I always have more than one book on the go – as a reader, not as a writer! Currently it’s Raymond Chandlers The High Window - one of the lesser-known ones, and – I can’t recommend this highly enough - The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice. It was published in 2005, but it reads like Nancy Mitford writing in the 1950s. Young love, lots of parties and ‘50s music. Bliss!
Joanna Toye
My life could have taken a very different direction – At eighteen, I went to France as an au pair. I had a magical romance with the father of the family’s much younger brother, who followed me back to England and proposed. What if I’d thrown in my place at uni and run away to live in a village in the Jura? Maybe that’s the story I should write next…
I’m the most un-sporty person in the world – no-one was more surprised than me when I took up running in my 50s. I was never going to be a champion athlete, but I still remember the sense of achievement when I jogged, rather than stumbled and walked, up my first hill.
Walking helps me to work out my plots – I had to give up running (or it gave me up) when the wear and tear got too much, but I walk every day, after a morning’s work, to think through what I’ve written, and let it sort of percolate in my brain. It’s amazing how the rhythm of walking helps that process.
MORE: Joanna Toye shares the inspiration for her new book Wartime for the Shop Girls
I learnt Swahili when my daughter was living in Africa – enough to get by with greetings, numbers and discussing the weather, anyway! We had a memorable Christmas one year in a jungle camp being entertained by local drummers and eating (incredibly, miles from anywhere – how had they sourced it?) turkey and plum pudding.
I ‘hear’ my characters in my head – that might sound a bit weird, but a lot of writers say the same. It’s like I tune in to what they’re saying and like to begin a chapter with dialogue. It’s one thing I had to unlearn in moving from scriptwriting to novels. You need that ‘establishing shot’ to tell the reader where the characters are and what they’re doing. I still get away with it sometimes though, and paint the picture later – it can be more dramatic.
You don’t want to come to my house for dinner – It’s not that I can’t cook – I can, when I put my mind to it. But I’m a real lark, up at 5.30 or 6, so I’m yawning my head off by 10 p.m. – not exactly the life and soul of any party. But if you shut the door carefully when you leave, you’re welcome to party on…
Wedding Bells for the Victory Girls is published on March 31st by Harper Collins in paperback at £7.99 also as an e book and download.
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