Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Novelicious chats to... Lesley Pearse

1.  Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I walk the dog in the morning then get on with some writing, on a good day I will stick at it constantly barely stopping for meals. I almost always work again in the evening until the early hours of the morning. 

 

 2.  When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration? 

Never celebrities! I am appalled at the thought. I don't use people I know either because I'd feel they were looking over my shoulder. 

 

3.  What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why? 

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I love the epic scale of it with the Civil war, slavery and the North and South divide in America, but most of all I just adored the characters, they are all so memorable and believable. 

Novelicious Chats to... Daphne Kalotay

 

Daphne Kalotay is the author of Russian Winter.

1.  Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 I don’t really have an average writing day, because I don’t keep to a strict schedule, though in general I get up each morning and write for the next few hours.  How much time I spend writing depends on where I am in a project.  If I’m in the very early stage, trying to produce new material, the longest I can work is 4 hours; after that, my brain just switches off, I’m so tired.  But if I already have material to work with and am revising or editing, I can work for longer stretches of time.

 

2.  When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

 For characters, or just to keep me going?  In terms of feeling inspired, just knowing that someone like Steven King, who is incredibly successful in terms of book sales, gets up every day and sits for long hours in his chair, working very hard, is a great reminder that writing never gets easier, no matter how many bestsellers you’ve had, or if you’re writing thrillers or sci-fi or so-called “literary fiction.”  You still have to do the work.

 

3.  What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

 If you mean a work by a woman writer, one of my very favourite novels is The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather.  It’s about a small-town girl who has musical talent and eventually becomes an opera singer.  It’s truly wonderful, and very moving.

 

4.  What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?

 Though I sometimes have a very general, vague overall idea of what I’ll be writing about, I never have a clear plot, so I basically just dive in and hope for the best.  As for how many drafts I do: too many to count.  I mean that literally; if I tried to keep count, the number would be so enormous, not only would I lose count, but I’d become overwhelmed and then demoralized, I imagine, by how long the process takes.

 

Novelicious Chats to... Rowena Macdonald

1.  Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I don’t really have an average writing day because I have two part-time jobs, so I squeeze in my writing as and when I can.  I work three days a week at the House of Commons as a secretary and one day a week teaching creative writing at Westminster University. I have Fridays off, and this is my main writing day. I try and write about 1,000 words, maybe more if I am in the flow. This can take between four and six hours. Over the weekend, I try and write about one or two hours a day. I write straight onto my laptop at my kitchen table, or in bed, or on the sofa. I do have a desk but I rarely write at it, since I spend so much of my other working life at a desk, and I need to feel more relaxed when I write. Sometimes I go and write in a café or in the British Library, especially if my boyfriend is around.

Ordinary life gets in the way of writing. Sometimes I wished I lived alone in a hut, preferably on a remote beach, so I could get more writing done and be one of those obsessional types that never does anything else. Mind you, it’s probably better for my sanity that I have to interact with the world. 

 

2.  When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

I always use people I know as inspiration. All sorts of people, even those I barely know or have only heard about through other people and never met. I need to base characters on psychological behaviour that I know exists. My characters are always amalgams though; I don’t transfer people straight from real life to the page as they need to be filtered through the prism of fiction. I rarely use people I see day-to-day or am very close to as I would feel hampered by self-censorship; having to be too nice about them. It would all get too psychologically fraught. By using people I know less well, my imagination can run free.

 Having said that, two of my close friends from Montreal, Mark and Chloé, inspired some of the traits of some of the characters in Smoked Meat, as did various other people I knew in Montreal. But I started writing the book two years after I got back to England. I needed that cooling distance so I could be more observant and objective. I’ve dedicated the book to them and they helped edit many of the stories when I was writing them, so I hope they are flattered rather than appalled to have aspects of their lives appear in prose. They should be flattered as it is because they were charismatic. 

 In terms of celebrities, I used the singer Pink as part of the inspiration for the character of Sally in ‘Brian, McMurphy and Sally Too’, the first story in Smoked Meat. Pink was popular at the time I was writing it, and her image –  feisty and tomboyish but overtly sexual – chimed with how I imagined Sally to be.

Other pop stars have been inspirational to characters in other books I have written. There was a character in an as yet unpublished novel who embodied elements of Nick Drake, Robert Smith from the Cure and Morrissey – basically he was a miserable, introverted muso. He grew in confidence as the novel progressed and ended up as a combination of Pete Docherty and the lead singer of the Strokes, whose name I forget right now.

Novelicious chats to... Jo Carnegie

1.  Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 

I’m up and writing at my desk by 9am. My books are quite full on and energetic, so I can’t write for more than two hours without my brain getting tired. Then I’ll take the dog out or have another cup of tea and return to my desk refreshed. I aim for a 1000 words a day minimum, but as long as I’ve made myself snort with laughter, got angry or welled up, it’s a job well done.

 

2.  When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

Definitely! Writing is all about people and you have to stay tapped into the human race. I like to go and sit in cafes and people watch over a skinny latte (and muffin). As far as celebrities, I interviewed loads when I was deputy editor at heat and I hate to say it, but a lot were really boring! The entourage they bring with them are far more colourful and outrageous.

 

3.  What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

Rivals by my literary heroine Jilly Cooper, although I read South Riding by Winifred Holtby last summer and that came very close. It actually reminded me a bit of a 1930’s Jilly C.

Novelicious Chats to... Louise Voss and Mark Edwards

INTERVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

Wannabe writers might already have heard of this duo.  They chose to self-publish their thriller books and they soared up the Kindle charts earning them critical acclaim and an enormous amount of publicity.

Sam Copeland, an agent at RCW, saw their potential, offered to represent them and HarperCollins then offered them a publication deal.  Sam says, ‘I’m hugely excited to represent Mark and Louise. Apart from being a delight to work with, together they are a frighteningly talented pair of writers. Their books are breathlessly paced and unputdownable, and with a hugely enthusiastic team behind them at Harper Collins, there really should be not stopping them’.

Read their fascinating story here…

 You write together.  That must be stressful, wonderful, intense, exhausting...  So how did you two meet?

 I love the story of how we met - about 13 years ago I watched a BBC documentary about aspiring writers and was glued to the tales of their struggles and successes. Like one of the featured writers, a certain Mark Edwards,  I too had written a couple of (in fairness, not very good) manuscripts and managed to snag an agent, but was getting rejections from publishers. Mark’s experiences so resonated with me, and his burning desire to be a writer shone through so strongly, that I couldn’t resist writing him a brief email to wish him luck, via his agent.  It was a very out of character thing for me to do, but I’ve never regretted it - Mark wrote back, and we immediately struck up an email correspondence, discussing our respective works-in-progress.  We didn’t meet for at least 18 months as we lived a long way away from one another.  Eventually I invited Mark to one of my birthday parties, and we were both relieved that we got on as well in person as we did via email. Soon after that, we decided to write something together.  He then promptly moved to Japan for a year, so Killing Cupid was written entirely by email across two continents!

 We’ve almost finished our third novel together now and, yes, it’s wonderful, and intense, in a good way.  But I would say it’s a whole lot less stressful and exhausting than being on a deadline for a solo novel, though.  You have someone to bear 50% of the responsibility!

 

On a practical level how do you manage to work together on a project? 

 We meet up every month or so and assign/claim different chapters and storylines within the parameters of the loose outline we worked out. We still always send our first draft chapters straight to the other one for an initial edit.  It’s brilliant, receiving a new chapter of your own book!  We started out sending chapters via email to each other, then emailing a master document back and forth between us, but we’ve refined the technique now and use Dropbox for all our files, which is much easier - and safer.

 

What are the benefits, and negatives, of working together on a project?

 The benefits of finding a good writing partner are numerous; twice the ideas, twice the output in the same amount of time, twice the inspiration, twice the encouragement.  Always someone there to bang on to about the book, in a way you can’t with anyone else without fearing you’re boring them...

Negatives - I honestly can’t actually think of any valid ones.  You could say we only get half the money each - but we wouldn’t have been able to write those books by ourselves, so it never feels as if we’ve missed out on anything as a result (well, I don’t anyway, you’d have to ask Mark if he feels the same!!)

Novelicious Chats To...Victoria Fox

INTERVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

The lovely Victoria Fox, author of the sizzling bonkbuster Hollywood Sinners, is here to get us in the festive mood. 

 I hear on the grapevine that you are being Miss Christmas this week, what is going on? 

Indeed I am! Christmas is my favourite time of year – I love the cold nights, the warm fires, the smell of satsumas (and the built-in excuse for lots of parties) – so when my publishers suggested writing a seasonal short story I jumped at the chance. Tinseltown is available on the Kindle now and the best bit is that it’s ABSOLUTELY FREE! This festive frolic follows gorgeous Brit actor Dom Judd, who’ll do anything to get out of wearing a mortifying Santa suit at the Hollywood Christmas Parade; waitress Clare who’s just been dumped and is dreading facing the big day with a broken heart – until she agrees to a gig that will change everything; and Laney Allen, fresh from winning America’s number one talent show and who is concealing a shocking secret that only Santa Claus can cure . . . It was a challenge sewing Santa and his reindeer into the glitzy bonkbuster world (is it possible to make a chortling sherry-quaffing bloke who climbs down chimneys sexy? It’s creepy when you think about it) but it was also masses of fun. I hope you enjoy it – and a happy Christmas to everyone.

What was your favourite Christmas memory when growing up? 

I was six, and I’d seen her in the John Lewis toy department a couple of months before . . . a polar bear, snow-white, in a red sleigh, and almost as big as me. I’d wanted her so much (don’t know why she was a girl: she just was), with her squidgy belly and cuddly fur, but Mum steered me away with the customary, ‘You’ve got too many soft toys already.’ But I never forgot the polar bear. Then, after lunch on Christmas Day, as full of anticipation as I was on lunch and the net of chocolate coins I’d snarfed out the foot of my stocking as soon as I’d woken up, my dad left the room. Moments later, the doorbell rang. The world outside was quiet and cold; we’d heard no crunch of gravel or no footsteps approaching. It was suggested I went to answer it, and, when I did, who should be sitting on the doorstep but my beloved polar bear, as lovely as I remembered her. I embraced her like we were long-lost friends. She’d come all the way from her sleigh in John Lewis and found a home with me. I didn’t let her go all afternoon. That was the best Christmas. 

Have you got any traditions that must be rigorously observed?

 Christmas is all about tradition: you’ve got to do it in the way you always have – because what other way is there? Each year we’ll get out the same decorations (cue tatty crafts I made with Mum when I was nine), have the same argument about the tree (my guilt over an angel whose face I chewed so she has to go on the top – not a popular choice) and everyone will get annoyed by rudimentary (by which I mean crap) carol-playing on the piano. There’s comfort in tradition, warmth in familiarity, but for me it’s something more. I’ll probably be getting that poor angel out in twenty years’ time and having an identical debate with my children, in the same way my dad sets the lunch table a particular way because that was how Christmas was when he was young. It’s all about memories re-conjured and passed down, so Christmas becomes this magic amalgamation of Decembers past and future.

Novelicious Chats to... Cally Taylor

Cally Taylor is the author of Heaven Can Wait and Home For Christmas. She also appears in the brand new short story collection, Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After (which also stars our very own Debs Carr!).  

 

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 I’m not sure there’s such a thing as an average writing day for me as I’ve got a full time job (as an e-learning manager for a London university) and squeeze in writing my novels in any bit of free time I can grab. Mostly that tends to be in the evenings and weekends although I do occasionally take holiday so I can concentrate on writing or editing. With editing, because it requires so much concentration, I find it useful to get out of the house and book a week or ten days at a writing retreat like Anam Cara in Cork, Ireland.

 

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

 Not really – although sometimes, when I’m trying to visualise a character, the face of a celebrity pops into my mind and that helps me write about their expressions and mannerisms. With ‘Heaven Can Wait’ Saint Bob looked a lot like Bob Hoskins! That said none of the characters in ‘Home for Christmas’ are based on celebrities.

 

What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

I think it has to be ‘After You’d Gone’ by Maggie O’Farrell. The structure of the book is unusual, the mystery that runs through it had me absolutely gripped and I felt emotionally shaken for DAYS after finishing the book. The prose is gorgeous too.

 

What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

 I love the initial stage of planning a book although, for me, it’s more like daydreaming than coming up with concrete plot points. That said I do like to know what will happen in the first few scenes, what the inciting incident is in the middle of the book and what happens at the end. I let my characters guide me between those points – it’s more fun that way! I tend to do a rough and ready first draft, a second draft that tidies everything up and sorts out the structure and a couple more drafts after that where I tweak.

Novelicious Chats To...Cathy Woodman

Cathy is the author of the brilliant TRUST ME I'M A VET and THE SWEETEST THING. Her latest novel IT'S A VET'S LIFE  is out now!

1.     Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 I dream of having an average writing day!  There is no such thing for me.  I set myself a target of writing or editing 7-10 000 words every week, juggling this with teaching Animal Management at my local college, walking the dogs, mucking out the horses and playing with the cat, not forgetting my main occupation as taxi driver for my teenage offspring.    

 

 2.      When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

 Sometimes I liken a character’s physical appearance to that of a celebrity so that a reader can picture them quickly and easily.  I tend to avoid using people I know as inspiration because I don’t want to offend or upset anyone.  It can work the other way in that some of my friends have told me they are sorry to see that they don’t appear in any of my books!           

 

3.      What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

I adore Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, its story of passion, unrequited love and revenge acted out on the wild Yorkshire Moors.  Although the ‘hero’, Heathcliff, is tragically flawed, I have fallen in love with him many times.

My parents chose my name from having read Wuthering Heights just before I was born.   

 

4.      What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

I tend to plan first, creating lists of characters with their biographies, a series of potential scenes and dramatic moments, and a timeline.  If inspiration strikes though, I will start writing at the same time as I am doing my planning.  The number of drafts varies from book to book.  Usually, I will do three or four drafts.    My record was 15 drafts for Trust Me, I’m a Vet.

 

Novelicious Chats To...Helen Simonson

INTERVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

Who is the inspiration behind the central character Major Pettigrew?

When I sat down to imagine a simple story – just for me – the Major just appeared at his rose covered door, wearing his dead wife’s floral housecoat.  There are many inspirations for such a character in my own life, including my old English teacher who loved Kipling and three piece brown suits. I also have a curmudgeonly pug, Sir JJ, who has the crankiest frown but most loving heart.  I think I was trying also to take the old stereotype of an English army man (does anyone remember Colonel Mustard from Cluedo?  Dr. Who’s Brigadier? Captain Mannnering?), and peel away the layers to show that even we English are not stereotypes, but individuals to the core.

He's quite prickly, why do you think people warmed to him?

Major Pettigrew appears prickly, but underneath he is decent, fair, compassionate and, most importantly, he doesn’t go through life thinking he’s right all the time.  It has been amazing to me how many people, who have lost someone, have written to tell me how he reminds them of their own father, brother, husband... it has been a humbling experience to hear from such readers.

You are currently living in America, but the book is set in England, why is that?

Kipling left India at twenty five and never returned, yet many of his most evocative Indian stories were written later in life.  India always remained in his imagination.  Similarly, I am an ex-pat, yet England, and especially the Sussex countryside, remains right behind my eyeballs!  I don’t spend as much time at ‘home’ in Sussex as I would like and this book was a way to spend further hours up on the South Downs – at least in my imagination.

How did you secure that first book deal?

Novelicious Chats To...Daniela Sacerdoti

Daniela, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for the Novelicious readers.

1. Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I have two young children and I’m a stay-at home mum. My eldest is in school but my youngest is in nursery two hours a day only, so I don’t have much time to write during the day. I do most of my writing before they wake up, setting my alarm between four or five, depending on how tired I am! Also I write at the weekend, when my lovely husband looks after the children. I couldn’t do it without him.

2. When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

People I know, definitely. I’m a good listener and I tend to be very empathic, so I gather stories everywhere I turn, from friends, acquaintances and a few strangers as well!

3. What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

It must be The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy, because it’s beautifully written, with a kind eye to people’s weaknesses and mistakes. Also it shows how far we’ve come in terms of the choices women can make nowadays and the amount of freedom we have in shaping our lives the way we want, compared to our grandmothers.

4. What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

Watch Over Me was brewed over a long period of time. A nugget of it started when my first son was born...I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience of motherhood, both the joy and the terror of it, and my love for him was so intense, that I didn’t know what to do with it. I bought a laptop and started writing, but I was teaching at the time and it took two years before I sat down to it again. Then I just dived in, and it happened. It was published nearly the way it was written, one draft only. I had it in me for so long that when it came out, it was ready.

5.  What was journey to being a published author?

I genuinely never thought of the possibility of getting published until Watch Over Me was finished. I’ve always dreamt of publishing a book, but I didn’t really think I could make it. I think my father’s death had a lot to do with my sudden bust of determination: he was a man with so much talent, and still so insecure and frustrated. I inherited this chronic insecurity from him, but all of a sudden I decided I wanted things to change, I wanted to believe in myself, or at least act like I did. So I sent Watch Over Me around to a few agents and publishers; I got a few rejections, seven or eight I think, until the lovely Rachel Reid read it, and decided to give me a chance. A few months later I was shortlisted for the Kelpie’s prize from Floris Books, with my children’s book The Really Weird Removal Company (out next Autumn). With two books accepted for publication, it dawned on me that maybe, actually, I could do it...and it all started from there. I was then contracted for the Sarah Midnight trilogy. I also found a lovely agent, Lindsey Fraser at Fraser Ross, which made me so happy. It’s brilliant to feel that people believe in you.

 

Novelicious Chats To...Miranda Dickinson

INTERVIEW BY CESCA MARTIN

Could you briefly tell us about your book 'It Started with a Kiss'?

 It Started With a Kiss is all about following your heart. It’s the story of Romily Parker, a jingle writer for a local radio station, who sings with her friends in a wedding band at weekends. On the last Saturday before Christmas, she has a brief encounter with a handsome stranger (shortly after disastrously declaring her love to her best friend Charlie). He kisses her and then disappears – so Romily pledges to spend the next twelve months searching for him…

Where did the inspiration for 'It Started with a Kiss' come from?

I wanted to write about ‘what-if’ moments and see what could happen if someone decided to pursue them rather than letting them pass. My favourite quote is from Emily Dickinson (no relation!): ‘I dwell in possibility’ – which I’ve actually included at the start of the novel – and I wanted to write about chasing possibilities in life. Romily is a sane individual, but the magical encounter with the handsome stranger at a time when she least expected it is enough to make her embark on a crazy quest to try to find him again. At the same time, Charlie, the guy she has been secretly in love with for three years, then begins to see her in a different light because she’s looking in a different direction (typical men!).

You have been vlogging your journey to publication, what has been the best moment so far?

There have been so many! What I’ve loved about vlogging this year is how involved everyone has been with it – asking brilliant questions and really deciding where I go and what I talk about for each episode. I think the big highlight for me was when I was asked to give an author talk at Kingswinford Library. If you know my books, you’ll know that my writing dream began at the age of five to write a story that would be good enough to grace my small local library’s shelves. It was probably my most emotional vlog – not least because the last thing they asked me to do that night was sign the library’s copies of Fairytale of New York and Welcome to My World. It was amazing to finally fulfill a lifelong ambition! 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? 

Just write. Don’t worry about whether you’re allowed to, or whether anybody will want to read it, or sabotage your efforts with self-doubt. Write because you love it and write stories that entertain you. I wrote Fairytale of New York completely for me and never thought anyone else would ever read it – but when I uploaded the manuscript to Authonomy.com it was noticed by my publisher and now it’s my career. I honestly believe that if I’d tried to write to a formula, or write what I thought a publisher wanted to read, my book wouldn’t have been picked up. Listen to advice from other writers about how they do it, then find your own way that works for you. And whenever those pesky doubts creep in (which they will), repeat this mantra: I am good enough, I can write and my stories are worth reading!

What is your typical writing day? 

I don’t have one! I would love to be the kind of writer who gets up early, works a nine-to-five writing day and then reclines with a glass of wine. But my brain doesn’t work like that, unfortunately! I work three days a week for a food research company, so for two days a week, plus evenings and weekends, I write. Frustratingly, I always seem to hit my stride after 9pm, so even on my two writing days I’ll invariably not be productive until then and end up writing late at night (or sometimes right through, if there’s a deadline looming). But then some of the scenes I’m most proud of (like Harri’s Kefalonia scenes with Blanche and the big final scene in Welcome to My World) have been written at some ungodly hour in the morning, so it obviously works for me! 

Do you read when you write and, if so, who? 

It’s always a tricky one about whether to read when I’m writing. I’m always scared that, (a) the great idea I have for my book has already been written by someone else; or, (b) I’ll unwittingly end up assimilating someone else’s great ideas into my novel because I’ve just read them! For that reason I never read chick-lit or romantic comedies when I’m writing, but I might read something by Jasper Fforde (whose wonderful, artfully constructed books I’m completely in love with) or Sir Terry Pratchett (who is the master of comedic timing, so great inspiration). I’ve also just discovered Ben Aaronovitch, who is fast becoming a favourite author. And I watch Gilmore Girls – a lot – because the pace of its script is brilliant and great inspiration for when I’m writing dialogue (that’s my excuse, anyway!)

What are you expecting later at your launch party? 

You know, I have no idea! I’ve only ever had one launch party before, which I organised myself for Welcome to My World’s launch last year. It was brilliant but a lot of hard work because I was signing books, checking that all the guests were having a good time and keeping an eye on the catering all at once! The best thing about the launch party this year is that I’ve been able to invite thirty people who watch my vlogs, follow me on twitter and facebook and receive my newsletter, so it will be a fantastic way for me to thank them in person for all their support which means so much to me through the year. 

What can you tell us about your next novel? 

My fourth novel will be called When I Fall in Love and features a motley crew of characters in a choir, rivalry, romance and the last item on a very important list. There may also be the odd jazz hand thrown in for good measure, too… I’m going to be vlogging about it (after my vlog viewers demanded I continue next year), so I’ll be sharing exclusive excerpts along the way.

Thanks for speaking to Novelicious Miranda! 

My pleasure, thank you so much for having me! x

It Started With A Kiss is published TODAY and you can find out more about Miranda from her  Coffee & Roses blog, website and follow her on Twitter @wurdsmyth  

To celebrate the publication of this fabulous novel, we have not one, but two giveaways! To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of It Started With A Kiss & a signed copy of Miranda's album, please leave a comment telling us about your most memorable kiss.

If that wasn't enough, we're giving you a second chance to win a signed copy of both Miranda's book and album and all you have to do for this is re-tweet this interview. (Winners to both will be announced next Thursday).

You can buy, It Started With a Kiss at Amazon UK, Waterstones, The Book Depository (shipped worldwide), Play.com.

Miranda's other novels: Welcome to My World: The Book Depository & Fairytale of New York Amazon

Novelicious Chats To...Ali Harris

INTERVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

Tell us about your novel 'Miracle on Regent Street'.

Well, I like to think it’s a real cuddle-up-with-a-cashmere-blanket-and-a-hot chocolate kind of a read, the kind of book that will remind you of classic old movies and bygone days when Christmas was about magic, not money. It’s a story about a sweet, unassuming stockroom girl called Evie Taylor who works in the basement of Hardy's; a faded, forgotten old department store that has seen better days. For the past two years she's lived an invisible life in London, sorting endless boxes of old-fashioned stock by day and looking after her sister’s two young children at night. Her neighbours think she's the hired help, her self-obsessed shop floor colleagues mistake her for her stockroom predecessor and even her manager doesn't know her actual name. But despite all this she loves working at the store. So when she overhears that Hardy's is at risk of being sold unless it seriously increases its profits by December 26^th – just three weeks time - she hatches a secret plan to save it. Evie and Hardy's are both looking for a Christmas miracle to turn their fortunes around, but will it take the shape of the handsome American who has swept in to town and shaken things up like a snow globe?

Was this your first novel?

Ohhho no! I have three completed manuscripts (and a couple of abandoned attempts) lurking in a box somewhere. Although my first attempt (a book called Strawberries and Dreams which I wrote in 1999!) is lost forever on an ex boyfriend’s probably no longer functioning PC. Better off that way, to be honest!

How many years have you been writing?

I’ve written stories since I was little – but I’ve been seriously dreaming of it as a career since I was 22 (aka a long time ago!) I had just left University after studying a degree in Performing Arts and was working as a waitress in a theme restaurant. The chick lit genre had just been born and reading Bridget Jones was a real light bulb moment for me. I began writing my own novel during the day (about a frustrated waitress, of course!) I read every book in the genre, bought the Writer’s and Artists Year Book, studied every acknowledgment page to see who my favourite authors were represented by and bought every book about writing fiction I could. When I’d written three chapters of my novel I sent it to ten agents. I got rejected by nine but when I hadn’t heard from the tenth I decided to take the initiative and ring them. I somehow (don’t ask me how) managed to get through to one of the biggest, most successful literary agents in London and he told me he had my manuscript in front of him and that he thought it had ‘something’ but that he had been about to send me a rejection letter. I begged him to read more and incredibly, he agreed. I went home and wrote four chapters in as many days and sent it to him. When his rejection letter eventually came through I was devastated. At that point I decided that I just wanted to write for a living – so I decided to apply for work experience at some of my favourite women’s magazines. I wasn’t giving up – just taking a sideways step. I wanted to learn skills that I could transfer to writing fiction but in an exciting, stimulating environment. It was the best decision I ever made. After a year of unpaid work, I got my dream job at Company magazine. I spent the next three years writing features – including my own column, working with incredible people, meeting celebrities – and the best part? I got to meet my favourite authors and grill them about how to get a book deal. I was still writing fiction, but in my spare time. I even sent a manuscript off to a couple of publishers –at one point I had lunch with an editor from Harper Collins which I was so excited about, but nothing ever came of it. I was getting closer, but not close enough!

Novelicious chats to... Claire LaZebnik

Claire is is the author of the novels Knitting Under the Influence, The Smart One and the Pretty One, and If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now. Her most recent novel is FAMILIES AND OTHER NONRETURNABLE GIFTS.  

  

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

 

If I actually kept a journal, I think I’d discover that what I think of as my “average” day is actually not average at all—that the days when something comes up and gets in the way of my working are the true norm.  But my IDEAL writing day is when all the kids get safely off to school.  I’ll clean up a little bit, maybe throw a load of laundry in, maybe race out to Trader Joe’s if the pantry’s running low, then spend the morning alternating between working on a novel and doing other stuff online, like writing emails, updating Facebook, and answering interview questions.  Then I’ll have lunch—either leftovers at home or, if I’m lucky, I’ll meet a friend at a restaurant for a quick heart-to-heart over salads—and come back and take the dogs on a long walk.  Then I get to write again until it’s time to pick up the kids.  Sometimes I can squeeze a little more writing in while they’re doing homework, but usually there’s too much other stuff to do and by the time they’re going to bed, I’m too tired to do anything but stare at the TV or a book before going to sleep.

 

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

I once read that Jane Austen did a lot of her writing on a tiny desk in her sister’s sitting room, surrounded by family members coming and going and talking.  Since I often work downstairs in our dining room, I think of her sometimes and figure if she could write those magnificent novels in the midst of chaos, I should be able to write my own much humbler fiction without getting all needy about special quiet time or anything like that.

 

What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

 

Am I allowed to pick a Jane Austen novel? (Kirsty - Yes!) (Sorry, I’m a little obsessed with her.)  She’s kind of the original Women’s Fiction writer: her books concern themselves with the details of women’s lives as she knew them, like hat-trimming and tea-drinking and ball-dancing—and, of course, finding the right wealthy man to marry.  And yet she also always nails some universal truths about the way both men and women think and act. My favorite is Emma but I also love Pride and Prejudice.

 

What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

 I love starting to write something new.  I always feel like this time it’s going to be perfect, that I’ll get everything inside my head in words on the screen JUST THE WAY I WANT IT TO BE FOR ONCE.  So I often start writing before I should.  I usually do a quick outline, but it’s pretty broad and brief, with lots of room for wandering away.  There are times I get myself into story trouble because I haven’t mapped it out as much as I should have.  So I rewrite a LOT.  A lot.  A lotalotalotalot.  For me, rewriting is as important to turning out a finished product as writing that first draft.  I lose track of the number of drafts since I write on a computer and each draft vanishes into the next.

Novelicious Chats To...Christina Courtenay

INTERVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

 Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for the Novelicious readers and congratulations for making the shortlist for Choc Lit Best Historical Read Award at the forthcoming Festival of Romance  and Best Historical Fiction Award at the recent Big Red Read Awards for your wonderful historical romance, The Scarlet Kimono. 

1. Highland Storms is the sequel to Trade Winds. What aspect of this book did you enjoy writing the most?  The interaction between the hero and heroine, especially when he surprises her.  She’s used to boorish men who do nothing but ogle her, so when the hero arrives and is both kind and mischievous rather than lascivious, she doesn’t know how to react.  Also the scenes with the heroine’s dog.  I love dogs and it was great to have one as a character who actually plays a part in the story.                    

2.  When writing historical novels, do you find it difficult to keep the sense of the era throughout the novel and how do you go about writing the characters’ voices as they spoke so differently then as opposed to how we speak now?  Yes, it can be hard to stay true to the period, but once I’m into a story, I’m usually there in my imagination.  I went to visit a Highland folk museum in Scotland where you can see for yourself what the houses of ordinary people were like, and I visited castles to get a feel for the higher levels of society – that helped.  I also wandered round Edinburgh and travelled through the Highlands – in both you can still imagine what it must have been like 250 years ago.  As for the characters’ voices, I try to just give a small flavour of the speech of that time by adding a few words of dialect or swearing, and sometimes by changing the sentence construction slightly.  It would be too tedious for a modern reader if I wrote in a more old-fashioned way and I think most people can imagine it for themselves.