Carol Drinkwater is known to many for her role as Helen Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small in the 1970s and 1980s. However she always had an ambition to become an author.

“When I met my husband in Australia, he asked if there was something I wanted to do that I hadn’t done – and I said it was being a published writer,” she says. “I always knew I would be an actor, but dreamed I would be a writer.”

She has since gone on to write the non-fiction Olive Farm series, based on her life in the south of France. The series has sold over a million copies worldwide, and she is also the author of bestselling fiction novels.

Carol will appear at the West Cork Literary Festival on Sunday 17 July and the following Tuesday to talk about her varied life as an author and read extracts from her new novel, The Forgotten Summer.

“It’s a big saga set on a vineyard in the South of France. It has dark undertones to do with the French/Algerian war of independence, which is never talked about,” Carol explains.

Irish roots

With an Irish mother originally from Co Laois and father with roots in this country, Carol has always felt that Ireland is home – even though she was born in London.

Her mother sadly passed away this year and this is Carol’s first time coming to Ireland since her death.

However she is now planning to move here full-time. “I spent a lot of my childhood in Ireland and have strong memories,” she says.

“This is going to be my first trip back to Ireland since mummy died, so it’s not going to be an easy one. We used to take long drives along the coast and go for meals and to little villages, and walk the Burren.

“I’m longing to go back … my husband will be coming with me because I don’t think I could face it on my own. I have to build a new Irish life for myself, beyond my mother.”

Carol hasn’t acted in a while, because she says: “Nobody had offered me anything worthwhile.”

She finds that speaking at events such as the West Cork Literary Festival satisfies that side of her personality. “I’m not adverse to acting … that’s why I’m happy speaking at literary events. A bit of the actress can come to the fore,” she adds.

Perseverance pays

Writing, and making documentaries, is her full-time job. She admits that the creative process can be a bit of a slog, but perseverance always pays off.

“If you’re not passionate about your own story no one else will be. It can’t be a passing interest: it has to be something you can live with for a year or more.

“You have to turn up at the desk every day and be there. The muse will turn up then, as they say. Something just triggers and it can be amazing and take on a whole new dynamic. That’s the rush of the whole thing. The whole process is putting one brick on top of another, until suddenly a window appears.”

To book tickets to see Carol speak at the West Cork Literary Festival, visit www.westcorkmusic.ie or call 027 52788/9.

The festival takes places from 17-23 July, with appearances from authors such as John Banville, Kevin Barry and Michael Harding.