Elizabeth Delo: 'You never know when a moment in real life might inspire a story'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
22nd Aug 2024
Elizabeth Delo studied on several of our popular How to Write Your Novel courses in 2020. Throughout her time studying with us, she began writing her debut novel Becoming Liz Taylor which is out now with Atlantic Books.
We discussed navigating dual timelines, how it felt receiving the news that she is the Lauréate at the Festival du premier roman in Chambéry (France) and plans for her second novel.
You studied on our Starting to Write Your Novel and Write to the End of Your Novel online courses in 2020. How did studying with us impact your approach to writing?
The courses made me hone in on what was at the core of my novel – its themes and characters, and where the conflict lay. I already had the idea for my protagonist Val, but it was on the courses that I began to develop her character and her story. The tasks we were given were practical and pertinent, and some of the passages that now appear in Becoming Liz Taylor started life at Curtis Brown Creative. One of my main characters, Rafe, emerged almost fully formed from one particular writing cue we were given. I found the engagement with other writers very helpful – there is so much to learn from the mutual feedback, and there was a real feeling of camaraderie and encouragement. Knowing my tutor and peers were reading my weekly submissions made me up my game and deliver my best work. The courses gave me permission to spend time on my writing, resulting in a sustained period of learning and productivity. Curtis Brown Creative was an important step on the path that led me on to an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, a literary agent, and ultimately the publication of my debut novel Becoming Liz Taylor.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the course?
I keep in touch with several CBC alumni on social media and we shout about each other’s success. One person in particular has become a very close friend. After the course we began chatting over email, sharing and critiquing each other’s work. Four years on, and we still have regular zoom meetings and WhatsApp voice chats. There is elation and despair that comes with trying to carve out a career as a writer, and we have shared plenty of both. I am very lucky to have met such a treasured friend on the course. She has been a cheerleader for Becoming Liz Taylor from its inception and is an important part of my writing life.
Your debut novel Becoming Liz Taylor is out now with Atlantic books. It is an unforgettable story of baby abduction, which examines motherhood, grief and the legacy of melancholy. Can you tell us a bit more about the book and the inspiration behind it?
Becoming Liz Taylor is the story of Val, a seventy-two-year-old widow living in Weston-super-Mare who spends her lonely evenings dressing up as the movie star Elizabeth Taylor. It seems to be a way of coping with the grief and trauma she experienced as a young woman, decades before. One day, when Val is walking along the seafront, she notices a pram that has been left momentarily unattended. A detail on the baby’s blanket reminds Val of the child she lost, and on a whim she kicks off the brake and walks away with the baby. She sets off on a journey which ultimately leads to her estranged son Rafe, who lives in Brighton. Rafe has his own troubles. His once happy and successful life has fallen apart and he is now middle-aged, lonely, and skint. He is resentful of his mother, believing she damaged him through her eccentric behaviour, as well as her lack of clarity around his father’s death. The narrative finally brings these two broken characters together, but there is a lifetime of hurt to heal.
Becoming Liz Taylor was inspired by a snippet of conversation I overheard whilst standing in a queue. One person was telling another about a woman who was rumoured to walk around a seaside town dressed as a Hollywood film star. I was curious about this woman, what her motivations might be, and I started to build the character of Val and her backstory. The whole novel therefore came out of a single line of dialogue. You never know when a moment in real life might inspire a story, so my advice to writers would be: keep your ears to the ground!
Dual timelines can be notoriously tricky to navigate but you manage to weave the past and the present together seamlessly to build suspense. How did you go about approaching a dual timeline?
The dual timeline was probably the hardest thing about writing this novel. It is incredibly difficult to know where and how to reveal backstory and how much to include. Too little and the reader won’t know enough about the characters to understand their motivations. Too much and you risk frustrating the reader by making it appear there is another - possibly more interesting - story lurking behind the main narrative. Long passages of ‘past’ can feel clunky too, like info dumping. In the end I worked out that the most delicate way to do it was by weaving small fragments of past through the novel so that the backstory is revealed gradually. This allows the reader to piece together clues from Val’s past that explain the depth of her grief, why she dresses as a Hollywood icon and takes a baby, and the bitterness between her and Rafe. When mother and son finally come together, the tension explodes, leading to the book’s devastating denouement.
You have just been named as Lauréate (Winner) at the Festival du premier roman (Festival of the Debut Novel) in Chambéry, France. How did it feel to receive such wonderful news?
So exciting! The Festival du premier roman celebrates debut novels from France and across Europe and I am thrilled to have been named as Lauréate for Becoming Liz Taylor. As a winner I was invited to Chambéry to take part in a number of events, including a translation workshop. This involved fascinating discussions around the nuances of language and meaning in my novel, and the creation of a definitive version of an extract in French. It was such a privilege to have been part of this. I was also delighted to discover that Becoming Liz Taylor is being read in French lycées in the region, and I had the pleasure of meeting a group of students who have been studying it in their English lessons. I am hugely proud that my book has received this international accolade.
What books have you enjoyed reading recently?
Soldier, Sailor by Claire Kilroy is a terrifying study of the alienation of becoming a new mother. Exquisite in its truth and raw power, it is a brave and important novel that deserves to become a feminist classic. Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain is a story about the agonising repercussions of obsessive young love that, like everything Tremain does, is a writing masterclass. One of my favourite writers is Tim Winton and I’m currently re-reading The Turning, a collection of overlapping stories. Perhaps best known for his depiction of the Western Australian landscape where he lives, for me Winton’s brilliance is in the way he portrays humanity. He nails the aching poignancy of what it is to be human in the most spare, stunning prose. He is an astonishing writer.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I am working on my second novel. Set in Liverpool in the present and 1980s, it explores teenage pregnancy and evangelical Christianity, and is a story of love lost and refound. One of the main characters is an Elvis impersonator – it seems I have a thing about 20th century icons! This summer I’m going to spend some time in Liverpool to get to know the city. I love the research element of the writing process.
Becoming Liz Taylor is out now!
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