I loved this piece Isolde. I'm a novelist and find that at book events readers often assume I have some personal connection to the material in my books - I don't, it's crime fiction, lol. But regardless, I don't have the bravery for that, I will only ever hide very far behind/deep within characters. Fiction is cowardice, maybe? But readers assume there is personal material in there, and I think they're often disappointed to learn when there isn't.
That's so interesting, Brooke, and thank you for your kind words. I hadn't thought of expecting crime fiction writers to mine their own experience in their novels! For me, what I'm finding, is that I think I actually write better (in terms of fiction) when I'm very much in the realm of fiction and not plucking things from my life and thinly disguising them. Obviously one's life does inform what one writes about but I find I get more joy and certainly feel more free when I'm really letting my imagination do the work.
Absolutely loved this Isolde. Relate to so much of it—just wrote a piece on my Substack about moving to Australia for a man and I sometimes think it was the culmination of spending so long so terrified of rejection?! And someone commented saying they think of the line between bravery and stupidity as a blur defined only by the ultimate outcome—similar to what you said above! And I loved your piece in The Times xx
Agree with the books being about middle class women but Colleen Hoover women seem really out of place and not real, especially in this society. That's my take. I read all those books as well last year. There's just something about Hoover that irks me. Maybe because she is in Texas and writing her loads of meh but I don't know. Lol. Oh well.
I loved this piece Isolde. I'm a novelist and find that at book events readers often assume I have some personal connection to the material in my books - I don't, it's crime fiction, lol. But regardless, I don't have the bravery for that, I will only ever hide very far behind/deep within characters. Fiction is cowardice, maybe? But readers assume there is personal material in there, and I think they're often disappointed to learn when there isn't.
That's so interesting, Brooke, and thank you for your kind words. I hadn't thought of expecting crime fiction writers to mine their own experience in their novels! For me, what I'm finding, is that I think I actually write better (in terms of fiction) when I'm very much in the realm of fiction and not plucking things from my life and thinly disguising them. Obviously one's life does inform what one writes about but I find I get more joy and certainly feel more free when I'm really letting my imagination do the work.
Oh absolutely, I feel the same. All the best with your book! 🙌
Absolutely loved this Isolde. Relate to so much of it—just wrote a piece on my Substack about moving to Australia for a man and I sometimes think it was the culmination of spending so long so terrified of rejection?! And someone commented saying they think of the line between bravery and stupidity as a blur defined only by the ultimate outcome—similar to what you said above! And I loved your piece in The Times xx
ooh i love this comment, Lucy. And so SO true about the blur between bravery and stupidity. I can't wait to meet you properly so soon! x
Agree with the books being about middle class women but Colleen Hoover women seem really out of place and not real, especially in this society. That's my take. I read all those books as well last year. There's just something about Hoover that irks me. Maybe because she is in Texas and writing her loads of meh but I don't know. Lol. Oh well.