Sophie Ranald shares ten things about her to mark the release of her new book It's Not You It's Him. 

It's Not You It's Him

It's Not You It's Him

I hate writing

The inimitable Dorothy Parker once said, “I hate writing. I love having written.” And boy, she nailed it right there. I find the experience of sitting down in front of my keyboard – metaphorically exposed to the world, about to reveal the innermost workings of my author mind – utterly excruciating. So much so that I sometimes sit there for hours, pissing about on the internet, without writing a word. But when eventually that 2,000 words are complete and I can step away knowing my work for the day is done… Heaven.

I love being edited

OMG. After the solitary torment that is writing, the joy of entering into the lovely, collaborative editing process is just… Aaaaah! Like walking out of chilly shade into sunshine. I know many writers find edits hard, and I do sympathise. But I adore my editor and as a journalist I’ve become used to having my writing worked on and improved by others. My editor, Christina, is brilliant and I find it so satisfying to see my novel change and improve under her guidance. Even though she is THE hardest taskmaster.

I can’t read while I’m writing

Reading used to bring me so much joy, and it saddens me greatly that now I write for a living, I read so much less, especially books that are new or challenging. When I was writing Sorry Not Sorry, I binge-reread all Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie memoirs through from beginning to end not once, or twice, but about four times, the whole way through all seven of them. They’re great books, but come on!

I’m a feminist

And I make no apologies for it. In my freelance day job, I’m tangentially involved in the world of finance, and it constantly appals me how under-represented women are in an industry that, let’s face it, determines how the entire world ticks over and how much money people have to live on and feed their children. If you can look at this and not be bloody furious, you’re a saint, a masochist, or deluded.

I love my cats

Okay, anyone who’s read any of my books will know that I’m a bit of a crazy cat lady. But Purrs and Hither give me so much joy and make me laugh every day. They’re so adorable and furry and funny and cuddly and they give no fucks whatsoever.

I’m a great cook

I love food and cooking, and that comes through in my books a lot. But I’m also – like most women my age and a good few younger and older ones, too – properly mixed up when it comes to food, eating and bodies. I mean, we’re expected to be these domestic goddesses who can whip up a batch of brownies at a second’s notice and hoover them up in this sexy, no-care way – but still wear our crop-tops like we haven’t had a square meal in days. How do you even do that?

I go for a walk every single morning

On my writing days at home, I get up, clean my teeth, throw on some clothes, feed the cats, and walk round our local park before I even sit down at my desk or have a coffee. It gets my brain in gear and gets 3,000 steps on my Fitbit when the day hasn’t even begun. And it’s a great way to connect with nature and the changing seasons (which Christina keeps telling me to mention to add more colour to my books).

I have a nap every afternoon

Come about 2pm, my little cat Purrs starts going, “AHEM.” We both know what her persistent taps on my knee with her paw mean: it’s time for bed. I set my alarm for one hour, she pops under the duvet and cuddles up, and I wake up invigorated and ready to carry on with my day.

I detest my nails

I really envy people whose manis and pedis are always on fleek. My nails are awful, and I take full responsibility for it – but is there anything in the world more tedious than that whole rigmarole of soaking, cuticle-pushing, filing, buffing, undercoating, painting, sitting around like a child playing Musical Statues while it dries, and then finally, when you think you’re good to go, you do some minor random thing and it all goes pear-shaped. It makes me lose the will to live, and therefore my hands are horrible.

I’m obsessed with ranking and reviews

Maybe there are some authors who are above all this stuff. Jane Austen maybe. Oh wait – she died 200 years ago. But I – like almost every author I know – am helplessly addicted to the validation reviews give me and the confirmation that my sales rank is decent enough to keep the cats in Dreamies for another week. And I absolutely love it when readers reach out to me on social media or tell me what they think of my book in a review – even if it’s negative, I love knowing y