How Victoria Twead turned her life into bestselling novels
Grateful thanks to the Harvard Square Edition and Mary Yuhas for this frank interview.
Victoria Twead turned her new life into bestselling novels
by Mary Yuhas
Victoria Twead is a New York Times bestselling author. In 2004 she nagged poor, long-suffering Joe into leaving Britain and relocating to a tiny, remote mountain village in Andalucía, where they became reluctant chicken farmers and owned the most dangerous cockerel in Spain. Village life inspired Victoria’s first book, ‘Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools’, which was quickly followed by more in the Old Fools series, all of which fast became bestsellers.
Victoria and Joe continue to enjoy life keeping chickens, writing, sampling the local wine and living alongside their colourful neighbours.
LitVote: When did you start writing?
Vicky: I began writing when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and can even remember my first masterpiece. It ran along these lines: THE RUNNAWY TADEL Wunce there was a runnawy tadel and it ran away wen you put food on it the end. As an adult I wrote articles and stories for magazines, hoping that the income might supplement my housekeeping budget. When the children were small, any extra pennies in the coffer were more than welcome so I was delighted when they were published. I never dreamed I would someday write a whole series of books and that they would become New York Times bestsellers… *pinches herself*
LitVote: What was your inspiration to write the Old Fools series?
Vicky: When my long-suffering (but ever-complaining) partner Joe and I moved to a tiny mountain village in Spain in 2004, we experienced a culture shock. Every new day produced events either hilarious or heart-warming. Food suddenly tasted better, human behaviour was more fascinating, local events more interesting. It was like seeing in colour for the first time, and the book began bubbling in my head. As soon as I could, I unearthed all my records, notes, old emails to friends, and began to write. The result was Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools.
