1. Why did you want to become a writer?
I’ve written stories from a young age, so I’m not aware of when I decided to ‘be a writer’, really. It just was always something I did – then in my teens I started to think it would be nice to make some money from it!
2. What's the toughest part of the writing process for you?
I think sometimes it’s just sitting down and writing when you feel you have so much else to do, or a project is a bit stalled. Once I’ve actually picked up the pen I’m fine, but getting to that stage can be tough.
3. What's the most enjoyable part of writing?
I think when something just flows, or a difficult plot point falls into place, the feeling is unbeatable. And I love it when I get feedback from readers that something resonated with them, or they enjoyed it. I’m thrilled that people seem to really like the characters in the Dark Dates books – there’s something about creating characters people fall in love with that feels truly special. And when I wrote my rom com Bridesmaids Blues, I had a lot of women go ‘oh my god, that’s totally me!’ which is enormously satisfying.
4. Out of all the amazing books out there, which book do you wish you had written and why?
Ooh, great question but tough to answer. Maybe Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, because it’s just such a beautiful love story, or Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, for its sheer inventiveness and originality.
5. If you could only save one of your characters from fictional calamity, which would you pick and why?
It would be Medea (and by extension, her fiancée Katie) in the Dark Dates series. I feel like their relationship gives a beating heart to the books – they’re the only long-term, settled couple in the series so far – plus I really hate the current ‘#buryyourgays’ trend in TV for killing off gay women as soon as they become happy, so I want my books to feature a content, loving lesbian couple who don’t die.
6. If you could spend the day with your favourite literary character (not from your books), who would you spend it with and what would you do?
God, these are such great questions but so hard! I’d quite happily spend the day being seduced by Valmont from Dangerous Liaisons, as I think that would be quite the experience…
7. What can we expect next from you?
I’m working on the next Dark Dates book, but also potentially have another romcom in the works, together with a handful of other projects.
8. Is there any particular writing advice you wish you'd been given at the start of your writing career? If so, what is it? If not, what advice would you give to someone starting out?
Don’t wait for the perfect time to write, or you’ll never find it, and remember something imperfect and complete is better than something perfect that you never finish.
9. Tell us what a typical writing day involves for you.
There’s no such thing, really: I work on so many projects for a range of different clients that my days vary enormously from one to the next. I might have to write a theatre review for a 9am deadline then finish some editing for a client or write a magazine article before I can turn to my novels, or I might have a full day to work on a book. But that suits me: I get bored quickly with routines, and though there are some stages in a book’s production where I need unbroken stints of time, I actually work quite well in the edges of the day, with time snatched between other things. It keeps me energised, otherwise I can waste hours staring at the page.
10. Finally, what are you reading at the moment?
Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking, which has some fascinating thoughts about the artistic process and living as an artist, Dennis Lehane’s Live by Night, which is compelling but brutal. I just started Lindy West’s memoir Shrill. I always have a handful of books on the go at any one time.
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So Luce has six months to figure out how to win back her ex, but she has plenty else on her plate – from an old friend returned to Newcastle with an announcement of her own, to a youthful colleague who may or may not have a crush on her and a mother who is acting very strangely indeed… and that’s all before a mysterious, handsome American walks into her life.
Sometimes being a bridesmaid isn’t all confetti and champagne…
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