Thea18 wrote:
hey Sophie i'm so happy that u're here!!!
i immensely enjoyed the shopaholic series but have to say that can you keep a secret? is so far my fave.
My loooong train journeys have become so much fun thanks to your books!
The books go by so fast one after the other that I'm already waiting for the nxt one.
You make writing look so easy!!!
Can't wait to catch up with Becky n Suze again
........
Thea
Hi, Thea18 -- I'm glad you mentioned Can You Keep A Secret -- I remember reading it and thinking "Wow, Sophie Kinsella is going in a new direction!"
Sophie, do you deliberately try new things -- or do your characters/ideas lead you in "new directions?"
Bethanne
Sophie-Kinsella wrote:Hi Lisa
I feel as if my books are like my children, I love them all the same!
Having said that, if I absolutely had to pick one it would be the first Shopaholic book, simply because that's where I first met/created Becky Bloomwood.
It's also the book that I wrote the quickest - I was so excited by it! Twenties Girl took the longest simply because I started it, then got taken up by film stuff and had to put it aside, then resume. So in calendar months it took a while.
Sophie
Sophie, it's interesting to hear that you took the longest to write Twenties Girl, because I definitely felt a difference between the first and second half of the book (I liked the second half much better, which is not to say anything bad about the first half, just that when you got further into the grandmother's feelings, I was hooked). Was that the division?
Bethanne
Hi Bethanne
I love Agatha Christie's novels because they are so easy to read, so addictive, and so brilliantly clever. They evoke a bygone age so they tickle my nostalgic spot, and although they generally contain one murder (at least!) they are never remotely dark. Both the characters of Miss Marple and Poirot are wonderful and there is something very soothing about the familiar.
I wouldn't say that I have ever been consciously influenced by Agatha Christie other than aspiring to do what she did: create entertaining, unputdownable escapism which is easy to read.
Who knows, maybe one day Becky Bloomwood will turn detective!
Sophie
Good afternoon Lisa! (It's tea time here )
I don't have a set amount of hours, but I try to aim for a word count each day - usually I aim to write at least 1,000 words. Sometimes it takes me a couple of hours, sometimes I'm still sitting there in the evening!!
My advice to any aspiring author is to find an idea that really excites you, as writing a book is a long slog and it's all too easy to give up. You need to be able to get that spark back as you remember why you wanted to do it in the first place. Write the book you would love to read yourself. Imagine going into a book store and finding the PERFECT book for you. Does it exist? If not, maybe YOU need to write it! Keep a notebook and pen with you. Don't tell everyone 'I'm writing a book!' They will only ask you all the time how it's going, or pitch in with their own ideas. Keep it to yourself or share only with someone you really trust, until you've finished or at least have a substantial piece or work that you're pleased with. And enjoy it!
Sophie
Sophie - I finished reading Twenties Girl a couple of days ago and have told everyone I know to read it. It was fantastic! It was different from your other books yet similar. I like the different spin. This past spring I read Cocktails for Three and told every one of my pregnant friends they needed to read it! I've yet to be disappointed in one of your novels (both as Sophie Kinsella and Madeleine Wickham).
I love how your characters are so realistically quirky. I often cringe when reading about one of the mortifying situations they get themselves into (i literally dropped the book and covered my eyes when Lara and Ed had their first encounter!). I see myself in your characters too often . Do you come up with characters first or situations? or both simultaneously?
In my book, you've totally acheived the "entertaining, unputdownable escapism" that so many of us look for in a good book. Thank you for that!
