Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell was born and raised in north London, where she lives with her husband and children. She used to be a secretary until redundancy, a bet, and a book deal took her away from all that and she is now a full-time writer. Her first novel, Ralph's Party, was the bestselling debut of 1999. She is also the author of Thirtynothing, One-Hit Wonder, Vince & Joy, A Friend of the Family, 31 Dream Street and The Truth about Melody Browne. Lola is maaad excited about this interview because it’s, you know, LISA JEWELL!!!!! (Those of you familiar with my back story will know why I’m so excited!). So…
Hi Lisa, (gush, gush); describe your writing style in one sentence
Warm-hearted, poignant, unpretentious and occasionally a bit crap.
Where does your inspiration come from?
I think most writers would agree that their inspiration comes from the world around them. I am fascinated by everything that happens around me and want to know exactly who's who, who lives with who, who's happy, who's sad and who's a complete bitch. I am nosy to an almost pathological degree and writing about people and the way they interact with the world comes very naturally to me.
Can you be my friend?
Only if you flatter me with compliments, constantly.
Okay, ignore the last question. What's the name of the last book that made you cry?
That would have to be After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell. But generally
speaking books don't make me cry. Music makes me cry and adverts make
me cry and films make me cry, in fact I am on the verge of tears most
of the time, but books, for some reason, just don't. Maybe I'm reading
the wrong books.
“Here! Here!” – Lola J
Describe your typical writing day
Eldest girl to school, youngest girl to child minder, sit at desk, take two to three hours to warm up (and I don't mean by doing clever little writing 'exercises', I mean by replying to e-mails, doing random eBay searches and hanging out in chatrooms), finally start writing at lunchtime, look at clock, realise it is time to collect baby from child minder, curse as had just got into flow, leave house and turn into Urban Mum.
Longhand or straight onto the computer?
I do 90% of my work straight onto my computer, but when I get into a really sticky patch, where I am literally producing nothing, I take a pad into Starbucks and write longhand.
The name of the first boy you kissed?
Chris Lofting. It was gross.
Curley whirly or aniseed cubes?
Aniseed cubes
Who are the guests at your fantasy picnic and why? (Because this is a fantasy - anyone's invited!)
John Cusack, because I heart him, a lot, Robbie Williams so I could help talk through his problems, my friend Jenny Colgan because she’s good value at anything, Joan Rivers to fill in any awkward silences and Daniel Craig, for me to look at. Oh, and Nigella would do the catering.
Metallic green or pink?
Green
Do you have a dog?
No, I used to yearn for a dog. I wanted a dog more than anything in the world. I bought books about dogs and stuffed dogs and pictures of dogs. Then I had a baby and now you'd have to pay off my mortgage before I'd consider getting one. Dirty, co-dependent pains in the bum!
Would you describe yourself as a social butterfly or lunatic party animal?
Neither. I tend to find a handful of people I like and spend the whole night talking to them. I've had a couple of social butterfly nights and more than a couple of lunatic party animal nights, but generally, I'm quite refined!
Cosy night in or trip to the cinema?
Every night of my life is a cosy night in, so I'll have to say trip to the cinema - though a good dinner beforehand would top it off.
What/who is most precious to you?
My babies.
Describe a quirky dislike?
I don't like strawberries. I don't like cream. I don't like strawberries and cream. I have never met anyone else in my life who doesn't like strawberries and cream.
Quick, name drop someone famous who has smeared their lipstick onto your mug
Literally, Jenny Colgan - she smeared her lipstick all over my baby the other day, too. But I went to Downing Street a couple of months ago for a soirée thrown by Sarah Brown and I bumped bums with Davina McCall. And I had a conversation with her. She was beautiful. But she wasn't wearing any make up, so no lipstick smears.
If you had one wish?
I would wish for a million more. Then I could go about making the world a perfect place.
If you weren't an author, what would you be?
If I'd never been an author I'd probably still be a secretary. But if I had to stop writing tomorrow I'd probably quite like to be an editor. I thought I wanted to be a midwife having watched hours of childbirth docs on the Discovery channel, until I gave birth to my second baby and saw the other stuff that midwives have to do that they don't show you on the telly.
What would you like to be remembered for?
Being a positive influence, a good mother and a memorable writer.
Any advice for aspiring authors? (Feel free to make this bit the longest!)
Well, first of all READ LOLA'S BLOG! (I mean the old one, before you got your deal). I would say that all the cautionary 'develop a thick skin/don't give up/keep at it/self-edit/believe in yourself' stuff is contained therein. It's a slog. If you've got a wonderful idea for a book and a burning desire to set that idea out in novel form it's easy to imagine that if you had the chance to do it you'd grab it and run with it and love every second. Wrong. You will have to force yourself to write every word and half the time you'll be miserable either because you're not producing enough work or because the work you are producing is not living up to the high expectations you had for it. Writing is not easy. And most of the time it is not fun. And more often than not people don't get publishing deals. If you can come to terms with all that and still want to do it then my advice is just to go for it. Start and keep going until you get to the end. Then do what Lola and I did and - stick a pin in the Writers and Artists' Yearbook and send it off to as many people as possible. If you have written a good book, SOMEONE will eventually publish it. Honestly. There is no 'magic' fix or formula. Good luck!!
Thank you! Thank you! Lisa J!!! (Am quite starstruck at this moment… I think I need to take a'moment'...)
© Lola Jaye