Welcome to The Comfy Chair Blog...
Nicola Gill
Nicola Gill lives in London with her husband and two sons. At the age of five, when all of the other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers, she decided she wanted to be an author. Her ballet teacher was very relieved.
1. What was your favourite
childhood book/author?
My earliest reading memory is falling in love with Enid
Blyton’s Mr Meddle series when I was four. I was living in South Africa
with my mum for six months and desperately missed my dad (my parents were
divorced). Every week, Dad would send me a Mr Meddle book.
2. What inspired you to start
writing and how long has it taken you to get to this point?
Well,
I was five when I first announced I wanted to be an author (weird kid!) so I’m
not sure exactly what inspired me. I think I just always liked telling stories.
It’s
taken me a *while* to get to this point. I didn’t start trying to write fiction
until I was nearly forty. I think this was for all the usual reasons – family,
work – but also because I lacked the confidence to try. When I did eventually
start writing, like most authors, I had a long and bumpy journey to
publication.
3. Describe your writing space -
neat and ordered or creative chaos?
I’m
normally quite tidy but when I’m getting near to the end of a draft, my desk
gets messier and messier and I start to feel as if I’m drowning in post-it
notes.
4. What is the easiest and
hardest part of the writing process?
I
think the easiest part of the writing process is when your book really takes
hold and almost seems to be ‘writing itself’. You know the characters and the
story well and it’s just a matter of getting it down on the page.
Conversely,
the hardest part of writing is when you feel that nothing is flowing and that
you don’t know what to write next. When this happens you just have to force yourself
to keep going and have a lot of tea and biscuits!
5. Which other authors are you
influenced by?
Ooh,
lots! I’m an avid reader and love lots of different genres. Here are a few of
my favourite authors: David Nicholls, Nick Hornby, Curtis Sittenfeld, Katherine
Heiny, Jonathan Tropper, Celeste Ng, Marian Keyes, Anne Tyler. I could go on!
6. What does literary success
“look” like to you?
That’s
a really interesting question and I think the truth is that it’s human nature
to move to move the goalposts. What I mean by that is that it’s easy to think:
I will be proud of myself when I finish a book/ get an agent/ get a publishing
deal and then forget to feel like that when you achieve those things.
It
would obviously be lovely to sell a gazillion books worldwide, be massively
critically acclaimed and have my books adapted for the screen. But, in the
meantime, I think it’s important to celebrate all the milestones along the way.
7. How do you select the names of your characters?
My process for selecting character names is quite random and I often just ‘feel’ that a certain first name suits someone. That said, it’s important to take into account things like age and background. I try to avoid names of close family and friends too
9. If your book was to be made
into a film/TV programme, which actors would play which role?
If
we choosing actors for We Are Family, I’d love Roisin Connaty to play
Laura and Felicity Jones to play Jess. Oh, and we’d need someone fabulous to
play their uber-difficult mum – maybe Kirstin Scott-Thomas?
If
I’m allowed to pick actors for my other book, The Neighbours (please, I
love this game!), I’d go for Karen Gillan as Ginny and Patsy Kensit as Cassie.
10. What do you
hope your readers take away from your book?
As
long as readers enjoy the book, I’m happy. That said, I’d love it if it helps
anyone to understand that there is no ‘right’ way to deal with grief and that
it’s not linear.
Lastly, Jenn (The Comfy Chair) likes to
enjoy a good read snuggled up with a cup of tea and piece of cake... what cake
or sweet treat would you suggest to accompany your book?
I agree that a good book, a cup of tea and a piece of cake
is the perfect combination. My favourite types of cakes are the plain, unshowy
looking ones that taste fab. I’m not mad about buttercream icing which means I
don’t really like cupcakes. However, a nice slice of lemon drizzle, or banana
cake or the coconut and raspberry slice from the Roasting Tin cookbook …
mmm!
Laura and Jess might be sisters, but they’re very different
people. Laura is laid-back, eats cheese in bed, and takes life as it comes.
Jess, meanwhile, is the classic overachiever: Chief of Chivvying, Queen of all
WhatsApp groups. They’re family, but they’re not exactly friends.
When their mum dies, the sisters struggle to agree on
anything, from where to scatter the ashes to whether “passed away” is an
acceptable term.
Will they realise how much they need each other before it’s
too late?
AVAILABLE HERE
Please visit Nicola's website or social media for more:
Instagram: nicolagillauthor
Twitter: @Nicola_J_Gill
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