Hi Nicola, you write on a number of topics /
genres - how do you prioritise your different writing?
I’m an opportunist with very little
in the way of strategy. I have ideas and act on them, often without thinking
ahead. Somehow it all pans out and every deadline ends up being met, however
stressful and impossible that seems at the start. Essentially, I do it crazily,
energetically and frantically.
I have one muse only: the reader. If
I want to write something and I think some people want to read it, those (possibly
imaginary!) readers inspire me to do it.
What do you wish you'd known at the
beginning that you've since learned about the craft of writing?
Nothing. I’ve enjoyed learning it as
I go. The main thing I didn’t know was that it doesn’t get easier, but if I’d
known that it wouldn’t have helped, would it? However, there are some things I
wish I’d known about how to submit my MS – I still blush at the thought of some
of my terrible attempts at getting attention.** Like the one where I wrote the
covering letter in verse. In different coloured pens… I also wish I’d
understood the publishing business better. Well, at all, really!
You're stuck on a direct flight to
Australia. Which books do you take along? (We'll assume the writing pad is a
given!)
I’d take the next book on my To Be
Read pile, which happens to be The Yips by Nicola Barker; the one I’m reading
at the moment, Far To Go by Alison Pick; and whatever Chris Cleave is going to
write next.
Was there a defining moment when you
saw yourself as a 'professional'?
Interesting question! No. I’ve never
thought about that so there can’t have been. But if I look back now and try to
work it out, I still can’t find an answer. It’s a difficult word, isn’t it?
Does it mean “doing it for a living?” Well, I still don’t earn a living from my
writing, though I just about do from the adjuncts to it (public speaking,
mostly). Or does it mean “people will pay me to do what I do” – well, I earned
something from Reader’s Digest for a paragraph years before I “became
published” as an author. I suppose the defining moments were getting my first
non-fiction published (the still best-selling I Can Learn series from Egmont)
or my first novel (Mondays are Red, Hodder Children’s 2001 and now an ebook).
But I’d been earning something as a magazine features writer before both those.
So, I don’t know!
We're in an elevator***, going up to the
fourteenth floor. What's your pitch for Dear Agent?
You mean I’m talking to an
agent/publisher? This: “You know how you often get badly-worded, delusional,
wacky, dull or disappointing submissions? You know how writers sometimes send
you peculiar and unwanted “wee extras”, such as naked photos or toffees? Well,
Dear Agent will put an end to all that.” I don’t need fourteen floors. Unless
the lift is faster than Usain Bolt.
What do you do for relaxation?
Cook elaborate meals for friends,
garden, read, indulge in a candlelit heavily scented bath, chat to my friends
on Twitter or at a dinner party with good people who have left their egos at
home.
Three parts of the UK you'd like to
visit, and why?
They are all places I’ve been to
already many times but I would jump at the chance to visit again: 1. The Black
Isle (an almost-island not far from Inverness) because it’s rustic and yet
civilized and you can see whales and dolphins while standing on the beach at
Rosemarkie and buy the best pottery in Scotland in Cromarty. 2. Watergate Bay**** in Cornwall, because it’s my favourite beach in the UK and we discovered it
before anyone else, especially Jamie Oliver. 3. Cambridge, because it doesn’t
need an explanation.
Where can we purchase Dear Agent and
what's this special deal that's being whispered around the web?
I will be publishing it to Amazon
(for Kindle and Kindle apps for computers, phones etc) and Lulu (for non-Kindle
reading devices or reading on your computer with Adobe Digital Editions). All
the links will be on the
dedicated webpage. Amazon links will
appear by Friday 10th Aug and Lulu as soon as possible afterwards.
Um, special deal? You mean the
cheap-as-chips intro price? You’ll have to hurry – it’s going to end on Monday!
But even after that it’s going to be under £3 and I think it’s good value.
There’s masses of info in it (and WAGSynopsis). Also, if there’s anything you
still want to ask after reading them, just email Dear Crabbit (see here for details) and I’ll answer it on my blog.
Thank you for interviewing me for
Strictly Writing and huge good luck to all of you!
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"Like satnav for writers."
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Don’t forget: Dear Agent deals with everything to do with the covering letter (or query letter, as it’s called in the US) and Write a Great Synopsis deals with erm, writing a great synopsis. Suddenly, the whole submission is explained clearly, succinctly and reassuringly!
Merric Davidson, formerly a top agent and now the publisher of The New Writer, said, “This is a tightly written, easy to follow, essential volume which cuts through all the nonsense and mystique about what you should/should not do when approaching agencies. In fact, this book explains that, hey, agents are really just people, not godheads!”
* Other chocolate biscuits are available.
** I once sent an agent a bar of chocolate, albeit after I received feedback.
*** Yes. I know it's really a lift, but come on, whoever heard of a 'life pitch'?
**** Other parts of the Cornish coastline are available, such as Portherris or Nanjizal.
