Parallel Worlds - by Bestselling Novelist Caro Fraser

Bestselling novelist and creator of the Caper Court series of legal novels, Caro Fraser, takes time out from her prolific novel-writing to blog for Fusion View. She has generously donated three signed copies of her latest novel, A World Apart, to my prize draw - three lucky winners will be picked at random from the Fusion View email subscription list to win a copy each: find out how you can get a chance to win by clicking here.

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Caro writes:

I suppose it’s unconventional for a woman to write a novel about a man in a mid-life crisis, which is the theme of my most recent novel, A World Apart, but the male psyche has always intrigued me. Having said that, the themes of the novel – lost youth, the sense of unfulfilled possibilities, a longing to rekindle the spark of romantic desire – are common to both sexes.

The dissatisfactions of women seemed somehow too familiar, however, and I found it more intriguing to imagine what it would be like to be a man who finds his sense of identity subtly shifting as he reaches a certain point in his life. Are we just the sum of all we have accomplished, all the relationships we have forged, the children we have reared, and the friendships we have made - or are there other, unfulfilled possibilities within us that we can still explore?

The answer for my protagonist, Mark Mason, is to try to create a parallel universe where he can indulge his fantasies and experiment with lost dreams. Needless to say, the two worlds inevitably collide, with messy results, but Mark finds that he has nonetheless succeeded in creating, in his parallel world, a new identity, a new Mark – Mark II. The question is, which identity will he choose to inhabit from now on? The novel is just one take on an endlessly fascinating question – how many of us are prepared to commit those irrevocable, and often ruthless acts which can change our lives dramatically and forever?

Since writing A World Apart, I’ve completed three further pieces of work: Hanging Fire is an experimental novel in which I, as the author, conduct a dialogue with my troublesome and somewhat recalcitrant main character as she makes her way through the story of her own life. The Girl In The Yellow Dress is a more traditional romantic narrative, tracking the fortunes of two step-sisters from the 1930s to the 1980s. And as a complete change of form, I recently completed a children’s book, in the form of an epic poem, called Songs Of The Three Kingdoms. I hope all three books will be published in the not-too distant future.

Now that my four children have returned to school, peace will descend once more and I’ll be able to start yet another book, for which I’ve been brewing ideas over the summer months.

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You see we writers could all learn a thing or two from Caro - she writes and just keeps on writing. Every time I catch up with her for coffee or call for a chat on the phone, she’s either mulling over the current book she’s working on or she’s just finished a book or she’s working up ideas for her next one. She has 13 books to her name, all written in the last ten years. And she has a large family to run in between all this creativity. Wow!

The result is that her books are everywhere (apart from bookshops) - during my holiday in Cornwall, we found copies of her books in the cottage we stayed in and we saw copies in second hand bookshops and lying around those trendy cafes where they scatter books and magazines for you to read while you sip your cappuccino. I must ask her if it’s weird for her to be on holiday and everywhere she turns, it’s like “Oh, there’s my book. And another one. Oh, and here…”

You can find out more about Caro at her website www.caro-fraser.com