An Interview with Louise Bagshawe |
Was your childhood ambition always to be a writer? If not, what inspired you to start?
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No – first I wanted to be a policeman, then a farmer. Writer was a distant third. But after I realised farmers had to kill their animals I shifted into writing, because I was such a story junkie. I read probably thousands of children’s books. My mother still has entire rooms of her house lined with them. |
| How long have you been writing? |
| Since I could write at all. Mum has a grisly poem I wrote about a waterfall luring men to their deaths when I was five. Obviously, I had problems :) |
| What do you enjoy most about being a writer? |
| The ability to go to work in my pyjamas. |
| What is your routine when sitting down to write for the day? |
Get a cup of tea. Get a biscuit. Go back to the cupboard, get another biscuit. Look at my emails. Look at websites. Wonder if I should make bed/do kids laundry/workout. Eventually start writing and then get into it and write a couple of thousand words very quickly.
I’m a chronic procrastinator, but I don’t know a writer who isn’t. |
| Which writers do you admire? |
Two sets of writers; literary authors, including the poets Ted Hughes and Geoffrey Hill, then JRR Tolkien and Austen. I also love the Mapp and Lucia series by E.F. Benson. Then I have my popular fiction heroes, of whom Jeffrey Archer is by far the greatest. His novel Kane and Abel will probably never be bettered as the ultimate blockbuster of all time. |
| Which authors have influenced your writing the most and why? |
I read a good mix of pop fiction bestsellers before I start a novel, otherwise you can fall into pastiche of one of your heroes. I love John Grisham and Sophie Kinsella but I don’t want to write exactly like them.
In essence my books are a modern reinvention of the eighties classic blockbusters like Lace or Lucky by Jackie Collins, but all of them feature feminist heroines making it on their own. I simply couldn’t write about some drippy Cinderella because I don’t admire those women. |
| What was the last good book you read? |
| I read loads of books as I do occasional reviewing for the Mail on Sunday. I love Tasmina Perry’s bubbly style. The last good literary book I read was William Hague’s acclaimed biography of Pitt the Younger, which I’d never read despite its good reviews. I missed a trick because the man is a tremendous writer. Fantastic biography. |
| To what extent has your life experience influenced your writing? |
| Not a great deal. My life consists of juggling three kids under five, writing and politics and the stories are escapism for me as well as the readers. I enjoy writing about gorgeous clothes but I never get to wear them! |
| Do you always know how your books will end before you start them? |
| Yes. I think authors always need to have a rough idea of the plot. I don’t believe in writing it down with no idea of the conclusion. |
