Amy Bird

Published September 26, 2013 | By Laura

Amy Bird

Hi Amy, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about your latest book, Yours is Mine?

‘Yours is Mine’ is a psychological thriller about two women who exchange identities, masquerading as each other. One woman is persuaded to participate in the ‘experiment’ thinking it is part of a PhD study, and that it will help get her spark back while her military husband is overseas. The other woman, who planned it all, has a very different motivation, which unfortunately only becomes clear too late for our heroine. Although it’s very much in the thriller genre, the subject matter also really allows me to explore the idea of identity – and it all gets a bit existential.

What’s your writing day like?

I have quite a leisurely start – a sit-down breakfast, then a walk, and I’ll start to write at maybe 10.30. That way I know I am fully awake, and my brain has started to buzz with ideas. I’ll have a short lunch break around 1.30 and then back to it in the afternoon – and probably late into the evening. At the moment, because I’m working on a new novel, my time is broken up between writing and research.

For a new reader, can you quickly describe your writing style?

Dark with comic touches and a literary underpinning.

Do you plan? Also, when editing, do you edit as you go along or wait for a first draft?

I tend to scrawl a brain map of the overall story, key plot points and themes – sometimes with diagrams – so I have a sense of the main arc and characters, and crucially the ending. But that is always just the framework – I find I get a lot of my ideas through the act of writing itself. Regarding editing, if I realise something fundamental needs to change in an earlier part for the story progression to work, I will go back and revise it. Generally, though, I will wait for the first draft – that’s when you know what the novel really ‘is’ and you can hew away at it.

Is there a fictional character you’d like to meet?

I’d like to meet the heroine of my novel, Kate – I’d tell her the truth about Anna, her nemesis, so she doesn’t have to learn the hard way.

Carina, July 2013

What makes you laugh?

Russell Howard, Marx Brothers films, P.G. Wodehouse novels, and my husband.

Who would you invite over to dinner?

All my fellow Carina UK authors – they’ve written some great novels between them, and it would be fun to chat about all our different genres, journeys and projects. We’d need quite a big table, but there’d be room for everyone.

Do you get writers’ block and if so, how do you combat it?

I tend not to get writers’ block – more ‘novel anxiety’, a kind of self-doubt about what I’m writing, and wondering where it will go next. I find the best thing is just to sit down and get on with writing.

Which book has made the most impact on you? Do you think being a big reader is important to a writer?

I do always seem to come back to Tess of the d’Urbervilles – I love Hardy’s use of language, subtle comedy, real human tragedy and haunting ideas. For instance, Tess has the thought that you know your birthday so well, but you have no idea what your death day will be, and keep passing over it unaware year after year. From a more contemporary point of view, ‘Gone Girl’, ‘The Winter Ghosts’ and ‘Before I Go to Sleep’ really increased my enthusiasm for thrillers – I think there is real skill in creating such strong page-turners. For me, being a reader is hugely important: much of writing is a craft and it is vital to see how other writers approach it, from sentence to plot level – as well as just revelling in the written word. I always have at least one book on the go.

If you could time travel, where would you go?

19th century London. I just bought a dictionary of the Victorian criminal underworld. The words are full of mystery and intrigue. I would love to hear how people actually used those terms.

Five pieces of advice for new writers?

1. Think about the overall mood you want your story to have. Brush up on your favourite authors and remind yourself why you like them so much.

2. Sit down and write the story you want to write. No excuses – just get on with it.

3. Be bold – make choices that excite you. Otherwise there is no chance of exciting your readers.

4. Listen to feedback but never lose your own vision.

5. Don’t give up, either in writing your story or trying to get it published – sure, it’s tough, but the sense of accomplishment when you succeed is worth it.

Which three things would you take with you to a desert island?

My husband, lots of paper and a pen.

What’s your favourite word?

Latent. I love the sense of threat it conveys. Perfect for a thriller…

About Amy:

Born in Hampstead, North London, I moved all around the UK for the next 18 years, before coming back to London for university. I’ve been here ever since, only a few miles from where I was born. I’m about to finish my Creative Writing MA at Birkbeck, and I’m also an alumna of Faber Academy. As well as being an author, I’m a lawyer – I work 4 days a week at one of the big City firms, specialising in employment law – and a trustee of a new writing theatre. When I’m not writing or lawyering, I’ll generally be found cooking with my husband, or in a theatre somewhere, or out and about sampling the cultural delights of North London.

‘Yours is Mine’ is available now from Carina UK, the new digital imprint of Harlequin, at http://www.carinauk.com/yours-is-mine and via Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yours-is-Mine-ebook/dp/B00DP220YY, Kobo http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Yours-is-Mine/book-u1u9U5e7aUm9JztScFyNOA/page1.html and iBooks/iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/yours-is-mine/id667517004?mt=11. You can follow Amy’s progress at www.amybirdwrites.com, on twitter at https://twitter.com/London_Writer and on facebook at www.facebook.com/amybirdwrites