Anthony Capella's first novel, The Food of Love, was a Richard and Judy Summer Read. He has also had success with with his other novels, The Wedding Officer, The Various Flavours of Coffee, The Empress of Ice Cream, and his latest book, Love and Other Dangerous Chemicals is now available. Anthony has answered a few questions for our Novelicious readers.
Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?
I don’t really have one. Because I have a day job, I tend to have an average writing night, or an average writing weekend…
When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?
I have certain people in mind when I’m writing characters, yes. A few individuals in LOVE AND OTHER DANGEROUS CHEMICALS are based on media personalities – I’d better not say who in case I get sued.
What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?
Probably BROTHER OF THE MORE FAMOUS JACK by Barbara Trapido. But RIDERS or OCTAVIA by Jilly Cooper run it pretty close. I like the sort of sweet, uplifting books that you can re-read whenever you have flu and immediately feel better.
What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?
For LOVE AND OTHER DANGEROUS CHEMICALS I did about twenty drafts – far more than I should have done. It started as a short story, then just grew and grew with each rewrite.
What was your journey to being a published author?
I was lucky enough that my first novel, THE FOOD OF LOVE, got picked up by The Richard and Judy Bookclub. But the idea for that book had been sitting in a drawer for a decade, while I worked unsuccessfully on other things. Life is random.
What do you think is the biggest myth about being a novelist?
I still feel like an imposter when I hear myself described as a novelist. Because you never meet any other novelists – you only meet agents and publishers and booksellers (and occasionally, readers). So it took a while to realize that other writers feel this way too.
What advice can you give to our readers who want to write a novel of their own?
The best advice I was ever given was by a writer who told me that the only difference between authors and everyone else is that authors finished their books.
What are you working on at the moment?
A couple of things, including a screenplay. Not sure yet which idea is going to turn into the next book.
