The Harvest Always Comes - Maree Deeley on Love, Life and Never Giving Up

[Music] Hello and welcome to author conversations. Again, I'm Chris Dabbs and well today we have got a very special author with us. Now what happens? Let me ask you this question. When a life that looks settled from the outside, right, begins to unravel from within. Well, my guest today is Maree Deeley, author of the Harvest Always Comes. A novel that moves from Norfolk in the UK, like Southeast East kind of way, all the way up to the Scottish Highlands and explores a lot of marriage, ambition, jealousy, temptation and the consequences of the choices that we make.

It's always a lesson somewhere, isn't it? Exactly. At the center of the story are Felicity and Richard, a couple whose marriage has drifted into distance and routine, quite commonplace I think sometimes, but as old relationships resurface and new attractions emerge, their lives, yeah, you guessed it, become increasingly complicated. And then I can't believe you did this to us Marie, there is another question hanging over the entire story and that is a body in the Bracken. And is it a murder? Well, perhaps.

So Marie brings an unusual perspective to her fiction. Her life and work have included, well, you've kind of mentioned it earlier for us decades as a psychotherapist, the clinical hypnotherapist, life coach and a healer alongside your work as an artist and a poet, incredible, you are a busy person, I think. Now she says that Marie. You must mistote something, the actress. Oh, did I? I've done yourself the artist. Painting, exhibitions, there's quite a lot and nine albums, I'm on album number 10 now, but nine you can purchase called Love in the afternoon.

Okay, we can tell us about that in a minute then. I love that. I don't know, he had time to write the book, but there you go. Through the night. Through the night. Yeah, quite. Well, you've said that your inspiration comes from a full and sometimes extraordinary life, that's not wrong, is it? Including shocking and even life-threatening experiences. Yeah, together with a lifelong fascination with this thing up here, the human mind. And the harvest always comes, there's only the beginning, I believe, right?

Marie is already working on her next novel, Eyes of Innocence, which she describes as an even more powerful and emotionally charged story. So Marie, I could see you are so eager to join. So welcome to all the conversations. How are you doing? Doing very well. Thank you. Just full of energy and ready to get on with chapter four of the new book, which you just mentioned, Eyes of Innocence. And I'm about to give myself, I haven't done this before, but I'm going to give myself a little chunk of time that is solely for writing, for once in my life, because I do juggle it's like being a juggler with plates on stakes.

I'm doing therapy, I'm sorting somebody's life out, I'm saving somebody's life. Turning them round full circle, getting them to just to achieve what they really want to achieve, be what they want to be. And when that's done, and I'm very disciplined with that, once that's all done, then can come the creative bit. And so sometimes I will write through the night, and that's valuable. Beautiful time. It's quiet time. You can hear a pin drop. It's utterly beautiful. But that is short for me, because my clients still come first, you know, I still have to earn a living until I am that top writer who can write a little and live a lot and so on and so forth.

But the people that actually are behind all of this are my clients. And you know, they're wonderful people looking for things that they didn't think they could find. And through me, and to therapy, I make sure they do find it. It's so important, isn't it, to be able to, you know, to have therapy if you need it. Which, you know, and my wife is a Samaritan eventually thinking that for a while. And so, yeah, I get that completely, you know, it's about helping people. And as you say, saving lives as well.

But you do that, but you do everything else as well. I mean, you know, you've described yourself as well as a versatile and kind of like imaginative writer, haven't you? So how would you describe yourself as a writer, then? And what does that actually mean when you get the chance to sit down to create a story, rather than just take 10 minutes to do it a little bit? Well, how would I describe that? In many different ways, it's exciting. It's, it will not be put in a box. The words, the thoughts, the feelings, the same one I'm doing poetry, whether I'm writing the novel.

If they're producing themselves, it's like a little factory, it's busy making itself a journey, it's making itself a story in a story top. And eventually, if there's nothing but I've got to stop and I've got to go and write it. And that might be two, three chapters. It might be one. I never, I don't put a time limit on it. And if I can't stop writing, it means I must do it. And if it's all through the night, then so be it. And I'm still there. Chris, I'm still there for clients who phone me at two, three, four in the morning.

And, you know, they're feeling suicidal, they need help and they get that help. You know, I've even done calls 24/7. I've gone out cold winter evenings and saved lives, saved people going into a river. And yeah, and come back and had that great big long cup of tea and thought, you know, I'm so wide awake, I need to write. I need to write. I'm not going to go to bed. I'm going to write. No, and decompress right after, after helping something like that, I imagine. Yes. It can be quite stressful. A lot of meditation, a lot of meditation.

Wow. Wow. So that's, that's amazing. So basically everything is building up inside you creatively. And then it just has to, has to come out. Yeah. And that respect it. No, that's fantastic, isn't it? I mean, you know, that's great. So I mean, let's talk about the book then. So for somebody discovering the harvest always comes for the very first time. I mean, on the surface, it looks like we've got relationships, business, love, loss and journey from Norfolk to the Scottish Highlands. That's on the surface though.

But what's the emotional hearts of the story for you and everywhere that's going to be reading it? Yeah. Well, I think I hope that the reader will pick up on perhaps a sudden they think, God, that's me. I'm a bit like Felicity or I'm a bit like the Colonel's wife or and they find themselves and they find behavioural patterns there. And so the book I, I hope will fascinate and treat, make you smile, make you cry, make your laugh. And in the end of the day, you might actually find yourself not only as part of that book itself, but one of the characters.

Maybe you have traits similar to some of the people in in the book. Then you find a solution as well, although it's not written therapeutically at all. It's written from life, experience, love, loss and hopefully an ending that is suitable for without giving anything away to people who haven't read it, but they read it and I think they'll be satisfied. It's not one of those books and nor was it intended. It was intended to wrap things up to give hope to have people realise, you know, we can do this, you know, we don't need to suffer something that's not right, we can change things and do it in a way that is right for them.

So it, and it's a standalone, I've been asked that before. Is there a follow-on to the harvest all? It's comes right now. No, it's completely standalone, book and it's one that I'm getting feedback from people who've read it saying, "Loft it, took it on holiday, couldn't put it down, wanted to keep turning pages, I needed to know what was happening, I needed to know what would happen to Felicity, you know, one." It's Richard Rulia Baddie and a Mosa Tamarder or maybe it was a mistake. So they're given lots of things to play with, they will find themselves or somebody they know, maybe they're partner, maybe they're partners a bit like Richard, who knows?

But it's a very real book, it's a real book and yeah, you can take it on holiday and have fun reading it. Most of the people who've written back to me have said, "Couldn't put it down, wanted to do it in one go, wanted to keep reading." That's lovely, something's right there. Yeah, that must be really nice to hear that word from the film. It's beautiful, yeah, really beautiful because you know, I'm not expectant time, I'm open to what anybody says, you know? So far, nobody has written and said, "Well, I really didn't like that, nobody, absolutely nobody."

So I've had really positive comments and that's really like Gold Dust, it is, this like Gold Dust. So my number two, "Eyes of Innocence" is going to blow, a lot of people out of the water, it's a completely different book, completely different. Yeah, it's beyond fascinating, it's exciting, it's something that I think people will want more of, they would maybe want to add on to "Eyes of Innocence." But it's going to take the life and lives of a family and go through difficult subjects, subjects that are very pertinent in life today, things that we hear every day, people are desensitized from some of them, where children are abused and so on and so forth.

It's going to, it'll cover things and I hope in a very real way, but there's a beauty within that will come out of that book and "Eyes of Innocence" kind of the title says it all, but it says whatever you want it to say. And so when are we looking for that book to job? I'm at chapter four, stroke five right now and I would say it would be, I've got so much to do, I think it won't be before the end of autumn. That's really, really pushing it. Nice. Yeah, well this isn't it, right? Okay, so that's end of autumn, 2026, right?

So, okay, well don't rush it. Well, because we're nearly in autumn now at the time of recording, but anyway, anyway, okay, now that's good. We'll just get back to the Harvest Always Comes in, please. Yeah, I don't know anything about your new book, but I'll bring "Robbysy Tantalized" by it, but the Harvest Always Comes, I mean I've got to ask you a question about that. What is that title about? I've got no idea. The title? Right, well, you know, many moons ago I grew up on a farm with a great uncle.

And the times must have been a little bit hard, whether or not he's even then, and he used to look out to window and he was sort of say, "Hmm, well it's not looking good, but the Harvest Always Comes." Now, there's a beautiful phrase and I've used it, lots, I think I've used it to both of my sons who have their own lives and all over the world now. But you know, when they would be impatient or they'd say, "Oh, you know, I want this and I need this, I want that now." And now it doesn't always happen, you've got to be a bit more patient and I used to say to them, "You know, the Harvest Always Comes."

And they say, "Oh, well that was a bit interesting, but what does it really mean?" But the Harvest does always come. It might not be a good one, like we're facing right now with the lack of water and climate change and everything else, but it does come. It may be a really good one, a very poor one, sort of half-hearted, for Harvest Always Comes, but it does come. That makes sense now, yeah, I like that, in other words. Yeah, but in life, yeah, that's to do with farming, but you can take it into every part of your life, you know, you're waiting, you're wanting something to happen, but maybe you need to make some kind of change before you get that Harvest, but it does always come.

No, exactly. Oh, okay, so that works in quite well then, doesn't it, with the book, because if you think about it, the characters, the main characters, Richard and Felicity, as I said earlier on, Richard appears almost kind of defeated by life, I think, and I think that's one of the things that a lot of people will resonate with as we get older, perhaps through our careers and things like that, you know, at some stage or other. That's right. Yeah, exactly, but Felicity though, you know, develops, doesn't she?

I mean, you know, what do you describe what you've described, brother, as a guest, I guess, a thirst for life? So, tell us about these two characters, how they met, do all the vats sort of good stuff. Well, the bike drop has to be the, it was young love, and like most young love, they think it's going to be forever. Excuse me. And then suddenly, things go a bit haywire. There are two businesses, there are two people, they're pulling apart. They're not really coming together and being very strong.

They're almost individually doing their own thing, looking at the other one and thinking, well, this is not really working, but they're not doing anything about it as such in the beginning. But you can see as the story unfolds, she has the impetus, she has a need, she has a thirst. There's so many things not being met within her life, and but she's determined she's going to have what it is, she really does, once she wants to be fulfilled. And I mean, don't we all, but it doesn't always happen, doesn't always happen.

And unfortunately, I think probably Richard comes across as somebody who is now, a little bit, you used the word defeated, and I think he does feel that, that he's not pulling forward, he's not playing ultra successful, is not even really all that exciting, although he might have seen that in the beginning. And that's something I hear every other day within relationships. People who say, well, I thought this would happen, I wanted that. I was in love, I was in love with him, but I'm not now, but maybe it could change, but then it takes two people to make it change, and often two people are not prepared to do it.

It's not working. Difficult, difficult. So yeah, you've got people, characters pulling apart, she's becoming quite successful, and he's not really liking it. He's not liking it at all. And so there's jealousies and all sorts of things going on there. And then the prize relationships that once were coming to fruition again, something, you know, is clicking there, and suddenly she realizes you know, there is another way, there is another life. Yeah, I think this is very true nowadays, isn't it? And I think that, you know, people can, because people connect with people that they haven't spoken to for decades even sometimes.

You know, these things can happen, I think. It's probably happening more and more. And you're in the right space to be able to tell us whether that's the case, right? Social media, all that sort of thing. I mean, I get people connecting with me that I knew when I was 16 years old, you know, quite amazing. You know, it's nice. That's quite lovely, isn't it? That is really lovely. Yeah, it's nice to know that, you know, your friends, you made an impact at that time, and it was worth contacting again.

So I mean, yeah, okay, so do you want readers then? You've got Richard and Felicity. Is it team Richard and team Felicity? And you want people to take sides? Or do you want people to just sort of like understand both of them and understand where the reader sits within that kind of sphere, if you like? Yes, well, you know, really one of my readers contacted me and it was the guy in his late 70s and he picked this book up and thought, I like the picture on it. I like the sound of that. I like the harvest always comes.

It says something to me and opened it and started and didn't put it down at all and did it in one night till the early hours in the morning and actually wrote to me to say, you opened up wonderful memories for me. You opened up the Scottish Highlands and how much I actually love them. You opened up Aberdeen. Aberdeen was a place that he had experienced in all sorts of different ways. It made him feel younger. It made him go into all these things that he had felt as a younger man. Now I didn't necessarily see what the book is written for women.

It was written for anybody, male or female and it was lovely for me to discover what he had read into it. I would have made him feel and it had sparked memories and so beautiful, really, really beautiful. He's nearer to 80 than anything else and then I have a very young woman who has read it and she said, I just want more. I want more. It's very real and it's not like nobody's sitting on their mobile phones, she said. Nobody's on their mobile phone. It's wonderful and the communicating different ways and a look here and a word there and nowadays we're all sitting doing this in restaurants.

We're not even talking to the other person. Don't give me startle man. Here I had suddenly a man in his almost 80s and a girl who was in her 20s and they were both finding some things that were very interesting to them and very amazing in that book. Well, well that's brilliant. Again, that must have been so nice to hear. I can hear that you're proud of those commenting. Oh yeah, that means it's lovely to listen to them. Absolutely, lovely. Absolutely. Okay, I've got to ask you. If you know, if you just want the book is for everyone is it's not about taking sides to anything else like that.

Mario, okay, he enters Felicity's life. There's something going on, awaken something within her. What does Mario represent then? Is it that she's attracted to him or just the person who that she is now has become when she's with him, if you do you mean? So the difference between her normal life and this life with Mario. Yes, yes. Well, you know, it's like a lump of granite can be very heavy and very seemingly boring, but in the light you can see Micah and Felsbar sparkling. Mario has to be either the Micah or the Felsbarth in her life and he adds that sparkle that if you like, he reminds her of how things could have been perhaps.

But most of us have been down a road where we think, well, what did we do that for? You know, what were we chasing? What were we looking for? Or maybe we were too young. Maybe we just didn't realize and suddenly someone like Mario comes into your life and in her case, there's a bit of sparkle there. There's more than a bit of sparkle there, you know. And it reminds her of what she might have had, could have had. I think it kind of gives her a little awakening. That would be the best way to put it.

It's an awakening. And sometimes we sleep through awakening. Oh, yes. So sometimes we hide from the awakening as well. That's too difficult. We won't look at that. And then it maybe returns again and again and you suddenly think, maybe I do need to look at that. What is really going on there? What's it I love lost? Maybe. Well, this or I love it, not even found at the time, but suddenly realized and matured in one's mind over time, I guess. So, okay, well, this is going to be very different to the other book that you're writing at the moment than I, as an instance, from what you say.

Yeah, exactly. Well, Murray, we're coming close to the end of our time. I'm sure you've said that many times and you're a career, right? But I mean, we've got time for a couple more. So I think at the end of the day, what we really want to know, I guess, is you've described yourself as having all of these different parts of your life, all these different facets. So you've got albums, you've released albums, you're an artist, by you know, am I wrong here? Or did you design the cover as well? Yes, I did.

It's a painting that would really, I perceive as the harvest always coming, you know. And I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have a wrap around feeling of the harvest? And there it is. So the publishers liked it and liked the idea. And as they said, well, if you can send pictures, send pictures, and you know, if we, if we like it, if we feel it says the harvest always comes, we'll run with it. But if we don't, we'll choose something else and you can approve it. So I wasn't, you know, saying, or you must have that.

But I was happy when they came back and said, we like it. In fact, we love it. It's vibrant. And it does, it does it conjures up lots of feelings. No, wonderful. And just briefly then, let's touch on your, is it music, your albums? So I assume album, I've got nearly 10. And the last one, number nine is called Love in the Afternoon. And it's very easy to find because it's on every digital platform imaginable. And you've can, you can download it, you can buy the whole album. What's fun music song?

Oh, yeah, well, no, that's useful. There's one actually. But what sort of music is it? What's your own? Oh, goodness. I've covered everything. Pop. Very big songs, movie songs. I've written quite a few of the songs myself. So I've covered absolutely everything. Seriously. I really wanted to do that, you know, I said, I don't want to get stuck in one genre only like I don't want to get stuck in only one type of writing. And that's why this one will be, it will be a blockbuster. It could be a movie.

Well, you are so busy. It's incredible that you found the time. So briefly, how did you find the publishing process then because this is your first published novel, novelism? Yes. Yes. Well, it's been interesting. And it still is, but you know, I'm always saying things like this and I really mean it. Everything that really works out comes from super amazing listening and communication. It is. Communication is everything. You know, and I break down of communication. That's what's causing most of the disaster stuff in the world today.

It's, you know, politicians that don't communicate properly or they tell lies, you know, I mean, it's just not on. Marriage is going down the drain because there's no communication, you know. And that's sad. So really communication to me is everything. And I have been able to communicate really, I think, effectively with them and them with me. You know, they're prepared to listen. And I've learned a lot already about publishing from from them, you know. And yeah, I hope I have a long lengthy relationship and that they take the next book absolutely and completely.

And we do think movie because I've had someone who sadly he's died now, but he was at the head of Star Wars. And everything that was written in that he okayed or he didn't. Now he was the most fascinating man and I did his therapy for him. He came up from London and he read some of my writing and he said to me in a letter, you must create this, it must be a movie. You must do it. Sadly, Robert's no longer with us, but I feel his presence. I really do. I feel his presence. And I will, whatever I can do to bring that forward to make eyes of innocence into a movie, I intend to do.

I really do. Good. Well, that's all right then. And hopefully I could play a little bit of a part with this today. And then speak to you again, of course, once you've got what once you've published a net of eyes of innocence, it's one of that wonderful to do it halfway through. Halfway through. Well, halfway through. Well, halfway through. Well, halfway through. All right. I see you mean. Yeah, well, that would be wonderful. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, editor at least. So yeah, totally. Well, keep reading in.

I'm sorry, keep listening and watching that everybody because you never know. That's the one. It might be the next thing. So my last question then, apart from just wrapping things up is so when somebody finishes the hardest always comes. Yes. And closes that final page and they actually manage to put the book down. What do you hope stays with them? Oh, hope springing eternal, never giving up. Always seeing, you know, I'm carry on carry on. Don't sit down. Don't put your hands up in the air and say, I can't take the tea off the word and you've got can you can you can't do it.

Believe in yourself. Oh, self, believe in yourself. Really, even if nobody else seems to believe in you, you believe in yourself and you'll get there. So true words of wisdom and obviously words of experience as well. So there we are. Marie did. The harvest always comes. It takes readers into a world of, well, as you've been hearing, right? What are relationships ambition, temptation, jealousy and unexpected entry, which we purposely did not cover. They murdered murder side of things and moving from Norfolk to the Scottish Highlands as well.

So Marie, you're working as we said on Isavine Essence, if anyone wants to come up and take a look and help with the screenplay, please do. The bridge back promises a very different story, though, as we've been saying. Yes, going to be very different content. It's not linked in any way. They're both quite standalone. And I do see the second one being turned into a movie I really do. That's all the different pieces of music that would go ideally with it. Very handy. Yes. Okay. So it's just down to you now to tell us about your website and how people can contact you and sort of like, you know, obviously by your books and albums and things like that.

Yes. Yes. Well, through the publisher obviously, Amazon will deliver the book the next day. And Maree Deeley Music.co is where you'll find lots of the music. But if you put my name in to the internet to any digital platform, just put Marie Deely Music. And it'll send you in all the right directions, Spotify, Amazon, it's in France, it's all over the place. And it's really so exciting. It truly is. Very exciting. And there's messages in the songs as well. You know, they're really profound, deep messages there.

Good. Well, that's all right there. We look forward to that. And Maree Deeley, thank you. Unfortunately, that broke out of time. We could talk forever. Thank you so much Chris. It's been a treat for me. It's been an absolute pleasure. It's been my honor to talk to Maree Deeley,. Thank you very much for joining us on all the conversations. And catch up with us next time. But make sure that you obviously look at the social media of Maree Deeley, look at buying the books and the albums and everything else.

Yeah, somebody who's so prolifically creative, we need to support I think, so Maree Deeley, thank you again for joining us. Thank you as well Chris. Take care. Lovely talking to you. And to you all soon. See you then. Bye bye. Bye bye. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can watch more author conversations here. [MUSIC]