Here at Trashionista we're big fans of Catherine Ryan Howard, who not only delighted us with her travel memoir Mousetrapped, but has also penned a brilliant self-publishing guide titled Self-Printed, and Backpacked - another memoir about her travels in America. Her debut novel, Results Not Typical, was released in September. (Wow!) We caught up with Catherine to find out more about her recent books and the inspiration behind Results Not Typical...
So, what have you been up to since we last spoke to you?
Well I think I last spoke to you around the time Mousetrapped came out so... um, a LOT! I wrote a self-publishing guide, Self-Printed (which you reviewed--thank you so much!) and the follow-up to Mousetrapped, Backpacked: A Reluctant Trip Across Central America. Self-publishing was supposed to be a one-off experiment, but things have gone so well that it's kinda taken over my writing life. So much so that I'm evening teaching a course at London's Faber Academy in February, which I'm really excited about. And of course I released Results Not Typical, a novel, even though once upon a time I said I'd never, ahem, self-publish a novel... Needless to say, my coffee-drinking has gone through the roof.
Can you tell us more about your latest book?
Results Not Typical is about an evil weight loss company, Slimmit, and what happens when the only stock of their latest revolutionary product, Lipid Loser, is stolen from their corporate headquarters in New York. I describe it as The Devil Wears Prada meets Weightwatchers, and chick-lit meets corporate satire. It's a little unusual in that it doesn't fit neatly into one specific genre (which contributed to why I couldn't get it published) and it's definitely not what the Irish and UK markets consider to be "chick-lit" (although I personally think it is; it's a book about women for women by a woman), but it's a fun, entertaining read--I hope!
What are you reading at the moment?
I'm nearly finished Moneyball by Michael Lewis, which is about a US baseball team called the Oakland A's and how despite them being almost the poorest team in baseball, they found a way to start winning more games than many of their richest competitors. I have zero interest in baseball and as Nick Hornby said in his review of the book, I understand about one of out every four words in it (Mr. Lewis, a glossary of terms would have helped..?!), but it is fascinating. I love non-fiction that opens up a whole new world to you that you never knew about while at the same time telling you more about the world you know, and Moneyball definitely does that. Even if I have to keep looking up things on Wikipedia while I read it.
Are there any authors who have inspired you?
There are definitely authors out there who inspire me to write, but mostly just by producing such a staggering number of books that I realise how silly it is for me to say, "I just don't feel like writing today..." I remember years ago reading about a male writer who apparently does absolutely nothing but relax for nine months of the year, and writes his book in just three months, from beginning to end. I thought, "Wow--that's the life for me!" But of course that's just not realistic. Producing a book a year--which is what's expected of most commercial fiction writers--involves writing every day, all year. You might get a draft done in three months, but that's only the start of it. I've realised that now! And anyway, I read one of that writer's books and let's just say I wasn't impressed!
What kind of research did you do for your latest novel?
About ten years of yo-yo dieting. Name a diet and I've been on it, but chances are I was only on it for 2 or 3 days. So I am far more familiar than I'd like to be with the joys of weight loss. (Or attempted weight loss, I should say!) The idea for the book really took shape though back in 2008 when I joined what was called a "behaviour modification clinic." It was extremely expensive, head-wrecking and involved living off protein drinks and matchbox-sized pieces of tuna steak. AND I wasn't allowed to drink coffee. It was just crazy, but when I'd tell my friends about it, I'd make them laugh. So I began to think maybe I could write a novel about an evil weight loss company.... Handy really, that all that "research" at least amounted to something!
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I think my favourite bit was making up the names for Slimmit's products--like Really? Rice Cakes, Much Like Melba Toast, Coffene O'Clock, Anti-Calorie Cola, Pretty Much Porridge Mix, Cherry Berry Gummy Sticks, etc. And the name of Slimmit's most famous diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss Diet Solution Zone System. There's also inserts in the book that are supposed to be Slimmit's diet literature, and I really loved writing them because I didn't have to stray too far from the truth of that crazy clinic to produce them. For instance, there's one section that's supposed to be a food plan, and it has a part that reads:
"Our plan is simple. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, you simply choose ONE item from Group A and ONE item from Group B, or TWO items from Group A and one item from Group C, or TWO items from Group B and ONE item from Group C. Snack times are just as easy: choose ONE item from D or ONE item from Group A, or TWO items from either Group B or C. Each meal or snack must be accompanied by ONE item from Group E, except for meals or snacks that incorporate elements of Group B, or combine elements of Group A and B..."
That's only a very slight exaggeration of one of the "food plans" I've been handed in the past!
What are you working on next? (If you can tell us of course!)
I can't really tell you too much about it because I like to keep secrets (!), but I'm working on a novel that I'll submit to traditional publishing houses when it's finished, and/or use to try to get an agent. It's very different from Results Not Typical but I hope the humour is still there. After that, we'll just have to see.
Thanks, Catherine!
You can find out more about Catherine Ryan Howard over at her blog, Catherine, Caffeinated.