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July 23, 2008 10:29 AM

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Rosy Thornton

I loved Rosy Thornton's first book, More Than Love Letters, and, as I've already said, I haven't even been able to read her second, Hearts and Minds, yet, since it's been snaffled!

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer:

Man appointed to head women’s Cambridge college – to the virulent opposition of the feminist dons. (Phew – exactly 15!)

Where do you like to write your books (in bed, a coffee shop, an office)?

Having a full-time day job and a young family, the only time I routinely have free to write is early mornings, before the kids get up. So it’s usually a case of clearing a space at the kitchen table, once I’ve made the packed lunches.

Your favourite chick-lit book?

I’m one of those people who claim Jane Austen as the original chick-lit author, and I love the classics… so, horribly unoriginal though it is, it would have to be Pride and Prejudice. 

I also love the novels of a friend and publishers’ stablemate of mine, Phillipa Ashley - cool, upbeat, sexy and very funny. 

Your favourite female heroine (if different from above!), and why?

So many come to mind! Yes, Lizzy Bennet. And also Hermione Granger (because I was a swot at school, too). But probably my favourite female character of all time is Harriet Vane from the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries: a thoroughly modern heroine who wants romantic fulfillment, but only on her own terms - and fights the hero tooth and nail to get there.

What tips would you give to any of our readers who want to become writers?

Read as much as you can, and in a wide range of genres. I like to read books by people who write far better than I ever could, in the vain hope that some of it might rub off. 

Er, that’s it, really. Read a lot; write a lot; repeat as necessary.   

What are you reading at the moment?

Marie Phillips’s wonderful Gods Behaving Badly. I loved the premise, but feared it might be one of those books that have just the one joke. But it’s not – so far she sustains it brilliantly. I’m half way through and loving it.

What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)

My next novel, Crossed Wires, comes out in hardback in December. It’s a romantic comedy: the story of a Cambridge don who crashes his car while swerving to avoid a cat, and falls in love with the girl at the Sheffield call centre who deals with his insurance claim.

I am three-quarters of the way through the one after that at the moment, but it’s very much a work in progress, so I won’t tempt fate!

Do you have a theme song? 

I like songs with clever lyrics (maybe it’s a writer thing) and was a great admirer of Kirsty MacColl. So how about her song, He Never Mentioned Love? A brilliant commentary on the male inability to talk about the things which matter.

What question have you never been asked in an interview, but think you should have been? (Tell us the question and answer it too, if you like!) 

“Please could you explain the rule against inalienability?”

This is the kind of question I get asked all the time in my day job, teaching Law. And to be honest, it is much easier than answering all these difficult things about myself and my writing!

Thanks, Rosy!

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Posted by Keris on July 23, 2008 in Interviews | Permalink

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