Welcome to PLW’s Words with a Wordsmith Friday!

Today we interview Marty Wingate, author of the historical novels The House for Lost Children, The Orphans of Mersea House, Glamour Girls, and The London Ladies’ Murder Club historical cozy series.

Now, let’s meet Marty!

Do you tend to write about places you’ve been to, or places you wish you could go to?

Yes to both! Although, with historical fiction time can certainly change place. In my London Ladies’ Murder Club four-book series, set in 1920, Miss Kerr’s Useful Women agency is at 48 Dover Street, just off Piccadilly. That is fact, from the agency to Miss Kerr to the address. Sadly, the original building is gone—not bombed during the Second World War, but just, I believe, swept up in the general urban renewal afterward.

My newest book, The House for Lost Children, is set in the Suffolk countryside, which I love, at the edge of a village, which I made up using bits and pieces of Suffolk place names. So, although I have not been to the actual Oxburrow Manor in Debden Ash, I feel as if I have.

When I wrote The Orphans of Mersea House, I set it in 1957 in Southwold, a town on the Suffolk coast in England where we stay every year. I researched shops open at the time and how long the pier was and made only a few changes to suit the story. Even the house exists, but with a different name and it doesn’t face the sea. (Dreadful mistake. They should turn it round.)

Glamour Girls, set during the Second World War, tells the story of one female ferry pilot in the Air Transport Auxiliary. The book opens with Rosalie standing on the roof of a control tower counting the planes coming in from an overnight mission. This was a story my father-in-law told. He was ground crew at Lavenham, an American base, and they would stand on the roof, waiting. I have been there, on that rooftop. The surrounding skyline looks much the same—you can see the church tower in the distance. You can almost hear the planes.

Do you use food as comfort or fuel while you write?

There’s nothing like a good cup of tea to see you through. My books are all set in Britain, and so what else would you expect? (The number of times I’ve written “I’ll put the kettle on” is beyond count.)

The House for Lost Children is set during the Second World War and so I’ve needed to deal with tea in a slightly different way, because of rationing. That doesn’t, however, stop people from talking about it.

I drink Yorkshire Gold—I buy several boxes each trip over, then decant them from box to plastic bags so that they fit easier into my suitcase. And people wonder why I take such a big suitcase.

Yes, all right, biscuits are often involved. Or cake. For biscuits, I love custard cream, chocolate digestives, hobnobs and, naturally, shortbread. I steer clear of garibaldi. On the cake front, it’s Victoria sponge all the way.

How long do you read until you bail on a book you don’t like?

I might just hold the record here—I can give up on a book after two or three pages. Even a book that many people love! I know that I read and love books that others might do the same with (although, perhaps not quite so quickly). It would be a pretty boring world if we all liked or disliked the exact same books.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

I’ve been to Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s cottage in the Lake District, three times—does that count? It’s a popular destination and often crowded, but I don’t care. I find a corner to stand in and absorb the atmosphere and think of her.

Once, I retraced Dorothy L Sayers’ footsteps around London for one of my contemporary mysteries vaguely inspired by her Murder Must Advertise (my favorite Lord Peter book). I stood outside her flat taking a photo of the blue plaque saying she’d lived there when a fellow stopped and told me that he’d been passing by the day the blue plaque was unveiled—by P.D. James!

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Actually none, but boy do I have ideas simmering on the back burner. I even have an idea for historical mystery series that I don’t want to write myself, but would be happy to pass along to someone else. Let me know if you’re interested!

Marty Wingate writes histories and mysteries—all fiction and all set in Britain. Her latest is The House for Lost Children, set during the Second World War at a country house in Suffolk. Marty’s historical mystery series, The London Ladies’ Murder Club, takes place in 1921 and was inspired by the real-life Useful Women agency. The standalone historical fiction The Orphans of Mersea House is set in a seaside town in 1957 Suffolk and Glamour Girls tells the story of Rosalie Wright, female Spitfire pilot. She also writes the Potting Shed, Birds of a Feather and First Edition Library series. Marty prefers on-the-ground research whenever possible, and so she and her husband regularly travel to Britain, where she can be found tracing the steps of her characters, stopping for tea and a slice of Victoria sponge in a café, or enjoying a swift half in a pub.

Meet up with Marty at martywingate.com or on Facebook.