Q: Why did you start writing?
I managed to make it to the age of forty before it ever occurred to me to write a word of fiction. Then, in 2004, I watched a BBC television adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic novel, ‘North and South’, and fell in love with the wonderful Richard Armitage in the lead role. I went on the internet to read more about him and about the programme – and discovered a world of North and South fanfic. That was how I began – having a go at my own fanfic, while still in a Richard Armitage-induced romantic haze.
Q: Did you ever think you would be a published author?
In my day job, I am a lecturer at Cambridge University, where I teach law, so I had already published a fair bit, but all of it a far cry from chick lit. My last book had been the sexily titled ‘Property Disrepair and
Dilapidations: A Guide to the Law’. It never occurred to me in a million years I could write a novel!
Q: Where did you find the courage to submit your writing after never attempting it before?
There were several of us writing North and South fanfic who branched out to try our hand at our own original fiction, and we encouraged one another to have a go at pitching for publication. Of the original band of us, five are now published novelists! Without that support and camaraderie, I’m not sure I’d have dared to make the attempt.
Q: Your contemporary fiction novels are tinged with romance and comedy. Why did you choose this genre, or did it more “choose you?”
I think romantic fiction was a natural choice after starting out the way I did. Blame Richard Armitage! But the contemporary settings and humorous voice just seemed to come from nowhere.
Q: You have your fourth novel coming out in July, The Tapestry of Love. What can you tell us about this story?
The new novel is set in France, in a remote mountain hamlet in the Cevennes, where Englishwoman Catherine Parkstone moves to begin a new life.
Divorced, with grown children, she has decided to set up in business as a seamstress – and also makes tapestries of the scenes around her. It’s not quite the rural idyll she’d imagined, though: there is mountain weather to contend with, and French bureaucracy, and the reserve of her new neighbours. Among them is the intriguing Patrick Castagnol, who seems to be
a man of secrets And that’s before the arrival of Catherine’s forthright
sister, Bryony, who throws everything into confusion.
Q: Where do you find the inspiration for your characters and plots?
That’s a very difficult question to answer. The characters, I suppose, have traits of people I’ve met, people I know – but then on the page they take on a life of their own. And as for plots, these just appear from nowhere. I am not a planner: I begin with some characters and an initial situation of conflict, and the story then just goes where the characters take it.
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
As you might guess from the source of my original inspiration, I love the
classics: Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot. Among contemporary writers I love Anne Tyler, Anita Shreve, Barbara Trapido, Kate Atkinson, E Annie Proulx, Jane Smiley. My favourite chick lit author is Phillipa Ashley.
Q: How do you enjoy your free time?
What free time? I have a full-time job, daughters of 13 and 11, and am moonlighting as a novelist. If I do have any time, I like to spend it with my girls, my partner and our two spaniels, at the beach or walking in the countryside.
Q: Are you more of an indoors or outdoors person?
Too often indoors, working or writing – not often enough outdoors with the kids and the dogs!
Q: What is your best advice for aspiring writers?
Read as much as you can, and read books you know are better than you could ever write yourself. Then just write. Write every day, if possible, even if it’s only a couple of sentences – but write!
Q: What would be your dream vacation?
Since writing ‘The Tapestry of Love’ I have had a hankering to spend a holiday in the Cevennes, in Catherine’s mountains. I set the novel there because of two wonderful holidays we had there before we had the girls – and now I am longing to go back.
