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Author
Interviews Interview: Deborah
Wright Deborah
Wright is the winner of the Ireland on
Sunday 'Write a Bestseller'
competition.
Fresh
from the publication of her debut novel,
Olivia's Bliss, Deborah Wright talks about
what makes her tick and what makes her
write... Fiction-Net:
Olivia's
Bliss is your debut novel. Has this come
with a huge sigh of relief or were you
expecting to become published? Deborah
Wright: It was a huge relief because I
took such a gamble with the book. It was 2
years ago, and I was 22 years old. I had
just done my degree at Oxford, so there
was a lot of pressure from my friends and
family to join the ratrace. Instead, I
gave up my office job, I moved up North
into a little attic room, borrowed money,
borrowed a computer, lived off baked beans
and busking and hence I wrote Olivia's
Bliss. And I started getting so many
rejections from agents and everyone was
giving me lectures along the lines
of
"Deborah,
you're a looney, grow up and get a job!"
Mind you, I didn't take any notice.
Writing the book was one of the happiest
times of my life. I felt I was doing what
I had always wanted to do, I was swimming
in so much bliss, and I poured that bliss
into the writing, which I think accounted
for the happy, uplifting, witty nature of
the book... When I
spotted the Ireland on Sunday 'Write a
Bestseller' competition, it was really a
last hope. When they phoned to say I had
won, to say I felt relieved would be an
understatement! Fiction-Net:
Olivia's
Bliss tells the story about someone
falling in love with a father and son. Was
this a theme you have always wanted to
write? Deborah
Wright: I thought it would be fun to
research because it entailed having to
seduce ten different sets of fathers and
sons - including a lovely boy called
William who kept calling me Britney in his
sleep, and whose father, Charles was very
posh and kept talking about organic
farming and GM crops in our post-coital
chats... Only
joking! No, seriously...my agent told me
to write about what I know. So I decided
to explore a younger woman-older man
relationship because for some reason
everyone I go out with out seems to be
over the age of 40. (I hasten to add that
Sir Henry Caldwell, the father in the
book, is a terrible bully. I swear none of
my Exs were based on him, I would never
put anyone I knew in a book). Then I
introduced a younger man, Ricky. It wasn't
until my sixth and final draft that I
realised in a flash of inspiration how
much fun it would be to make them father
and son. I have a penchant for writing
about love triangles. In my next book the
heroine is in a love triangle between two
identical twins. "I
am the world's worst
chocoholic" Fiction-Net:
So
what's always in the room when you write?
A coffee, a cigarette or a little light
music? Deborah
Wright: Er...I am incredibly pure
(well in some senses!) I don't smoke, I've
never tasted coffee and I was tea-total
for 8 years...until last month, when I
tentatively started again. I did read
somewhere that having a drink when you're
writing can help with flow. But I have
such a low alcohol tolerance that it only
takes me one Baileys to get completely off
my head so goodness knows what crap I'd
end up writing. Maybe to
make up for all this boring abstinence, I
am the world's worst chocoholic. I gorge
myself on Toblerone when I write. I'm wild
about animals and my cat always keeps me
company. And I'm dying to buy a tarantula.
You know the spider in the James Bond film
that crawls over Sean Connery in bed? When
I was younger, I got to hold him (the
spider, not Sean Connery) and the
sensation of it running up my arm was so
deliciously tingly, it was cute and
cuddly, that I am still obsessed with
getting one, so it can wander over my desk
and me when I'm writing. Fiction-Net:
Are
you intending to promote your name to
potential readers now or are you
concentrating on your next
project? Deborah
Wright: Both. I've just been to
Ireland on a book tour, which was
fantastic. And I'm writing a few reviews
and a few bits of journalism but mostly I
am trying to finish my second
book. Fiction-Net:
And
what is your next project? Deborah
Wright: It's called Wild Girlz, about
an all-girl band - it's a sparkling, sexy
romance. It's more topical than Olivia's
Bliss - it's about the destructive
pressures of fame and the way the media
shapes our culture. It's also a lot of fun
- my heroine gets to meet everyone from
the PM to Brad Pitt, and be on everything
from The Big Breakfast to Have I Got News
for You. I'm also
starting off my third novel, in the same
genre. I'm also finishing a literary novel
which I've been doing for about 5 years
called The Dolphin Man. It's such a
beautiful book, about madness, love and
redemption that when I write it I feel as
though I'm sitting in a cathedral - full
of awe and peace. I am just so excited to
be published, I've got 34 novels planned
out, mostly romances, but some childrens'
books, some more unusual books. Sometimes
I feel so impatient, I'm bursting to get
them all out but then I remind myself to
slow down and enjoy them, one by
one.
Fiction-Net:
When
you're not writing, what are you
doing? Deborah
Wright: My life seems to be one long
flow of writing! I am a bit of a
writeaholic. I am so addicted to the bliss
that I get from writing, I've been writing
every day since I was 11 years old. I just
write all the time - mornings, afternoons,
evenings, Xmas Day. I'm generally very
good-tempered but if I don't write for a
few days I can get really moody from
withdrawal symptoms. But I'm not a
complete recluse. My writing is punctuated
by very long phone calls with friends,
emails, eating out, meditation. And I love
movies. Movies are so good for inspiration
- much better than reading books. They
ignite your imagination, but you don't
have to the risk of absorbing someone's
writing style. I go and see EVERYTHING
that comes out. It means that frequently
you end up having to sit through real
turkeys, wanting to throw popcorn at the
screen and idly fantasising about snogging
the bloke sitting next to you. But then
you get some real gems that smash the
boundaries of your imagination and change
your life forever - like 'The English
Patient', or 'Mary Poppins', or 'Lock
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' - my 3
all-time favourites.
Fiction-Net:
Any
plans for your own
web-presence? Deborah
Wright: I have got a domain name. My
brothers are designing the site right
now... "I
really feel for writers who are still
trying to break
in" Fiction-Net:
Finally,
what inspiring message or words of advice
do you have for our visitors who would
like to achieve publication? Deborah
Wright: Having suffered lots of
rejection, I really feel for writers who
are still trying to break in so when
people started to ask me for advice, I
prepared a few pages of helpful
guidelines. If anyone wants to send me an
email (deb_wright10@hotmail.com) I'll send
it to them. I can't guarantee to get
anyone published but it might be of
help... |
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