This week we’re chatting with Sue Hewitt, author of The Cunning Woman's Cup.

Tell us something unexpected about yourself!

There is a portrait of me hanging in Girton College Cambridge, the nearest I'm ever going to get to being ‘at' Girton. The portrait was painted by my employer, Susan Ryder R.P. and is part of the People's Portraits collection at Girton. It was painted for The Royal Society of Portrait Painters millennium exhibition, and all the portraits are of people who would never normally get their portraits painted. Lifeboat Crew, Bin Man, Motorbike Courier, Thief … and me – in gardening mode.

What kind of books do you write?

So far I have one book published, and the second is with my editor. The Cunning Woman's Cup is about older women; Alice, a farm labourer's widow in her sixties, and Margaret, a retired Professor of Anthropology in her 70's. Having occasionally worked providing temporary respite care for elder persons in their own homes (the eldest being a lady of 103!) I came to see that, although more or less ignored in literature and mainstream media, these older people are vibrant, interesting and often colourful characters who deserve to be written about and represented as such.

What inspired you to write?

I've always dabbled, starting with poetry, moving on to short stories, and then to my debut novel. Reading inspired me to write. To write what I felt I wanted to read, not crime, not chick-lit, not erotica, not fantasy or romance – although I do like a bit of magical realism. An element of that crept into The Cunning Woman's Cup in the person of Mordwand, the cunning woman of the title who was the last person to own the gold cup, a healer and soothsayer who lived, and died horribly, during the Roman Occupation of Britain.

What makes your writing stand out from the crowd?

How can one stand out from the crowd? The market is inundated. As a first time Indie Author, with no agent or publisher, without all the contacts and experience they bring to the table, I feel somewhat exasperated by the mass of material being published.
There has to be an element of sheer luck for any writer today to stand out regardless of the quality of their writing.

What is the hardest part of writing – for you?

Honestly, getting my timelines right. Luckily, I have an amazing editor, who patiently works her way through my manuscripts and points out all the timeline errors.

Where do you like to write – what is your routine?

I have a summerhouse/shed at the end of the garden where I usually write. I try to keep Tuesdays and Thursdays clear for writing, although I don't always manage to do that. At this time of the year, with the weather here in Scotland getting ever chillier, I write in the house on the landing at the top of the stairs.

What do you do when you are not writing – do you have a day job?

My day job is as a part-time housekeeper (for which read: glorified cleaner) and gardener on my employer's Estate. In the gardens I'm responsible for all the formal flower beds, the walled garden and the greenhouse. My husband also works on the Estate as Gamekeeper and Groundsman.

Do you work with an outline or just write?

I am an organic writer. By which I mean I begin with one or two characters, and just take it from there. No outline, no plan, just sit in front of the keyboard and start typing.

What advice would you have for other writers?

Just keep writing, no one else can do it for you.

How important is marketing and social media for you?

Not as important as it should be I fear. Social media is something I only began to use in March 2014 when Cunning Woman was published. It has been a long hard slog getting to grips with it, and I still have so much to learn. I am not using it to its full advantage, which is why I have engaged the help of Books Go Social, a bit of expert help never goes amiss.

What’s your next step?

My next step is to get a second novel published, at the moment it is with my editor, the working title (under discussion) is A Patchwork Legacy. In the meantime I have made a tentative start on a sequel to The Cunning Woman's Cup, picking up the threads of the lives of the characters who live in the shadow of the stone circle and beyond.

The Cunning Woman's Cup by Sue Hewitt is available here.

If you are interested in book promotion, please visit http://thebookpromoter.com