'Getting Emotionally Attached to My Characters' by Milly Johnson

When you find a scribbled note on your manuscript from your editor to say that ‘this section made me cry’ it’s incredibly hard not to chalk one up in the air. In fact, it’s impossible. Especially if it is the part of the story where even I had to break off and get a coffee because I was sobbing as I wrote it.

Author Milly Johnson

One of the questions I’ve been asked more than once is, ‘Do you laugh or cry when you’re writing?’ And the answer is a big fat yes. I can be found chuckling at my own jokes – which isn’t as big-headed as it sounds because often when they appear on the page, it’s the first time I’ve seen them. You’ll have watched comedians crack up at their own material and use the excuse, ‘Sorry, I haven’t heard that one before’ – and I know exactly what they mean. It’s as if someone else has made up the joke and used you as a conduit. And when I write about sad events, I am in the middle of the action feeling it all. In The Yorkshire Pudding Club, I felt very claustrophobic writing about Elizabeth running away from her father; in A Spring Affair, when Lou is clearing out her attic and breaking her heart, I was breaking mine; I was giggling to myself writing about the very fat dressmaker in A Summer Fling and in White Wedding I felt so desperately sad for Glyn’s parents, I had to stop myself trying to rescue them. And in my new book, A Winter Flame, the chapter that so affected my editor crippled me to write because (no spoilers) I didn’t want it to happen, but it had to – and I felt as guilty as a murderer. That’s the trouble with characters – they become too real and authors grow attached. And if you feel sad when someone you like dies in life, you feel a loss too when you have to ‘kill your darlings’. But I know that if my writing doesn’t move me, it isn’t going to move anyone else.

It’s not just laughter and tears I feel. I’ve had the vapours a couple of times writing a bit of a saucy scene. Gratuitous sex doesn’t fit into my novels, but my heroes and heroines are full-blooded people and occasionally it is necessary to have them indulge in some passion. I can come over quite melty because of some of the nice things that happen to my heroines, and feel hurt for them too. Sometimes I can do that by conjuring up old stored feelings of rejection and betrayal, sometimes I have to call on my imagination. If I didn’t have the capacity to imagine, I’d never have been able to write a book about a snow-filled Christmas theme park whilst sitting on the balcony of a ship cruising through near-tropical Mediterranean air. But then, I’ve had a career in writing greetings card jokes for years and it always happened that I was writing jokes about Santa sunbathing in the garden (that’s me sunbathing, not Santa) and composing gentle springy Easter cards in the middle of winter.

Sometimes you have to do a bit of research, of course. I can imagine a semblance of what it must feel like to be widowed young or to have won the lottery, but it hasn’t happened to me so I need to do some work on getting that right. Then again, people react differently to joy and crisis so at least you get some leeway. But knowing your characters well will give you an indication of how they would meet with any life-changing events. I like to get inside my ‘people’ and wear them like an overcoat, walk in their shoes. It sounds daft, crazy because it is. Writers are artists – total nutters – but perfectionist nutters. All we can do is accept that fact and carry on.

The Original Bad Boy: The Real Travis Maddox

Jamie McGuire

So many of my readers have asked if Travis Maddox is based on a real person. Could a womanizing, foul-mouthed charmer that you can’t help but love be out there somewhere? The short answer: Yes, yes he is.

My senior year of high school, I was thrilled to learn I had been accepted to an Oklahoma university far enough away not to feel like high school again, and close enough that I could take my laundry home to Mom when playing grown up got old.

I made friends right away, but one day, as I did sometimes, I felt like sitting at the lunch table alone. Wait. So your university really did have a dinky cafeteria where most of you had the same lunch time? Yes, really. On this particular day, sitting alone would garner the attention of our university’s version of the Walking One Night Stand. My very own Travis Maddox. That wasn’t his name, of course, but the cafeteria introduction of Travis and Abby compared to my experience was nearly verbatim.

“Travis” and I became fast friends, and although an obvious attraction existed, for whatever reason I was the one girl he didn’t immediately try to sleep with. We studied together. We made plans for the weekends. No one could figure us out, and just like Abby, I found myself fielding questions about our relationship daily.

On my 19^th birthday, my friends on the football team—including a Shepley and Brazeal—gathered to celebrate at Brazeal’s apartment. Although much fictional flair was added to that scene in the book, there were several parallels.

“Travis” was more a lover than a fighter, but he was just as devastatingly handsome, and charismatic. My best friend on campus, Robin, swore that the snag in my quest to rise above the friend zone was that “Travis” respected me, and truly cared about me, but just wasn’t ready at that stage in his life to find The One. I transferred schools before I had a chance to find out, and we lost touch.

Ironically, 12 years later, in my second year of Radiography school, I was waiting for a patient to dress after an exam in the hospital hallway. A man turned the corner, down the very hallway where I stood, and the second our eyes made contact, I knew. “Travis” stared back at me. His eyes lit up with recognition. “We know each other, don’t we. Yeah, we used to be buddies.”

I smiled as I was apprised of the highlights of his life since the time when we were important to each other. He was married, and his wife was four months pregnant. We congratulated each other on the paths our lives had taken, and he made a reference to what a great time in his life it was, those months we spent together. My heart ached when he walked away. Beautiful Disaster had been finished almost a year to the day.

How to Build a Business From Your Kitchen Table!

Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish

Six short years ago, Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish were maxing out their credit cards, trying to secure investment and crossing their fingers that their idea would take off. It did, and now www.notonthehighstreet.com  is a multi-million business, a platform for thousands of independent designer-makers and retailers. Drawing on their own story as well as those of all those that sell through their site, Sophie and Holly have sought to set out the nuts and bolts of how to start and run a business from home. Here are some of their top do’s and dont’s.

DO’S

1. RIGOROUSLY TEST IF YOUR IDEA MEANS BUSINESS. 

Our 'Down & Dirty' test is comprehensive and questions which will drill down, and help you define what will – or won't – work about your business idea. Crucially, it could save you a lot of wasted money and heartache further down the road. 

2.     WORK WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY

They are the ones who will go the extra mile for you. But it's vital that all parties understand what they're getting into. We both completed detailed questionnaires in which we had to be completely honest about our motivations, and set the time we were prepared to invest.

3. LEARN HOW MONEY WORKS. 

Your idea HAS to make money – if it doesn't, it's just a hobby. Testing the financial aspects of your business, as well as being properly prepared for investment, gives you a much stronger chance of succeeding. 

4. REMEMBER THAT THE CUSTOMER IS AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING. 

Every single decision you make needs to have your customer at the heart of it – from the price point to customer services. Furthermore, from research right through to sales, you need to be engaged with your customer, and they need to be engaged with you. 

5. NOT ALL THE BEST IDEAS ARE ORIGINAL ONES. 

You don't have to reinvent the wheel to have a successful business idea. Sometimes, you just need to tweak something that already exists – whether that's in design, execution, price, service or delivery. Think about what in your world could do with changing or improving and that might be your business idea.

DON’T’S

1. DON'T COMPROMISE YOUR BRAND. 

However small your business is, you need to identify your brand – the unique thing that spells out what you do and how you do it (try to articulate six key brand principles). This brand identity will help you make fast decisions on everything from price point to company stationery, from product design to delivery.

2. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE MONEY YOU WILL NEED. 

Take what you think you'll need and then double it. Then double it again. It takes a huge amount of money to set up and run a business for the first year. You need to keep your eye on your bottom line daily. We learned this the hard way when a year after we started we hit a wall – we hadn't properly accounted for the fact that growth and expansion costs money.

3. DON'T FORGET TO STOP AND BREATHE. 

When you’re getting started on your business you need to work hard – probably harder than you've ever worked in your life. Running your own business is all-consuming and striking a balance with your family life can feel nigh-on impossible. We’ve been there – and we talk about it in the book. There’s no hard and fast solution but you must schedule in downtime, too. If nothing else, relaxing will revitalise you and take you back to work with more energy and better ideas. 

4. DON'T WORRY IF IT GOES WRONG. 

Things do go wrong – it happens. Own your mistakes and move on from them. We don't beat ourselves up about the errors we made, we hope we learned from them.

5. DON'T FORGET TO ENJOY IT. 

You're running your own business because you're passionate about your idea and because you want a great working life on your own terms – don't forget that. We've had some dark days since starting the business, but we've had some incredible highs, too (Downing Street, the first million in the bank, the customers who let us know what we're doing right) and we still drink in the joy of owning our own business with offices that we love to go to work in. 

Build a Business From Your Kitchen Table (£14.99) is available from all good retailers.                                                                                                                                                                 

"My Night of Posh Frocks and Glamour"

Creative Writer of the Year winner Stacey Dove

Posh frocks, glitz and glamour were on the cards when Team Books and the City left the office and headed to the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance ceremony, a prize for women’s fiction, held in June.

Two of our resident authors were nominated for the accolade - Milly Johnson for AN AUTUMN CRUSH and Jane Costello for GIRL ON THE RUN.

Jane said: “It’s fantastic to be nominated. It’s lovely that comedy, romance and chick-lit are being recognised.”

The other shortlisted ladies were Allie Spencer for SUMMER LOVING, Jenny Colgan for MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFE, Sarra Manning for YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME and Jane Lovering for PLEASE DON'T STOP THE MUSIC.

Speaking on the night about her nomination, Sunday Times best-selling author Milly said: “I’m stunned. I’m very excited to be here as I have never been nominated for anything like this before.

“Because Melissa was a very good friend of mine, it means something to be up for an award that is set up in this way.”

Melissa Nathan, author of chick-lit favourites Persuading Annie and Acting Up, outlined the criteria for the award herself, shortly before her death from breast cancer in 2006 aged 37. 

She wrote: “The first part of this award is for a book that is suffused with humour, where the jokes are not an added extra, but where the writer’s voice and the comedy are interdependent…

To create believable, sympathetic characters, with whom your readers desperately want to fall in love, is no easy feat. And so, the second part of this award is that the romance is utterly believable, and so important to the reader that the romance is a page-turner…

Together, the melding of these two great connectors should create a book that is witty, romantic and full of warmth.”

And who wouldn’t love a book like that?

Melissa’s husband, Andrew Saffron, founded the award in his wife’s honour, with the first prize going to Marian Keyes in 2007 for Anybody Out There.

Funny woman Jo Brand presented and helped judge the awards, with author of the Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella, best-selling novelist Joanna Trollope OBE, actress and writer Morwenna Banks, and book buyer for Waitrose, Freya Wright making up the rest of the judging panel.

Champagne, canapés, (large glasses, small portions), speeches and music later, the winner was announced as Jenny Colgan. Jenny’s 11^th book tells the story of Issy, a young woman who is made redundant from her City job and decides to open up her own café, armed with her grandfather’s recipes.

Jenny said: “I’m so chuffed to win, it’s brilliant. I love that there is an award that recognises comedy as well as romance, it’s such a wonderful legacy for Melissa herself.”

A huge ‘well done!’ from Books and the City to Jenny and all of the fabulous nominees, a great night was had by everyone celebrating the genre that we love the most - women’s fiction packed with life, love and laughter.

My Perfect Summer

Paige Toon

Summer in America or England for the racing season there, and then back home to Australia for yet another summer. I didn’t see a winter until I was thirteen, and it was a couple of years later before my brother and I witnessed snow for the first time – our excitement still feels tangible to me. By then, we had left Australia and moved to England permanently, where my dad had set up a racing team of his own. I was devastated to say goodbye to Australia and my friends, and eventually I would write about being torn between two countries in my debut novel, Lucy in the Sky.

Now, all these years later, I choose to live in England with a family of my own, even though I have an Australian passport and my parents and brother returned Down Under when I was in my early twenties. Many people have screamed ‘why?’ at me over the years. Yes, I miss my family and those same childhood friends terribly. Yes, you can feasibly go to the beach after work (unless you live inland, in which case seeing the ocean is as rare for some as seeing the snow was for me). And yes, yes, yes, the sun shines more in Australia. But much as I appreciated my upbringing, I don’t crave continuous summers. Living in the UK makes me value the seasons. They say the English always talk about the weather – of course we do, every sunny day feels like a celebration; we don’t take them for granted.

This summer, well, I’ll be mostly in beautiful Cambridge where we live. My parents and brother will be here from the other side of the pond, we have four weddings to go to (hopefully no funerals), and I might even attempt punting again on the River Cam (I tried it once and almost fell in – total respect for the people who do this as a job). Most of all, I hope to do no more than spend several sunny days in the garden with my two kids as they splash around in the paddling pool. (No hosepipe ban here, although I still solemnly swear to recycle the pool water for the veggie patch).

But as for the summer that most sticks in my memory, I have to go back to 2007. I was heavily pregnant with my first baby, we had just moved into a house, but had a stressful bridging loan because we hadn’t yet sold our apartment. I was trying to write my second book, Johnny Be Good, and just couldn’t get my head into it because I was so consumed with what impending parenthood would bring (I ended up writing most of it in the three months after my baby was born). That August was one of the worst in my memory, weather-wise. People kept assuming I’d be delighted to not be heavily pregnant and hot, but I felt as gutted as the rest of them that our days were perpetually overcast. I don’t know if mid September can still be classed as summer – probably not – but that’s when my son was born, and, challenging as the year had been up until that point, in that moment, I can honestly say that everything felt perfect. I hope you all have an amazing one this year.

@PaigeToonAuthor

Always expect the unexpected…

But sometimes it is just too unexpected to be believed. I have certainly be taken by surprise by all the extraordinary events that have unfolded since I first set out to write my novel about The Spenders - Britain’s most famous family. Dead Rich. It has proved to be one of the most enjoyable and surprising experiences of my life – totally unexpected!

The twists and turns that have led from its first inception to publication, seem like an endless succession of happy accidents, and to some extent they are. But thinking about what informed the novel and the question that lies at it’s heart – ‘Is a life of fabulous wealth and fame really everything it’s cracked up to be?’ I realise that all the strands of my life and experience are woven together and I have drawn upon them to make up this novel – it is a work of imagination which demonstrates what I believe to be true and that is - to quote Brad Pitt – Fame is a bitch, man.

I was born as far away from the life depicted in Dead Rich as it is possible to be…my father was a sheep farmer in South Wales and I grew up on a beautiful welsh mountain. I ran wild, raised pet lambs and hardly ever went to school – it was idyllic. Both my parents were very hard working and sociable – our house was always full of people - farmhands, friends and fun. Unfortunately, when I was about eight, the bailiffs turned up and that was the end of our life on the farm – nobody expected that!

My parents dealt with such a bitter blow with extraordinary pluck, humour and resourcefulness.  We moved around for a while, dependant on the kindness of friends, until my father became journalist on Farmer’s Weekly and Le Figaro. My sister and I trained wild ponies - which Mum sold on as riding ponies.  We learnt useful lessons early on – you can always work your way back from financial disaster and that family and friends are what matter most.

After a few happy years at the local Grammar School I decided, aged 16 that I needed to move to London. Tired of mud - I wanted pavements – and the pavements of 1970’s London seemed like the most exciting place to be. A brief secretarial course was undertaken (remember those?!)  and I was out into the working world.

Unfortunately, I was the worst secretary on earth. Having been sacked from a job at the Economist – there followed brief and unsatisfactory spells in a couple of advertising agencies - more Sad Men than Mad Men - I began to think I might be unemployable.

I had a wonderful Uncle, who used to hang out in a very disreputable afternoon drinking club, The Colony Room in Soho – famously the haunt of Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and, less famously, Brian the Burglar.

One drunken afternoon my Uncle met a brilliant designer called Thea Porter at the club. He mentioned his niece ‘was interested in clothes’ To be honest, the only evidence of this, was that I had exhausted my mother’s supply of old table cloths and curtains by making them into very ‘interesting’ dresses. As I say, he mentioned me and I suddenly found myself with the job of my dreams.  I was 17 - Thea Porter was at the height of her fame – making exquisitely glamorous, boho clothes for the most famous actresses, pop stars, directors, writers and artists of the 1970’s. Her exotic, souk/bazaar/shop in Greek Street, Soho was visited by an endless succession of stars; Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Barbara Streisand, The Stones, Rod Stewart and even Dame Edna…trying on clothes, hanging out, drinking and smoking – telling the stories of their lives – so it was there that I first got a glimpse of what lay beneath the façade of fame. Fascinating, fabulous people – but I couldn’t help noticing that some of them were very fragile indeed…

In those years I often travelled to Paris and LA and visited the houses of many of the Hollywood stars, I hung out with their kids and got a glimpse of what life was like for the families of the famous too.

Then, aged 20, I met and married my husband Theo – this was also pretty unexpected, as we hardly knew each other – but he was very handsome and funny and he asked me… what more can I say! We set up home in a damp little flat, which never had the phone or heating on at the same time – this meant we had to go out – a lot. We met a huge amount of people in those party years and many of the friends we made then remain so today.

Theo was working very hard, beginning to build a career as a jewellery designer and I went on from Thea Porter to become a photographer’s agent – which, not unsurprisingly, took me into the world of photographers, models and advertising agencies. Managing the careers of creative’s was something I enjoyed enormously for a few years – but, after my daughters were born, I found working long hours away from them too difficult – the dilemma of every working mother – I missed them too much.

So I returned to my roots in the rag trade and set up a business that I could run from home, selling Designer samples and excess stock to a list of private clients. I have been doing this happily for the past 20 years. Many of my clients have become great friends. Dressing women is a very intimate experience – the vulnerabilities and insecurities, which so many of us share, make my job very revealing - in every sense. Some of the things I have been told by people have very surprising indeed and I am often reminded that life really is stranger than fiction. 

Then along came this novel – quite unexpectedly – although I have been writing for years. Book outlines, screenplays, a TV series or two. I never had the confidence to show them to anyone – until Dead Rich.  When I told a friend about The Spenders - three generations of a rich, famous family behaving very badly – she just said ‘write it’ and gave me a copy date. That was the spur – The Spenders had lived inside my head for a long time before I started to write about them…so when I finally let them out they were soon elbowing each other out of the way to get as much page space as possible. Lots of things they said and did shocked even me!  So, where did all this stuff come from…pouring out onto the page? Where indeed?

Then I look back at my life so far and I realise – ah – that’s where!

What to wear? Perfect clothes to snare a job...

Apparently, I’m an adult.

At the time of writing, there are just DAYS until I finish university and have to enter the REAL WORLD.

A scary place where the flash of a student card doesn’t make Topshop that little bit cheaper and a £500 fashion allowance is an offer dreams are made of.

As much as I could pop the entire budget into my currently non-existent dream Mulberry bag fund (a £925 Oversized Alexa in Oak Light Patent Leather please!) a growing up girl needs a grown-up outfit.

Job hunting starts next May so I need a killer, take-down-the-advert, stop the recruitment, we’ve found our girl kinda outfit.

So Nancy Sinatra’s boots are made for walking, but I need shoes. Shoes that are made for hiring. Then, walking, talking, writing, editing, business meetings, long lunches, longer office parties and everything else in-between.

These two-tone Classic Collection LK Bennett courts are perfect, they have a high enough heel to ensure I’m confidently walking tall, yet aren’t knee-buckling, blister-causing skyscrapers.

The caramel and black colour-block of the shoe provides a hint of Chanel class. Very K-Middy.  At £185 these are definitely a necessary investment.

Some tailored trousers are next on my wish list. A pair of £110 Ted Baker velvet cigarette legged trousers provide a nod to the androgynous trend, whilst still holding a feminine edge. Fabulous. Next, I want a shirt that I can utilise in lots of office outside. H&M, the source of ‘I love your dress…how much? REALLY?’ conversations, is where I’ll head. This pearl chiffon blouse is a wardrobe staple for just less than twenty British pounds.

I shall of course be abiding by the work-wear fashion commandment – thou shalt wear smart tailoring. Epitomised by Jaeger at London Fashion Week in pastel candy colours, my interview outfit needs a fitted blazer.

My current wardrobe is packed with hues of chocolate and caramel, so this camel blazer definitely caught my eye. Found in high street haven All Saints, its creased paper-like finish will contrast nicely against my sleek trousers and blouse.

At £180, it would go great with a shift dress, tights and ankle boots too. A winner.

I’d wear the blazer open, showing off the pussy-bow detail of my bargain blouse.

My hair twisted into an effortless yet smart top-knot, I’ll add a cute bow hair clip to finish the look for just £3.50. Accessorize always gets a gold star for their outfit making extras at pocket money prices, and this clip is no exception. It adds a fab girly touch to my interview outfit.

Holding onto my savvy student spending ways, I’m left with a whole £3.50 to spare. That’s just enough for a pre-interview latte and a muffin.

So now I’ve got the look… who’s hiring?