Avril Saunders Scottish author

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©.... by Avril D Saunders

	. © Chasin' that Carrot .... by Avril D Saunders
	© Mammograms save lives .... by Avril D Saunders

Avril Dalziel Saunders was born in Glasgow.

Like most families, life was a struggle after the Second World War. Her parents worked hard to make ends meet but held their heads high. As far as Avril and her brother were concerned, they felt privileged and were brought up with lots of love, honesty and respect.

Avril has held jobs with major companies throughout her career, among them a large international company in Glasgow city centre and Thames Television in London. She moved to Surrey in 1971 with her husband and baby son. Within the next 6 years, the family were blessed with two daughters.

She is now a grandmother and has retired to the Surrey countryside. As well as having many interests including music, travel, theatre and the arts, she has always loved writing and has 'at last' found the time to write her novels.

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Avril's TV drama film 'Broken Promises' was made in February 2012 at Elstree Studios.
It was shown for the first time as part of a short film strand called Ronke on Sky Showcase (Channel 201) on Saturday 19th May at 10pm and repeated an hour later on Sky Showcase +1 (Channel 235). It will be shown again at repeated intervals on these channels over the next 2 yrs.

For every DVD sold £1 will be shared between Breast Cancer Care & Macmillan Nurses. Anyone interested in purchasing a copy and supporting these worthwhile charities, please email paulburton73@hotmail.co.uk for a form.
The DVD is available for sale from www.paulburtonfilms.org

Avril Saunders, 60, is an author who only turned to writing after retiring from her job in television for Thames TV at Teddington Lock. She now lives in Addlestone but was a resident of Kingston for 30 years and has based her second book, Chasin’ That Carrot, on a couple who move to the borough after the Second World War. She spoke to reporter Alita Howe. www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/ Nov.2008

What made you turn to writing?

My husband always said I should write a book but I never found the time before I retired. I’ve always enjoyed writing, I suppose I inherited it from my dad. He always used to write down his experiences about the war to help us out with school projects.

I like writing letters and people always seem to enjoy reading them as well, so I carried on from there. I was only going to do the one but found myself writing the sequel.

How did the sequel come about?

I had letters from all over the world after the first book, What’s For Ye Won’t Go By Ye and it is now being published in India and Russia. It was lovely to have such nice feedback.

The first book went up to the 1960s so I decided to carry it on from there until the present day.

What are the books about?

The first book followed a young girl in Glasgow, who was born after the Second World War.

It tells her family’s story into the 1950s and the pop era of the 60s, before she meets someone and falls in love. The sequel explores what happens to the couple after that.

I left Scotland in 1971 and was nervous about getting details about the area wrong, so I decided to move the

fictional character to Surrey so I could write about places I knew about.

Are the books semi-autobiographical?

No, but they are inspired by my own memories and experiences of the people and places I remember.

The people are fictional but I have drawn on things that happened during those years and elaborated on them to form the story.

Did you have to do a lot of research about Kingston in the 1970s and 80s?

I lived in Kingston for 30 years so I used my memories of the area, such as the famous power station

chimneys, Bentalls, taking trips on the river to Hampton Court Palace and the old Three Fishes pub.

Will there be a third book to create a trilogy?

Everyone keeps saying that to me. Chasin’ That Carrot follows the couple right up until the present day, but my husband said there is always scope to branch off.

I don’t know when I’ll have time now with three grandchildren though.

❑ Chasin’ that Carrot, published by Pneuma Springs Publishing, is out now.

See also article in Surrey Herald newspaper