I decided to do a Q&A with myself around Food for Thought, because I love to talk about my books and characters! And given it’s my first novel, I thought it might be of interest to discuss how I made the leap into fiction.
Why and how did you decide to make the shift from non-fiction to fiction?
When we went into lockdown, I was a self-help queen. I’d just published my book on personal development, Metamorphosis. Then we went into lockdown, and I started to focus on the things that brought me joy: food, wine and chick lit. A few novels and nostalgic movies later, I felt a small inner suspicion that I had a novel in me start to grow.
What groundwork did you do before writing a novel?
One of the things that got me into the fiction-writing mindset during lockdown was that my husband bought me a MasterClass subscription for my birthday. I got stuck into the writing ones, starting with Malcolm Gladwell and moving onto Dan Brown, James Patterson and David Baldacci. The Dan Brown one blew my mind.
I’ve always had a crazily over-active imagination; I’ve always loved people-watching, dreaming up characters and world-building. My issue was plot: I wasn’t sure if I could come up with a decent plot, with twists and revelations. I never guess plot twists in books; surely this was a bad sign?! I started to do lots of reading around how to build plot and character, and the MasterClasses I mentioned above really helped. Dan Brown in particular is excellent on pacing and shaping scenes so the tension builds and crescendos.
The books that I did the most work with were Anatomy of a Story by John Truby, whose 22-part story structure formed the basis for Food for Thought, and The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr. The character work in the back of the book was incredibly useful, and I’ve used the prompts he provides to round out all my characters. These are things like ‘The big thing [X character] understands about the world that nobody else seems to get is …’
I also took a look at some of my favourite contemporary fiction and analysed what it was about the plots that resonated so much with me.
What was the inspiration for Food for Thought?
Well, firstly I was stuck in London during lockdown, mourning the fact that we were missing our favourite season in Kent. My in-laws live there, and usually in May / June we’d spend lots of time down there, enjoying the incredible abundance of ’The Garden of England’. So I was inspired to write an escapist book. I treated myself to Nurture by Carole Bamford, founder of Daylesford and a heroine of mine. It’s such a beautiful book, all organised into seasons, and I found I was craving writing about celebrating the seasonality of the UK.
Then I did the MasterClass by Alice Waters, founder of the iconic Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. Her passion for fresh, seasonal cooking tipped me over the edge and I decided I wanted to write a foodie book.
What parts of the process did you enjoy the most?
I plotted it very heavily (using John Truby’s 22-part structure, as I mention above). It was really rewarding to watch the plot come to life. It was also great fun brainstorming on how to set up revelations and twists. One technique I used was to start with a simple concept—‘What would you do if you found out your husband was gay?’—and brainstorm on how many ways I could make that situation infinitely worse. What if he was famous? What if he was outed by the paps? What if you worked together?
The part I probably enjoyed the most, though, was the world-building. I adored dreaming up Sorrel Farm and describing both the stunning nature there as well as Evelyn’s lavish lifestyle in London. I used to run a fashion brand with a very British, romantic vibe. Dreaming up a world with pen and paper is infinitely easier!
Which is your favourite character?
Evelyn’s my favourite, and the character I identify with the most. She’s me on steroids! She’s far more successful than I am, but I’m far more happily married than she is! The main way in which I identify with her is her inner conflict over that burning ambition to succeed and to excel in all areas, versus just learning to chill the hell out and live.
I’m also head over heels in love with Angus—I had serious problems emotionally extricating myself from him. I’ve been so chuffed when readers have told me they can’t shake him off either! And I think Zoe’s probably the character I’d most like to be like. She’s gentle and thoughtful—not quite of this world—and has the most balanced outlook on life of all the characters.
What’s your favourite scene?
Without giving away any spoilers, the scene where they watch Mrs Doubtfire is my absolute favourite. I was a wreck after writing that! I also absolutely love the scene before it, where Evelyn meets up with her girlfriends in London. That was such a fun, ballsy conversation to write.
What life lessons did you learn from writing it?
I mentioned above that I can relate to some of Evelyn’s conflicts. I think writing the storyline helped me to work through some of my own conflicts around how to balance ambition with kicking back and living more fully.
Writing a novel has been a great experience and has really opened the floodgates for me. I’ve now written two novels during lockdown; Parents and Teachers is being published in late September. It was by far the most intense, joyful creative outpouring I’ve ever experienced. The flip-side was that the process absolutely exhausted me. When I write I’m high as a kite, and when I put my laptop away I’m broken. I need to learn how to manage my energy levels better and how to put my characters away. If I wake in the middle of the night I start obsessing about them and that’s not healthy!
Any regrets?
I had a lot of internal conflict as to whether to put more sex in the book. It’s quite an innocent read, so putting a mega sex scene in at the end (I won’t say more than that!) felt wrong. So I’ve written a bonus, standalone sex scene (couldn’t help myself) which will be available as a free download for subscribers to my site. The bonus pack will also include 5 of my favourite scenes written from Angus’ point of view.