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Before becoming an author, Alison Bond worked in the film industry for ten years. She started her career at ICM as an assistant to a maniacal boss with a superstar client list and was later an agent at the Casaratto Company representing writers and directors. Her first novel, How to be Famous, was published by Penguin in 2005. The Truth About Ruby Valentine is her second novel. How to be famous was a killer novel - totally un-put-down-able, do you think your experience in the film industry helped you at all with writing or researching your novels? I only considered writing my first book about the trappings of fame because I had that professional background. Working in the film industry was the chance of a lifetime for me not least because I was able to see what goes on for real. It has changed the way I look at showbiz forever. You had a super-cool job in the film industry, when did you know you wanted to be an author? Writing a book was something I’ve always wanted to try. I’ve written film screenplays in the past and I was interested to see how different it was to write a novel. The answer is that they’re completely different, but both great fun. What made you finally sit down and start writing a novel? I was having a terrible week at work and was trying to write myself out of it. There’s a lot of pressure in the film industry so it can sometimes be a stressful environment, and I’d been working pretty much non-stop since I left university. I needed to try something new, so I decided to take six months off to concentrate on writing a novel. Do you know how your books will end when you begin, or do the endings sometimes surprise you? When I begin I always think I know exactly how a book will end, but by about halfway through things are usually running away from me. I take a step back and think about how I really want things to turn out for my characters now they’ve lived on the page for a few months. Overall I’d say I like happy endings, and aim in that direction, though the things that will make my characters happy are sometimes unexpected and do surprise me. How do you create such realistic dialogue? I’m not sure. I just write what comes into my head. Perhaps my background in writing for the screen helps my dialogue. In a novel you are able to easily express internal emotions, but when you are writing a film, dialogue and action are the only forms of expression you have. What did you find most challenging in telling the stories of three different characters? The ripple effect. Change one thing in one character’s story and you find you have to pick through the other 400 pages and look for the impact it has on everyone else. How to Be Famous seems perfect for the big screen. Any movie plans? You’ll have to ask my film agent, Casarotto. I see it more as a big showy mini-series starring B-listers and wannabes. The sort of thing you feel a bit guilty watching but are gripped by from start to finish. Your new book, The Truth about Ruby Valentine - what's it about? It’s about an unassuming celebrity-mad girl called Kelly who finds out that a world famous actress, now dead, was her real mother. Kelly goes to Hollywood to find out more about her past and becomes an overnight sensation. Kelly sounds like a leading lady we're going to love, now, we all love celebs, but to find out a dead diva is actually your mum - that's pretty life-changing right? What inspired this story? Ruby Valentine is a character who’s been around for a long time. Ruby was actually in an early draft of How to be Famous (one of Melanie Chaplin’s co-stars on Justice) but I decided that Ruby had such an amazing life she deserved a story all of her own. I decided to tell her story through Kelly’s eyes to reveal what it’s like to step into the glare of the limelight. Anyone that’s read How to be Famous will be familiar with Ruby’s agent, Max Parker, who features in both books. Ruby’s heyday is in the sixties and seventies, a period in Hollywood history that fascinates me. . How hard was it to write the 'difficult' second book? Ruby Valentine spans forty years of glamour and deceit with flashbacks and two competing narratives. It was a challenge, and there were times when I struggled with the maze of lies I’d constructed, but on the whole I had many more good days that bad. How does a story start for you? With an opening chapter, which sounds like a simplistic answer but I practically write the entire first chapter in my head and I only put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) when my brain can’t retain any more sentences. That way when I write the first sentence I can’t stop. I know exactly who my lead character is, what she says and what she does for a whole chapter. Do you have a writing routine - tell us about it... I read back over what I did the day before and change what mistakes I can now clearly see that I made, then I let the characters carry me on to the next line. If I freeze I think about how I want this particular incident to end and the next thing that has to occur to get my characters where I want them to end up. When I’m hungry I eat. When I need to think something through I go for a walk or clean the house. Which authors do you read? I’ve recently discovered Philippa Gregory, on the recommendation of a friend, and so I’m working my way through her fantastic historical romances. There’s easily as much glamour and intrigue in the society Gregory writes about as there is in mine. History is full of passion and drama. What's the biggest perk to being a famous author? I get to go film premieres and call it research. What one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring writer? Don’t stop until you’ve finished. Be it a poem, an article, a short story, a screenplay or a blockbuster novel. If you don’t create something complete you are robbing yourself of a great sense of satisfaction. I get plenty of people telling me they’d like to write a book or a film, but they have rarely stayed with the dream until the end. Your chances of being published or produced are zero until you finish what you start. What do you do when you're not writing? Think about what I should be writing. What question is never asked of you in interviews that you would like to answer? Would you like a free holiday? What's next in the world of Alison Bond? I’ve got a couple of film projects on the go, a teen comedy and a documentary, and I’d love one or both of those to take me to all the film festivals around the world. I believe it would be possible to spend an entire year going from festival to festival, drinking champagne and generally being feted. I’d quite like to try that. The truth about Ruby Valentine and How to be Famous are both published by Penguin. interview by Lisa Clark Reviews Recently we have been reviewing and changing our review process. It is now our policy to offer a review package of: * Independent review of book * Book cover * Author interview or biography * Photo of author * Links through to author's site and/or publisher's site. We now charge £75 for this service. If you'd like to know more please visit here Other authors: Cecilia Aherne |
| Posted: 16/06/2006 11:03:06 Last Updated: 09/10/2007 12:20:30 |
Chick Lit > Chick Lit Authors :: Alison Bond