Heinke Pauly

This month’s featured author is Heinke Pauly, interviewed by Wild Cherry Press.

To use the terminology of our celebrity writer, Heinke is one of life’s characters. Born originally in Hamburg, Germany, she ran away from home at eighteen years of age to live in sin, (her words not mine,) with an Englishman in Moss Side, Manchester , where she trained as a nurse. Her travels took her to the Isle of Lewis and then the Orkney Isles, before settling in one of her favourite cities, Edinburgh .

Along the way she managed to have three children and four years ago decided to change countries yet again, relocating to Southern Spain . And would you believe she has an Irish accent! It’s something to do with an Irish nurse, who took Heinke under her wing for many years, during her career as an angel.

Wild Cherry asked Heinke a few questions as they met in the shadow of Alicante Castle.

Wild Cherry. How long have you been writing?

Heinke: I’ve really only been writing seriously for about ten years. Everyone wrote as a child, I suppose, but I count my writing career as having started when I began pulling things together and sending them off.

Wild Cherry. Any success?

Heinke. A little, I had two short stories published in 2005 and 2006 but I thought my real break had come when I submitted a film script at the Edinburgh film festival. I managed to get the script into the hands of Margy Clark who actually read it. She loved it. That was my big break, or so I thought. Luckily I hadn’t placed the deposit on the yacht, which was just as well as they weren’t able to raise the money to produce it. It was called Lucky Heather and we agonised over many months. Then a well known TV station took it on board but started saying it was too disturbing and a bit near the knuckle and they would have difficulty finding a slot. It’s been with them a few years now. It may see the light of day one day but I’m not holding my breath.

Wild Cherry. Tell us a little about your Wild Cherry Press, book.

Heinke. My book is called CAMPING WITH WOLVES. It’s a travelogue which I scribbled as I camped my way through Spain in May 2006:

A broke single sex-starved grandmother in her prime takes to the road throwing caution to the wind, accompanied only by her dog Misty Blue, a small plastic giraffe and a keyboard. Like the poet Laurie Lee in his Book ‘As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning’ I had no idea where I might find places to stay at night.

Wild Cherry Wasn’t that a little dangerous in this day and age?

Heinke. Absolutely, that’s what made it so exciting and at one point I was chased from a camp site by men with fiery torches. Occasionally I was a nervous wreck, also, I absolutely hate camping!  After the first thousand miles I wondered if I could hear the dog thinking. I was actually a homeless petrol-head in love with a dead poet. But after 2,500 miles, I was brimming with a new home-grown confidence.

Wild Cherry. Have you seen a proof copy of the book yet?

Heinke. Unfortunately not. The design team are still working on the jacket. I’m so excited and I’m told the book should go live sometime in February 2008.

Wild Cherry. How long did the process take?

Heinke. I met up with one of the Wild Cherry representatives in early December 2007. It was getting near to Christmas and I didn’t expect an awful lot of activity, but to my surprise I was appointed an editor two week or two later. Three weeks after that the head of design contacted me to say the editing was just about complete and I would need to think about a book dedication and acknowledgements. I would also need to consider a design for the book cover. That’s where we are at present. Once the sleeve is complete then everything is uploaded and a proof requested. The proof goes to a quality control check and any mistakes are rectified. And then it’s live! The girl in design indicated middle to late February, so I suppose no more than three months.

Wild Cherry. Did you send you book to many publishers?

Heinke. Not really. I sent the first 10,000 words to a few publishers and to six agents. I chose the agents with the funniest names in the Writers Yearbook. A bit silly now when I look back on it but hey… that’s the kind of girl I am.

Wild Cherry. Why did you choose Wild Cherry?

Heinke. I suppose because of the cost. I’ve met authors who’ve spent more on postage trying to get a book published. I’d sent the manuscript to a publisher in Spain who sent me a very nice letter saying they normally only dealt in fiction but as a consolation they said that their readers had enjoyed it. They advised if I really wanted to get my book out there I should consider a vanity publisher for no other reason than my book was unique and unlikely to be picked up by the mainstream houses.

Wild Cherry. Would you recommend Wild Cherry to any other potential authors?

Heinke. I’ll tell you when I see the book. Seriously, I’ve seen samples of Wild Cherry Press books and they are as good as any mass market paperback out there, a little better actually. Wild Cherry Press’s costs are fair and very clear and they have been as good as their word. They’ve been honest too. They’ve told me I am an unknown writer and therefore unlikely to become a millionaire overnight. It’s not why I wanted to be published. I just want to share my experience with as many people as possible and I think this is the best way to do it. If I make some money… then that’s a nice bonus.

Heinke Pauly