Katherine Shingler
Name: Katherine Shingler
Novel name: The Relic Diver -YA
Katherine Shingler is a writer from Somerset, where she lives with her husband, two children and a diva-ish cat. She has a PhD in French literature, and her first clumsy writing attempts were scuppered by reading far more meandering French autofiction than can possibly be healthy. Now a recovering academic, she works for the National Trust, is a trustee for her local community library, and writes whenever she can.
What made you enter the Cheshire Novel Prize?
I was enticed by the promise of feedback! I’d just finished the first draft of The Relic Diver when the deadline came up, and didn’t expect my manuscript to get anywhere at all. I was just hoping to get a bit of feedback to improve it and make it the best it could be.
What did it feel like when you were LL and then SL?
It was a massive surprise – and such an honour to know that the readers and judges have enjoyed my work.
What was the reaction from those around you/family and friends?
My family and friends have all been really supportive and excited for me, especially my writing friends who all understand what the validation of being shortlisted for a prize like this means. (Big shout out to my Write Mentor and Arvon pals, as well as my local writing group, the Pitchings!)
You were unrepresented when you entered the Cheshire Novel Prize, can you say what’s happened since?
I’ve been tinkering with The Relic Diver and have started sending out some queries to agents – we’ll see what happens with that!
How did you come up with the idea for your book?
Everything I write seems to start with a place (London’s hidden underground passages, a theme park in early twentieth-century Paris…), and the story develops from there. The Relic Diver was inspired by an area of the Norfolk coast near where I grew up, and a church tower that was reclaimed by the sea some time ago – where the shifting sands throw up bones and other artefacts. Thanks to climate change, we’re going to see a lot more places being swept away like this. I began to imagine a post-Flood future, with a drowned village under the waves, and the few remaining inhabitants living in huts and vans perched on the dunes…
What’s it about?
The Relic Diver is set in isolated village where memory has become the main currency, and children are trained to dive to the drowned village on the seabed to search for relics of the Before. Thirteen-year-old orphan Mary is a fearless relic diver, but when her best friend Peter goes missing during a dive, she begins to question her village’s obsession with the past. Drawn into the orbit of a newly arrived tribe, whose charismatic but controlling leader Astrid is searching for a new source of energy, Mary’s loyalties are torn, and she must ultimately decide what kind of future she wants to dive for.
What’s your writing routine?
I have a pretty busy life, so I squeeze in writing time wherever I can! I write at home, in cafés and on trains. I’m very much dependent on the writing groups I’m in to keep me productive and on track with my work.
What’s next for you?
I’m actually writing something completely different – Sidelined, a contemporary teen novel about a girl whose best friend becomes a pop star and who struggles to find her own place out of the spotlight. It’s out of my usual middle-grade adventure comfort zone, but enormous fun to write and I get to indulge all of my pop fangirl obsessions.
What are your favourite children’s books and why?
It’s always really hard to pick but the one I loved the most as a young reader was Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by John C. O’Brien – I’m not usually into stories with animal protagonists but this one is just so well done! I also really enjoy everything by Frances Hardinge and Patrick Ness.
Any tips for writers intending on entering the competition?
I’ve entered a fair few competitions before and never really got anywhere. I honestly think a lot of it is just luck, and your entry happening to find its way into the hands of a reader who connects with it. So I’d say just keep trying!