Your past will always be part of you but does it have to define your
future?
Or can you rewrite the story of you?
Growing up in an idyllic, northern village,
Robyn's life was pretty damn near perfect. Then, she turned sixteen and
everything exploded: her beloved mother died, and she fell in love for the
first time with the hottest boy in school - Joe Sawyer. Then that summer
something happened that changed everything. She changed. She had to.
Seventeen years later, it’s happening all over
again: a funeral, an unexpected pregnancy, and Joe back in her life. But
although this should be a second chance - a chance to get things right this
time, to be happy - Robyn knows, deep down, that she’s going to have confront
the terrible events that have shaped her life until now, before she can begin
to love and live fully. Is she brave enough?
Exploring themes of guilt, rape, teenage
pregnancy, death and dysfunctional families, Katy Regan’s smart,
heartbreakingly poignant yet wonderfully funny novel is told with originality,
wit and insight that has been so evident in her previous novels.
About the author:
Katy Regan enjoyed a
successful career in magazine journalism before leaving to focus on writing
novels full time in 2007.
When she's not writing fiction, she continues to freelance as a
journalist; writing features for the likes of Stella Magazine, Psychologies and
Marie Claire. She is also blogging about her experience of writing her fifth
novel on her website: www.katyregan.com. She lives in Hertfordshire with her son
Fergus. The Story of You is her fourth novel.
1. If you could work with any other author,
who would it be and why?
There are so many authors I’d love to work with.
That would be my dream day - working
with a writer I admire! There are so many, too for different reasons. However,
I guess if I had to pick one, it would have to be someone like David Nicholls
or Graeme Simsion (author of The Rosie Project) since they are writing the kind
of books that are closest to my style or at least what I aspire to and yet they
are very, very successful at it - much more successful than me! Hopefully
they’d be able to tell me their secrets (!) And reveal some of their thought
processes and you know, then we could split the royalties!
2. What would be a typical working day for
you? When and where do you write?
Typically, I start work after I’ve dropped off my
son at school - so by the time I’ve faffed and made a coffee etc, it’s probably
9.45am. I then usually have to pick up my son around 4.30pm on average, as he
has clubs after school. I’d love to say that I spent that entire time writing
my novel but that would be a lie! There’s so much other stuff involved in the
job: publicity of the previous book (The Story of You is out now on ebook, for
example, but I’m writing my new one at the same time as doing this blog tour
for example) also, writing blogs and features and keeping up with social media
as part of that publicity.
There’s often a lot of emails to get through from
your editor, marketing team, publicist, agent with various things you have to do,
or just conversations that need to be had, especially in the run up to
publication. So, the time I actually spend JUST writing my book is probably
about three- hours a day. In order to do that with no distractions, I often go
to work in the local library where there’s no internet OR I work at my desk,
which is in my bedroom at home and switch off my phone, forcing myself to write
for 45 minute intervals uninterrupted before I am allowed to look on Facebook
or at my emails! I often make up time in the evening. I like to work in the
evening, the house is quiet and my brain is empty of the chatter of the day. I
can get much more done.
3. What is the hardest part of the writing
for you?
All of it! I find writing incredibly difficult,
but if I had to say one specific part, PLOT definitely. Coming up with what
actually happens. I don’t find characterization too difficult and I enjoy
writing dialogue but coming up with the actual story is so much harder than it
looks!
4. When and why did you first start writing?
Like most writers, I’ve always written stories.
As a child, I used to make my own books with strings and paper! Originally, however,
I went into journalism. I was features writer at Marie Claire magazine and
still write for various magazines and newspapers. I started dabbling in fiction
when I was about twenty-eight (so more than ten years ago!) I wrote a column
for Marie Claire that ran from 2004-2006. I think that’s when I really found my
‘voice’ and that column was turned into my first novel One Thing Led to Another
which came out in 2007. In terms of why I write: for me, it’s to make sense of
the world I live in and to explore human nature and relationships. People and
relationships are absolutely fascinating!
I love how writing stories helps me to express my view of the world, and
that in turn, helps me to understand it and connect with people with makes me
feel happy.
5. How did you come up with the idea for
your book?
Like most of my books, it wasn’t really an idea
that came to me whole it was made of layers that gradually developed. I knew I
wanted there to be letters written to, or by, a younger self that showed a
character growing up. I’d read a feature in The Guardian where writers wrote
‘Letters to my 16 yr old self’ and I loved that idea. For ages, I only had the
letters idea, I didn’t know why the letters were being written and by who -
that took a lot longer to come up with, but that essentially became the actual
story.
6. Are you a big reader? If so, what are
you reading now?
I am always reading something but wish I had more
time to read - it tends to be in the twenty minutes before I go to sleep or on
journeys. At the moment, I am reading WHERE LOVE LIES by Julie Cohen, author of
DEAR THING (it’s not out yet. I am lucky enough to get sent proof copies). The
writing is really beautiful and sensual - it’s the perfect thing to wind you
down and transport you to another world before bed. I am also part of a book group and about to
start Tender is The Night which I am really looking forward to as I’ve
never - for my sins - read it but always
wanted to.
7. Do you have any advice for other
aspiring writers?
Turn off the Internet and your mobile phone for a
regular amount of time, on regular days and WRITE. It’s like anything: you
won’t get better or finish anything unless you actually put the hours and the
practice in!
