Helen loved Julia Williams' Strictly Love, now hear from the author herself on how learning to dance helped her write it:
This time last year I was in deadline hell as I raced to finish Strictly Love. I was also on a steep (very steep) learning curve, and had become totally obsessed with all things dance orientated.
Being a book about ballroom dancing, it was a given that I was watching Strictly Come Dancing, but although that was good visually, there’s no substitute for the real thing.
My original inspiration from the book came from doing salsa classes, so I had a very basic knowledge of some Latin dancing, but what I really needed was to find a ballroom class. Unfortunately, as a mother of four children, I am time poor to say the least, and couldn’t find any convenient classes nearby.
So I turned to the internet. I printed off reams of instructions from various dance sites, and found myself alone trying to practice the waltz, first doing the men’s steps and then the women’s. I learnt from a laconic Texan called Hank that Cuban motion wasn’t something rude, but is a way of moving your hips required for salsa (both experiences made their way into Strictly Love, though Hank was replaced by a Colombian called Carlo).
I thought I’d done enough, but when she read the first draft, my
editor (rightly) demanded more dancing. Still unable to find a dance
class, I read two dancing books to help me choreograph some of the
dances in the book. I learnt about cuddle holds and cha cha chas. I was
back to me myself and I practising in front of a mirror, but it wasn’t
enough.
Then I discovered that Izabela Hannah, a former professional on Strictly, taught privately nearby. I was instantly on the phone to book a lesson. Izabela was brilliant and took me through the basic steps of the Foxtrot, the Tango and the Rumba. I needed the latter, because I wanted two of my characters to dance the rumba in a very sensual way, and without knowing what that felt like, I didn’t think I could write it.
Once I’d got over the weirdness of dancing with a woman, I found the
experience enormously helpful. Even more helpful for writing the scene
was watching an episode of Ashes to Ashes in which Keeley Hawes and
Rupert Graves danced to Body Talk. Music is part of the inspirational
process for me anyway, but this song really fitted the scene. By now I
was blogging about all these experiences and someone very helpfully
pointed me in the direction of a brilliant rumba which I watched while
listening to Body Talk (I blogged the results of this particular bit of
research here.
By the time I’d finished writing the book, I was completely hooked, and apart from an obvious ambition to get onto Strictly Come Dancing – have they ever had a writer, anyone? – in the meantime I’d be content with learning how to dance properly. Perhaps when I'm not quite so time poor….
