Q&A

Where do you get your ideas from?

I’m not quite sure, which sounds silly, I know. People have been asking me this a lot lately and it’s weird that I don’t have an exact answer.

Life, I guess. Bits of me, bits of my friends and family, and things I’ve observed along the way. I’m a terrible people watcher. I often get completely sucked into other people’s conversations and neglect my own.

Some of the subject matter in Love, Pain & Nothing More is actually quite close to my heart and comes from things I witnessed growing up. That, combined with a story I once heard on the radio about a man who had been stabbed twenty-seven times by his girlfriend, it got me thinking. I remember listening to the programme and wondering why so many people sounded shocked that something like this could happen to a man.

That question stayed with me, and eventually became part of the story.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

In some form or another, yes.

I’ve always loved anything creative and media-based. I’ve had plenty of ideas about what I might like my career to be over the years, from photographer to cinematographer to continuity editor. I even looked into working in conservation for a while. They were all big ideas, but whenever I looked into them properly, something never felt quite right.

I’ve always written here and there. As a child, I wrote silly little plays and made my cousins perform them while my Grampy recorded everything. I saw myself as a writer and director and loved the power of being able to create a whole world from nothing.

I even created my own newspaper as a child, complete with made-up stories. There was no research or accuracy involved whatsoever.

At one point, I thought about becoming a screenwriter. I wrote half a script but couldn’t quite see where I wanted it to go, so I tucked it away in a box in the loft.

Then I became really interested in film and TV and spent most of my free time in the cinema. I even had some experience with ItsMyShout, a scheme run by the BBC. Around the same time, I started my own blog reviewing films and TV shows. I loved it and briefly thought about becoming a critic. The company I wrote for eventually went under, though, and for some reason I never thought to start it up again myself.

Then, one night, I was tossing and turning in bed and struggling to sleep when a idea popped into my head. I lay there thinking about it for a while and, all of a sudden, I was off. I grabbed my phone, hid under the duvet so I wouldn’t disturb my partner and started writing.

That night, I wrote the first chapter of my book.

The next day, I bought a laptop.

And I’ve spent the last five years writing my debut novel.

So yes, I’ve always loved writing and creating. But thanks to a fairly massive dose of imposter syndrome, I never really believed I could actually write a book of my own.

I dream of becoming a full-time author. For now, though, I’ll have to be content with the day job and writing whenever I can.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

Ultimately, I was getting itchy feet.

I knew how difficult it could be to find an agent or publisher. I’d spoken to authors who had sent their novels to more than a hundred agents before getting any interest. I tried for around ten months myself, sending Love, Pain & Nothing More to around fifty agents.

Then I came across a question on an agent’s website: “Have you self-published, and how many have you sold?”

It hadn’t even crossed my mind that I could self-publish and still look for an agent.

So that’s what I decided to do. I wanted to get my work out there, start working on my next idea and, hopefully, learn a few things along the way.

I’m still sending my book to agents and looking for representation, but I’m very happy that I have an actual physical book sitting in my hands.

It still feels like a dream.

What’s your writing routine?

I don’t really have one.

I jot down ideas whenever they come to me, usually in the notes app on my phone. After a while, I’ll move them onto Post-it notes and start moving them around until I’m happy with the rough order and can begin to see the story forming in my head.

Sometimes only tiny snippets come to me. I’ll write them down and then proceed to procrastinate.

There have been days when I don’t feel like writing at all, and others when it’s all I can think about.

I write from lots of different places, but I always need to be warm and cosy. Music helps me a lot too. You know when you’re watching a film and the soundtrack adds something to the scene? It’s the same when I’m writing. If I have music playing, I seem to be able to picture the scene much more clearly than when I’m sitting in silence.

It’s hard to have much of a routine when you’re writing around a day job, so I’ve learned to write whenever the mood, the ideas or the free time happen to appear.

How do you get to know your characters?

This is a hard question.

Ultimately, I get to know them by writing about them. Things seem to come to me in fragments here and there, and as the story develops, I learn more about who they are.

Sometimes I’ll go back and change something about a character because it no longer feels right. I’ve even completely changed characters after the first draft or got rid of some altogether.

It’s an ever-evolving process. Sometimes I feel like I’m creating the characters, and sometimes it feels more like they’re telling me what they’re going to do.

Who are your favourite authors and books?

The late, great Sophie Kinsella is probably the person who got me into reading. Before discovering her Shopaholic books, I’d mostly only read books because I had to for school, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it. Then I discovered Sophie Kinsella and suddenly I couldn’t stop reading. I went on to study English Literature at college, so she definitely had some part to play in that. Twenties Girl is one of her books that has always stuck with me.

I also absolutely love Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. I’ve probably read it more than ten times. I love the way the whole story is told through letters, emails, texts and other snippets of their lives. You don’t get everything, but somehow you still get so much. I love it. I also adore the film adaptation Love, Rosie.

Ruby Red by Linzi Glass is another favourite. I originally picked it up because I have a small obsession with South Africa, but the story itself completely stayed with me. It’s such a powerful, moving and poignant read, and it’s another book I’ve gone back to more than once.

Some of my other favourites include Beth O’Leary, Sophia Money-Coutts, Liane Moriarty, Jodi Picoult, Terry Pratchett and J.D. Salinger.

What are your other interests?

Photography is a big passion of mine, especially nature photography. I love sitting still, watching the world go by and seeing what I can capture with my camera. I often feel a bit like Sean O’Connell from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which is one of my favourite films. There’s something about being somewhere beautiful with a camera that makes you slow down and actually notice what’s around you.

Film and TV are another big one. Although I’m probably a nightmare to watch anything with because I spot pretty much every continuity mistake. I can’t help it. The upside is that I also get ridiculously excited about tiny details that nobody else notices, or little Easter eggs hidden in plain sight.

I also love bouldering. I’ve always disliked the gym and conventional exercise. The monotony of it makes me feel exhausted before I’ve even started. Bouldering is different. It feels more like solving a puzzle than exercising, although I’m not exactly claiming to be any good at it.

And generally, anything outdoors. Swimming, hiking, exploring, being by the water or just spending time in nature. I’m happiest when I’m outside somewhere, preferably with a camera or a book nearby.

Are you planning to write another novel?

Absolutely!

I already have a few ideas forming. It’ll be a completely new story, with new characters, new complications, and, knowing me, some emotional element.

I’ve got one idea for a romance and another for a thriller. Now I just need to decide which one I’m most excited about and get to work!