Five Minutes with Lulu Allison

Following the publication of her second novel, Salt Lick, I caught up with Lulu Allison to talk about books, inspiration and love ... 

The classic one - where did Salt Lick come from? What was the first inspiration for the story?

"Three things that combined: I wanted to write about a man in a prison cell, thinking about the interior of his body as though it was a place he could visit - an imaginary journey to escape his confinement. Then, one of my favourite song called Peace in the Valley Once Again by The Handsome Family. It describes nature reclaiming a shopping mall. It’s a very beautiful, and peaceful, song. Lastly came the rise in far-right populism and (though I never mention the word) Brexit, and it became a story that explored what it might be like further down the wrong road."

Who was your favorite character to write about?

"I really like the characters, but probably enjoyed writing about Isolde the most because it was a challenge. I wanted to get across someone self-contained but with careless and exuberant wildness at heart. I didn’t want her to slide into a fairytale ending but to allow herself, perhaps grudgingly, to grow into new possibilities."

What is the one book you think everyone should read and why?

"Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman. It’s hefty and quite honestly difficult to keep track of the sprawling cast but it is one of the most beautifully moving books I’ve read. It describes all our terrible and wonderful stories - compassion, resilience, courage, fear, hate and love."

What motivated you to start writing?

"Apart from essays, a bit of journal writing and funding bids, I didn’t write at all for most of my life. I discovered writing fiction late, and by accident. It began with what I thought was an art project (I am an artist) writing a blog that had short portrait sketches of the unnamed people killed in distant terror attacks. I found it so harsh that in this relentless daily tally during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we didn’t even get the names of the dead, so I made up the people behind the numbers as a way to try and account for what the headline ‘Seven Killed in Roadside Bomb’ might really mean. I did it every few days for a month or so and I discovered that, though this project made me sad, I loved writing and that idea threaded its way into becoming my first Unbound novel, Twice the Speed of Dark."

What do you hope the most important message a reader will take away from Salt Lick?

"We may not deserve it but hope is possible - and that is something to cherish."

What's your number one tip for writers block? 

"Don’t worry about it. Go for a walk, play cribbage, or have a beer. Let your unheard mind have some peace so it can, in its own time, deliver up its thoughts to the chattering mind."

The story explores a lot about the complexity of human connection and compassion - do you believe it's possible to love strangers in the way a lot of people hate strangers?

"What a lovely question. And yes, absolutely I do."

What would you do in the situation Jesse and his family started in - would you try to hold onto the life you had or escape to the city?

"Now, I would try and hang on, bake things with Chetna, help Malc with the cows. But I would occasionally visit the city for the glorious, murky spin of it. When I was younger I’d have moved to the city and spun as fast as I could."

The Chorus - they're one of the most beautiful parts of this story - all speak in poetry. Was it a challenge writing from a non 'human' perspective?

"Yes, but it was also strangely easy as they seemed to have their own voice - then my voice interrupted! The choruses came out the easiest and were hardest to let go - I don’t feel that equipped to write a poetic form so probably still would be having little tweaks here and there. 

Here’s a funny thing: their form as cows came from a rogue emoji accident. I always knew I wanted a chorus, I think because I wanted something that linked everything, like the weather, alluding to the repetitious, shifting nature of our stories. I do some of my working out on a shonky digital mind-map app, because I like to see a whole picture of the ideas as they grow. I had a little bubble with CHORUS written in it. I went to bed after a bit of a long session. When I got up the next morning I discovered that somehow I’d added a dog emoji to the bubble that said CHORUS. I didn’t use emojis and hadn’t even thought of Mister at that time. But it got me thinking about the domestic animals that would be impacted by the changes, the feral dogs and farm animals. Cows just seemed to be the perfect fit. They have been so changed by their interactions with humans. One of my favourite bits is when the Chorus ask ‘whose crop are you?’ because I think it is often a question we need to ask ourselves. I have fallen in love with cows, thanks to a wandering dog emoji."

Most importantly - is Mister Malik okay?

"Mister Malik the neighbour and Mister Maliks the companion pet both died peacefully in old age after long and happy lives.

Thank you for your thoughtful questions, I have enjoyed answering them."