Awesome guest – Rowan Coleman

August 26, 2011

A great welcome to my guest on the blog today – best selling novelist, Rowan Coleman.

Rowan Coleman grew up in Hertfordshire secretly longing to be a writer despite battling with dyslexia. After graduating from university she worked in bookselling and publishing before winning Company Magazine Young Writer of the Year in 2001. Her first novel ‘Growing Up Twice’ was published in 2002.

Rowan has gone on to write eight novels for women including the bestseller ‘The Accidental Mother, and eight novels for children and teens. Her books are published around the world. She now lives in Hertfordshire with her family.

Lessons in Laughing Out Loud is your latest novel for adults, please tell us little more about it.

Lessons in Laughing Out Loud is about Willow, one of a set of identical twins. Yet although Willows sister Holly had the perfect life, perfect husband, children and home, Willow’s life has taken a very different turn. All because of a terrible secret that has haunted her since her childhood. Divorced, estranged from her step-daughter and a workaholic, it takes an encounter with a movie star, a surprise visit and a beautiful pair of shoes to set Willow on the right path again, and give her to strength to finally face her past.

I haven’t read the book yet yet but I ordered it just on the strength of the opening – it’s brilliant, funny and gripping! How long did it take you to nail the voice of the heroine, Willow or was she inside your head as soon as you started the book?

Willow was one of those characters that would wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me things…it really is a little bit like being haunted, except you know that it is all in your head. She means a lot to me.

You have two young children, how do fit in your writing around family life?

I don’t really know how I fit it all in, I just seem to always do it in the end, I think the same is true for all working mums!

You also write children’s and YA novels as well as adult fiction – how do you plan your writing schedule?

I’ve been having a break form YA writing for the last year or so, but I have been on another top secret project that I’m not allowed to tell anyone about….

Do you have new Rowan, Ruby or Rook novels in the pipeline?

Yes, there will be the last Ruby and the final part of the Weirdsville Books available to down load from my website next year!

If you were cast away on a desert island and could take one book, movie and album, what would they be?

Oh, hard questions….The book would be Jane Eyre, but absolutely most favourite book. I never get tired of reading it, there is always something new to discover. And the movie would be….oh hell, it would be Dirty Dancing. I bloody love that film, and nobody puts baby in the corner. The soundtrack would be Queen’s greatest hits. There is nothing better to life your spirits when you down that a bit of overblown, operatic rock!

I can see from just a single chapter that your books have very vivid characters Do you have any tips for writers on creating and developing characters?

I write long, long character biographies. Pages and pages of them, most of which I never use, but it is there when I write the books and maybe it helps…for me characterisation is my primary concern, its what really interests me, and so my books are very character focused. I’d recommend just thinking about your characters for a good few days before you start writing them.

Thank you, Rowan, for some fascinating answers. Love your desert island choices!

You can get Lessons in Laughing Out Loud from all good booksellers and online.

Comments are closed.