Caroline Hardaker’s debut novel, Composite Creatures, is quite an unsettling and thought-provoking journey in all the very best ways. Her protagonist Norah lives in a world full of pollution that is causing illness and even death in everything from plants and animals to humans. After soliciting the aid of an illusive medical facility, Norah finds herself matched with a lovely partner, Arthur, in a new beautiful home. And then a furry little creature enters their lives, forever changing them all…
As April brings about the release of this fantastic debut novel, Caroline Hardaker took the time to answer a few questions for The Nerd Daily. Read on to learn what sparked the idea for this story, one of the best things she has seen in early reviews of the book, what song has had her dancing since age 13, and more!
Join Angry Robot Books for a very special event, live and free on YouTube, to mark the release of Composite Creatures. Caroline will be in discussion with Carys Bray, author of A Song for Issy Bradley. In addition, Caroline and Carys will be joined by former UK Children’s Laureate and three-time Kate Greenaway Award-winning illustrator Chris Riddell, who will be creating sketches throughout the event based on the authors’ work and conversation. There’s also a competition where you can win one of Chris’s drawings and more details can be found here.
Hi Caroline and thanks for stopping by to answer a few questions for The Nerd Daily! To start with, tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
Hello! I’m a poet, novelist, and librettist from the North East of England. I’m absolutely obsessed by folklore and myths, and like nothing better than visiting a stone circle or two. I’m also very much into puppetry, and one day would love to get more involved in performance somehow. A couple of years ago, I was the Writer in Residence for the Moving Parts Puppetry Festival and I had the time of my life, I truly did. The festival will be back this year and I’m obsessed with waiting for the programme to be released!
Your debut novel, Composite Creatures, comes out on April 13, 2021. For readers who may not know what it is about, give us a little synopsis of the book!
OK! Expect a read that’s earthy, twisty, and a little disturbing. Composite Creatures explores the choices we might make to survive in a dying world, and the sacrifices we make along the way.
The story takes place in an England very much like our own, but one where chemicals seep up from the soil and rain down from a lilac sky. Animals are disappearing, and people are being stricken down by a strange blight, referred to as ‘The Greying’. And when our protagonist, Norah, joins an exclusive healthcare organisation and sets up house with her new fiancé, Art, she also takes delivery of a strange furry creature destined to live in her attic… But I can’t say more than that!
When you read Composite Creatures, you step into the head of Norah – so be ready to be both her best friend and worst critic as she makes a series of life choices that take her on a journey to a very dark, and very real prospective future.
There are some really interesting realistic and fantastical elements woven together in your novel. What brought about the idea for Composite Creatures?
I was asked to write several science fiction poems for a magazine in Edinburgh and was desperately looking around my living room for ideas. The stories and poems that affect me the most are the ones that twist elements of reality just a little – so that they’re strange but familiar. The uncanny. So I wrote one poem based on my pot plant, one on a tax bill, and then my giant cat waddled in and inspired the poem that ended up becoming Composite Creatures.
It took a few weeks before I realised that this little vignette was actually a snapshot of a world much great than the poem. I didn’t send that one to the magazine, and instead I started to plan how it could become a short story, then a novella, and then finally – a full length adult novel. And then the rest was history.
The pace and tone of your novel is quite different than what I was expecting — in a good way! So many books set in the future or dealing with apocalyptic/world-altering events like the environmental crisis in Composite Creatures are action-oriented and fast-paced; but your story is much more interior and very character-driven, which I love! Could you talk a bit about why you shaped the story this way?
I’m just so much more interested in stories that really take you along on a psychological journey. Tales where twists and tricks occur because of how the story is told, not necessary because of what happens. Stir in the zen-like pace of the Japanese literature I admire and add a sprinkle of the poetic language I’ve worked with for years, and you get Composite Creatures!
But I’m also keen to be different, to be experimental, to surprise readers. I’m not going to say this hasn’t caused some anxiety on my part recently now that the book’s coming out, but from the reviews so far I think my experiment has worked out well!
Hurrah!
I also enjoyed the examination of self and identity throughout the novel, as well as how you explore the human instinct for survival alongside the question of what makes a life worth living. What are you hoping readers will take away from their time with your book, with respect to these and/or other themes?
All of my favourite books are the ones that ended with me seeing the world in a new way, and it’s my ambition to recreate this with every story I write.
One of the best things I’ve seen in the early reviews of the book is that so many people read the last page, close the cover, and then question whether a long life means a worthy life. The story sticks to them and they can’t shake it off. Norah’s journey seems to haunt people, and this is exactly what I wanted to do – to create a story that doesn’t just disintegrate when it’s finished. I wanted to inspire people to think, to encourage readers to question their place in the world and the consequences of their actions. Imagine the power in that – to actually make people think! I couldn’t be more honoured that readers are taking Norah, Art, and Nut’s journey to their heart.
You have published quite a bit of poetry, as well as nonfiction writing, prior to Composite Creatures. What are some of the things you love and loathe about each form of writing?
Each form certainly has its quirks! But then again, I’ve learned so much from each of them that I wouldn’t have the skills I have today without all the things I’ve done. I’m still learning of course, and making mistakes every day.
But even if your ultimate aspiration is to be a novelist, time spent writing non-fiction is time well spend. It teaches you how to be efficient with language, how to put a point across cleanly and succinctly. And I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t first been a poet. Writing poetry taught me how to be experimental with words and lyrical with sentences. I encourage any aspiring fiction writer to try their hand at poetry, I really do. It really helps writers to find their voice and be confident when using it.
So I suppose I don’t loathe any of them! It’s not always been easy, but I appreciate every word I’ve written, simply because each one has taught me how to be better. And long may it continue!
The past year has been quite difficult for most people around the world. And on top of that, I understand you have a new baby. (Congratulations!) How have these huge events impacted your creative process?
Gosh, it’s been hard hasn’t it? When Covid first changed the world, I struggled to write at all. My mind was just stuck in shock of what was happening that day. But I found that I still needed to be creative, so I threw myself into art instead. Sculpture, knitting, and painting. Then, as the months rolled by and the reality of what was happening sank in, I became determined to use the extra time I had (with not having to commute to work) productively. Working from home also meant that I was just so much more awake when the day ended! So I turned back to the novel I had started in the months before and that fictional world became both a bullseye and an escape.
And yes, as I write this my baby is 9 weeks old! Little Noah is determined to have all of my attention to himself right now, so it’s not leaving me much time to write. But my works-in-progress are still in my head, bubbling away, waiting for this summer when I can take back some time and finish my second novel. I hope so anyway, because that one’s going to be a BLAST.
What is one thing you’d like to say to aspiring writers that you wish someone had told you earlier on in your writing career?
To be myself. Unapologetically.
When I was younger, I worried so much about having to sound like other writers, or to write things that I thought readers would like. To a degree all authors have to think about their readers, but the anxiety of not feeling authentic absolutely crippled me as a young amateur, and it stopped me writing at all. It’s only in the last several years, now that I’ve reached my comfortable 30s, when I’ve felt able to just say ‘sod it’ and do what I like. To be experimental, wacky, and unusual. If I’d known that all along, I’d have saved myself a lot of angst.
I understand work is already underway for your second novel! What can you tell readers about what to expect next from you?
I’m not allowed to say too much, unfortunately! BUT what I will say is that it’s far more surreal than Composite Creatures, and will likely blow a few minds. Just ask my agent who read it recently, he’s still recovering!
Let’s Get Nerdy: Behind the Writer with 9 Quick Questions
- First book that made you fall in love with reading: The Lord of the Rings
- 3 books you would take on a desert island: The Lord of the Rings (obviously), an old Terry Pratchett, probably Mort, and Witch Light, by Susan Fletcher. It’s true poetry, and every sentence transports me to the Scottish Highlands and lochs.
- Movie that you know by heart: Don’t judge me on this, but pretty much any Richard Curtis film. I’m a sucker for a comfort watch.
- Song that makes you want to get up and dance: Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. Every day. Always. Since I was about 13.
- Place that everyone should see in their lifetime: Nepal. It’s both peaceful and vibrant, ancient yet current. I travelled around Nepal a few years ago and it’s never quite left me. I’d do anything to be able to transport myself back to a temple or two every so often!
- Introvert or extrovert: Introvert.
- Coffee, tea, or neither: I wish I could choose both! But if not, tea.
- First job: Retail Assistant in a department store. I moved around the store constantly, and didn’t know which section I’d be on until the shift started. One day I’d be selling greeting cards, then fridges, then high value boutique clothing. It was stressful.
- Person you admire most and why: Mary Shelley. She stood up for independence and creativity, at a time when publishers would have much preferred the simplicity of crediting a man for her work. And Frankenstein is the most incredible idea, and in some ways, the earliest inspiration for Composite Creatures…
