re a foodie, tell us about your favorite dish?

I'm a vegan and love my Sunday roast veggie dinners with extra virgin olive oil, freshly crushed garlic and chili and herbs.

List any giveaways or surprises in mere future?

I hope to give away five signed copies of the paperback edition of or Forever Be Damned at its official online launch later this year.

Where can we find your books?

Find currently available work on Amazon.com (then use purchase link to whichever your country's Amazon branch is): Latest book listing http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Be-Damned-C-S-Burrough-ebook/dp/B00MGBYCPU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407319101&sr=1-1

My previous publications are also listed on AustLit: http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A18776?mainTabTemplate=agentWorksBy

We would love to reach out to you, please share your social media active platform

I use mostly Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter:

Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/csburrough

Goodreads Author page https://www.goodreads.com/csburrough

Twitter https://twitter.com/csburrough

 

Or Forever Be Damned review by poet and author Euphonos

Author Euphonos wrote on Goodreads

The author has no doubt carved a masterpiece with his perfect articulation of characters from the very beginning. Particularly, there is a close sense of connection when he writes about sibling relationships. One of the lines I can take away from this book:

'Relations between the siblings, though, was altering from their clumsy, tongue-poking system of semi-silent banter, with bruising knee digs and rib-gouging elbow nudges, to something more complex.'

It is a story with a mixed blend of love, grief, hatred and all other human emotional aspect and a thoroughly recommended read if you're after historical fiction. I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading more by this author.

C S Burrough reviews Euphonos's: Pieces of Time.

Pieces of Time 

by Eupohonos

My rating 5 out of 5 stars

Pieces of Time lets us into a young woman's internal world as she undergoes emotional rites of passage. We bear witness to her reflections of early romantic anguish, relationships from early youth as she approaches adulthood.

The endearingly fragmented narrative style is uncontrived, true to the existentialist shaping of all good coming of age accounts. Many passages read more like poetry than prose, showcasing the unique talent of this gifted author.

Euphonos writes bravely, honestly and humbly, winning her readers' empathy and trust. The semi-abstract crafting embodies the purest form of 'indie' authorship. Pieces of Time is soulfully penned, resulting in a rare, authentic harmony of noblesse and naiveté which we, as compassionates, so value and warm to.

The storytelling's endearingly combined rawness and instinctive poetic imagery carries us to its conclusion without judgment towards our young protagonist's romantic starts and stumbles. This is a refreshingly natural tale of unfolding emotional maturation.

We all know this journey, hence the book's sweet, peculiar resonance. Highly recommend to readers of romance and Young Adult fiction

My historical novel, Or Forever Be Damned, released on Amazon

eBook edition released onto Amazon, paperback edition due September 2014.

 

For lovers of theatre, dramatic sagas, and British Historical Fiction.

Mona, a poor but respectable Protestant teenaged factory girl, is tormented by sibling rivalry over her favoured artistic younger brother, Ambrose. Untrained and against parental orders, stagestruck Mona resolves to outshine Ambrose, furtively pursuing a theatrical career. Into her journey, Mona unearths her younger bête noire, Kat — a Catholic rough-diamond child-veteran entertainer who, conversely, yearns to escape theatre life.

So begins their lifelong enmity.

Or Forever Be Damned is an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’, Salford in the 1930′s Slump — a simmering irrational enmity that lives on in modern day Australia.

 

C S Burrough interviewed by Festivale Online Magazine.

Festivale Online Magazine Interview

C S Burrough: answers the Usual Questions

According to the author, 'I'm a Sydneysider who writes. I love cats, sunshine and beaches and read a lot. My name is Colin.' Colin's latest novel, Or Forever Be Damned, is being published in July 2014 (e-book) and September 2014 (paperback) by Silky Oak Press, and will be available on Amazon and other leading e-retailers.

 

Has your interaction with fans, for example, at conventions, affected your work?

I avoid conventions like the plague, would rather stick needles into my eyeballs. Love interacting with readers online though, I feed on it to aid writer's block.

 

Is there any particular incident (a letter, a meeting, a comment that stands out?

 

After someone recently reread my 1995 memoir, she commented that I should maybe combine my obsession with historical detail with my theatrical working experience to pen a novel. That was the inspiration for my theatrical historical, Or Forever Be Damned.

 

Do you have a favourite author or book (or writer or film or series) that has influenced you or that you return to?

 

Most of Jean Rhys' works, especially her earlier ones. From about age four her take on the world was as if seen through the bottom of an empty gin bottle.

 

Who is the person you would most like to be trapped in a lift with? or a spaceship?

 

Kath Day-Knight from Kath & Kim TV sitcom.

 

Who is the person you would most DISlike to be trapped in a lift with? Or a spaceship?

 

Kath Day-Knight's daughter, Kim Craig náe Day.

 

What would you pack for space? (Is there a food, beverage, book, teddy bear, etc that you couldn't do without?)

 

Nicotine lozenges, Nescafá Blend 43 and my Kindle Paperwhite 3G.

 

What is the most important thing you would like to get/achieve from your work?

 

To encourage the diminishing pastime of reading literature instead of social media pages.

 

What is the special satisfaction of your work?

 

Knowing someone has read my imagination, that I've communicated something in a way I can't achieve in real time dialogue.

 

 

Just the facts:

Born: UK, nineteen-fifty-something.

Resides: Sydney, Australia.

Bibliography/Awards:

Box and Cotton -- Australian Short Stories # 27 1989.

Just Up the Road -- Outrage anthology 1994.

Keeping the Family Name -- autiobiographical novel 1995.

Keeping Up Appearances -- column in Capital Q Weekly 1995 -- 1998.

Not Grunting, Squealing -- novella serialised in SX News 23 instalments 2001.

Parlour -- I Am a Camera anthology 2009.

Or Forever Be Damned -- historical novel 2014.

Or Forever Be Damned book trailer

Paperback cover art for my novel, Or Forever Be Damned, by Sydney's own Shayne Chester.

Many thanks Shayne, this perfectly expresses my vision of the story.


Click on image for synopsis.

Released internationally on Amazon August 2014 (Ebook) then September (paperback) by Silky Oak Press - for fuller story synopsis see this book's page on their site. Online launch event will be on Facebook, invites will be sent to those who have liked my official Facebook page, look forward to seeing you all.