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Australian Chicklitter Lisa Heidke studied journalism at Queensland University, left Brisbane and settled in Sydney, where she worked in book and magazine publishing. After many years living in Sydney's inner west, Lisa woke up one morning to find herself married with three children and living on the North Shore. Her website is www.lisaheidke.com Lucy Springer Gets Even  buy now When Lucy's husband Max leaves her in the midst of major home renovations, Lucy has two choices - retreat and drink the fine wine he's left in the cellar, or wake up and get even. Of course, she yields to the temptations of the vine at first - who wouldn't? - but eventually we see Lucy pull herself up, brush herself off and sort things out. Lucy is a great heroine - she's loyal and feisty - the sort of woman you'd quite like as a best friend. This is book is a comfortable, easy read - my only reservation would be that with so much focusing on the drudgery and sheer mess of having the builders in, together with school gate scenes, it was a bit too close to real life for many. This is not an escape from it all trip into an exotic and glamorous lifestyle that appeals to some Chicklit readers. Still, there are some great characters, including Lucy's builder, Patch, and her agent/mate Gloria, and of course, the husband we love to hate. We asked Lucy a few questions about her writing process.. When did you decide you were going to write your first book? Even though I studied journalism at university and sometimes thought it would be great to write a novel, I was too busy working in my twenties to seriously consider it. After I had my first child, I started writing for Practical Parenting magazine and every month I’d write a column about family life. That’s when I decided I really wanted to experiment with my own voice and write fiction. However, it wasn’t until my third child, Mia, now aged nine, arrived that I got serious about it. Were you working at the time? No, after Mia was born, I quit the magazine and decided it was ‘now or never’. I had bleated to friends that I was going to write a novel so the time had come to get on with it. Also, while I was writing for magazines every day, I didn’t have the energy or head space to write my own stories for another four hours at night. Once I gave up writing news stories, it freed me up to write for pleasure. How did you plan your novel – do you plan meticulously or just wait and see where the story takes you. I planned Lucy Springer Gets Even in so much that I wanted to write about a woman who is seemingly happy and content and thinks her life is going smoothly, when wham, her husband leaves her. I knew I wanted to write in the first person in a diary format and that Max, Lucy’s husband, would leave day one, sentence one. The story grew from there. Right from the start, I knew Lucy had two children and that she’d been a successful actress before she had kids but it took until almost the end of the first draft for me to realise the story needed more mayhem, hence the inclusion of the renovation and hapless builders. (We were going through our own renovation at the time, so the building chaos was easy to write about!) Over the course of the writing the story, I’d hear snippets at school and come across funny stories and think, okay, that sounds like it could easily happen to Lucy. I’m flexible and good at eavesdropping. What writers do you read? I think Marian Keyes is brilliant. She’s funny and incredibly talented and I admire her enormously. Her writing always seems so effortless even when her characters are dealing with serious issues like alcoholism and divorce. Sophie Kinsella is also a favourite. I really enjoyed Twenties Girl. I also like reading books by Jane Green and Nick Hornby. I’ve just finished reading After The Fall, by Kylie Ladd, a new Australian author and thought it was sharp and spot on with character observation and detail. I will read anything when the back cover blurb appeals to me. I’m always on the lookout for new authors. I also love re-reading classics by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. Do you edit and rewrite as you go, or write various drafts? A bit of both. I try to get the first draft written as quickly as possible and then I find it easier to edit and rewrite. Sometimes, my first draft might only be 50,000 words and that’s when I’ll decide to expand a minor storyline or I’ll realize I’ve skimmed over scenes that need further depth and development. For me, the first draft is always the hardest to write. But once I have a basic plot line to work with, it’s fun to flesh out the story and bring new characters to life. If you had to pick a character in a book (not yours) that personified you, who would it be? This is a really tough question. I’m going to have to say Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. Not because I aspire to be an American bounty hunter but I like her style, wit and the way she sticks up for herself. I can also relate to the chaos and awkward situations she finds herself in. It wouldn’t be bad having both Ranger and Stephanie’s on-again, off-again, boyfriend, Joe, vying for my attention either. Sex scenes – how do you feel about writing these? Another tough question! I find sex scenes hard to write. I really have to be in the mood (so to speak) to get into the characters head space and feel where they’re coming from. (That all sounds wrong, doesn’t it?) Often, I’ll try to skim a sex scene and my editor will flag it and say she needs more. I guess I try not to over analyse sex scenes. I go with the flow and see where the scene leads me...then I cringe when I have to reread it! What’s a typical day for you? Generally, I write Monday to Friday during the school term. I don’t get a lot of writing done when the kids are around. After they’ve been packed off to school, I’ll check my emails and float around Facebook. (An addictive time waster! I’ve had to remove solitaire from my computer because I got too distracted.) After an hour of mucking around, I’ll settle down and start writing. If I’m working on a new manuscript, I try to write between 2,000 -2,500 a day to get the story moving ahead. I try not to think about spelling, tenses and grammar. My main objective is to write the story. Of course that changes once the first draft is written and I’m editing and re-writing. On a typical day, I try to spend four productive hours at the computer. Often I can achieve it, but sometimes I’ll burn out at three and then catch up on reading or try writing a blog on my website. I am still learning to be disciplined and consistent. How have your friends and family reacted to your success? They are very excited for me. When Lucy Springer Gets Even first hit the shelves, I’d get texts and messages from friends and family in various cities around Australia letting me know it was in their local bookshop. It was great. But then they started asking questions like, ‘Is Lucy based on you?’ and ‘Are the bitchy mothers at the school gate based on people you know?’ There were definitely friends who worried that the characters were based on them, which they weren’t. In the beginning, I was worried that friends and family would think that Lucy’s story was based on reality but I quickly got over it. You can’t worry about what others will think or the writing won’t flow freely. I think that as long as the mother-in-law in my story isn’t actually based on my own mother-in-law and I’m not re-creating word for word the huge family fight from last Christmas (for example), you have to be free to let your imagination run free to create realistic characters. But these characters will always be larger than life and will do things that are far more outrageous than people you know would do. What are you writing right now? My second novel What Kate Did Next is being released in Australia at Christmas and I am in the middle of doing the final proof reads before it’s sent to the printers next month. What Kate Did Next is about Kate Cavendish, a married mother of two, who rediscovers her passion for life amidst dealing with a distant husband, a rebellious thirteen-year-old daughter, a heavily pregnant and neurotic sister and parents who reunite after twenty years apart. Kate has a lot to deal with and her life quickly spirals out of control. However, the time has come for Kate to follow some of her own dreams... What are the writing challenges now that you’re published? I’m always thinking about the next story, the next book and wondering if I can come up with a story people will relate to and want to read. I look at Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella and wonder how these brilliant women keep coming up with such fascinating and interesting characters? They are very clever. I guess because I want to keep writing new stories, I’m always thinking about the next book and don’t often stop to enjoy what I have already achieved. I think you’ve got to be careful to enjoy the moment. I should be thrilled that Lucy Springer Gets Even is being released in the UK but at the same time I’m worried about how readers will respond to her given that she’s Australian. I’m also worried about the reception my next book, What Kate Did Next, will receive when it comes out at Christmas. I’m always thinking, could I have written a better story? What would your advice be to someone starting out as a writer? The best advice I can give writers starting out is: Don’t give up. Start writing your novel, short story or memoir, and don’t stop until you’ve finished it. If you can only write one hour a day, write hard for sixty minutes. Before long you’ll have your story. You have to be persistent and determined, as well as have a lot of faith in yourself. Enrol in creative writing classes, join professional organisations, and enter competitions. You might not place but you will get constructive feedback which will hopefully encourage you to keep going. Also join a critique group, either a writers group that meets face-to-face once a month, or an online group. That way you’ll be shamed into submitting 5,000 words a month to your group. It’s a great way to keep the writing momentum going. You might have to shop around though. You want your group to be supportive and offer constructive advice. Above all, you need passion. If you’re not passionate, you won’t sustain the motivation needed to continue writing because it is a solitary and often lonely pursuit. However, it’s a fantastic feeling to have completed your first manuscript! |
| Posted: 16/09/2009 10:05:28 Last Updated: 30/09/2009 11:45:59 |
Chick Lit > Chick Lit Authors :: Lisa Heidke