Stuck in Traffic.
SiT is Mark Kensson’s debut novel, learn more about it here:
FAQs (well, the ones I wanted to answer,anyway):
What’s it about, Mark ? At its simplest, SiT is about the people and places of the beautiful Yorkshire city of Sheffield. More specifically, the main setting for the story is the stunning scenery of the Peak District that surrounds it. However, a parallel story moves the location to London and New York before the final denouement reunites the main characters in the picturesque village of Highfield.
So, what happens? Well, the centre piece of the book is a walk across the Peaks by three of the main characters.
Is that it? Not quite, the walk serves as the backdrop to the unfolding history and developing relationships of the Strives family.
Is it funny? It’s supposed to be! In particular, the misadventures of Dave Strives, the main character, are intended to bring a (possibly knowing) smile to readers’ faces.
So, why is it called Stuck in Traffic? You’ll just have to read it!
Next Question: What gave you the idea?
Ah, well that’s more complicated. There are three ways of answering that, so maybe you’d better put the kettle on:
1. Biographically: Around 2005 I really did take my niece and nephew on a walk across the Peaks and the idea for the book suddenly sprung into my head whilst we waiting for the 51 to take us to the Lodge Moor terminus.
2. Geographically: I wanted to extol the beauty of what John Ruskin is credited as calling Sheffield’s ‘golden frame’. I also wanted to celebrate the warmth, humour and resilience of the city’s people. It really is a great place to live.
3. Philosophically: There’s a lot of darkness in the world, I’m hoping that SiT will bring a little light. That’s why I introduced the book with the quote from St Paul. It’s relatively easy to write about ‘dark’ subjects but I wanted to set myself the challenge of writing about the truth, nobility and rightness that I see all around me in the lives of other ‘ordinary’ people.
What was the most difficult part of writing it? Finishing! I started in 2005, so dozens of references were out of date by the time I’d finished … had to take a few liberties to get over the line!
Anything else? Pitching the level of dialect to make it discernible yet still intelligible was quite a challenge. Still not entirely sure I hit it every time, but then I’m not the first and definitely not the most accomplished writer to struggle with this; check out the Highlanders brogue in Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley.
”
Final questions:
Any regrets? Taking so long to write it.
Why did it take so long? There was a lot of life in the way; think I got Stuck in Traffic (really?!) It was only after I retired from teaching in 2021 that I finally decided to give it the beans.
Anything else? Not taking long enough! In the end, it was a mad rush to launch in time for Christmas and corners have definitely been cut. Still, as somebody once said, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly!” Even so, I’m still hoping to make improvement to future editions.