Writer Spotlight: Laura Kemp

On Coffee and Roses I like to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

This week, I'm delighted to welcome the lovely LAURA KEMP into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight...

When did you first decide that you wanted to write?

I have always loved words and finding out about people - a general nosiness really! - so it's no surprise I ended up a journalist by trade. But it was only when I had taken voluntary redundancy after having a baby six years ago that I discovered I could actually write creatively. It was a real shock because I'd never thought I had a book in me. I began writing features for national newspapers and magazines as a way of keeping myself sane when my son was small and then when he was about 18 months old, I came up with the idea for my first book. I was lucky enough to get an agent, a two-book deal and my second book has just been published. I'm still a bit stunned by it all!

What interests you as a writer?

Balancing the lows of life with the highs - being able to survive the bad times through humour and love. That's what we're all up against! It comes down to being fascinated by people and how we cope with everything thrown at us. Life is material, at the end of the day!

Do you have a typical writing day? If not, when is the best time to write for you?

My typical writing day starts after I've dropped my son at school and had my first coffee of the day so I aim to sit down and start at 9.30am. Then I'll write for an hour or so, get up, have a faff about doing something like washing or whatever, have another coffee, then get back down to it, finishing around 1ish because my focus wanders by then. Before my son started school, I'd do it when he was having a nap and at night but as his bedtime has got later, I don't bother at night anymore. I'd rather store it all up for the morning when I can concentrate better. During school holidays, it's a totally different matter - I have to write whenever I get the chance, perhaps if my son is round a friend's house, or if my husband is around to take charge, which isn't much because his job means he's away for 26 weeks of the year, sometimes for three weeks at a time. 

Which authors inspire you and why?

You, of course, Miranda - such an epic writer with so much passion and positivity! Likewise Milly Johnson. I also love Allison Pearson's writing, so spot-on and relatable, and the mother of mum-lit Fiona Gibson, who is super cool. I also love Khaled Hosseini because his storytelling is simply beautiful, he's a real expert at understanding the human condition and exploring emotions in a poignant and touching way.

Tell us about your latest book.

It's called Mums on Strike and it's about a woman who has had enough of being the family skivvy so she goes on strike with the aim of getting her husband to share the housework equally. That's the top line but it's also a love story - how we deal with changes in our lives and whether relationships can survive them. The strength of female friendship is key to the book too - those relationships are ones that are just as important to us as our marriages.

What are the best things about being a writer?

I love the escapism, the journey into your characters' lives, where you enter their world and feel as if you're in the same room. It's a complete joy to immerse yourself into another reality. Writing comes to me when I write, so I'll have the basic framework planned, but things come to me as I sit down and tap away and I love the way your brain can throw up things which you'd never have thought of if you weren't physically doing it. I also love talking to other authors, it's taken me a while to believe I'm actually one of them because I just felt I wasn't good enough but the writing community is so warm and supportive and really helps you get through those moments when you doubt yourself. I also really enjoy quiet time, the silence of working, which came as a surprise because I used to thrive in a noisy newsroom, but they are different disciplines. If I ever need a chat, I just go on Twitter, which I love, and it's like a virtual office for me.

And the worst?

I get embarrassed about promoting my books on social media because it makes me feel a bit of an idiot but it has to be done. Gone are the days when an author can expect an awareness of their work without shouting about it - having said that, there's a lot of fun to be had with it so I try to keep it light.

What are you working on now?

My third book, which will be a departure from mum-lit to chick-lit. It's a sexy comedy on the surface but beneath is all about the ups and downs of falling in love. I'm also going to do a script-writing course in the spring because I'm really drawn to giving characters a voice. 

Do you have a dream project you would love to write?

I would love to write a TV series - I love tragic comedies like Early Doors and Rev, they're so fantastically funny and poignant which stay with you long after you've finished watching them. And of course more books.

What are your top three tips for aspiring writers?

Write as though you'll wake up tomorrow being unable to write - so get it down now with passion. Don't expect a smash hit with your first book because it's all about establishing a career long term, so you might have to do another job until you get established. And be determined. Rejection is inevitable - you just have to get back up and keep going!

Anything else you’d like to say?

Just a big thank you for having me, see you on Twitter and if anyone's going to the shop, can they get me some crisps. XXX

A massive thank you to Laura for braving the Writer Spotlight! You can find more about her at her website, follow her on twitter @laurajanekemp and find out all her latest news on Facebook. Mums on Strike is published by Arrow and available on Amazon - click here to get your copy!

Writer Spotlight: Lisa Dickenson

On Coffee and Roses I like to bring you news of exciting authors who are either waiting to be published or published and worth checking out.

This week, I'm excited to welcome the very lovely LISA DICKENSON into the Coffee and Roses Writer Spotlight.

When did you first decide that you wanted to write?

I was about eleven, and at a talk by Anne Fine in Plymouth. She was saying that when she was young she wrote loads of story beginnings, first chapters and opening paragraphs before moving on to the next idea. I do that, I thought. We’re the same! This means I will be a writer too! Then growing up I fell into that miserably British trait of assuming my dreams wouldn’t be reached because there was too much competition, but even so, if anyone actually ever says I can’t do something a little spark inside me always ignites and mumbles “I’ll bloody show you…”

What interests you as a writer?

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m quite interested in eavesdropping on and writing about interactions between people who think no-one’s listening, or when they can’t find the right words to say in a situation. That natural dialogue where you don’t produce the perfect, scripted comeback and it ends up sounding completely awkward and the reader – or listener – thinks, I know exactly how that feels!

Do you have a typical writing day? If not, when is the best time to write for you?

My dream is to be a full-time writer, living near the beach and writing all day with the sand on my toes. But for now my typical writing day consists of sitting on a crowded bus full of teenagers for an hour in the morning and evening on route to the day job, hoping they don’t laugh at what I’m typing and call me a name I don’t understand. Actually, they have no interest in me whatsoever, so I can’t complain. If it’s a weekend my aim will be to write thousands of words on Saturday morning but then I procrastinate and “think” until Sunday night and then suddenly it all pours out.

What inspires you as a writer?

Holidays! Be it a caravan in Cornwall or a holiday home in the Hollywood Hills. In my own abode it’s amazing how easy it is for my brain to procrastinate like hell – the house could do with a clean, the fridge needs a bit more stocking, those Real Housewives episodes need to be watched. Getting away, seeing new vistas, living a new life for whatever length of time, observing all new people with different, interesting lifestyles… those things inspire me, and I come back from each holiday with armfuls of ideas for locations, characters, scenes or even whole new stories.

What are the best things about being a writer?

Playing God – ha! Babbling on, unfolding a fictional life, doing to them what you will and putting words in their mouths. Each time I handed in the next two chapters of The Twelve Dates of Christmas to my lovely editor at Little, Brown, Manpreet Grewal, I was always amazed that it didn’t come back with everything edited out; I’d never before had a job with such freedom. Of course, there were edits, but the bulk was still there. My characters were allowed to be there, my scenes. It’s ever such a nice feeling. Oh, also that it’s practically in the job description that you have to laugh at your own jokes.

And the worst?

When you have a deadline and you’re tired and you don’t know how to write something and everything you’re putting on the page sounds like the crappest thing anyone’s ever written, ever, in the history of forever. Forcing creativity is the worst. I only had one meltdown, I think, at my editor, where I started furiously writing shouty capital emails saying – and I quote – “BUT WHAT IF I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING AND THE CLOCK TICKS AROUND TO 5PM AND ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT ARE DIAMANTES AND RED DRESSES AND WILLIES AND I AM DISOWNED IN THE WORLD OF PUBLISHING?????” She was like, “Okay, calm the heck down, it’ll come to you,” – and then the solution came to me that evening.

Tell me about The Twelve Dates of Christmas

This is Claudia’s story of how she tries to pull her life out a big stale rut through the magic of Christmas in London. She struggles with the things we all do – grumpiness, heartache, indecision – but also faces a lot of fun, romance and discovery through her December of dating. From part one, Dates 1&2, through to part six, Dates 11&12, you’ll find lashings of snow, mulled wine, a host of sparkling dates, people showing off their lovely and not-so-lovely Christmas spirit and hopefully come out the end feeling like you should be knocking back a glass of Baileys and soaking in the season.



Why did you decide to release your book as a series rather than a stand-alone novel?

This was Manpreet at Little, Brown’s idea – she’d been thinking about the possibility of releasing a serialised novel and in the early days of Twelve Dates we talked about it and decided we’d give it a go. It splits rather neatly into six parts, and I like that it harks back to how Dickens would release his novels, because I firmly believe he wrote the best Christmas story of all time with The Christmas Carol (closely followed by The Jolly Christmas Postman).

What would be your top three tips for aspiring writers?

1. Enter writing competitions. Submit to agents. Find a friend who’s into writing and ask them to read it (you’ll be surprised once you admit you’re a writer how many friends say “I’ve been thinking of writing a book, too.”) It’s very easy to think ‘I like writing, my stuff sounds okay to me, but I don’t really know if I’m good enough,’ and subsequently do bugger all about it. If you submit your work at least someone is reading it, giving you feedback, taking you seriously. And you might just start the next ‘chapter’ of your life. Ha! Do you get it? Like, chapter of a book… They don’t call me an author for nothing.

2. Listen to podcasts from established authors. I have a whole host of Jackie Collins ones I keep on my iPod that I used to listen to when I felt like just sacking it all in and not bothering. Then I’d listen, and Jackie would chatter on about her successes, her struggles, her inspirations, her writing methods, and I’d always come away feeling a lot more revved up. This is what I want my life to be, I would think, and I would do something about it.

3. Carry a notepad everywhere! Don’t spend time trying to find a pretty ‘writer’ notepad with the perfect cover and an elastic doodah to hold it shut – you’ll never use it, because you won’t want it to be filled with scribbles and scrawls and half a chapter that started to get a bit too erotic and now you’re a little embarrassed it’s in there. Just have a crappy old notebook you may or may not have nicked from the office stationary cupboard, and jot down everything that springs to mind, from words of dialogue inspired by the song you’re listening to, to possible solutions to the end of a scene, to whole new story ideas. Shove it all in. Just remember to then go through it and collate your ideas from time to time!

Do you have a dream project you'd love to write?

Yes, two! I’d love to write a really chilling, eerie ghost story. Not one filled with shock, blood and gore, but the type that makes you unnerved. Like Rebecca or The Woman in Black. Something Hitchcock said which sticks in my mind is that if a bomb suddenly goes off it gives you ten seconds of fright, but if you know the bomb is there the whole dynamic is changed and you get foreboding and suspense. He was talking about films not novels, but I think it still applies, and that’s the type of novel I’d like to explore. The other project harks back to younger me and her dream to write an epic, Sweet Valley/Babysitters Club-style series with lovable characters that you keep coming back to, that people would want to collect the set and to follow their life stories (and still secretly love aged 30…).

Anything else you’d like to say?

I’m sure you’ve had enough of me harping on, but I think the only other thing I’d like to say is a whopping thank you, to Miranda, and to all the other authors and bloggers who’ve been incredibly supportive. It’s pretty scary putting yourself out there and saying “I WRITE THINGS, PLEASE LIKE THEM AND LIKE ME”, so a thanks to all of those who’ve helped me feel like I belong here and that they’re going through the same things, and everything’s going to be peachy.

Oh and one more thing: I WRITE THINGS, PLEASE LIKE THEM AND LIKE ME.

Thanks so much to Lisa for braving the Writer Spotlight! You can find out about Lisa at her website and follow her on Twitter @LisaWritesStuff.

Miranda Writes 14 - Reviews, Copyright and Dream Destinations...

All this year I'm documenting the writing, editing and publishing of Take A Look At Me Now - my fifth novel - giving you a unique, behind-the-scenes look at my life as a writer. This week, I answer your questions on authors and reviews, copyright, dream destinations for books and which of my characters I'd like to hang out with - including Nell from Take A Look At Me Now...

I have four fab questions this week, including one from the lovely Heidi at Cosmochicklitan book blog and two very special questions from the very gorgeous Kirsty at I Heart Books book blog, to celebrate the one-year blogaversary of her blog. Congratulations, lovely lady!

What do authors really think about reviews? Are they a help or a hindrance? And how can reviewers write reviews to bring about better books? I answer these thorny questions and more this week! To ask me a question, simply leave a comment on this post or email me: mirandawurdy@gmail.com

Enjoy!

p.s. This week's YouTube-nominated freeze-frame is entitled: 'Things that make you go HMMMMM...'