Questions
- How do you get an idea for a book?
- Do you plan out the whole book before you write it?
- Describe a typical writing day.
- What writing rituals do you have?
- What do you do when you have writer's block?
- How do you balance writing and your other full time job?
- Are your books or characters autobiographical?
- What advice can you give to writers starting out?
- How do you go about getting a book published?
- Which living author do you most admire and why?
Answers
Are your books or characters autobiographical?
Not really. Of course, I'm a stepmother myself – I met my stepson when I was 23 – so there are little snippets of my personal experience in there, but I spoke to lots of women about their experience of being a stepmother (or having one) in the course of my research and that informed my characters. As well as all the characters who are in stepmother situations, there's a single mum, one who's divorced, one who's a widower, one who wants to be a stand-up comedian – none of those are me! Anyway, life doesn't tend to be that interesting, so you have to use your imagination.