Novelicious catches up with Helen Chandler to talk about her writing her debut novel Two for Joy, which is released on 6th June.
Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?
There’s not really any such thing
as an average day when you’re a stay-at-home mum to a lively four-year-old! My
writing tends to get squeezed into odd moments whenever I can, although my
mother-in-law looks after Anna on a Thursday afternoon, so that time is
sacrosanct for writing, and now Anna has started nursery every morning things
are a bit more predictable.
I often write in a local café – I
like being out in the world, they make fabulous hot chocolate, brownies and
panini, and when I get stuck I can sit and people watch until inspiration
strikes again. That was fine when it was one afternoon a week, but now I get
some writing time most days, I’m going to have to switch to herbal tea
(requiring willpower I don’t really have) or find somewhere else to write, or
I’ll put on a stone per book!
When you are writing, do you use any famous people or people you know
as inspiration?
Not really. Everyone says that
first novels are always autobiographical, and there are definitely elements of
Julia’s character which she shares with me, but other characters are fairly mix
and match. There are aspects which are based on people I know, or on snippets
of conversation I pick up through my compulsive eavesdropping on buses or in
cafes, but it’s all jumbled up, so I don’t think anyone will be recognising
themselves in my book!
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