Thank you to Sophie King for stopping by CLP with an interview! Be sure to check out her latest – the short story collection titled Tales From the Heart!
When did you know writing was for you?
From before I can remember. Honestly. It was my escape as a child and it still is. Besides, I couldn’t do anything else. The very sight of a statistic sends me into cold shivers. As for the ‘P’ word (physics), don’t even mention it.
Tales From the Heart, a collection of short stories, is now on sale. Why did you want to put together a collection of short stories, and how was this process different from writing a full-length novel?
I wanted to put together a collection because I’ve had hundreds of short stories published over the years in women’s magazines. It’s wonderful when they’re on sale but then they are forgotten, unlike a book which sits on the shelves. (I’m a published novelist too). The process of writing short stories starts off in the same way as a novel in that you begin with the germ of an idea. But the idea needs to be one that can be wrapped up within 800 – 2000 words instead of 120,000. Your characters must still be vivid but they’re a sort of thumbnail sketch. And you need to keep the reader on his/her toes by changing the pace every few paragraphs instead of every few pages. It also takes less time. But it’s certainly not an easy option. You also need to think of a topic that hasn’t been done to death in the past – or else you need to treat it in a different way.
How would you describe your books?
Funny, contemporary and (as one reviewer kindly said) not afraid to tackle the nitty gritty of life.
What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
The fourth revision. The best bit is writing the first draft. It’s like free skating.
What are your favorite genres to read?
Modern suspense. Some romance. Some historical. My children’s emails. Tide time tables. I’m an eclectic reader.
What do you want readers to take away from your story?
A haunting feeling mixed with hope and a sense that we’re all in this together.
How important do you think social media is for authors these days?
Horribly important. You have to be careful to limit it up to a point or no one would write the books to go with the social media promotion. Sometimes I think it’s a conspiracy by techies who secretly want to write novels themselves. It’s not fair. I didn’t become a writer to learn about computers. Luckily I have a couple of friends who help me out when my computer is having an off day.
What would be your advice to aspiring writers?
Listen to your gut feeling. Write about what you feel passionate about or else your writing won’t sing. Keep the pace going by making sure that something interesting happens regularly. Act out your characters in your head or walk across the room in the way that they do. Cut out magazine pictures from Sunday supplements and make a mood board – it helps you to
imagine your characters. Network : join the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Read and analyse how dialogue is laid out and how it moves the plot along instead of just talking about the weather. I’ve also written a book called HOW TO WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL and another called HOW TO WRITE SHORT STORIES AND GET PUBLISHED. They’re published by How To Books.
Tales from the Heart by Sophie King is published by Corazon Books exclusively as an ebook on Monday 9th July 2012 and is available from Amazon.
Sophie King’s novels include the bestseller The School Run and The Wedding Party, which was short-listed for “Love Story of the Year” by the Romantic Novelists Association. More info at: www.sophieking.info www.greatstorieswithheart.com
