{"id":4122,"date":"2017-06-13T13:49:45","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T13:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/?p=4122"},"modified":"2017-08-22T11:57:15","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T11:57:15","slug":"solemn-curfew-folklore-horror-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/solemn-curfew-folklore-horror-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"A Solemn Curfew: Folklore, Horror & Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

We continue in our mission to be a signpost for the sort of neat stuff that might not be familiar to you. And to find a snappier title for that mission, come to think of it. Today, dear listener, we look into the work of a British writer, Bev Allen<\/strong><\/span>, whose recent collection, A Solemn Curfew<\/em>, is a delightful (and subtly dark) read. It blends elements of folk tales, folk horror and wry British unease, and is well worth a look. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The best way to explain what we mean seemed to be to talk to her about her work, so we did. We’re cunning like that…<\/span><\/p>\n

An Interview with Bev Allen<\/h1>\n

greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>Welcome to greydogtales<\/em>, Bev. We’re here to talk to you about your collection A Solemn Curfew<\/em>, but for those who don’t know you, perhaps you could provide a bit of personal background?<\/span><\/p>\n

bev:<\/strong> You have a choice, either – \u201cBev Allen is married with two adult children and lives in a small market town in the English shires\u201d or \u201cBev Allen is an old bat who likes to write stuff. Sometimes it\u2019s science fiction\/fantasy adventure stories about soldiers and things (she has a fondness for soldiers, but this should not be taken to mean she likes to hang about outside barracks blocks, at least not often) and sometimes it\u2019s short stories about weird bollocks.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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bev allen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> A fine introduction! It looks as if you emerged in the last five or six years, with your Jabin<\/em> YA science fiction novel coming out in 2012, and The Tattooed Tribes<\/em> in 2015. Had you been writing for publication for a while, or is this a relatively recent move for you?<\/span><\/p>\n

bev:<\/strong> Back in 2007 my son, sick and tired of listening to me whinge on about not knowing what to do with my writing, shoved a copy of SFX magazine under my nose and said, \u201cSend some of it here\u201d. They were running their annual<\/span><\/em> Pulp Idol<\/span> competition for short stories.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I made a large number of excuses why it wasn\u2019t a good idea and some more stuff about no-one being interested, which he ignored and made me enter. Despite my repeatedly telling him it was a complete waste of time, ‘<\/span><\/em>Maud: A Garden Tale’<\/span> was a winner. I was so excited I forgot to smack him round the head for being smug. (BTW, Maud\u2019s story is in<\/span><\/em> A Solemn Curfew and Other Dark Tales<\/span>).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Remarkably after this I got a commission from Big Finish to write a Dr Who story for one of their anthologies. There will be a small pause now while I do a happy dance, even after all this time, I still get over excited when I remember. Dance over.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I had written <\/em>Jabin, or a version of it, a few years before all this happened, but in the light of the above I did a bit of a rewrite (as in removing 50,000 surplus words and renaming all the characters to something which wouldn\u2019t make readers want to reach for a bucket. I\u2019m not sure what I was thinking, I may have eaten too much Turkish Delight or been attacked by refugee from a 1960\u2019s acid party when I chose them). It was eventually picked up by an Indie Publisher who published, but added \u201cand the Space Pirates\u201d to the title.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you let them do something so stupid!\u201d I hear you cry and I can give you no logical reason except I was an idiot or still suffering from the Turkish Delight sugar rush. Anyway, they went belly up and it was picked up by another Indie who dropped the ghastly add on, but who also went belly up after a year or so.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It was after this I gave up on other people publishing me, it seemed a bit unfair, I was beginning to feel I should be called \u201cBev The Indie Slayer.\u201d I thought there would soon be a crowd of other authors lining up to shout \u201cJonah\u201d, so I decided to go it alone.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

greydog:<\/strong><\/em> We’ve seen various comments on the novels, including suggestions that they blur science fiction proper with an amount of fantasy, and, in Jabin’s<\/em> case, that whilst it is labelled YA, it’s fairly adult in theme emotionally. Are those fair assessments?<\/span><\/p>\n

bev:<\/strong> Totally and completely fair. I love science, but to be honest, I\u2019m a bit hazy on some of its more complex ideas and when it all gets really, really clever, I\u2019m completely lost and it\u2019s all a bit fantasy like to me; hence I mix SF and fantasy to hide the cracks.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And no, I do not think there is an elf living inside my hard drive with a mind of its own, it\u2019s just that I wouldn\u2019t be totally surprised if it turned there was.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not comfortable with the YA label, but because my main characters tend to be in their teens, the stories are taken to be aimed at that age group. They aren\u2019t, they are suitable for older kids, but they aren\u2019t aimed at them.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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I write about teenagers because I like them and it\u2019s a time when the adult is still emerging and character is forming and can still, to a certain extent, be moulded. They are a great age group, they are brave and often gallant, they have an enormous capacity to be idiots, but at the same time can have the wisdom of Solomon. Mix in a few adults who care about them and some villains who don\u2019t and all the story food groups are present.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A Solemn Curfew Explored<\/h2>\n

greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>Now, to the meat (or nut-roast) of the day, A Solemn Curfew and Other Dark Tales<\/span><\/em>. Which seems an appropriate way to put it, because food \u2013 or the preparation and consumption thereof \u2013 is an important part of the collection. Food, and fertilisation. So we’re going to try and explore that without spoiling the stories. For instance, were you aware that the two Fs run though the book, or was that a happenstance, just an accident of collecting the stories together?<\/span><\/p>\n

bev:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t realise it until you said it. I thought they were all a bit soggy, because my friend Tina pointed out the amount of water involved, but now I see it goes with food and fertilisation as you say.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It was a complete accident, but to be fair, it reflects some of the things which interest me. I like social history and I like to cook, so the history of food is something I find fascinating and I am a sucker for a recipe book, especially if it is one using a technique or ingredient I am unfamiliar with. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I had a go at cheese making last year, hence the ‘Say Cheese’ story. It\u2019s the sum of what I learnt, coupled with the inadvisability of putting out saucers of milk to the little people.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I would like to say I am now an excellent cheese maker, but if I did my nose would probably go through the screen and might even get as far as the elf in the hard drive.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The title story<\/em> ‘Solemn Curfew’<\/span> itself is set mainly in a later Medieval style kitchen and I did a fair bit of research on how it was organised. I also did a lot of reading up on wild mushrooms and what you can and can\u2019t eat. It was fascinating to find out just how easily you can kill yourself if you get it wrong and just how easy it is to get it wrong.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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greydog:<\/strong> <\/em>The stories in Solemn Curfew<\/em> might not be what readers of Jabin<\/em> or The Tattooed Tribes<\/em> would have expected (and vice versa). Why the shift from SF to this type of tale?<\/span><\/p>\n

bev:<\/strong> Cos my brain goes fizz every now and then and I don\u2019t know why. One minute I am happily writing about \u201cstrange new worlds\u201d etc, the next moment something in my head goes \u201cwhat if that old wives\u2019 tale was true?\u201d and suddenly I\u2019ve got to write about weird stuff. I blame four people.
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Ma, who encouraged me to read everything and answered all my history and folklore questions. My paternal gran who had a thing about worms. There wasn\u2019t much that didn\u2019t give \u2018em to you.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n