 Raffaela Barker's books are published by both Raffaella also writes for: | Hi, I am Raffaella Barker, an author. I’ve been writing novels about lopsided family life since my three children were tiny. Now the oldest is almost 21 and I am on my 9th novel. My books are mainly set in Norfolk, by the sea, and they are experiential, so although they are not written from my experience, they are inspired by it. I have lived in Norfolk all my life. It inspires me, the sea, the limitless skies, the mud and the burning sunsets and the freedom of a place where more than 50% of the neighbours are fish. I now live in London as well, but I still feel I belong where I grew up, in the countryside with recidivist dogs misbehaving, noisy hens and wild ponies. At the moment most of these are fantasy as I am down to one pug, known as the NOTORIOUS P.U.G and a lurcher. Work and life are never easy to separate, though I didn’t mean to be a writer, but I grew up in a family where it was almost inevitable. My Dad was the poet George Barker, my mum the novelist Elspeth Barker, and they both wrote and taught, and increasingly that is what I do too. My writing includes a lot of frivolous articles about anything from handbags to Blue Plaques, fast cars and Amy Winehouse to wild swimming off Blakeney Point in North Norfolk, and of course my novels. I don’t know what the one I am working on is called yet, but it will be finished in 2010. Hah! Now I have said that I will have to do it! I write my books, or avoid doing so, at The Great Western Studios and the creativity there is rubbing off. Most days I find a bit of hardboard in a rubbish heap and take it home to try and paint a picture. Painting is the best work displacement I have yet found. The rest of my work is teaching creative writing, both one to one sessions and to groups. I am proud to work with First Story, a literary charity putting creative writing into schools. The school I teach at is the Burlington Danes Academy in White City I also teach creative writing as a foil to therapy at The Recovery Centre, and I have taught on the Arvon Foundation in Devon. The only way I can tell I have grown up is that I have sons taller than I am and a million memories I want to re experience. I write because I am always learning something and I want to express it to understand it, and it is a bonus if anyone else reads it and enjoys it too. |