We loved The WAG's Diary and interviewed author Alison Kervin back in 2007. After reading the news of her upcoming novel Celebrity Bride, I wanted to ask her some more questions!
How long have you been writing novels and biographies?
I wrote my first book in 1997, but I was working as a journalist prior to that (I went into journalism straight after graduating) so I've always written in one form or another. I've just finished my ninth book (three novels, the rest non-fiction). I'm much happier writing fiction rather than non-fiction now because you can just make it all up. If you make it all up in journalism, you get into a hell of a lot of trouble!
Tell us what your latest book is about.
It's a romantic comedy. A modern Cinderella story about a beautiful but lowly girl (Kelly Monsoon) who meets the richest and most successful actor on te planet (Rufus George) and they fall in love. It's all wonderful, but then she discovers that life in his celebrity world is not all roses and champagne. There's murder, intrigue, devastation, joy and delight as the couple struggle to make their unusual relationship work in the spotlight. Very funny but moving, touching and shocking at times!
Where do you write your books?
All over the place. On trains, in bed, in the garden, at the Hampton Court Palace Rose Garden - the Rose Garden even features in my latest book because I spent so much time writing there...I used to chat to te gardener as he pruned the roses, and he even found his way into the book! (Tip...if you see me, don't come and talk to me, because you probably will end up in a novel somewhere. My poor friend Charlie is scared to tell me anything any more for fear that one of my characters will be doing it in the next book).
What is your favourite chick-lit book?
Horrible question...ahhh...what's chick-lit? What counts as a chick-lit book? I'll say anything by Marian Keyes though is she chick-lit? She writes beautiful, funny books with real heart and compassion. I loved the interplay between the most serious subjects and the lighter/frothier elements of her books. She pulls it off so well that it seems easy but it's really not. It's something I've done in Celebrity Bride - I've got a heroine who lived in a fun flat in Twickenham with her two mates and all their dating stories and silly tales are told, making for very humorous reading, but then there's a huge swing in the book half way through when something deeply shocking happens. I wanted to contrast the two moods within the book and have people genuinely surprised by the turn of events. This is something that I think Marian does very well.
What other writers inspire you?
This isn't the sort of question you can give a one-word answer to, so here's a selection. Graham Greene is a genius (read the first few pages of End of The Affair and look at the beauty of the language, the rhythms and simplicity of the images he creates). I’m slightly obsessed with GK Chesterton at the moment (more his journalism than his fiction). Margaret Attwood is blindingly good. I also enjoy Vikram Seth, mainly because of his impossibly clever book The Golden Gate – written in rhyme, it's funny and original and just plain showing-off. I love J.M. Coetzee and am reading a book by Bryan Magee at the moment called Wagner and Philosophy – it is stunning, a shining example of how to take a vastly complicated subject and make it human, colourful, fascinating and alive. Whether you're interested in philosophy, interested in Wagner, or interested in neither, it's a great book by a very natural writer.
Are you working on anything else at the moment?
Yes…I’ve started the next novel…it’s a big book (twice the size of my usual novel) – a dramatic tale about three very different women leading very different lives but all bound by one terrifying secret...
Do you have any advice for our readers who wish to become published authors?
It’s very hard to give sensible advice because writing’s such a personal thing. My little boy, George, comes home from school and says ‘mummy, what did the people in your head do today?’ and if you think about it – writing is an obscure way to make a living…transferring the images, thoughts, characters and situations that exist entirely in your mind, onto paper, in the hope that people will want to read about them! Since everyone’s mind is different, I guess there are always going to be different ways of doing that.
But, for what it’s worth, I think you’ve just got to sit down and do it…try and write something every day. If you write just one page a day you’ll have a book written this time next year. Make sure you read a lot too; it’s vitally important to read everything you can get your hands on. Every time you read and write you learn, so do it whenever you can.
When it comes to the actual writing, I think the key to making fiction work is to have strong, compelling characters; they drive everything. If your characters are right, you can take the book anywhere, without good characters you’re very limited. I spend most of my time before writing novels working out exactly what sort of people my characters will be. I have big sheets of paper on the wall at home with outlines of what the characters look like, where they work, what their parents do for a living, when they were born, and I’ve got pictures cut from magazines illustrating what they look like, and floor-plan sketches of their homes. As I said, all writers work differently, but for me it begins and ends with characterisation above all else.
Finally, the piece of advice frequently given to novelists is "show, don't tell". This is vitally important and distinguishes good fiction from bad fiction in so many ways. It applies to non-fiction too, and to journalism. If there's a way of getting your point across using an illustration rather than a statement, always do it. It's the little vignettes that stay in people's minds when they put a book/newspaper down. Don’t say ‘he’s brave’ – show him being brave. Don’t say ‘he was tall’ show him ducking under a door to illustrate how tall he is. It always works much better. Good luck!
Thanks, Alison!
