Geordie writer Annabel Doré plans two more books

Aug 24 2008 by Nicola Juncar, Sunday Sun

AUTHOR Annabel Dore is keen to get cracking on her second novel despite a 10-year battle to get her first book published.

In fact, Annabel — who was born in Fawdon and brought up in Gosforth, Newcastle — is planning books two and three, which will feature cameo appearances from characters in her much-celebrated debut, The Great North Road.

This month, The Great North Road — set in 1953 Newcastle — was released in paperback due to the high demand for the hardback, which flew off the shelves last summer.

The 58-year-old mum-of- two and grandma, who now lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, said: “When I started writing The Great North Road it was for nostalgia. I was living in Oxford at the time and I was homesick.

“It helped that I knew the places I was writing about, but the characters and plot are completely fictional.

“The hardest bit was getting the dialogue right. The Geordie accent isn’t an easy one to get across in writing and I spent many hours with my publisher trying to tone it down so everyone would be able to understand it.”

The book was a labour of love for Annabel. “When it was first finished, 10 years ago, I got an agent but attempts to sell it to a publisher failed,” she said.

She put the book on the back burner while completing a theatre studies degree, which proved to be invaluable.

Annabel said: “I was the oldest student there, but it really didn’t matter. I think the course helped me with my writing because I knew more about character development.

“When I looked at my first draft, I realised it wasn’t up to scratch, so I started a rewrite. I sent it out to publishers again in 2005, and it took around two years before it was ready. It was a long process, but very worthwhile.”

Annabel, who is currently busy moving house following a divorce, has plans for her next two novels, which she is beginning to piece together.

She said: “I didn’t want The Great North Road to be a saga, so these books do not follow on. Book two is set in the 1970s and book three is set in the present day, in France.

“There will be appearances by some of the characters from the first book, but they won’t be central to the plot.”

V The Great North Road is available in paperback from book stores and Amazon.