Victoria Finlay
It is sometimes the small things, the ones we take for granted, that are the most wonderful
The ones that got away
Currently living in: Bath, England
Grew up in: Hanworth, Middlesex, in a cottage next to what remains of Catherine Parr's palace, which meant that we had a ruined moat in the road next door.
Studies: M.A.(Hons) in Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, with a year studying Mandarin, Anthropology, United Nations, African American Fiction and White Water Canoeing at William & Mary College, Virginia. Diploma in Journalism from the London College of Printing. In 2012 completed an MA in Fiction Writing at Bath Spa University, which involved a terrific exchange with Columbia College, Chicago.
Siblings: one younger brother who got all the practical genes.
Married: In 2006, to Martin Palmer
Kids: A stepson in Beijing and a stepdaughter in Cornwall.
Pets: A grumpy blind female 22 year old Hong Kong street cat called Basil, who swears in Cantonese.
Colour: There's an orange hot air balloon that sometimes hovers above our village on clear summer days. The visual effect of bright orange against ultramarine blue makes me ridiculously happy.
holiday book: Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
children's book: Holes, by Louis Sacher
How did you become a writer?
When I was eight I had this plan to write a version of The Jungle Book but with Mowgli as a girl. That short manuscript was, fortunately, lost a long time ago. At 11 I was given leave of absence from lacrosse and spent those PE hours in the library, reading The Times (which had lots of difficult words in it then, far more than it does now) and dreaming of becoming a journalist. At 21 I was accepted onto a management traineeship programme for Reuters, and a few years later I became a full-time news and features writer at the South China Morning Post.
How did you get Colour published?
I had an idea that I had nurtured for years, but was procrastinating about actually turning it into a book because – I told myself – I didn't know how to write a book proposal. Then into the letterbox of my apartment in Hong Kong there arrived a brochure, unsolicited, from the YWCA with plenty of courses advertised including one, over three evenings, of How To Write a Book Proposal.
I signed up with my friend Nell Nelson, who got a contract for a cookery book within three months. It took me a bit longer to put the full proposal for my colour book together – with all the chapters worked out in detail – but I was very lucky to get an agent's interest almost straight away. A short time later, visiting the offices of about six publishers in one day, I asked one why she was so interested in my proposal. "Don't you realise! Colour is something we see every day: we are all kicking ourselves that we didn't think of the idea first!" So it seems to me that the big trick is to find the book that everyone would commission, if only they thought of it first.
How many countries did you travel to?
Colour took me to 17 countries and Jewels to 14. Which, as you can imagine, used up most of my advances!
What about your new book?
It's a book with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles called A Brilliant History of Color in Art, intended for teenagers but hopefully enjoyable for everyone. It's organised by paint and dye names through history (i.e. it starts with … no I won't say what it starts with, though ocher is fairly near the beginning… it ends with pixels, but somewhere in the middle there is indigo and cochineal and Prussian blue and mauve… and so many others. Unlike my first colour book, this one has loads of lovely pictures. It was published in late 2014.
How long did it take you to write your books?
Both of my first books took about two years, from signing contracts to signing off the manuscripts, including all the travel. It was a full-time job. The most recent Getty one took me about a year, while I was working part time. And then there was the editing process. I saw a lot of dawns.
RT @MimiThebo: I've been in a writing group with @EmmaCGeen for several years. I cannot recommend her editing/mentoring service highly enou… 7 hours ago
RT @Janeshemilt: Glorious sunflowers from ⁦@EmmaCGeen⁩ as momento of our writing group meeting last night -perfect harbinger as I'm about t… 7 hours ago
RT @Janeshemilt: Van Gogh's moving images on the walls, floor and pillars of a vast underground quarry with music by Beethoven,Janis Joplin… 7 hours ago
A few questions a few answers
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The meaning behind the many colors of India's Holi Festival
Eulogy for my father
Agates artists Books Brazil Brilliant Colours dye England Eulogies Garnets Inspiring interiors Italy Jewels Lichtenstein ochre Paint Personal stories Red Scotland South Sudan Stories Topaz Turquoise USA verdigris Writing
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