Lezanne Clannachan.

Lezanne Clannachan’s debut novel, Jellybird was released by Orion earlier this year. We chatted to Lezanne about her book, what makes her happy and her advice for new writers. 

Can you tell us about your debut novel, Jellybird?

Jellybird is a chilling tale of first love, loss and murder. Jessica Byrne’s childhood sweetheart, Thomas, disappeared seventeen years ago under violent circumstances, presumed drowned. The discovery of an old postcard sends Jessica in search of the truth. Risking her marriage and career to discover what happened the night Thomas vanished, she unearths lies and secrets, including an unsolved murder.

What’s your writing day like?

If everything goes to plan I drop my children at school by 8.30 am, go to the gym (I am newly obsessed with Zumba) and then write until 3.30 pm. It’s rare however that I get a solid block of uninterrupted writing time – there’s always a pair of school shoes to replace or a child having a bizarre allergic reaction and needing to be collected. I try to make up for lost time during the evenings, writing in bed until I get double-vision or my husband wraps a T-shirt around his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

When you started Jellybird, did you plan or simply start writing?

Jellybird grew organically, something I paid for later when trying to sew the whole thing together. I started with the image of a girl staring out to sea and wrote scenes as and when inspired, ignoring chronological order. On the plus side it made each chapter stand out. A writing tutor once told me each chapter should be written as a short story. I love the idea of trying to create a piece of writing which has independent life whilst remaining an integral part of the whole, like beads on a string.

Do you edit as you go along or wait for a complete draft?

I edit as I go along. It’s a way of easing myself back into the story each morning. I look back over the pages I wrote the day before and chip away at them until the narrative starts to move forward again.

What makes you laugh/happy?

Small kindnesses make me happy. A driver saying thank you makes me feel ridiculously pleased with the world. For laughter I can rely on my kids and their wide-eyed observations of life.

Which three things would you like with you on a desert island?

A writing pad, my Ray Charles Blues collection and a crate of fizzy cola bottles.

Who are your ideal dinner guests?

Anyone who knows me well enough not to have great expectations of my cooking. I love a really noisy kitchen-dinner with close friends and plenty of wine.

Is there a character from fiction you’d like to meet?

That is a really tough question. I’m going to choose Fevvers from Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus, a circus-performer blessed with wings but the very antithesis of angelic delicacy. She is opinionated, fearless and overripe with bawdy sexuality. She’d be the ringleader on a wild night out.

Are you working on anything at the moment?

I am working on my next book Rooms for Lost Souls, due out in April 2014. It’s about Pia, a young woman who becomes agoraphobic after a frightening incident. She survives by taking in lodgers who offer friendship and safety. Then one day she lets in the wrong person.

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

I don’t get writer’s block in the usual blank page sense – the words always come but sometimes they are the wrong words. It’s not unusual for me to delete more than I keep.

Can you tell us about when you got your book deal?

I took nine years to write Jellybird as I had no deadline and kept putting it down to have babies. When I finally finished it I sent it to be critiqued by a literary consultancy, Cornerstones. They enjoyed it enough to introduce me to my agent Rowan Lawton from Furniss Lawton. Rowan took my book to the London Book Fair four months later and Orion offered me a two-book deal. I know this sounds incredibly straightforward and I do have to acknowledge an element of luck but it proves there are still plenty of opportunities out there.

Which author/book has made the most impact on you?

There are too many books to list and for so many different reasons so I would like to choose Maggie O’Farrell as an author whose writing I hugely admire and a standard I aspire to. I love the sensuality of detail and the empathy with which she renders her characters.

Five tips for new writers?

• Listen to your editing instincts. If there’s a lazy line or image and you think you might just get away with it, you won’t.
• Be brave in your writing. Don’t let fear or the idea that your mum will read it censor you.
• Treat your writing as a muscle that needs warming up and regular work outs. Like any form of exercise, it is so much easier to fall into the rhythm if you keep it up.
• Read out loud. It helps you hear the rhythm, adjust sentence length, tighten dialogue and avoid repetition.
• Work in the now. Don’t let yourself be distracted by the dream of what might happen or the fear of what might not – just write the piece that’s inside you and plan its path once it’s ready.

For more information on Lezanne, visit her website. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.