Talking blogging and barges with author Valerie Poore

Valerie Poore is the author of no less than twelve books; ten memoirs and two novels.

I’ve read pretty much all her books and love Val’s descriptive style of writing.

Her African Ways series begins with Val’s life on a mountain farm in South Africa with two small children whilst the Living Aboard series follows a very different life in the Netherlands where Val currently lives on a barge in Rotterdam in the historic Oude Haven (below).

Val goes faring whenever she can.

Hi Val, and welcome. You have written so many gorgeous books I would love to know how it all started. How and when did you get the writing bug?

Hi Lisa, many, many thanks for inviting me join you here. It’s lovely to be on your blog, especially because I’ve enjoyed reading it myself so often. As for your question, I suppose I really got the writing bug when I was given an old desktop PC back in the 1990s. I’d always enjoyed writing stories and descriptive compositions at school, but it wasn’t until I got that old DOS machine that I found my vocation, so to speak. It gave me so much freedom to rewrite and correct things without having to waste reams of paper in the process. Because I loved radio (and still do) I started off writing plays and short stories for broadcast, but it was only when I moved to the Netherlands that I thought of writing my first book. (Rotterdam harbour, Val's inspiration, below.)

You are so good at descriptive writing, Val. Your readers really do join you on your travels. Amazing how we have come to rely on technology now for writing (says she who has been tearing her hair out without a computer for the last week!). I love the idea of writing for radio. Do any of these plays survive. Did they get taken up and what sort of things did you write about?

No, sadly, my plays haven't survived. Because I wrote them on an old DOS PC, they were originally saved on a floppy disc, which got lost when we left South Africa. I actually submitted them to the SABC and the BBC, but they didn't get taken up. The SABC said they weren't relevant in the new SA, and the Beeb either said they weren't long enough or that they didn't suit. I can't remember exactly how many I wrote, but one I remember was about tracking a criminal with cell phone technology (which was very new in those days) and another was about two professional city girls meeting on a train. One of them was a Zulu girl and the other was European. It was about how, through their conversation, they realised they'd grown up on the same farm and had been childhood playmates. I liked that one, and I was sorry it didn't make the grade. To be honest, they probably weren't very good. A couple of my short stories were taken up by a local radio station, though. It was great fun going to the studio to record them, but I had a very brief career as a radio narrator. A shame really as I've always loved radio.

Radio is a very imaginative medium. I used to love listening to the BBC radio four afternoon play when I was studying in England and I’m sure your work would have been wonderfully visual if it was anything like your books.

You also blog, Val. I enjoy reading your Rivergirl blogs You have been doing these a while and obviously enjoying writing them. What is it about blogging that appeals to you?

Yes, you’re right. I’ve been blogging for fifteen years now. I discovered the whole weblog thing because of the rock band, The Who, would you believe? My partner, Koos, was a member of a group of international Who fans that followed guitarist Pete Townshend’s early blog posts and the fans wrote their own blogs too. I loved reading their posts and it seemed like a great idea to me, so I started mine. What I really enjoyed was writing weekly articles about my life in our Rotterdam historic harbour and getting response through the comments. There was no Facebook then, so I used to have much more interaction on my blog than I do now. I still enjoy it very much, but these days I focus my posts on my life here in the Netherlands as a whole and not just on the harbour in Rotterdam. The circle of blogging pals has also changed over the years too and now consists of people all over the world whose blogs I read. I love the international contact and learn so much from these cyber friends of mine.

I always knew The Who were great influencers! J and I’m sure your readers are happy Pete got you started on blogging!

Your books include both memoirs and fiction: (and I love them all). Which is your favourite genre and why?

That’s a hard one, Lisa! I must admit I find fiction very liberating. Not having to keep to the truth means my characters can do their own thing and change their stories halfway through the plot. It makes writing novels great fun. On the other hand, memoir writing is easier because the stories are already plotted out before you start writing, but it’s challenging in other ways. On balance, I think fiction wins by a small margin.

Your two fiction novels are both highly recommended by me (covers above). I still smile when I think of a certain cycle ride in the Netherlands… and I feel sure you have more stories inside you.

You have very different settings for your memoirs. I can’t imagine anywhere quite as different as a mountain in South Africa and a barge in the low lands of Europe. The differences are obvious, but are there any similarities?

Oh goodness, Lisa, that’s such a good question. They are, of course, very different, but I’d say there are certain parallels rather than similarities. In both cases, I’ve had to learn to live quite a pared down existence without too many possessions. On the farm in South Africa, we had no electricity, so there was no use owning any electrical equipment; nor did we have TV, computers or music systems. These days, I have electricity, but my lack of space on the barge means I have to keep everything to a minimum. The power capacity is also limited. For instance, I can’t boil the kettle and use the hoover at the same time. Absolutely true! Another parallel concerns water usage. In South Africa, we suffered from drought and had to be very careful not to take long showers or flush the loo too often. There’s plenty of water where I live now, of course. I even live on it! But, and this is a big but, I only have a 1000-litre water tank. This means that because filling it is time-consuming and a pain, I am still very careful with how much water I use.

I do understand. We live a very similar life here in respect to electricity and water usage. It’s actually quite liberating in an odd way. I’m fascinated that you have lived in such a variety of places, yet seem to settle down well wherever you are. Do you think there is a secret to fitting in? Can you share your tips?

To be honest, I don’t know if there’s a secret as such. It’s not always as easy as it seems. The first couple of months in South Africa were hard and that was also true in the Netherlands. Moving to a new culture and language is never a bed of roses, especially if it wasn’t your choice to make the move in the first place. But unless you’re going to enjoy being miserable, I think it’s essential to open up to the new situation and just adapt. Something that’s definitely helped me is my fascination for different cultures and customs, so it hasn’t taken me long to switch from homesickness to happiness once I’ve got into the place and the people. As for the rest – finding work, making a home etc. – I feel you just have to make it work and focus on the exciting aspects of being somewhere new.

What a perfect attitude to have, Val. You obviously love your home on the Vereeniging and have recently released a second memoir of travels on the Hennie H (Faring Forth again on the Shoe). You have also collaborated on a new anthology of moving abroad stories. With so many books under your belt, what are your tips for aspiring authors?

Oh Lisa, I’m not very good at answering this kind of question because I never set out to write books as such. I sort of slid into writing them through my blog. Maybe that’s a good tip for novice writers. Start a regular blog and hone your writing skills that way. I’m not sure if that would work for fiction, but I think the discipline of producing regular posts forces you to write as a routine and gives you the staying power you need for writing a book. The prospect of producing a full-length memoir or novel can be daunting, but the practice of writing 500–1000 words every week for a blog can help you break it down into manageable chunks.

Excellent advice, Val. I have to say I wish I’d started a blog much sooner. You work as a teacher of English and spend your off time writing and looking after your beautiful barge (above) as well as taking trips on the Shoe. Can you give us an idea of a typical day in the life of Valerie Poore?

Hmm, now that’s a hard one! I don’t really have a fixed daily agenda because my work as an English teacher involves giving short courses of eight to nine weeks for different faculties at two Dutch universities. Sometimes these are in the morning, but often they’re in the afternoon; whatever time they are, they need a lot of preparation. I also give online courses four times a year, which takes care of my evenings as well. It’s difficult to find time for other things during my busiest periods – I’m mostly either teaching or doing preparation and marking. But I always try and write something for myself at the weekends, even if it’s just my blog. Oh and I try and keep up with social media too, especially the wonderful We Love Memoirs group on Facebook. One rule I have, though, is not to start too early at any time...haha. I’m not good at getting up before 7:30 in the morning, and I’m not really human before 9:00, so I avoid teaching before 10:00. The university holidays are bliss, because then I can write and work on the boat, but my job lacks the kind of structure needed for a standard day.

Oh, you and me both Val! I really am not a morning person, though I wholeheartedly agree with your comments about We Love Memoirs. A lovely group.

You are hopefully off faring on the Shoe again soon. I do love the Shoe’s travels and your descriptions of the beautiful scenery you pass. Can we hope for another book from this trip?

Ah, thank you, Lisa. I’m so pleased you enjoy the Shoe’s travels. Sadly, I can’t really say if this year will produce another book. It depends on where we go, and that in itself depends on the current situation with Covid. If we go somewhere new, then there’s a strong possibility of a third travelogue, but if we cover mostly old ground (or water), then probably not. We’ll just have to see where the Shoe takes us.

I hope you have a lovely time wherever you end up, Val. Now, I’m a bit of a foodie and love hearing about food in books. I admire your one pot meals on the Shoe, but if you could have a special meal cooked for you what would it be and why?

This has made me laugh, Lisa. I am so not a foodie and I would quite happily eat our one-pot meal every day forever; I’m very much my father’s daughter in that respect. He never saw the need for variety either. But let me see ... if someone were to cook it for me, I think I would really enjoy having a homemade nut roast with a nice mushroom sauce on it, baked potatoes (done in a proper oven) and fresh veggies (any kind). For dessert, I would die for a cheesecake. I can’t really eat it anymore because of my allergy to dairy, but I’d suffer the consequences just this once!

Well Val, you are an easy one to cater for so do call anytime and I’ll sort your ‘special’ meal out J.

Finally, can you tell me one thing about Valerie Poore that her readers won’t know?

Well, maybe the oddest thing, given that I live on the water, is that I’m afraid of drowning. I know. Crazy, isn’t it? Bizarre as it might be, considering the life I lead, it’s something I’ve had bad dreams about my whole life. And yes, I can swim, so it’s not that. I take an almost morbid interest in flood disasters as a result.

Oh Val, that last answer has given me goosebumps all over! I keep thinking about Marc Bolan and his fear of car crashes. Do be careful!!

I will. I always am!! Hence my chronic 'what if' syndrome!

For once I’m happy you have your ‘what if?’ syndrome in place. Thank you so much for being my guest and happy faring this summer. (The lovely Valerie Poore, below).