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   1. What inspired you to write Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes?

   Well they say ‘write what you know...’ and I know an awful lot about working in TV and baking cakes. There had always been a novel inside me itching to get out because when I came to sit and write it I realised I’d made lots of mental and paper notes which I could use. Stuff I’d overheard people saying at work and conversations I’d had with friends and family were all cued up just waiting to be in Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes. Then several years ago, when I was struggling to cope with work and motherhood, a friend said her dream was to give up work and stay at home looking after her children and baking cakes all day. This sounded lovely and I believe that’s when the seed for the novel was planted and the shape began to form.

2. 2. What do you think it is about Stella that will appeal to readers?

   Any woman who has had children, a marriage and held down a job will relate to what’s happening in Stella’s life. It must be biological, but most women give so much all the time that you’re not giving 100 per cent to anyone or anything ... not to mention, you have absolutely nothing left for yourself. Stella is like most of us, she’s attempting to live her life as best she can but is disappointed with how things have turned out. She’s funny and feisty and kind – but like the rest of us Stella is flawed and sometimes fails which can be funny at times ... but also quite sad. Her constant struggle to be a good mum, a driven career woman, a foxy chick for her husband and a good friend is something I think we can all relate to. What we forget is that we’re only human and it’s ok to save your sanity by taking your foot off the accelerator and allowing yourself to ‘fail’ sometimes.

3. 3. You include some detailed recipes of Stella’s at the end of the book. Do you enjoy baking and where did you source your recipes?

   I LOVE baking and I’m currently spending a great deal of time in my kitchen creating fairy cakes by the million! I’m doing book signings and talks at Waterstones throughout the country. I’m live and unplugged and the ‘tour bus’ is filled with my homemade fairy cakes to give away at all the venues (to see my ‘gig’ dates check out my blog). All the recipes in the book are my own original ‘designs’ created by Stella (and me!) and inspired by the various glamorous fairy cake orders in the novel. From the cheeky Chocolate Chilli Cha C (from the Strictly Come Dancing collection) to Inebriated Christmas Tarts, I have created and tested ... and tested again... and again. It was all for my readers in the name of research (honest!) but now can’t fit into any of my clothes!

4. 4. Did your work as a television producer help you when writing your book, and developing the character of Stella?

   I was a TV producer with the BBC for more than 10 years and during that time I worked on kitchen makeovers, garden takeovers and lots of lovely chat shows involving various red sofas and a celebrity. Though none of the actual events in the novel happened in real life – I took a great deal from my experiences in TV and changed them slightly here and there. My friends who work in TV say it’s ‘scarily’ believable and realistic – from the people to the programs – which I’m delighted about. The TV background was essential to Stella’s character because it’s a very driven, age-obsessed back-biting world – which also happens to be the best job with the most wonderful characters. It’s this leap from daytime glamour and glitz to home time and traffic queues and fish fingers for tea that causes Stella’s permanent dilemma about her career and her real life. She is defined by the crazy, unreal world she inhabits by day and when she’s sent away to shoot programs for weeks on end her doubts about herself as a wife and mother increase tenfold. It’s this dual life that she fears may eventually crash around her and when something devastating happens that is out of her control she knows it’s up to her to change her life - and herself.

5. 5. What was your path to getting published?

   It was a rocky, winding, yellow brick road to being published which I have detailed on my own blog (it’s soo long I wouldn’t be rude enough to take up all your blog space). However, the edited version is that I was lucky and found an agent relatively early on (well about 100 agents into my mailout). She loved my work and offered it to the top ten publishers who, having shown initial interest, slowly and very painfully rejected the Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes one by one. I was devastated because this meant so much to me and we (my agent and I) were convinced that the book would be snapped up. After the final rejection I licked my wounds and told myself that at least I had an agent who would guide me through the publishing maelstrom with book two.... then she dumped me by email! About a year later I took out the MS (it was too painful to look at after all the rejections) and read it. I was surprised to discover that I still loved the book and wanted to share the characters and their lives with the world. I really believed in Stella, and Al and Lizzie and wanted them to breathe – so sent it out to several more publishers – some more rejections and also some positive feedback. Eventually I went with Rickshaw, a new, ambitious young publisher.

6. 6. What have you learnt about the publishing industry since you became a published author?

   I have learnt that it’s harder to get published than it is to actually write the book. I’ve also learnt (certainly from my own perspective) that publishing can be an agonisingly slow process. I worked as a live producer and as such we turned around programs from idea to realisation within weeks sometimes. However it can take years to write a book many months to edit then another year (in my case) to actually have the book published.

7. 7. What have you learnt about yourself since becoming an author?

   That’s an interesting one ... and relating to the last answer I’d say I’m impatient. I’ve always considered myself to be very laidback, which I am generally. However, where the book is concerned I am completely obsessed and as a mum of one I feel like I’ve almost given birth to my second child! It sounds incredibly over the top and dramatic but it has made me realise how important this whole ‘author’ thing is to me and I pester my publisher for figures and am constantly checking the Amazon figures. I’ve given up every weekend until Christmas to do signings at Waterstones because this means so much to me and it’s surprised me how I have become so passionate about my work. I have also learnt to trust my own instincts – I really believed in Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes when it seemed no one else did. I could easily have pushed it back in the drawer and moved on to something else but I just knew it was publishable so fought for it.

8. 8. Which books and authors have had the biggest impact on your life?

   Like most authors I read a great deal and enjoy a really diverse selection of writing. I enjoy the US writer Jen Lancaster because she’s very funny and honest - she can make me laugh about stuff and get it all into perspective. In Such a Pretty Fat, she takes on an exercise regime and healthy eating program and it is funny and at the same time brutally honest writing about an issue close to my own heart. She is also deeply obsessed with reality TV and eating and watching TV when she should be writing (I sooo relate to that!) I also enjoy Marian Keyes' writing because I think she can combine hilarity with heartbreak, which is something I try to do in my writing. I am from the north of England and I think there’s definitely a darker humour in that part of the world. I’m currently reading A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth, (a fellow Northerner) and it’s both profoundly moving and funny at the same time – clever writing.

9. 9. What message do you hope readers will take from your book?

   I once had a friend who sadly now lives overseas and I don’t see him much, but he could make me laugh in the most awful situations. However down or worried I was about something he would always see the funny side and get life into perspective for me. I would like to be like my friend to the readers and show them that they’re not alone in their ageing, weight gain, disappointments and life’s betrayals. I want them to know that we’re all in this together and there are some things that make us really sad, but it’s never too late to make the best of things ... and laugh about it.

10. 10. What are you working on now?

    I’m three-quarters way through my second book – working title is The Terrible Truth About Tanya Travis. It’s a tale set in Manchester and Nepal and reveals the story of a TV talk show host with a dark secret. It’s a different book to Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes but still has the same recipe of humour and heartbreak with a few surprises thrown in.

11. 11. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

    From my own experience I would have to say the best advice I can give is ‘don’t give up’. If you really believe in your MS but the rest of the world doesn’t then perhaps it’s they who are wrong and you are right? Keep going – it may need some editing here and there but if your writing has potential then stick with it and just keep sending it out. For someone to show some interest they have to see your work so just make sure it’s out there. Believe in yourself and your writing - if you don’t believe yourself how can you expect anyone else to?

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