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Sunday 12 February 2012

So much excitement I can barely contain myself! Pass me the special underwear...

I can sense you all hopping with barely suppressed anticipation from here, so without further ado let me introduce my willing victim...errr, I mean subject, yes, subject...Lynda Renham!  Look, here she is!

 Obviously this is just a picture, she moves a lot more in real life.  She is sitting here with me, awaiting my questions with an only slightly nervous expression, swinging her legs and eating my HobNobs as one born to the writing life.

So, without further ado because I don't really know what 'ado' is, Lynda, let me ask you this: -


Your recent titles (Wedding Cake to Turin, Croissants and Jam) are both food based.  So it seems only fair to ask - what's your favourite food?

‘Cough cough’ Will my husband, Andrew get to read this? I adore yogurt, in all shapes and sizes. Full fat, fat free, all flavours and in particular yogurt drinks. I wouldn’t like to admit to how many I get through in a week. A yogurt coupled with a meringue and honey is my dream food. I also adore Oranges. In fact when I was in Cambodia recently I craved them. I got totally ripped off in the market but it was worth it.

Well, I shan't hold the fact that you didn't say HobNobs against you, but I shall move the packet a little further away and try a more scholarly question.
How do you organise yourself to have time for writing?
I am very lucky in that I have been able to reduce my working hours and now have three full days for writing. I make sure that is all I do on those days. Everything else has to wait.

This is right and proper and as it should be, housework is an unnecessary timewaster.  Cobwebs are for life, not just sprayed silver and disguised as tinsel for Christmas.
You write mostly first person - how do you make the choice which POV to choose?
My last two novels have been first person. ‘The diary of Rector Byrnes’ was third person, interspersed with first person journal entries. The food series (Wedding cake to Turin and Croissants and Jam’ I very much wanted to write from the POV of the main female character. However, this is not always easy and can be quite limiting. I love writing in the first person. It somehow feels like one big blog posting and a lovely delicious fib at that!
Are you implying that this blog may be a lie?  I can assure you that every word written here is true as I stand here wearing a penguin suit and attempting to juggle pigs!  All right, let us try something a little less contentious...

What is your favourite T shirt slogan?
Inside me there is a thin girl trying to get out but I usually shut the bitch up with chocolate

Cats, dogs, or other?
Cats, cats, cats. I love them.  I even had Bendy, our cat, wear a bow tie for our wedding.
And most charming and elegant he looked too, I am sure.  He is, after all, a cat to whom charm and elegance are fitted as standard.  Now, for my readers are all agog to know (apart from those who have wandered off to use the toilet, they do that, don't hold it against them, the alternative is very unpleasant)...

What's your all time-favourite book (to read) and why?
‘The heart listens’ by Helen Van Slyke. This book is like a box of chocolates to me. I can curl up and escape into the world of Elizabeth Quigley and live her life. Wonderful.
Sounds fascinating, this is unknown to me - the book I mean, not sounding fascinating.  I shall have to seek it out and give it a try.  All right, what about your own books?
Of all the characters you have created, who is your favourite?  And your least favourite?  And why?
My least favourite is Rosemary from ‘The Diary of Rector Byrnes’ she is capable of such chaos and ruins so many lives. I hated her from the moment I created her. My favourite character is Christian from ‘Croissants and Jam’ In fact, I feel sure I have a crush on him. Don’t tell Andrew.

Where do you write (physically, I mean, in the house, not where in the country...)?
In the winter I crawl to the warmest place because our cottage is one big freezer. So, in the winter it is usually the lounge. The summer is much more exciting and I retreat to our summer house with the doors widen open and the sun streaming in. I love it. The birds singing and it is so peaceful in our village that the only sounds are the birds and the occasional drone of a lawn mower. Pure heaven.

Do you have any writing rituals?
I can’t write without music and all my novels have had theme music all of their own. I cannot even begin until the music is on.
Hmmm.  This is getting all together too serious and scholarly by half.  Which is all very well, but you have read my blog, haven't you?  I am notorious for asking the questions people didn't even know existed (probably because the word 'arseyblankitude' hasn't yet been created..), so I feel obliged to ask the one REALLY IMPORTANT question that all writers should be forced at gunpoint to answer.
If you were a cheese, what kind of cheese would you be?
Smooth and fruity

And now, regarding the funny...
  What do you like most about writing romantic comedy?  And what do you find the hardest aspect?
I like that I laugh a lot while I am writing as the research is such fun. I find coming up with humour quite hard at times. If I have had a bad week it is quite difficult to get into the frame of mind to be funny. However, it does help to pull you out of the gloom.

What are you working on next?
The final novel in the food trilogy and I’m stumped for a title but I am sure it will come.
(Cough) How about something featuring HobNobs?  They are one of the major food groups, you know.  As are Maltesers.  But, given your proclivities, maybe something yoghurt based? 
What goals/projects do you have in mind for your writing future?
I have tons of ideas that are on paper so there are books in the pipeline. My goal is to write an episode of ‘Miranda’ Well, to write an episode of any situation comedy really. One can dream, right? Oh, I think that is Jo Brand on the phone, must dash…


But, Lynda, I was about to open this second packet of biscuits!  Oh, she's gone, although I must confess I didn't even hear the phone ring...  And, surely that can't be a safe speed at which to drive away? Oh well, nothing left for me to do but await the restraining order...and give you a glimpsette at Lynda's lovely covers.
 
For more details, and to purchase, go here

 And Lynda is accessible to all at www.renham.co.uk

I strongly suggest that you all go there now and look. 

Oh, and in other news, Please Don't Stop the Music is shortlisted for the RoNA Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year.  You can go and look and see who else is listed here but, rest assured, I shall be updating you on the whole process of choosing the right shoes to wear to the ceremony next week.

1 comment:

Flowerpot said...

Oh good, another excuse to go book shopping.... great news about Please Dont' Stop the Music, Jane - hooray!