Q: I read that you never had the thought to be a writer. What changed your mind?
I fell into it completely by accident. Years ago I worked for a television programme presenting a feature on aromatherapy and started to write my own scripts. Then I progressed to articles about aromatherapy for whatever magazine would take it. I also happened to be getting a magazine called Writers’ News which had both market leads for freelancers and also short story competitions. I entered their annual love story competition and, to my amazement, won. Instead of blowing the money on shoes and handbags, I spent it on a writing course. As the course approached, I thought I’d better write something to take with me and started my first novel. The course tutor read it and loved it. She recommended an agent and he took me on straight away. He sold the book a week later. That book became my first published novel – Let’s Meet on Platform 8.
Q: What is your favorite part of the writing process?
I enjoy all of it – research, planning, creating the characters. There’s no better way to spend a working day.
Q: Do you have a favorite book or author?
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I love this book and wish I’d written it. I still can’t bring myself to see the film in case I’m disappointed.
Q: Where do your ideas for your story lines or characters come from?
Generally, from life, magazines, newspapers, stories that people tell you. There are stories all around just waiting to be told. I’m a great collector of anecdotes.
Q: Are any of your characters based on perhaps you or people you know?
Not really. You need to know your characters far more than you would a person, but you can sometimes pinch quirks or features from real people. Having said that, I’m way too much like my own heroines!
Q: I just finished reading With or Without You and I loved it! Did you do research in the Himalayas to write this novel?
This is one of my own personal favourites too. Yes, we did go to the Himalayas. The idea for this book started when I first met my partner, Lovely Kev who makes Indiana Jones look like a sloth. For our second holiday together he booked a three-week camping trek in the Himalayas. I am a five-star hotel kind of woman. All my friends were panicking about how I was going to manage and I was training by jogging on a treadmill in my garage with a backpack full of tinned soup. That gave me the idea for the story.
Q: Can you pick one of your novels that you can say would be your favorite? Or the one that you had the most fun writing or researching?
Continuing the trekking theme, part of my latest book – It’s Now or Never – features my heroine setting out on the Inca Trail in Peru. The book I’m currently writing is set partly in the Maasai Mara in Kenya on a game safari. It’s nice to be able to feature a few exotic locations in the books.
Q: What do you love the most about being a writer? Any fabulous perks you can tell us about?
Strangely, for a profession that consists mainly of me sitting in a room on my own, I like meeting my readers most of all. That’s probably why I spend huge amounts of time on Facebook too! It’s not just a marvelous work avoidance technique!
One fabulous perk is – again – down to my readers. After writing The Chocolate Lovers’ Club and The Chocolate Lovers’ Diet my readers like to send me gifts of chocolate. Receiving chocolate in the post on a regular basis is a good thing.
Q: How long does it usually take you to complete writing a book, from start to finish?
I’m contracted to do two books a year, so I need to squeeze one into six months.
Q: What would be your advice to aspiring writers?
Enjoy your writing. Too many people that I meet on workshops seem to struggle and wrestle and fight with their writing. Relax and let it flow. If you can’t think of anything to write about, then do some crazy things to get your creative juices flowing .
Q: What is or would be your favorite place to travel?
You know, I’ve been lucky to go to so many different countries that it would be hard to pick a favourite. Somewhere very special was the Galapagos Islands – followed closely by Nepal, China and the Maasai Mara takes some beating. Being just a few feet away from a wild male lion is something that I won’t forget in a hurry.
