I was fortunate enough to get an interview with Paige Nick, SA’s preeminent chick lit writer and author of A Million Miles From Normal and her latest book, This Way Up (both Penguin). She also writes a blog called A Million Miles from Normal. 2 of you could also win a copy of each book – see below.
Firstly, I just want to say I thoroughly enjoyed A Million Miles from Normal. It made me laugh a lot. And I’m hearing a lot of good things about your new book, This Way Up. How would you say it’s different from your last novel?
Hopefully this one will make you laugh too, but I think it’s different in a lot of ways. A Million Miles from Normal was a very linear story about one girl, Rachel Marcus, and her disaster of a life. Whilst This Way Up has more characters and a couple of storylines running alongside each other at the same time.
Which was harder to write? Presumably it gets easier the second time around?
I don’t know that it necessarily gets easier. But it definitely gets differenter. I had a lot more time to write and craft A Million Miles from Normal because I didn’t have a publisher when I wrote it, so nobody was waiting for it. I also think there’s some kind of ignorant bliss when you’re writing your first book, because you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing, so there are no rules, or at least none that you know of. When I compare the two, the editing process on This Way Up was way trickier and more time consuming, because it’s a more complicated book. I don’t want to jinx anything, but I have a funny feeling that book number three is actually going to be the hardest.
Who’s your favourite character in This Way Up, and why?
I think Poppy and Buck are my favourite characters (sorry, I know that’s cheating – you only asked for one, but they kind of come as a pair.)They spend the entire book travelling the world, so they give me itchy feet. They make me want to pack up and hitchhike across America, or train across Europe or something.
Have you always wanted to write?
Yes, absolutely. Being an advertising copywriter has always been a passion of mine and has helped pay the rent over the years. I also always wanted to write a book, but for the longest time I really didn’t believe I could. I just felt like I didn’t know where to start.
Who are the writers who’ve inspired you?
All writers inspire me. And more than that, they completely fascinate me. I’m really interested in the different processes that writers have. At the moment I have a huge author crush on Jim Crace – author of astonishing books like Being Dead, and The Gift of Stones.
I happen to know you’re a very versatile writer who is very well read, so i reckon you could write just about any genre. What do you enjoy about writing chick lit?
Now this is an interesting question. I think there are a couple of reasons I write what I write. The first is that it’s not particularly serious or heavy and that attracts me. I love books that take me away and make me laugh.
And as much as it’s a cliché, I also believe that you have to write what you know. I guess there are so many hours involved in writing and editing a book, that you’d better make sure you write about something that interests you.
Before A Million Miles from Normal I spent about six years trying unsuccessfully to write a very serious book, but I couldn’t get past the third chapter. I think it just wasn’t what I was meant to write. As soon as I changed my genre things seemed to fall into place much more naturally.
Do you have any advice for other writers looking to write books in this genre?
I think my advice is the same for writers wanting to write in any genre. Just write. I know it seems incredibly boring, but it’s the only thing that works.
Do you think This Way Up would make a good movie? Any plans to sell the script?
I haven’t thought so much about This Way Up as a movie. I guess I’ve been too busy trying to get it polished as a book over the last year. But lots of people have told me that they thought A Million Miles from Normal, my first book, might make a good ‘chick-flick’.
Do you have any writing rituals? I have to have a Vida Latte by my side and my iPod in its dock on ‘CTG’s writing playlist’ when I write. What do you have to have to get going?
I need silence to really get into a good writing zone. And a cup of tea. And it hasn’t been scientifically proven yet, but chocolate covered peanuts (or as we call them, naughty peanuts) always seem to help the words flow.
All writers procrastinate. How do you drag your heels before getting on with putting the story down?
I do the standard ‘Desk clean, facebook check, twitter stalk’ routine, then I play a couple of games of backgammon online before guilt really sets in and I force myself to get to work.
You must get some wild fan mail. What’s the weirdest thing someone’s ever sent you or asked you?
I write a weekly column in The Sunday Times which can sometimes be a bit risqué (depending on your definition of risqué, of course), and that gets an awful lot of mail, not all from fans. My favourite mail came from ‘Frans’, who was very disappointed in my choice of sex as a subject matter, and suggested I write about something ‘a little more uplifting, like the Christian Religion’. So then I wrote about this lady in America who gives Pole Dancing for Jesus lessons, but apparently that wasn’t what Frans had in mind either. I guess you can’t please all the people all the time.
Any plans for a new book? Rough plot?
I’ve been playing around with an idea in my head for the last six months or so. It’s a bit like when you’re a kid and you have a loose tooth, and you fiddle with it with your tongue constantly until it just falls out. I’m hoping this idea will fall out soon.
Where can we buy your books?
Both A Million Miles from Normal (re-launched in paperback) and This Way Up are available at all good bookstores. Or online through all the usual suspects, Kalahari.net, pulp books, loot.co.za etc.
Last question… you live in Cape Town. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I seriously heart Cape Town big time. My sister and her husband own Newport Market & Deli in Mouille Point, so I may be biased, but they do make the very best Cajun Chicken Burger in the world. And much to my bank manager’s disgust I also spend far too much time and money at The Book Lounge in Roeland Street, and anywhere that sells shoes. And I’m a big fan of all the markets that pop up in and around Cape Town.
If you would like to WIN A COPY OF BOTH A MILLION MILES FROM NORMAL AND THIS WAY UP, all you need to do is mail me with the name of Paige’s new book and your contact details. Editor@capetowngirl.com. And… go! Winners announced Friday.
