I Interviewed Lisa Jewell!

I know!

Lovely publisher people, Random House sent me Lisa's new book, 'The Making of Us' (and it's not even released yet!)  I couldn't wait - and couldn't STOP reading it... it's just UTTERLY,  UTTERLY FABULOUS,  there's no other way of saying it.  It should be on prescription, it should be made compulsory reading,  it should be posted through everybody's letterboxes immediately.  Everyone should read this.   And if they don't, well then, they have no soul.

And if you pop over to Strictly Writing right now you can see what Lisa has to say about this new, utterly, utterly fabulous book (oh, did I say that already?) and other things besides. And there's even *whisper* talk of a movie!

Oh, and while you're here, why not read "Why Lisa is the Jewell in my Crown"  post I wrote last year, which I've just noticed that nobody commented on at the time, so I don't know if anybody actually, like, read it or not.  Anyway, if you click on the Lisa Jewell link tag at the end of this post, it'll take you to it (hopefully, I'm not the best at technical wizzardry).

Happy Friday everypeeps!

Quick Fire Questions with.... ME!

Which 3 writers, living or dead, would you invite to dinner?

Enid Blyton (I’d love to know if she were really THAT bad)
Stephen Fry (well… he writes, doesn’t he?)
Keris Stainton (‘cos we’d have such a laugh with Stephen – and he might even bring David Mitchell if we asked nicely. No, not the writer, the comedian. So? Who’s question is this anyway?)

Favourite writing snack?

None. Bits get in between the keys and then it irritates me when I can’t get them out and I end up getting a row of uuuuuuuuuuuuu’s across the screen and…well, it’s just too messy.

Background music?

Tried it a few times. I’m sure I SHOULD have some Mantovani or Vivaldi (or even Paulo Nutini) weaving its way through my creative core but it’s just another distraction. Oh, the ice cream van playing ‘Captain Pugwash’ just went past – does that count?

Longhand or computer?

D-er!

The best thing about being published is...
D-er!

And the worst thing…

D-er!

Win the Booker prize or land a Hollywood film deal?

Oh god, I should be so lucky!

A writer should never...

Slag off Agents on-line. Of this I’m sure. And they should write. Loads – apparently. At least that’s what they all say when they’re asked this question. The proper ones, I mean.

X Factor, Strictly CD or I’m a Celebrity?

Strictly, but only by a whisker and more because it’s on the Beeb and hasn’t got annoying adverts every seven minutes. I know, I get irritated very easily, don’t I?

My best ideas come…

When I’m in the shower. I don’t know what it is… think it’s the boredom and the half-asleep-having just woken up thing – I like to play dreams over too whilst I’m waking up under the blast (if I remember them) and I also do a whole lot of ‘I wonder if…’s and ‘what would happen if….’s. And strangely enough, it’s the only room I actually LOCK myself in. In. So maybe there’s the freedom of thought without distractions.

Independent bookshop or Amazon?

Love the indies and wish our Waterstone’s in town had a coffee/seating area. I went to a bookshop once that had both once and I felt like a child in a sweet shop. If I could have, I’d have moved in. Forever.
But I’m an Amazon-addict and spend all my pocket money there. After I’ve read extracts on the LoveReading.com site first, to make sure I’m going to like it.

You really must read...

‘Bet Me’ by Jenny Crusie. Not just because it starts with “Once upon a time” and ends with “happily ever after” but because the bit in between is just Ssssooo delicious!
And Lisa Jewell's 'Vince and Joy' which is just perfect too.

Left on a cliff-hanger or told all?

I get (yawn, yawn) irritated by cliff-hangers. I go a little bit Tony Hancock with his “missing last page” sketch (Lady Don’t Fall Backwards). Such a laugh – and so true. I’d end up wrapping myself up in knots and stalking the author to FORCE them to finish it properly!

My biggest Writing tip is…

Join a Group. I don’t mean AA or Girls Aloud. A writing group. Where you can talk words. People you work with will listen and nod, but they’ll never really ‘get’ it like another writer does.

Which fictional character would it be great to be?

Oh, definitely Minerva Dobbs in ‘Bet Me’. She’s so sassy, wickedly funny, loves her food and gets her man.

My journey to publication was...

“Is….” Ongoing. I hope.

Favourite book from childhood…

‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton. I had a bit of a crush on Moonface, I have to admit.

Oh! Is that IT? And I was having such fun...

Why Lisa is the Jewell in my crown

The first time I read Lisa Jewell's 'Vince and Joy' I felt like I'd come home.  Literally wrapped up in the arms of a book I knew I'd love - and would love me back - forever.  You know that feeling?  It doesn't happen often, but when it does it stays with you.  Since then it's the one book I've lent out to most other people and each time it' returns to me, it comes back feeling more and more loved.

Of course once I'd finished reading this, I had to get my hands on more.  And so followed 'Ralph's Party, 'One Hit Wonder,' ThirtyNothing', '31 Dream Street' 'A Friend of The Family' and 'The Truth about Melody Brown'. All special books, made more special by Lisa's perfectly simple craft(wo)manship of being able to transport a reader to an entirely different place for as long as they choose to stay there.

What I love most about Lisa's writing is the fact she doesn't over-complicate things.  Her characters are people.  Real people you'd meet every day out on the street, in offices, at bus stops, in Sainsbury's.  You just have to open your eyes and look beyond your own 'space' to see that they're all around.  All the time.  And by reading any one of Lisa's books, you get to spend some time with these real people and get to know, them, care about them and want to reach out and help them; rejoice in their happiness and pass them a tissue when they need one.  They make you feel a nicer person for having shared somebody else's life for a while.

My favourite character out of all of these books is the enduring Toby who lives at 31 Dream Street.  I wanted to adopt him, I loved him so much.  And yet, I already knew him - he seemed to be a part of almost every shy, gangly, misunderstood boy I'd ever known.  And I daresay I'll continue to come across the occasional Toby in my lifetime.

So I was delighted - as were a gazillion other die-hard Lisa Jewell fans - to hear that the sequel to Ralph's Party, 'After The Party' was being published in 2010.  This year!  In fact tomorrow!

 (Amazon says...) "In 'After the Party', it's eleven years since Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary first got together. They thought it would be for ever, that they'd found their happy ending. As everyone agreed, they were the perfect couple. Then two became four, a flat became a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn't quite so simple any more. But through it all Jem and Ralph still loved each other, of course they did. Now the unimaginable has happened..."

My copy is in the post, and I was thrilled when Lisa agreed to take time out of her incredibly busy schedule to write a Guest Post for Strictly Writing - where you can read all about how she came to write the sequel and more.  

Of course every positive comes with a negative and the bad part about Lisa's books is that they have a last page.  Yup - every one - I know, I checked.  But they're the eternal friends on the bookshelf who'll never let you down and always be there when you need them.