What inspired you to write your memoir?
With so many memories of childhood racing around my mind, I wanted to record them for my children. I was born at a time of rapid change after the second world war, but even so, it seemed like the dark ages compared to present day.
It was during research into my Family History that I realised there were so many questions I wished I’d asked my parents and their parents, but with most of the previous generation long gone, it was too late to find the answers.
I soon realised that the stories my own Mother had told me about her young life before and during the war were important. These stories would be lost forever if I didn’t record them, and my little childhood memoir began to cover a larger canvas.
About your Book:
‘To Set My Feet A-Dancing’ begins with a glimpse into childhood during the late 1950s/early 1960s.
Born into a rapidly changing Britain just after World War Two, the ‘Baby-Boomers’ are a privileged generation. The war has been won, food rationing is ending, conscription into the armed forces will be abolished before they are of age, the National Health Service is free to all and with a new young Queen on the throne, life is full of hope.
Times are simple. Children can safely play in the street or stay in the park until after dark. The car is not yet King.
This is the generation who will become teenagers in the Swinging Sixties and enjoy the coming of the age of “white-hot technology”. This is a charmed generation.
A glimpse into the lives of the author’s predecessors dating back to the 1800s, forms the second part of To Set My Feet A-Dancing.
These are small, ordinary lives. Lives that do not make the history books. Lives that are not privileged. They should not be forgotten.
How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
I decided that my memoir was not really suitable in print form, as I intend to add more stories as time goes by.
It is available through Amazon.co.uk
How do you see writing a Memoir as different from writing other genres of books?
Memoir writing is story-telling in much the same way as is novel-writing. It needs to be interesting.
In some ways it was easier to write, because I know how the story develops, but memory is not always accurate. I found myself agonising about certain things which occurred during my childhood. I wanted to make sure that everything was correct.
However, I soon realised that because memory is fickle, maybe it did not matter. The way I remembered something would possibly differ from, say, my sister’s memory of that same occurance. This did not invalidate my recollection, so I just went with the flow.
Author Bio:
Born in Croydon, Surrey
Attended Lady Edridge Grammar School for girls
Worked in various clerical jobs in London and Croydon
Married with two (now grown up) children
Moved to the Isle of Wight in 1976
As a mature student at The IOW College, gained 3 GCE ‘A’ levels with A grades in English Literature, Art & Design and History of Art.
Hobbies include ballet dancing, tap dancing and singing in an acapello choir.
2009: self-published a travel book in print and ebook format: Uneasy Rider – Confessions of a Reluctant Traveller
2011: published an ebook: To Set My Feet A-Dancing
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Book On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
http://twitter.com/ballet_allie
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