The Next Big Thing

Author Suz deMello ( ) has kindly asked me to take part in THE NEXT BIG THING – a question and answer interview. This is what she asked me:

WHAT IS THE WORKING TITLE OF YOUR BOOK?
Happy Families. It’s being published by Arrow in March under my pen name Janey Fraser.

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM FOR THE BOOK
My own children and the world around me! It’s about the ups and downs of family life, told from the point of view of a mother; a new stay at home dad and a grandmother. It’s funny but also thought-provoking.

WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL UNDER?
Romantic comedy with a dark streak.

WHICH ACTORS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY YOUR CHARACTERS IN A MOVIE RENDITION?
Hugh Grant and Cameron Diaz. A winning combination in my mind!

WHAT IS THE ONE-SENTENCE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR BOOK?
Three families meet in a parenting class and get more than they bargained for.

WILL YOUR BOOK BE SELF-PUBLISHED OR REPRESENTED BY AN AGENCY?
It’s published by Arrow which is part of Random House.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT?
Five months. I then revised for another two.

WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE THIS STORY TO, WITHIN YOUR GENRE?
Lisa Jewell. Katie Fforde. Trisha Ashley.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK?
I was under contract to write another novel about families and I was intrigued by the current parenting class trend. When we buy a washing machine, it comes with a handbook. Babies need to have instructions too! I went to a class myself to pick up tips but came away feeling that my own wonderful children were much more challenging than everyone else’s! Still, I made some good friends which is what Happy Families is all about.

WHAT ELSE ABOUT YOUR BOOK MIGHT PIQUE THE READER’S INTEREST?
One of the characters is a young grandmother who suddenly finds herself in full charge of a six year old girl. My book also deals with the secrets that many families have...

If you enjoy my Janey Fraser books, you might also like my Sophie King novels (available on Amazon). www.sophieking.info   www.janeyfraser.co.uk

Look out for Chrissie Loveday’s answers on December 19th.

http://kindle.chrissieloveday.com

http://thepocketeers.blogspot.com

http://www.chrissieloveday.com

And Sarah Tucker's answers will also be on her website on December 19th. (She has just written a book about going on holiday with teenagers!)

www.sarahtucker-website.com

10 questions with Margaret James (The Penny Bangle)

1) Where do you write?
At a desk I bought when I was 25. I've written all my published novels sitting at this desk and I'm superstitiously attached to it. We'll forget I've written some truly awful stuff while sitting at this same desk!

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
Before I started school, my mother used to take me to the children's section of our local public library and leave me there while she did her shopping. I worked my way through the adventures of Orlando the Marmalade Cat, mostly looking at the lovely illustrations, but trying to read the words, too.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
Yes, Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey. Henry is witty, charming, kind, brave, romantic and lots of fun.

4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
I'd love to be able to write a novel as wonderful as Great Expectations, my all-time favourite read.

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
Choose your rut carefully because you'll be in it for a long time. I've been in a romantic novel rut all my writing life, but luckily I'm very happy there and have no desire to climb out of it.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
Never write about twins - readers get confused.

 
7) What are you currently reading?
Held Up by Christopher Radmann.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
Violette Szabo, the heroine of the French Resistance who died in Ravensbruck at the age of 23 - what a waste.

9) Where are you happiest?
When walking along the Devon coastline.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
It would be just me and Mr Richard Armitage!

More about Margaret James .
is now available.

10 questions with Helen Lederer (Finger Food)

1) Where do you write?
In my study - very nice with big balcony but a teenager has moved her room next door and music can be  a problem. Head phones essential.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
Malory Towers by Enid Blyton.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
Darrel Rivers - Head Girl at Malory Towers 

4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
Bridget Jones by Helen Fielding (I was there first).

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
When in doubt do nothing.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
Say what you feel - better out than in.

7) What are you currently reading?
I'm about to read Jonathon Harvey's new novel. 

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
Er Darrel Rivers.

9) Where are you happiest?
In my sitting room watching TV with my hubby.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
Darrel .. no, Joyce Grenfell, Joan Rivers and Bette Midler.

Helen's website .
is now available.

The Zig Zag Challenge

Novelist and short story writer Linda Mitchelmore (To Turn Full Circle) has invited me to be part of the zig-zag blogposts. For this, authors need to find the word ‘like’ in one of their books and post a paragraph or two around that word.

So here’s my link in the zig-zag chain. It comes from my novel, The Au Pair, published by Arrow £6.99. It had a four star rating from The Daily Express. Novelist Fay Weldon described it as ‘Sheer bliss’.

EXTRACT FROM THE AU PAIR BY JANEY FRASER. £6.99. ARROW BOOKS

‘I tell you, Jilly – I’ll never have another one again. Never! Antoinette is a nightmare! Absolute nightmare! I specifically asked the agency for a non-smoker but before we’d even got back from the airport, she’d lit up one of those filthy Gauloise things. Then – get this! – it turns out that she’s 18 and not 19 like the agency told me AND the only experience she’s had with children is visiting her 15 year old nephew in Lyon once a year.’

Who’d have an au pair? It was simply asking for trouble, thought Jilly as she listened to her friend Paula pouring it all out. Frankly, she couldn’t imagine anything worse than a live-in stranger. It was hard enough living with your own family.

‘It’s like having another child ,’ raged Paula, marching over to her enormous silver American fridge and grabbing a bottle of Pinot Grigio even though it wasn’t even 11 o’clock. ‘On her first night, she just sat there at dinner without offering to help as though she was a guest!’

‘Perhaps…,’ Jilly started to say. Too late! Paula was steaming on. ‘Then she used up all the hot water for an hour-long shower. As for her English, it’s a mixture of ‘Janet and John’ meets ‘Desperate Housewives’ with a heavy Woody Allen Parisian accent.’