Tracy Bloom
No-one Ever Has Sex On A Tuesday is a romantic comedy about a one night stand that leads to absolute chaos. Childhood sweethearts Matthew and Katy agree they must never see each other again after they end up in bed together following a school re-union. So all is forgotten… until eight months later, when a shock meeting at an antenatal class forces them to confront the fact that Matthew may or may not be the father of Katy's baby. Adding to the confusion is Matthew’s wife who is pregnant with twins and Katy's much younger boyfriend who refuses to take anything seriously.
You wrote the book when you moved to America, so what can you tell us about this experience?
My husband’s job led us to move to Connecticut, USA for 3 years. I'd just had a baby and didn't know anyone so rather than become a desperate housewife I decided that I'd use the opportunity to pursue a long held dream to write a novel. I signed up for an evening class in creative writing and met some fascinating locals who were all sweating away over their own books and were massively supportive. They even got my British sense of humour! People from the States seem to genuinely believe in the "American Dream" that anyone, whoever you are, can achieve success if they really want to and I think that rubbed off on me. I have no qualifications to think I could write a bestseller and yet I did. I think perhaps starting my writing career over there gave me the added belief in myself that I needed to achieve success.
Please tell us about your old dream job.
I was Head of Product Development for Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventure. This basically meant my job was to look at what new rides and attractions we should be developing for the parks. So yes I did get to visit many theme parks all over the world and test all the latest rollercoasters! What's not to love?
How do you feel now you are back in the UK?
We had an amazing experience in the USA and it genuinely changed my life but I'm so happy to be back in the UK. I'm back with my family and friends who I've known for a long time and back in the midst of what I believe to be one of the most exciting and diverse cultures that there is. I love our humour and our creativity and our quirkiness and I want to be a part of that. This amazing country with its fascinating people is what definitely inspires me as a writer.
Why do you like to write about people who screw up their lives in a hilarious fashion?
We all mess up. Some people hide it better than others but generally we all spend most of our time trying desperately hard not to screw up and often failing. I think people like to read about people getting it wrong because it makes them feel more normal! Also when you put people under stress or in challenging circumstances it's often good material for comedy which is what I really like to write.
Why is writing your new dream job?
There are so many reasons but here are my top three:
- I get people telling me they love my writing and I make them laugh out loud – that totally blows me away.
- I get to use my brain, my thoughts, my sense of humour and my personality to make a living.
- I get to take my kids to school and pick them up. I can be home for them.
Please tell us about the next book No-one Ever Has Sex After A Baby.
This is a working title at present and will be the follow up to NO-ONE EVER HAS SEX ON A TUESDAY. It will chart the impact of the baby being born on the various relationships involved. This book will actually be published in 2015 as I have already written my next release which is a Christmas themed title due out in October 2014: I WILL MARRY GEORGE CLOONEY (BY CHRISTMAS).
No-One Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday by Tracy Bloom is published by Arrow on 24th April 2014 – paperback, £6.99