Friday, April 20, 2012

Women of a Dangerous Age

How's that for a title? Are you scared?

Today, I am delighted to welcome novelist Fanny Blake. Fanny's had an amazing career, working as a publisher for many years before becoming an author. She's penned best-selling non-fiction, ghost-written several celebrity autobiographies and has written two novels. Her latest, Women of a Dangerous Age, comes out on on April 26th by Blue Door. Fanny is also the Books Editor of Woman & Home.

And she's really nice!

I've read both of Fanny's novels and really enjoyed the strong female characters and focus on friendships, so I was excited to get the chance to ask her a few questions.

You used to work on the publishing side of things. As a writer, is having that behind-the-scenes knowledge helpful? Is it ever a hindrance?

It’s both a help and a hindrance. I was an editorial director for many years, so worked with numerous writers on their novels, which has taught me that there’s no right and wrong way of doing things, and of course a great deal about plotting and character - although putting what one’s learned into practice is never as easy as you hope it will be. On the other hand, the market has changed dramatically since I was a publisher, so my knowledge of sales and marketing is out of date, and I have to keep reminding myself of that.

You’ve also worked as a celebrity ghost writer. Any interesting anecdotes you can share? Is it difficult crafting a narrative that’s not your own?

A good tape recorder is essential. I once listened to someone sob their heart out over a failed relationship. At one level I wanted to stop and hug her, at the other I knew what she was telling me would make terrific copy so didn’t want her to stop. When she’d finished and recovered herself, I discovered my tape had broken, so I had to ask her to repeat the whole story which, to her eternal credit, she did.

It’s also vital not to fall out with your author, however testing the circumstances. If you do, you won’t have a book. I have been in a car with an author, having picked up their dog from the vet where it had been put under an anaesthetic. As we sped towards the motorway, the poor creature was on my lap when it suddenly had diarrhoea all over me. Despite my revulsion and fury (expensive mac never the same again), I managed to keep my temper as we stopped the car to wipe both dog and me down. Somehow our good relationship remained intact, though that was a moment when things might very easily have gone the other way.

No, I didn’t find it difficult crafting someone else’s story. The facts are there. It’s just a question of organising them in the best possible way. That’s where part of the fun is.

Your novels tend to focus on challenges facing women over forty – women who have teenage children, established careers, and mature relationships. Was this a deliberate choice to balance out the many books aimed at and about women just entering adulthood?

It wasn’t a deliberate choice but, as many of the books about women entering adulthood are written by authors at that stage in their lives themselves, so I found myself writing about women similar to myself. I found I wanted to explore and air the issues you mention, including women’s friendship too, because they’re important to me and to other women I’ve met. As we find our way through life, it can be helpful, and even reassuring, to look at the ways other women deal with those issues that affect all of us, whether or not we agree with them - and to be reminded of the funny side of life.

These days, writers must engage in social media. How do you juggle tweeting, Facebook, etc., with your writing?

Everyday I promise myself that I’m only going to social network during set times each day, and write during the rest. Each day, I fail hopelessly. It’s a gift being able to communicate with friends, other writers and readers as easily as we can thanks to the internet, but sometimes it is a distraction that makes my writing targets much harder to achieve. Sadly, will power is not my strongest suit.

I know you’re a theatre addict. What play do you wish you’d written, and why? 

That’s a great question and so difficult to answer. There are so many. The more obvious classics aside, I was thrilled by Lyn Nottage’s Ruined that I saw at the Almeida a couple of years ago which is about the plight of women in the war torn Democratic Republic of Congo. It was focussed, authentic and shocking. One other, again with an unforgettable central character, would have to be Jez Butterworth’s wild, mythic and entertaining Jerusalem. If I’d written either of those, I’d be a happy woman.

Thank you, Fanny! Have a great weekend, everyone.

42 comments:

  1. What a great title! I'm glad you mentioned the theatre and Ruined. I heard about that on NPR some time ago. Shocking. Good luck with the Dangerous Age.

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  2. Super review, wonderful title, will have to watch out for it.

    Yvonne.

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  3. What a lovely interview. I'm also a huge fan of the book title, really looking forward to reading it!

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  4. Great interview, thanks.

    I love that title and can't wait to read the book.

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  5. Wonderful title and will definitely read the book.

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  6. Cool interview. I loved the story of her interesting career, including ghost writing.

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  7. Interesting interview. Always good to hear what other writers do.

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  8. Looking forward to reading it - from someone who entered the Dangerous Age and crawled slowly out the other side.

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  9. Fanny sounds like a fascinating lady. As a woman in my 40's, I'll be interested to read this book.

    CJ x

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  10. Great interview! Not sure I would've handled the dog incident as well.

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  11. Lovely to meet you Fanny!! I feel so happy being a woman of a dangerous age too! Take care
    x

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  12. I'm with Alex--I'm not sure how I would've handled that dog incident. Especially if it involved my mac!

    Very catchy title. Thanks for the fun interview, Talli and Fanny!

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  13. Great interview. Fanny Blake sounds like a fun person. I love her title. Count me in with the others who think they wouldn't have handled the dog incident as well as she did.

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  14. I think I qualify : ) I'm going to check her out...have a great weekend!

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  15. Fanny does sound nice and I love the name of her book!

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  16. Awesome! The book sounds really good. And that poor girl sobbing her heart out and having to do it again. Wow!

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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  17. What a wonderful interview! Nice to meet you, Fanny! I love that you said that every day you fail when trying to keep things balanced. It is always nice to know that others go through the same thing and how hard it can be. Thank you, Talli!

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  18. This was such a great interview - your anecdotes are amazing, Fanny! Congratulations on your book release :-) Thanks for the interview, Talli!

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  19. Great interview, ladies! Talli, thanks for the intro to Fanny. Wishing wonderful success on your books to you both!

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  20. HA! I KNEW I was of a dangerous age... the title totally spoke to me, so it is gratifying to see Over 40, teenage kids. Check and Check.

    Good luck with the book! It sounds great!

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  21. Oh this sounds great - I love the thought of women of a certain age behaving both dangerously and outrageously!

    Good luck with the book, Fanny. I'll certainly be reading this one and all thanks to Talli for the heads up.

    Janice xx

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  22. Great interview Talli. Congrats Fanny. Love the title. I will be looking forward to the book :-)

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  23. Now this is interesting! Thank you, Talli!

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  24. What a terrible time for the recorder to break!!! Glad the person was able to relive it again! :)

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  25. I don't think I could do the ghost writer thing. I think we need more books written about women dealing with all those burdens that fall upon us in our 40's and 50's. So many of us are still raising children and are now taking care of our parents and handling a career. No wonder I'm tired.

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  26. This is a great interview Talli. Being a ghost writer would be difficult I should think (unless you're writing about a 'real' ghost, lol). I like the look of Fanny's book. Must get my hands on it.

    Denise

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  27. Fascinating interview - love the title of the new book!

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  28. Thanks, Fanny and Talli. Interesting points. And wow about the doggy runs! Oy.

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  29. It's fascinating to see writing from a prior publishers point of view. I can't imagine how hard it would be to ghost write! I love the title of Fanny's book, that alone makes me want to read it!

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  30. Hi Fanny! Nice to meet you. Enjoyed the interview. An interesting title for your new book.

    Hi Talli!

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  31. Great interview Talli! Fanny your books sound wonderful.
    I don't know if I could have handled the doggy poo!

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  32. It's so nice to meet you, Fanny. What a colorful career you've had thus far. Thanks for sharing Fanny with us, Talli.

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  33. A wonderful interview and I love the title of Fanny's book! I also admire her for being such a trooper! Thanks Talli!

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  34. I lovelovelove the title of Fanny Blake's book!

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  35. I've read so much YA lately, it would be refreshing to read about a woman my own age for a change!

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  36. Great questions and answers!

    I'd wondered what ghost writing was like, but had really no idea. It was interesting to learn about it.

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  37. Great interview! Loved reading about Fanny Blake, Talli! Thanks for this interview and the title of her book is so awesome!

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  38. A very honest and interesting interview! I enjoyed it!! :)

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  39. Terrific interview, Talli and Fanny!

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  40. Great interview, especially loved the ghost writing bit :-)

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  41. I enjoyed this interview so much, Talli. Many thanks to Fanny for sharing.

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Coffee and wine for all!