NK Chats To.... : Karen Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler is the author of The Jane Austen Book Club which spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and was a New York Times Notable Book. Fowler’s previous novel, Sister Noon, was a finalist for the 2001 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. Novel Kicks caught up with Karen Joy Fowler……
Describe your typical writing day?
Author Photo: Beth Gwinn
On my typical writing day I don’t write. Sad, but true. I answer my email, I check out various blogs I like, I answer more of my email. Then it’s lunchtime. I believe I’m going to start to write at any moment, but after lunch I have more email and all the blogs have updated. The dog needs to be walked and it’s time to start dinner. Besides, by late afternoon I’m too tired for the sustained concentration of writing a book. I’m disappointed, but strangely optimistic about tomorrow. Which may or may not be a rinse and repeat sort of day.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Anywhere and everywhere. I eavesdrop when strangers talk – very easy in this day of the cell phone. I misunderstand the lyrics to rock songs in a fruitful way. I get ideas from reading other people’s fabulous stories and poems. And history books, of course. Especially inaccurate history books – history books with attitude and agenda. Scientific studies, especially if I only know about them because of eavesdropping (see above.) I find that a little bit of information about something is much more inspiring than a lot of information about it. Though if the story I want to write needs a lot of information, I’m happy to go and get it.
What’s your editing process like?
I love rewriting – much more pleasurable than the first draft – so I do a ton of it and I do it everyday. I’m always polishing the language, moving the scenes about, changing the location, changing the time period. Tinker, tinker, tinker. It’s the best part.
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Book Corner : April’s Book
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners – mother, son and daughter are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with the conflicts of their own.
But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entined with his.
by NK Chats To.... : Realise your literary dreams..
I Changed My Career – So Can You! A former teacher who became a professional writer is hoping to inspire others to pursue their literary dreams. Deany Judd spent ten years teaching teens at a Glasgow comprehensive before changing careers and becoming a freelance features writer for the national press. Now, together with a team of published authors, she has launched Literary Chicks – offering online writing courses for wannabe writers. The web based company will offer a variety of topical online writing courses for today’s newspaper, magazine and book publishing markets.
by About Us : Novel Kicks – About Me
I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.
I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.
If you are a publisher/writer and have any questions about contributing guest posts, book reviews or author interviews, you can e-mail me at laura@novelkicks.co.uk. You can also follow me on Twitter
Other contributors to Novel Kicks…
From R-L: Me, Helen, Bella and Mick
Helen Jackson
Helen has been reading since she can remember. If she was ever lost as a kid, she could always be found with her head in a book. This love of books carried on through her teens and now way (way) into adulthood. Helen is also a keen writer and has recently started editing the book she hopes you’ll be reading soon.
Read about Helen’s writing, reading and the life that comes between her and these goals on her blog under her not-so-secret, and slightly outdated online persona Newtowritinggirl or on Twitter.
She lives with her boyfriend a stone’s throw from the Thames in her second favourite city London (favourite being New York – of course )
Bella Osborne
Bella has been jotting down her stories for as far back as she can remember. Her first novel, It Started at Sunset Cottage was recently published by Harper Impulse. Bella says that “writing your own story really is the best fun ever but it’s a close run thing along with talking, eating chocolate, drinking fizz and planning holidays!”
She lives in The Midlands with her husband and daughter. She writes the Bella Scribblings column for Novel Kicks. Bella also has her own blog.
Mick Arnold
Mick is a forty-something member of the Romantic Novelists Association, New Writers Scheme. He lives in Northamptonshire and is the proud keeper of a cat bent on world domination.
When he’s not trying to write books, Mick has a deep-seated love of reading that he’s brought from his teens to the current day with no signs of waning. He’s also mad on the music of the Beach Boys and enjoys the theatre and humouring his Manchester United supporting wife.
Mick can be followed on Twitter
Liz Hewett
Liz is an avid reader and writer. She’s married to Keith and is currently living in Hampshire with their mischievous but loveable cat, Jeff. When she hasn’t got her head stuck in a book you can find her putting pen to paper and editing her own book that she wrote for Nanowrimo 2014. In fact, she has always loved writing and had her first article published at the age of 8 in a local church magazine.
Liz absolutely loves reading to the extent that she has even made herself a reading area in their small house which is lined with masses of books and book inspired posters. She loves many different genres from chick lit, travel lit to murder mystery and thrillers. Some of her favourite authors are: Sophie Kinsella, Freya North, Tess Gerritsen and J.D Robb (Nora Robert’s pen name). Liz also loves discovering new books and authors and will listen and try out anyone’s recommendations. Her current inspirations for writing are the holidays she’s been on including Majorca, Italy and Barcelona as her book is of the travel/foodie/romance genre. As you may be able to tell Liz is also a complete foodie and loves trying out different countries’ foods and cuisines.
Liz can be found over on Twitter.
For terms and conditions for posting on Novel Kicks, click the link at the bottom of the page.
by NK Chats To.... : Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde is the author of ‘First Among Sequels,’ ‘The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next),’ and the latest release, ‘Shades of Grey.’
Describe your typical writing day?
Author Photo: Mari Fforde.
I try to get a head start by kicking off the day at 7:30, in order to get a good head of steam to tackle the book. I find that if you concentrate fully and for long periods of time, then it all comes a lot easier – a bit like getting ‘on the step’ while jet-skiing. Once you get that speed up, then ideas and situations come a lot easier – full concentration and absorption. But like most humans I am easily distracted, so if something happens to kick me off the step, then I might not get back into it that morning, and if shopping, eBay, daytime TV or baby daughter require attention in the afternoon, the day can dwindle rapidly into non-productivity. We’re currently building an extension to the house, and my new office – cell, actually- will be empty except a word-processor, and no phone, no internet, no books, no nothing – not even a view. I may even insist on being bricked up for six months and fed food through a slot – now that would make me write books faster!
When starting a novel, what planning do you do in advance?
I don’t structure novels in advance. I wish that I could; it would make writing them a lot more efficient. I tend to just pick five or six different strands that I want to include, and then write them in parallel before figuring out a way of intertwining them at the end. There’s a lot of rewriting. And a lot of wastage. I usually write 300,000 words and eventually get down to a 100,000.
by NK Chats To.... : Lola Jaye
Lola Jaye is the author of ‘By The Time You Read This,’ and ‘While You Were Dreaming.’ Lola shared her pre-publishing journey via her blog before finding success as a published writer. Here Lola share’s with Novel Kicks; where she finds her inspiration, her typical writing day and who she’d have over for dinner…
Where do you find your inspiration?
It varies. I can be on a tube or watching TV and an idea can pop into my head! For my first book By the Time You Read this… I was slap bang in the middle of a real writing slump – not feeling very inspired and basically in ‘writers block zone’ – as I sat in my PJ’s watching The Oprah Show about a dying mother who left a collection of keepsakes for her daughter. The story was very, very moving and afterwards I began to think;
What if there were no computers, DVD’s, MP3’s, computers, or video cameras on phones?
What if this was a father?
What if he simply wrote a letter to his daughter?
What if I switch on my computer and see what happens…?
I did and By The Time You Read This… was born!
by NK Chats To.... : Phamie MacDonald
Phamie Macdonald is the author of the children’s series ‘The Planets.’ The first in the series; ‘Sam Sun,’ is already growing in popularity amongst children. Novel Kicks caught up with Phamie to talk about her inspiration behind the series and what tips she had for authors wanting to write for children.
What was the inspiration behind your planets series?
I was inspired to create the series when I was making a documentary about solar eclipses. My business partner at the time was doing some research and was shouting out really interesting facts and figures about the solar system across the office (like for example – why do the moon and sun appear to be the same size in the sky when the sun is 400 times bigger than the moon? Because the sun is 400 times further away from us!) That day I went back to my office with my head full of beautiful images of space and the planets and just thinking how stunning and exciting space really is and I wondered how I could get children excited about space. I decided the best way would be to make the Planets themselves tell their own story and allow the readers to connect with the Planet characters in a really exciting way. The idea was born very quickly after that.
by NK Chats To.... : Matt Dunn
Matt Dunn is the author of five romantic comedy novels: Best Man, The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook, From Here to Paternity, Ex-Girlfriends United and The Good Bride Guide. Novel Kicks caught up with Matt to see what inspired him and what advice he had for new writers….
What’s your inspiration?
Life, really – I just tend to write about the kind of issues that I or my friends have had. Let’s face it, ‘relationships’ is a pretty big subject, and it’s the one thing in common that we all pursue – with varying degrees of success – for most of our lives. Which gives me a lot of material.
What was your route to publication?
I wrote my first novel, Best Man, while taking a break from my job as an IT Recruitment Consultant, then went through the usual depressing cycle of rejections from agents and publishers, but for every nine ‘thanks, but no thanks’ replies, there was one that gave me a hint or tip about how I might improve the book. I tried to incorporate their advice, re-wrote, kept on submitting, and eventually found an agent prepared to take me on. He in turn found a great editor who liked it, and offered me a two-book deal. Which rather shocked me, because I didn’t realise I’d have to write another one.
by NK Chats To.... : Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell is the author of seven novels; ‘Ralph’s Party,’ ‘Thirtynothing,’ ‘One – Hit Wonder,’ ‘A Friend of the Family,’ ‘Vince and Joy,’ ’31 Dream Street’ and ‘The Truth About Melody Browne.’ She used to be a Secretary until redundancy, a bet and a book deal.
Describe your typical writing day?
I take my eldest daughter to school, go to the gym, go to Waitrose, come home, leave my youngest daughter downstairs with her babysitter and then head up to my study at the top of the house where I then spend somewhere between one hour, and occasionally four hours, faffing about on the internet, replying to e-mails, ordering clothes and posting in chat rooms. I have an early lunch at my desk and then at some point I will pull myself together and write some words. In the early months of writing a book this can be anywhere between one and five hundred words a day. In the last few weeks of writing a book I have been known to write as many as eight thousand. At 3.15 I turn off my computer and head off to school again to collect my eldest then spend the rest of the day being a mother.
by NK Chats To.... : Christina Jones
Christina Jones is the award winning writer of many novels, the latest, ‘Moonshine,’ is due for release in January 2010. She’s the winner of ‘The Pure Passion Award’ for her novel ‘Love Potions,’ as well as a recipient of a ‘Melissa Nathan Comedy Romance Award’ for ‘Heaven Sent.’
What is your inspiration?
Life! Listening-in on other people’s conversations and people-watching and making things up about them! People are funny – and I write romantic comedy – so it’s wonderful just to listen-in. Being plain nosey I suppose…
Describe your typical writing day?
Muddled and chaotic! I start writing at 6 a.m. and write until mid-day when I go to work in the local pub as a barmaid (great for inspiration!). I’ve always got something on the go – either a book or a short story or both – and I just pick up on where I was the day before. I only ever do one draft of anything, re-writing as I go along. I’m not some one who can set myself a certain number of words a day. I just do what I’m capable of doing. Sometimes it’s loads – sometimes I just put a comma in and take it out again….
by NK Chats To.... : Cecelia Ahern
Cecelia Ahern is the best selling author of seven novels, the latest ‘The Book of Tomorrow’ released next month. She has also become the youngest recipient of a ‘Nielsen Book Platinum Award’ for achieving over a million sales in the UK for her first novel ‘P.S I love you.’ She has written various short stories and co-created the TV series ‘Samantha Who.’ Novel Kicks caught up with Cecelia to chat about what inspires her and what her tips are for aspiring Writers.
Describe your typical writing day?
I don’t really have a typical writing day, as every day is different. I’m an all-or-nothing writer so if I wake up and feel like I don’t have anything to say, well then I don’t sit down to write. I can spend up to a few days just allowing the story to bubble away in my head and then when it’s ready, I sit down and I write day and night, night and day and I don’t stop until it’s time to mull it all over again. I think my most natural writing time is the evening and night. I prefer to write when time feels slower. At night, the pace of life is different, the world is quieter and I can think a lot better. I also enjoy writing on Sundays when I feel time is less manic. When I wrote PS I Love You I wrote from 10pm till 6am every night but of course I can’t work like that anymore as life has a tendency to get in the way. I work until about 3 am now. My only routine is that I like to light a candle, feel completely settled and peaceful, and write longhand. I write a chapter and then usually type it up the next day, editing and rewriting as I go along.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by life. I feel like I’m like a great big sponge that absorbs the world and then when I sit down to write, all of these things that I didn’t notice noticing all come seeping out onto the page.
by NK Chats To.... : Diana Gabaldon
Describe your writing style in one sentence?
I write like a jellyfish hunts: drifting through the water at the beck of wind and current (this is not the same thing as randomness, btw), my tentacles trailing an invisible cloud of sensitivity until they encounter some entertainingly edible fragment—at which point, I glom onto it and sting it to death.
by Useful Links : Novel Kicks Blog
We’re having a brilliant first week here at Novel Kicks. Welcome to all the new members who have registered since we launched last Thursday. Don’t forget to check out our ‘Author Interview’ section where you can gain advice from authors Robyn Young, Fiona Walker and Kate Harrison.
by NK Chats To.... : Kate Harrison
Kate Harrison is the author of five books, her latest The Secret Shopper’s Revenge was recently nominated for a ‘Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance.’ We caught up with Kate to find out about her life as a writer and what advice she had for anyone who was thinking of becoming one…As an author, what’s your inspiration?
I’m inspired by the things that make me laugh or make me stop and think – conversations with friends, encounters or people I see on the street, the questions that keep me awake sometimes – but mainly by the privilege of being able to imagine other people’s lives and loves and thoughts.
Continue reading
by NK Chats To.... : Robyn Young
Robyn Young, author of Brethren and Crusade
Interview by Roland Hulme, August 21st 2006
How long goes past between coming up with the idea for a story and actually sitting down and putting pen to paper?
It’s fairly hard to answer the first question, what length of time passes between the idea and the first moment of writing, as it varies from project to project. My first two novels, unpublished, were to be part of a fantasy series and I think I simply sat down to write them when I was inspired. Brethren was a much slower process, because of the fact that I had to do so much research before I could even think about facing the blank page. I also spent a few months playing around with different perspectives and characters before I began writing seriously.
by NK Chats To.... : Fiona Walker.
How did you get into writing? What inspired you to write your first book and why did you pick that particular genre?
I wrote French Relations initially as an exercise in occupational therapy – and then because it became an obsession, only finally suggesting itself as a potential career path.
I was laid low with a kidney infection, and signed off work for six weeks – longing for something entertaining to read. In the end, despairing of finding quite the right escapist fix, I started to write it myself. This was 1990, before ‘Chick Lit’ ever existed, more an era of bonk-busters and Aga Sagas. I adored anything funny – Jilly Cooper being a huge favourite – but also really wanted something that related to my own life, with a heroine that wasn’t a high-flyer, and a hero who laughed and talked her into love rather than throwing her on a silk-sheeted four-poster in a series of acrobatic sexual maneuvers. Hence Tash French was born – the idea of the family gathering inspired by one of my own Rabelaisian kin’s summer parties.
by Book Club
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