Sonia Golt reflects on a lifetime of creativity ahead of Literary Festival schools talk

Sonia Golt, an experienced journalist and broadcaster, shares her most recent publication, The Curtain Call, a thriller exploring obsessive love. Sonia told Chronicle Reporter Eyleen Gomez about her long literary career, spanning poetry, short stories and children’s books. Sonia will inspire students to embrace storytelling in all its forms at this year’s Gibraltar Literary Festival school programme.

Your latest book The Curtain Call, delves into the psychology of obsessive love. What drew you to explore this theme, and how did you balance suspense with emotional depth?

I wanted to write a thriller and had to delve into past experiences to get acquainted with what I had felt myself during my lifetime. I once had a stalker in my life, years back, and the sensations and the anxiety this produced have now helped me to use those feelings for my story about the psychology of obsessive love.
I also believe that when people fall in love, we/they become obsessed with the person they have fallen in love with, not noticing any faults, not noticing their small but constant rejections etc. All is blissful for months where faults are not noticed.

Fortunately, this period passes within the first months of the relationship, and life continues in a more normal type of way, but when that love is not reciprocated, some people can become obsessive with the partner that leaves and continue to believe, no matter what, that there is still a chance, and then they become obsessive.

This is how the storyline in my latest book started to evolve, initially in my mind, and then onto paper.

Balancing suspense and emotional depth, sort of came when the characters developed, and the situation led me to follow my instincts.

These emotions were not premeditated, and I actually wrote the feelings of my characters, at the time I was writing the actual scenes.

Thrillers often rely on tension and pacing. How do your journalistic instincts influence the way you build intrigue and authenticity in your fiction?

When I write, I become each character, and I get to know each character in the book, and compare them to people in the street, friends or family members, and think of how they would react in real life during these circumstances, thus making the character more believable.

As the writer you too are feeling these emotions and moods when writing these scenes, therefore the suspense is created within you, and hopefully within the readers later, as we all feel similar emotions when undergoing fear, anxiety, turmoil, trauma etc. at a level that will most definitely create the tension necessary within the story.

You’ve written poetry, short stories, children’s books, and now a psychological thriller. What does moving between such different forms teach you about storytelling?

It teaches me that creativity is vast, that writing about one genre only might be great as regards to perfecting your genre but, for me, it means diversion, it means fun, it means opening out to other readers who may not like just one genre, but most importantly it makes my mind and brain develop more, making me more alert as I age, and making me learn new things in my 70s and 80s, which keeps me vigilant and up to date with the times.

It is a hobby that stimulates my brain and, at 80, it is essential to keep stimulating it so it does not die before I do.

Do you find that themes or emotions from your earlier work resurface in new ways in The Curtain Call?

Not in this particular story, but they may have appeared in the last short story in the book called ‘The Vintage Lady’.

You’ve had a long literary career. What advice would you give aspiring writers about finding their voice and sustaining creativity over time?

Everyone has a unique way of writing, and even though some of the books you read you may like more than others, it is good to read lots and learn from your reading to find the type of writer you wish to be.

If you start young and write journals, then this will be of great advantage for when you want to write later in life.

If you really wish to write and publish then you must, don't let anyone dissuade you. Just try. But it is not all about the way you write, or the calibre of your writing, there are other factors too. e.g. research, imagination and inspiration to create new storylines. Innate feelings to be able to portray on paper what is in the mind, and make it into an interesting read for others.

Once the manuscript is finished, do not for one minute believe that it is finished. It is not, you need input from others, you need to edit scrupulously before sending it to a publisher or publishing the book yourself.

You may be turned away many times, but do not let this put you off as self-publishing is very much the norm nowadays because it gives the author total freedom to promote the book and distribute as they please.

To be a writer, you must believe in yourself and you must be consistent.

To be a writer you must believe in yourself and you must be consistent and disciplined.

Start with short stories and move up from there, but if you want to write do not give up, creativity should never be stopped it is a powerful tool, use it.

Festivals like this celebrate stories in all forms. What role do you think storytelling plays in helping people understand themselves and others?

Storytelling is an asset for writers and an asset for those who read them, or hear them.

Each person can derive something from each story to understand themselves better, to see that their huge problem is also someone else’s, that you are not alone in whatever it is you are going through.

It is also entertaining to read or listen to others tell stories, it widens our horizons in life, teaches us new things and encourages those who wish to write to do so.

I believe in storytelling, probably that is why I do this.