1. Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Like many aspiring authors I loved writing at school and bugged my teachers when I felt too many days had gone by without a creative writing assignment, much to the dismay of some of my classmates. But after I left school I didn’t make writing a priority. In my twenties I was too focused on studies and then my career, climbing the corporate ladder within a recruitment company. Suddenly I was in my thirties. I had a demanding job and we had three children in rapid succession, so writing remained ‘something I’ll get around to’ for almost another decade. That changed when we came to Canada in 2010. I had the opportunity to work less and from home, and at last I got creative.
2. Which author has inspired you most?
There are so many. Stephen King for his incredible imagination and no nonsense writing advice. I often refer to his book On Writing. I’m a huge fan of Lisa Jewell too. I have all of her novels and am in awe of the increasing complexity and sophistication of her stories and characters. I love Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Reese’s co-written books for their fantastic humour. David Nicholls’ novels are clever, funny and poignant. Jojo Moyes is a master at dealing with challenging subjects in a skilful manner. And J.K. Rowling, of course, who is incredible on every level.
3. Do you have a certain place where you like to write?
I usually work in the home office I share with my husband Rob, although I’m alone during the day when the boys are at school and he’s at work. In the evenings I’ll often read a new passage to Rob because he’s fantastic at giving feedback and asking that pesky but crucial question ‘Why?’
Sometimes I’ll work in a coffee shop, at the library, or wherever one of our sons has a sports class. I’m the crazy lady in the corner, muttering and furiously scribbling notes. When I’m not at home I write freehand. Putting pen to paper makes me think differently and I find it particularly helpful when I’m stuck on a section or if I’m outlining something new. In fact I write most of my short stories first by hand, and they’re often prompted during a writing workshop.
4. Can you tell us about your journey to becoming a published author?
It’s been fraught with trepidation and self-doubt, and from what I hear I didn’t start in a logical way. Instead of practicing with, say, a couple of short stories, I jumped straight into writing Time After Time. I finished the first draft in about six weeks, but now I know it wasn’t that great and certainly not good enough to secure agent representation. After a mountain of rejection letters I had the novel critiqued, which was essential in making progress.
I took a few weekend writing workshops and wrote a number of short stories. Then I attended weekly writing classes and won a spot on Curtis Brown Creative’s six-month online novel writing course. The classes fuelled my passion for writing and the comments on my pieces gave me the confidence to continue. And while obtaining feedback was incredibly helpful, the opportunity to see other people’s writing – how they created believable plots and characters – proved invaluable. It opened my eyes and mind to structuring things in different ways, trying out other techniques, and removed the fear of admitting, ‘I’m stuck here. Help.’
Shortly after the Curtis Brown Creative course I secured representation from The Rights Factory in Toronto, which felt incredible. After a round of edits, Time After Time was ready to be submitted to publishers. As soon as it went out I fretted until I realised things were, quite literally, out of my hands. I had no more control over the manuscript so I took a deep breath and concentrated on my second novel. When HarperCollins made an offer to acquire Time After Time a little while later I couldn’t believe it. Actually sometimes I still can’t!
5. Why did you write Time After Time?
I’d lived in Canada for a while but still felt homesick. The HR company I’d launched was failing, all of which left me feeling pretty lousy. One morning I started wondering what my life would have been like if I’d made different choices – if we hadn’t left Switzerland, for example. That was when the idea for the novel popped into my head. My sons were on holiday so I took them to an indoor playground, lined up snacks and water bottles on the table and said, ‘Eat, drink and play as long as you want.’ Three hours later I had the outline of the novel and three happy but exhausted sons.
I felt a ‘What if …’ theme would resonate because most of us have second-guessed our choices at some point. I wanted to show that while an alternate life might be perfect in our imagination, the reality could be the complete opposite. The best things that have happened to us might still be right in front of our eyes – it’s seeing past the daily routine and the mundane parts of life that can be the biggest challenge.
6. What is the best thing about being an author?
It’s impossible to pick only one!
Meeting other writers – whether already published or aspiring to be – and people in the writing community is always a highlight. I have found writers to be supportive and encouraging, interested in the stories we have to tell each other, and full of pertinent advice. I recently asked a ten-book author if the feelings of insecurity about writing ever go away. She laughed and replied, ‘No, and nor should they. A good writer always has to question their work.’ It made me feel a lot better!
Another wonderful side is the joy of making things up – I love having a few words, a line of dialogue or an unusual character or object, and creating a story or a scene around it. Letting your imagination run wild can be liberating. You can do anything you want because you decide if anybody sees what you’ve written, so you can go as crazy as you please.
But I think the best part has to be seeing and hearing people’s reactions to a story. ‘I laughed out loud when …’ or ‘I cried so hard at …’ is an amazing thing to hear and I’m always humbled by the feedback I receive. One of my test-readers for Time After Time said when she finished the novel she hugged her husband and told him how much she loved him. To think that my story generated that reaction is incredible. I hope to entertain people with my stories and have them enjoy the time they spend with the characters. If I can do that then I truly have the best job in the world.
7. What are you writing next?
I completed my second novel, which is about lies, betrayal and how one untruth destroys two families. It was a challenge because the story is told from three view-points; mother, father and teenage daughter, and spans more than twenty years. I read some of the father’s chapters to my husband to ensure they were masculine enough, and I listened to a lot of 80s music to get myself back into a teenage mindset. Thankfully I didn’t have to break out my old legwarmers – or perm my hair!
I’m now working on the outline of my third novel, as well as a children’s chapter book series. I want to keep telling stories for as long as people will let me!
8. Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
Read as much and as often as you can. If you want to write a great story then you need to read great stories too. Don’t wait for inspiration to hit you to start writing. Let your imagination wander or better yet, let it completely loose. Write a sentence, a paragraph, a page. Scribble complete nonsense – it doesn’t matter. Chances are you won’t show your first draft to anybody. Looking at it that way it can help the words flow.
Take a writing class, attend a workshop, join a writing group. Surround yourself with people who are aspiring or published writers too. When you’re ready, have the courage to ask for feedback on your pieces. In time, trust your instinct on which comments not to consider. If, for example, the room is divided then go with your gut. If the majority is of the same opinion then the feedback is definitely worth a closer look.
You’ll need more than a bucket load of patience in this business so if you’ve submitted something and are waiting for feedback then try to put it out of your mind. Start a new project, keep writing and don’t give up!
And finally, keep a pen and notepad next to your bed. When you scribble ‘Kill Ellen!!!’ with black eyeliner on a magazine in the middle of the night your spouse will look at you funny the next morning. Trust me. Best of luck!