16: Isla Morley (Come Sunday; Above; The Last Blue)

Charlie and Isla Morley (Come Sunday; Above; The Last Blue) discuss growing up and travelling back to South Africa, creating a negative heroine, the 1800s medical phenomenon wherein people were literally blue, and what it's like owning five tortoises. Some podcast apps do not show description links properly unless the listener subscribes to the podcast. If you can't click the links below and don't wish to subscribe, copy and paste the following address into your browser to access the episode's page on my blog: http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/podcast/episode-16-isla-morley Image of the Fugate family, as mentioned Cathy Trost's article 'The Blue People of Troublesome Creek' Question Index 01:03 Can you tell us more about your background in South Africa? 03:04 How did novel writing come about? 08:05 You've lived in several places - can you tell us about your journey? 11:12 Have you been back to South Africa? 13:48 Have you ever considered writing a memoir? 15:34 Come Sunday's Abbe isn't a nice person; why did you want to create her? 17:41 Why was grief important to explore? 18:19 When did you decide to incorporate Christianity? 20:19 Was narrative style always in your mind? 22:08 Why poetry? 23:38 Was African mythology, used in the book, something you experienced in childhood? 29:01 Was it daunting to have so much of Above set underground? 31:31 Would it be fair to assume that the book will continue to be an outlier as you move forward? 33:48 When did the idea of going along with Dobb's idea of what's going on come into your process of writing? 42:02 Tell us about the medical background to The Last Blue 46:48 Am I barking up the wrong tree thinking the concept of blue people as per your book has to do with commentary on racial discrimination in history? 51:31 How important is the narrative of women to you? 52:34 Is there any interesting fact you can share with us about photography in the 1930s? 55:15 What's next? 55:54 What's it like having five tortoises? Purchase Links Come Sunday: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Waterstones Hive Barnes & Noble IndieBound Above: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Waterstones Hive Barnes & Noble IndieBound The Last Blue: Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon Canada Waterstones Hive Barnes & Noble IndieBound I am an Amazon Associate and earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Photograph used with permission from the author.