Well, you know you’ve made it when one of your novels is featured in a soap opera… Thanks so much to you eagle-eyed readers who spotted an original edition of ‘Polly‘ in Coronation Street! This honour has to rank as highly as being a question on the Weakest Link…and a clue in the Daily Mirror crossword (I still dine out on those to this day…)
So, Cheryl Cole is to write a series of ‘chick-lit’ novels… Hmmm, what do I think about that? (check out my comments on the Bookseller blog) Ms Cole is gorgeous and talented…as a singer and celebrity. But can she hack it as a novelist? Does she actually know what it entails? Where’s her track record of being able to write 100,000+ words of original fiction? And hold on… isn’t she a singer? Has she ever said “if I wasn’t in Girls Aloud, I’d love to be a novelist”? Did I miss an interview when she’s previously revealed “all I’ve ever wanted to do is write…”? The quote I read said she hadn’t previously thought of writing, but that she’s “come around to the idea”.
Tell me she isn’t going to have her very own secret ghost-writer? Tell me that her fine UK publisher won’t now reject and forfeit fine unpublished novelists because they’d prefer to spend a vulgar amount on Ms Cole’s advance?
An author’s life can be a lonely ol’ existence - my working days are spent almost entirely on my own, concentrating very hard, doing committed research, putting in the hours and crucial fastidiousness to ensure I write good fiction. Will Cheryl have the time necessary to do this? And will she mind the long periods away from the limelight while she knuckles down to write?
Writing a novel is not about ‘burning ambition’ - where ambition is solely about publication or money or fame. For a novel to be a good novel - and worthy of the kind readers who part with their cash to buy it - it can only arise from the author’s absolute desire to write that story out of their system - and being blessed with the necessary talent to do so.
When I was trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to do a PhD, I went traveling in the USA one summer. I fell in love with Vermont - its landscape, its people, their way of life. I finished writing Chloe in summer 1996, Sally was due to be published that November - which gave me ample time to return to New England and to the love people I’d met 6 years previously. But I wasn’t returning as a tourist - I had my writer’s cap on this time. With the American links in this novel, it was fitting to have the launch party at Joe Allen in London. Burgers and fries all round. But by then, with the third book done, dusted and riding high in the charts, my thoughts turned from America to Europe - specifically France, the setting for my fourth novel, Cat.
See what happened next to Polly
Read a brief synopsis of Polly
[1991] - Freya gave up a PhD scholarship to write her first novel, Sally. For 4 years she turned deaf ears to parents and pals who pleaded with her to “get a proper job”. She went on the dole and did a succession of freelance and temping jobs to support “writing days” every now and then. During this time, she was rejected by many publishers and agents whose comments ranged from “you can’t start a book like that” (referring to Sally’s rather raunchy opening scene) to “I like your idea but can’t stand your style”. Undeterred, she started Chloë as soon as she finished Sally. In 1996 she approached one of the UK’s top literary agents, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown Ltd. Throwing caution to the wind, Freya sent him 3 chapters and a page of completely fabricated reviews, which she wrote on behalf of the Sunday Times, Jilly Cooper and Germaine Greer. Lloyd took her on and put her work up for auction.
[1996] - 5 publishers enter a bidding war for Freya’s books. A three-book deal for a six figure sum is the result. Sally is published to great acclaim and Freya is heralded a fresh voice in fiction.
[1997] - Chloë doubles Sally’s release figures and is a Sunday Times bestseller.
[1998] - Polly spends 14 weeks in the original Fiction Top 10. The film rights are sold and the paperback goes straight onto the Sunday Times Top 10 at no.5.
[1999] - Freya’s 4th novel Cat is published in November. Set around the Tour de France, Freya’s research took her deep down to the secrets behind the Lycra.
Freya’s books are translated into five languages. In Holland, she is called the Literary Spice Girl and her books are hailed “better than viagra”. Her fan base is wide, ranging from teenage girls to elderly gentlemen worldwide.
[2000] - in June, Cat is released in mass market paperback. Fen is being written. Pip is being researched. Freya is involved with the Daphne Du Maurier Festival and the Edinburgh International Literary Festival as well as many other book festivals from Bodmin to Bracknell.
[2001] - Freya’s 5th novel, Fen, is published in October. Her son, Felix, was born on Easter Sunday, 15th April 2001.
[2002] - Freya spends the summer writing Pip. Fen is published in paperback in late September and goes straight into the charts, peaking at no.4. Freya is now safely into her second pregnancy with the baby due in early February. Pip is completed late November and Freya and her family move house a couple of weeks later.
[2003] - Georgia Jeannette born on 4th February 2003 at 10.45 pm, weighing 7 lbs 14 0z. Pip is published in August. Freya starts her 7th novel, Love Rules, featuring the adventures of two best friends - new characters, plus the reappearance of Sally.
[2004] - Pip is published to great success in paperback. Freya completes Love Rules and follows her editor to HarperCollins. Freya is now hard at work on no8 – which reunites Cat, Fen and Pip McCabe.
[2005] - Love Rules is published around Valentine’s Day and then in paperback later in the year. The novel is a Top10 bestseller, breaking all Freya’s previous sales records. Home Truths, Freya’s 8th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 9th…
[2006] - Home Truths is published in March and stays in the Original Fiction Top10 for over 3 months. The book becomes a paperback bestseller in the autumn, making the national Top 10 and riding high over the Christmas period. Pillow Talk, Freya’s 9th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 10th…
[2007] - Pillow Talk is published in August to great acclaim, going straight into the Original Fiction Top Ten. The tenth novel is underway - and waiting for a title.
[2008] - on 4th February, Pillow Talk is published in paperback and wins the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Georgia turns 5 years old on the same day. It’s a career highlight for Freya, with lots of TV and press to do but soon enough she’s back in the library, completing the 10th novel, Secrets.
[2009] - Secrets will be published as an exclusive airport edition in February, and in paperback in May. Freya thought she needed a rest…but now she’s planning her 11th novel - and a couple of top secret projects too… watch this space!
Polly Fenton loves her job teaching English in London, and she’s mad about Max Fyfield. But she’s leaving both behind to embark on a year-long teacher’s exchange to Vermont. Swapping Marmite for Hershey bars and cornflakes for Cheerios is one thing. Trading lives with her American counterpart Jen is quite another. But the minute Polly’s feet touch down Stateside, she’s swept off them altogether. She’s dazzled by the brave new world; her letters become shorter, then less frequent. When she meets Chip Jonson, school athletic trainer, home thoughts from abroad cease altogether.
Meanwhile in London, her boyfriend, his brother, her best friend and her replacement are forming quite the cosy foursome. If, by the end of the first term, a certain amount of bed-hopping seems inevitable, who is it to be?
Spanning three terms and two countries, this is a sparky and sassy story of New England and Old England, fidelity and flirtation, receiving one’s comeuppance - and making amends
read more about what happened next to Polly
