On Friday I shared with you my review of ‘How To Get a (Love) Life’ the debut novel from Rosie Blake (you can read the full review here) which includes cackling to myself like a scary lady all alone. Classy. I contacted Rosie and she ever so kindly agreed to a little chat to talk over men, dodgy dates and tips on writing.
NWOD (Not Wed or Dead): Can you please describe your writing process? For example do you follow a strict routine that can only commence after certain rituals?
Rosie: Ha, ha, I SO want to lie and tell you that I can only write when the moon is in Sagittarius and my husband has cleaned the house but TRAGICALLY that would be a lie. I write in grabbed moments a lot of the time around a full-time job but then I take stretches of holiday where the real hard graft gets done. I have also worked out I am great in the mornings and evenings and useless in the afternoon so I tend to do my research* then.
*read faffing about
NWOD: Where do you find inspiration for your characters? Is it easier to take certain personality traits from people you know to create characters such as Caroline.
Rosie: Very few of the characters I write are based on a particular person. I genuinely enjoy creating them from scratch. Often it starts with an anecdote or a line or a feature or an idea and the rest grows from there. For example Nicola’s [the main character] cleaner, Basia, pathologically happy, is named after my Mum and her relentlessly positive attitude is an exaggeration of my own Mum’s joie de vivre.
NWOD: Have you based any of Nicola’s disastrous dates on real life experiences?
Rosie: Um… *looks at floor, prepares lie* Noooo. Maybe. Just one. Yes Chris the actor was partly true, there was a guy who spent the entire meal making me rate head shots of himself. And then he wrote down the answers in his little book.
NWOD: Tell us about publishing day did it feel like you were in a dream?
Rosie: Publishing day was amazing, and completely hectic. I don’t live in London and am also, *coughs, checks for husband*, am not the most organised or punctual of individuals. So I managed to arrange a launch party with lovely book bloggers, all the fabulous agents from Darley Anderson and… well… I was late. And then I had something to drink. And then I made a speech. So it was like a dream in that it ended up with me wondering what had happened the next morning.
NWOD: How did you stay positive and dedicated during the writing process?
Rosie: Oh this is a great question. If it cheers you up (or makes you more depressed) ‘How to Get a (Love) Life’ was actually the second novel I finished and there are plenty of other manuscripts, short stories and rejection letters sitting in drawers. I think you have to realise that you have to learn things along the way appreciate that (unless you are super lucky or super talented) it takes practice. I started getting closer and closer, placed in competitions, the odd win, requests for full manuscripts etc and I realised I was getting there. That gave me the energy to keep going. But, I hate to say it, I think you also just have to write knowing it might end in nothing, it might just be that you have to write that story down.
NWOD: Where can we find more of your work?!
Rosie: Ooh well I have written a short story for the first Sunlounger anthology, I am writing a second one for the anthology this year and I am working on Book 2 which I am LOVING with a capital LU. It has a deal in Germany already and should be out in 2015.
Thanks Rosie and if you fancy checking out this book then find her here www.rosieblake.co.uk or follow her on Twitter here.
If you haven’t read How to Get a (Love) Life yet it is currently on offer at a teeny tiny price of 78pence for your Kindle and you can find it here.
