1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,840
Speaker 1: Hello and good morning. How are you doing today.

2
00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,160
Speaker 2: I'm very good Errold, thank you for having me on

3
00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:04,559
the show.

4
00:00:04,639 --> 00:00:07,000
Speaker 1: Well, I'm very excited to share a conversation with you

5
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:08,759
because there's so much that we have in common as

6
00:00:08,839 --> 00:00:11,480
creative minds. But let's begin it off by I want

7
00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:13,880
readers to know how you pronounce your name.

8
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,039
Speaker 2: My name is Moira Buffini.

9
00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,039
Speaker 1: I love it. Ooh, that in itself has got a

10
00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:30,079
point vibe to It's.

11
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,839
Speaker 2: It's Irish Italian, so yeah, you can make of it

12
00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:30,480
what you will.

13
00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,520
Speaker 1: It's moiraf I just want I want listeners to be

14
00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,840
able to go into a local bookstore and I want

15
00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,520
them to call your name out personally, so that people

16
00:00:38,679 --> 00:00:40,280
know what it is and they're not going to be

17
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,960
standing there at customer service going I don't know who

18
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,240
are you talking about. So now that we're I it's

19
00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,159
so important that name on that book.

20
00:00:50,399 --> 00:00:52,719
Speaker 2: It is indeed it is. Indeed, I've had it pronounced

21
00:00:52,759 --> 00:00:55,200
many different ways. Moira, Moira will do.

22
00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 1: I love it in bringing the book together. Where I'm

23
00:00:58,679 --> 00:01:02,880
super fascinated here is that you're setting free a debut novel.

24
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,640
I mean, it's like you've got to give yourself permission

25
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,200
as a creative soul, knowing that there are other people

26
00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,079
out here in the real world whose books are hidden

27
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,439
underneath their beds, are in addicts. How did you give

28
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,480
yourself that permission to write?

29
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,400
Speaker 2: I think it's a story I've wanted to write for

30
00:01:21,359 --> 00:01:26,200
such a long time, literally decades, and I'm by You know,

31
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,959
my real profession is I'm a screenwriter and a playwright.

32
00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:35,959
So I've written creatively all my life. When Lockdown hit,

33
00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,079
all my work vanished overnight. I had a play and

34
00:01:39,159 --> 00:01:42,879
rehearsal that was never going to happen, you know, So

35
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,239
all my works vanished, and I thought, well, why don't

36
00:01:45,239 --> 00:01:48,640
I just write this story that's been bugging me for

37
00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,640
all these years? And I began to write it in prose,

38
00:01:54,519 --> 00:01:57,840
and I loved I just found I was absolutely loving it.

39
00:01:57,879 --> 00:02:01,840
Every day I would get up and and enjoy writing

40
00:02:01,879 --> 00:02:04,079
it prode. I think the difference is with the play,

41
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,599
you're writing for a big audience. With screenwriting, you're writing

42
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:10,479
for a massive audience. And with a novel, it felt

43
00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:13,800
the whole time like I was just writing for one person,

44
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,840
and I really loved it. I thought the intimacy of

45
00:02:16,879 --> 00:02:19,639
that was so nice and so refreshing.

46
00:02:20,039 --> 00:02:21,680
Speaker 1: That's how they teach us in radio. It is the

47
00:02:21,719 --> 00:02:24,439
power of one on one. There's only one person that

48
00:02:24,479 --> 00:02:27,199
you're sharing a conversation with. Don't talk to them, talk

49
00:02:27,319 --> 00:02:30,120
with them. And that's what I feel inside your story here,

50
00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,039
is that you are You're sharing a story with me.

51
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,759
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hope that is how it feels, because that's

52
00:02:38,759 --> 00:02:42,199
how it was to write no I loved it and

53
00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,680
I learned a lot. The great thing about the other

54
00:02:44,719 --> 00:02:46,960
great thing about writing a novel is you know, when

55
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,159
you're writing for the screen, everybody keeps telling me to

56
00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,159
cut all the time, that keeps saying shorter, we need

57
00:02:52,199 --> 00:02:55,680
it shorter. You can't have that scene. That scene's got

58
00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,520
to be a page shorter. And this people were telling me.

59
00:02:58,599 --> 00:03:02,199
My editors were kept telling me to more right, more right,

60
00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,159
more fill in the colors. What's she's thinking here? What

61
00:03:05,199 --> 00:03:08,080
does this look like? Tell us what else he says?

62
00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,479
You know, all this kind of stuff, And I love that.

63
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,319
I just love being able to be expansive like that,

64
00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:18,199
which you can't really do in drama because it's very

65
00:03:18,319 --> 00:03:22,240
very distilled, you know. So the novel was a real joy.

66
00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,080
Speaker 1: So being that playwright and that screenwriter you know, you know,

67
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,039
you get to see moving objects when you were writing,

68
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,080
did you envision those those characters Elsa and Nightingale? Were

69
00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,120
they moving through your imagination as well?

70
00:03:37,639 --> 00:03:40,000
Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean I think that's what years of writing

71
00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,479
for the screen has taught me is just how to

72
00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:48,159
I just think visually and I saw them and that

73
00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,280
was so great. Building the world as well. I mean,

74
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,280
this is a story that set thousands of years in

75
00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:56,599
the future, so you're kind of building a society from scratch.

76
00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,560
You're building, you know, I started by building a village

77
00:03:59,599 --> 00:04:02,439
and then I, Okay, I'm gonna this other character hearing

78
00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,879
in the capital city. What does that look like? What's

79
00:04:04,919 --> 00:04:08,719
that society like? What? You know? So you're really building

80
00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:13,240
layer by layer. It's like painting a huge landscape, you know,

81
00:04:13,879 --> 00:04:16,560
and you sort of think, Okay, what's their level of technology,

82
00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:21,879
what's their religion, what's the economy? Like? What are the

83
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,560
gender politics here? Are they are they? Are they? Are

84
00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,040
they kind of equals? Or is there you know, what's

85
00:04:29,079 --> 00:04:31,839
going on with gender politics? So there's all this kind

86
00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:36,199
of stuff to to think of. And of course the

87
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:40,519
society I drew is a society at war, So then

88
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,959
you have to color in who's the enemy, what's their society? Like,

89
00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:47,680
how are they? You know, who's gonna who's gonna draw

90
00:04:47,759 --> 00:04:51,399
us into that world? So it is like painting a huge,

91
00:04:51,519 --> 00:04:55,839
huge canvas. And and I did it layer by layer,

92
00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,439
just just I mean, you know, day by day, layer

93
00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,160
by layer, coloring in a little bit more and thinking

94
00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:03,959
everything through.

95
00:05:05,199 --> 00:05:07,000
Speaker 1: I love the way that you're asking yourself questions. I

96
00:05:07,079 --> 00:05:09,600
call that defragging, you know. I asked the questions and

97
00:05:09,639 --> 00:05:11,920
then I question the answers because it really does bring

98
00:05:11,959 --> 00:05:14,399
the paragraphs together and it gives them more of a

99
00:05:14,439 --> 00:05:17,800
substance or purpose. And you do that perfectly so much

100
00:05:17,959 --> 00:05:18,600
in song Light.

101
00:05:21,399 --> 00:05:25,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I think it's not

102
00:05:25,519 --> 00:05:30,319
a story. I sat down and planned the whole structure

103
00:05:30,399 --> 00:05:34,720
off before I started writing, And in a way, I

104
00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,519
think that's quite good because I kept asking questions all

105
00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,199
the way through it, the big one of course, being

106
00:05:40,879 --> 00:05:44,959
what happens next? You know, And I didn't know. I

107
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,480
was really excited. I was on the edge of my

108
00:05:47,639 --> 00:05:51,800
seat what would happen next? You know, So it was

109
00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,360
it was like it was like a journey through the unknown,

110
00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,600
really into into this world, into this into this into

111
00:05:58,639 --> 00:06:01,240
this story. Of two young girls who are trying to

112
00:06:01,319 --> 00:06:03,879
keep each other alive, you know, one in the one

113
00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:05,879
in the village and one with one in the city,

114
00:06:06,399 --> 00:06:09,959
communicating by telepathy, and they're both in these kind of

115
00:06:09,959 --> 00:06:14,240
perilous situations trying to keep each other alive. And I

116
00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:15,680
didn't know what was going to happen next. And I

117
00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,120
think I think that that that that questioning, I think

118
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,160
that's such a key tool of any creative writer, is

119
00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,120
just keep asking the questions. If you know all the answers,

120
00:06:26,439 --> 00:06:29,360
it's less interesting somehow the way that.

121
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,879
Speaker 1: You use the telepathy though, see, because I'm always believed

122
00:06:32,879 --> 00:06:34,800
that we do that and we just don't know it,

123
00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,199
that we are always speaking with somebody that is in

124
00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,000
a distant place, and then all of a sudden we

125
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,720
think it's our brilliant idea, but maybe it was somebody

126
00:06:41,759 --> 00:06:44,360
else that happened to transfer it to us. So I mean,

127
00:06:44,399 --> 00:06:46,879
you you really do open up a conversation piece here.

128
00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,199
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's funny how many how how we

129
00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,120
all certainly me anyway, I can't really speak for everyone here,

130
00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,839
but I've always been drawn to stories about telepathy, and

131
00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,560
I think perhaps you know it's to do with our

132
00:06:59,639 --> 00:07:03,120
child of imagination. It's when we're not with our friends,

133
00:07:03,639 --> 00:07:08,759
we are still imagining that we are, you know, and

134
00:07:08,759 --> 00:07:10,920
and we kind of lose that as we grow up,

135
00:07:11,079 --> 00:07:13,279
we grow into adulthood, and we sort of, you know,

136
00:07:13,399 --> 00:07:16,079
lose a big piece of that imaginative play. But I

137
00:07:16,079 --> 00:07:19,160
think it's still there in us really, as is our

138
00:07:19,399 --> 00:07:24,000
imagination of being outside of our body. We all imagine

139
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,920
that all the time, and I think we certainly dream it,

140
00:07:27,519 --> 00:07:30,560
you know. So so I think this sort of this

141
00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,759
sort of business of telepathy, it calls on stuff that's

142
00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:39,160
all there in our imagination, in our creativity, in our

143
00:07:39,199 --> 00:07:42,279
subconscious and it just kind of gives it a name,

144
00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:49,120
and I think it makes it sort of makes it

145
00:07:49,199 --> 00:07:52,560
makes us all we can all imagine. This is one

146
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:54,879
special power we can all imagine that we have.

147
00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,959
Speaker 1: One of the things that's so fascinating about about your book,

148
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,959
song Like is the fact that you are very much

149
00:08:01,079 --> 00:08:03,360
up to date and in touch with who your reader

150
00:08:03,439 --> 00:08:06,360
is and what they're thinking about. Because reproductive freedom is

151
00:08:06,399 --> 00:08:09,079
something that is spoken about inside this book. They're talking

152
00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,000
about it. Their parents may not be talking about it

153
00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,480
with them, but they're talking about it inside their tight circles.

154
00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,079
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is the book is that the dystopia in

155
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,199
the book is very down on women and girls, and

156
00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,439
women and girls a little like the not too far

157
00:08:27,519 --> 00:08:32,279
distant past and the very frightening possible future do not

158
00:08:32,519 --> 00:08:36,120
have agency over their own lives and their own bodies.

159
00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:43,440
And this book sort of examined that and kind of

160
00:08:44,799 --> 00:08:47,639
puts us in the shoes of girls who don't have

161
00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:53,080
the freedom that we have enjoyed. And you know, I

162
00:08:53,519 --> 00:08:58,440
wrote it for my young self and for my daughter

163
00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:03,440
and her friends, and you know, because it's these these

164
00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,960
are things we have. These are freedoms we've struggled to get,

165
00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,360
and I think we need to, you know, hold on

166
00:09:12,399 --> 00:09:12,720
to them.

167
00:09:13,039 --> 00:09:16,039
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, in putting this book together, you made the

168
00:09:16,039 --> 00:09:19,600
decision to create a trilogy. I'm a show prep freak.

169
00:09:19,799 --> 00:09:21,600
I mean, if I knew that I was going to

170
00:09:21,639 --> 00:09:24,440
be writing a trilogy, I mean I would go I'd

171
00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,519
freak out. How how are you planning this book out?

172
00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:27,919
Or this story?

173
00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,799
Speaker 2: By bit it just keeps growing on me. I didn't

174
00:09:33,919 --> 00:09:36,080
like I say, I didn't start from the beginning thinking

175
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,120
this is going to be a trilogy. I just got

176
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,240
to the end of I just thought this is more

177
00:09:42,279 --> 00:09:44,919
than one book. I got halfway through book one, I

178
00:09:44,919 --> 00:09:47,399
thought this is more than one book, you know, and

179
00:09:47,759 --> 00:09:50,840
then I sort of thought, well, it's it's got to

180
00:09:50,879 --> 00:09:52,679
be three. It's got to be a beginning, a middle,

181
00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,639
and an end. And I've got to I've written book

182
00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,960
too now and I'm beginning to sort of look into

183
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,639
planning out books read and it's definitely there is life

184
00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,080
in this world. There's a lot. There's a lot going on.

185
00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:07,799
You know.

186
00:10:08,279 --> 00:10:10,120
Speaker 1: What's really interesting though, is that because I am a

187
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,159
book author and writing those books, so many times people

188
00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,480
will ask us about our own personal lives and what

189
00:10:15,519 --> 00:10:18,279
are our memories? And when you're when you're locked in

190
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,320
in writing books and stories, that's our memories, and so

191
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,759
many people don't tap into that, which is why I

192
00:10:23,799 --> 00:10:26,960
love talking with authors, because I hear your voice, I

193
00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,879
hear your passion, and man, I wish listeners could just

194
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,039
really pick up on it as they read the story

195
00:10:32,159 --> 00:10:34,039
so they too can be inspired to write.

196
00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,759
Speaker 2: Yes, I hope so too. I think that's the wonderful

197
00:10:39,759 --> 00:10:43,799
thing about writing for a younger audience as well, is

198
00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,679
that I was really inspired by the books I read

199
00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,120
at that age, you know, and I think they're the

200
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,559
best audience in the world that young people are so bright,

201
00:10:54,480 --> 00:11:01,000
they are so open, and they're hungry for knowledge. They're

202
00:11:01,039 --> 00:11:04,320
hungry for everything, so knowledge for experience. And I think

203
00:11:04,399 --> 00:11:07,320
younger readers love YA for that reason. And I think

204
00:11:07,399 --> 00:11:11,159
older readers love YA because it taps us back into

205
00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,360
our own right of package, you know, which which really

206
00:11:15,799 --> 00:11:17,799
isn't very far from any of us. You know.

207
00:11:18,879 --> 00:11:20,960
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, because I'm glad that you brought that up

208
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,720
about adult readers reading YA books. And the reason why

209
00:11:23,759 --> 00:11:27,000
is because I'm a true believer that love is ageless

210
00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:28,639
and the fact that you've got a book like this

211
00:11:28,919 --> 00:11:31,519
it allows older people to say, I'm going to step

212
00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:33,679
into the story and I'm going to go through the experience.

213
00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think, you know, I mean to be fair,

214
00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,919
the older people I know who've read the book have

215
00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:48,639
really loved it. And I think I'm a secret reader

216
00:11:48,639 --> 00:11:52,279
of YA. I never stopped reading it, and I think

217
00:11:52,279 --> 00:11:54,879
a lot of adults are the same. You know that

218
00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,960
It's just it's just a really wonderful genre for let's

219
00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,519
to your imagination free and and for talking, you know,

220
00:12:05,519 --> 00:12:08,799
giving us all of prism to look at our world,

221
00:12:09,879 --> 00:12:15,399
but through a really imaginative creative, sort of sort of landscape.

222
00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:17,759
Speaker 1: Wow, you've got to come back to the show in

223
00:12:17,759 --> 00:12:19,759
the future, especially when you're ready to pop that second

224
00:12:19,759 --> 00:12:22,039
book out, because I want to continue this story with you.

225
00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,039
Speaker 2: Oh, i'd love to. I'd really love to. Thank thank

226
00:12:27,039 --> 00:12:28,360
you so much for having me on.

227
00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:32,799
Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today? Okay, thank you