Suffolk author Virginia Betts has written a punk novel, Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets, which is out on Sunday. Here, the English tutor and actor explains how it started life as a poem inspired by a photograph of a shopping trolley in the River Gipping!
Can you remind readers who you are and what you do?
I’m Virginia Betts, and I am a writer, tutor and actor from Ipswich. I’ve been acting since I was 11, but I stopped performing when I had a young family and worked as a secondary school teacher. My last teaching post was at Ipswich School, but I left in 2013 to start my own private tuition company, Results Tutoring. I still tutor over 30 students a week, but during Lockdown I got a story and a poem published and then this grew into a book of gothic pastiche and supernatural stories, The Camera Obscure, and a poetry collection, Tourist to the Sun, both published in 2022. I’ve since written two more books. I returned to the stage in 2022, and I am now a regular performer with Black and White Productions, which is based in Trimley.
We last featured you in October 2022, as you were appearing as part of the Neurodelicious Launch Pad in Cambridge at the time. What have you been up to since then?
Oh, my goodness! I think I must surely be one of the busiest people on the planet! Since 2022, I have won a few writing awards for my stories and poetry, having quite a few more stories and poems published in various magazines. I co-wrote and directed a short play based around 1980’s music for the Headgate Theatre, and I have performed my poetry for the stage several times. I have a poetry gig coming up at the Two Sisters Arts Centre in May 2025, headlining alongside James DomEstic. As well as that, I am in around two or three plays a year with Black and White Productions. Most recently I played Patricia Highsmith, the writer of The Talented Mr Ripley – it was a huge role, and I only came off stage once. At the moment, I am in a fun Christmas show which includes stories, songs and ghosts. We have one more performance left tonight (Thursday December 12), at The Two Sisters Arts Centre. In addition, I have written a novel and another poetry collection, and I write a column for Felixstowe Magazine and Authors Electric. I tutor every evening and early in the morning on weekends and so I am sometimes rushing from my last lesson to a play rehearsal. I thrive on being busy though. I run a book club at David Lloyd Gym, and I often get the authors in to join us. I still have good family downtime though – I was in Amsterdam last week having a much-needed break.
You have had a second poetry collection published – how was that received?
It is popular with people who like poetry! I think people enjoy hearing it performed most of all. I have taught a couple of workshops on performing poetry and I find this brings the words to life. I have a great illustrator, Lyn Stuart, and this time she has illustrated the book inside as well as the cover. The collection is called That Little Voice, and I have had some good reviews; even the more personal poems seem to resonate with readers. The most interesting experience I had recently was to perform poetry at a prison. I got quite a few cheers, especially as I read a poem which was a bit cheeky and funny. I felt a bit like Johnny Cash when he famously played a gig in a prison! I am looking forward to visiting again with the new book.
So what can you tell us about your new punk novel, Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets, coming out this month?
The new book started life as a poem inspired by a photograph of a shopping trolley in the River Gipping. It then further inspired a short story which eventually became chapter one of a full-length novel. It is the story of four friends who, at age 17, are punks and love The Sex Pistols. It begins in the present day, but it goes back to 1976, and each chapter moves through a new year or decade – each chapter is a story really. The main protagonist is Hoagie, and the others are Toad, Toggie and Jonesy; they get up to some gloriously outrageous antics. If I had to describe Hoagie, I would say he is probably a good person with a lot of heart who does some bad things. I think he evolved, and slowly revealed different aspects of himself to me as I wrote it. I guess, even by the end of the book, he still struggles with growing up and finding his place in the world. Punk music offered a strong identity to a particular generation who felt somewhat lost at a rather depressing time. I think that comes across strongly. Music is such an influence in my life too, so I made a playlist (which is suggested in the book and on Spotify) to accompany the book like a soundtrack. It is full of humour and irony – one of my pre-readers said she laughed out loud. I would call it an urban tragicomedy in the same way as Trainspotting is perhaps. It is quite hard-hitting, dealing with addiction and crime, and it has some colourful language to match, but it wouldn’t be realistic without it. At its heart is also quite a sad love story, and a lot of wasted, or maybe thwarted, potential. It’s not based on my own life, (if it was, I would be unlikely to still be standing) but there are many incidents which are at least partly drawn from true events, conversations or real people. I am pretty sure there is a lot of ‘myself’ in there, which I am sure is true of most writers, but interestingly I wrote from a male perspective. The women in the story are also important, and one girl is not in it for very long but has a lasting impact on Hoagie’s life. As to people involved in it, I wrote it in around five months – it took on a life of its own, so strong were the characters for me. But I had a lot of fun with my husband at The Wine Boutique on the Quay making plot notes, so thank you to him! The more wine we ordered, the more outrageous the characters’ antics became, and we had some very funny looks from other people around us. I’d also like to thank Urban Pigs Press for supporting me and publishing it, Jane Savidge, Winnie M Li, and James Domestic for reading and endorsing it, Georgy Jamieson for championing it as agent and publicist, Dial Lane Books’ Andrew and Jonesy for hosting my launch event and Two Sisters Arts Centre, Geek Retreat and Orwell Lady for their sponsorship of the event. And Colourplan of Ipswich has just come on board as a sponsor and are printing bookmarks for the event!
How can people get hold of a copy?
Burnt Lungs and Bitter Sweets is released on December 15th. It will be available at Dial Lane Books exclusively and signed with a gift when it is launched at my event there on Friday December 20th from 6.30-8.30pm. It will also be available on Amazon as a print and e-book edition. And you will be able to get it directly from Urban Pigs Press and from me. I am very easy to find online and my website is virginiabetts.com where I hope to have a ‘shop’ soon. It is likely to be in more book shops after Christmas.
What is next for you? Any more books?
I have nearly completed a second book of short stories, and I have written 17 new poems for a third collection. I like to work on more than one thing at once, and I am 10,000 words in with each of my three planned-out novels: two ghost stories and one sci-fi fantasy comedy. But they have been usurped for the moment by the one I am enjoying writing the most – a new urban grit novel called Johnny Radd, which will once again be darkly ironic and hard-hitting and most of it is set in the 90s. So, yes, there is enough material to have a book out every year for a few years! And more playlists to make. The real problem I have is turning my brain off!
Burnt Lung and Bitter Sweets by Virginia Betts is published by Urban Pigs Press on Sunday December 15, 2024. The last performance of Christmas Ghosts & Other Stories takes place at Two Sisters Arts Centre tonight (Thursday December 12, 2024). Performance Poetry with an Edge from James Domestic & Virginia Betts takes place at Two Sisters Arts Centre on May 23, 2025. Visit virginiabetts.com.
Featured images – supplied
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