Alex McCarthy: 'Divorce your writing from your self – criticism is not personal'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
22nd Jun 2023
Alex McCarthy took our six-month Writing Your Novel course in 2017. After studying with us she gained representation from Curtis Brown literary agent Felicity Blunt. Her debut novella The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone is out now from Doubleday. We spoke to Alex about her time studying with us, the Welsh Valleys that inspired the setting of her book and how she knew she'd found the right agent.
You took our online six-month Writing Your Novel course in 2017. How did your time studying with us impact your writing journey?
The impact was immense. Learning to read as a writer, acquiring a toolbox of skills to manage and ever-changing plot, characters and narrative, seeing how other students worked and gaining confidence in my ability. I trialled a different writing process while on the course. Even though it didn’t suit my own creative process, and I returned to my former editing-as you-go-along, I benefitted, and it reshaped my approach to my book.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met during the course?
I was blessed. Very lovely, supportive and talented people. I was able to deep dive into the work of my fellow students – I still think about their characters as real people and miss them! We really did form a tribe, (the September Tribe) and, despite my general introverted nature, I’ve been fortunate to have been supported by the group since the course ended, with comments on drafts and general cheering along. What’s most satisfying is reading the final published versions of friends’ work and feeling so overjoyed they’ve made it and so proud of them.
Your debut novella The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone was published on 15 Jun 2023 by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Set in the Welsh Valleys, the small village of Cwmcysgod might seem like any other, but beneath the surface, painful truths threaten to surface. Can you tell us a bit more about the novella and the inspiration behind it?
The inspirations are many. A valley village where I once lived, which was peopled by the most amazing characters. A man found to have been living in the local woods for forty years without anyone knowing. The prison of female beauty. Our reductive habit of using a single adjective to describe a fellow human. The prison of poverty. As John Cooper Clarke would say, ‘where the action isn’t’. I want to write about the people I don’t read about. The things we keep quiet and secret. The landscape of home. The gorgeous wealth of expression of the English language in Wales, peppered with Welsh and salted with humour and resilience.
Building suspense and creating such an atmospheric read in just 176 pages is no easy feat! What prompted your decision to write a novella rather than a longer novel?
I didn’t make the decision. I was more than halfway through a full-length novel when I realised it was too full. I’d got carried away and diluted the essence of the book - Rosalind Bone. I pulled out threads of narrative, and ‘killed my darlings’ until I only had 18,000 words and began building again from there. The book is as long as the story needs it to be.
You’re represented by Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown – how did you know you’d found the right agent for your work?
Honestly? Felicity was confident in my work, my process and clearly delighted in the characters I’d written. I just felt a huge sense of relief having spoken to her, which I didn’t feel with other agents. We could be frank with one another. Felicity is a gifted editor in her own right and worked hard to give my book every possible chance of success.
Do you have any advice to share with the aspiring authors reading this, particularly those who are thinking of applying to a writing course?
Small steps do get you to your destination. Write your own truth. Divorce your writing from your self – criticism is not personal. Trust your instincts, but if your draft readers question the same thing, listen. If it feels wrong, it probably is.
What books are on your summer reading list?
Demon Copperfield by Barbara Kingsolver. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I have a few things cooking in my mind. A book and some short stories. I’m researching and reading and getting ready to write again.
The Unbroken Beauty of Rosaline Bone is out now. Buy your copy here.
Applications for both our six-month online and London Writing Your Novel courses close on Sun 23 Jul. Find out more and apply here.
The books linked in this blog can be found on our Bookshop.org shop front. Curtis Brown Creative receive 10% whenever someone buys from our Bookshop.org page.