In an exclusive interview, international bestselling author Sophie Kinsella discusses her new novel, her writing process, which is surprisingly similar to that of Sudha Murthy, going back to her popular Shopaholic series, her book recommendations and more. Part:
1. What inspired you to write your new novel, The Party Crasher?
We were in the middle of a pandemic and a lockdown when I was writing this. And writing this story felt like an escape from that situation. I wanted to write escapist fiction and found it more important to give people a slice of life that took them away from all the misery around them. So I wrote about this big party and I thought to myself ‘do I need to set this up in a pandemic, where people are wearing masks?’. But then I’m like ‘No, no mask!’ as it was Instead, it’s going to be a parallel universe… but when I was writing, I had no idea it would be an intense book about a dysfunctional family, with people locked in a house, and all of them About family secrets. So in a way I was writing about the lockdown! I think ‘The Party Crasher’ is both – an escape from the lockdown situation, and also shows how many of us have been with our families during the lockdown.
As soon as I thought I’d write about a party, I loved the idea that someone was flying over the wall – of being at the party but not at the party! And so came the idea of a heroine who is hiding in her family’s party. I then thought of adding about a broken family. I noted some issues with what older people feel when their parents get divorced. And then I thought about all the funny situations that would happen (at the party). I love writing comedies and this book was about hiding out at a party, and I enjoyed writing it.
2. How difficult was it for you to write humor during the pandemic, when there is so much despair all around us?
When I’m writing I always lead a kind of double life–I have the real world and I have the imaginary world. And I have to defend my imaginary world quite firmly, or else it just falls apart. So I’m used to building big walls when I write to protect it. And with the pandemic spreading all around us, I felt lucky to have a place to go.
3. Tell us about your writing process, especially during the pandemic.
Writing in Pandemic was a challenge, especially because I’m used to going outside when I’m writing. I don’t just sit in front of a screen to help me find inspiration; It doesn’t work for me. I go to coffee shops or pick up bars, which I couldn’t do when the pandemic was happening. So I would just go to a different room, put on some music and try to get myself out of this situation. I had all five kids in my house, they were home-schooling, work from home– it was very complicated. And so, I chose small corners of the house for privacy. I ended up working and book in the bedroom because all the other corners of the house were taken up. It wasn’t perfect but it was my safe haven! But the basics were still the same; I plotted the story. When I’m writing, I write a thousand words a day, I start work first (in the morning) and just keep going. It’s simple math that if you write a thousand words a day for enough days, you have a novel. And that’s my theory.
4. In an interview, popular Indian writer Sudha Murthy shared that she should let her thoughts boil when she is writing, just like a pot of milk is kept on a low flame to boil… her writing Tell me about the process? Do you plan and plot your story, or does it develop as you write?
I feel the same way as her–the idea of a milk bubble. I plan until the story really unfolds to me. I jot down the dialogue that I think my characters would say, I try to fill in my thoughts about what they would feel, and I structure the plot. I spend ages planning it… Writing is everything for me– from the first thought to that random thought you had in the shower, to actually putting the words on the pages; It is all part of the same process. I don’t like to rush into planning because once I start writing, I get quite impatient. Sometimes the story takes me in a different direction and I add that to the story; But I like to have a roadmap.
5. Which character in your new novel ‘The Party Crasher’ are you most related to?
In my family, I’m the eldest Sister Bean in ‘The Party Crasher’ and as a person naturally I’m quite a conversationalist. But I also relate to the protagonist, Effie, for being stubborn; I can be quite stubborn when I think I am right.
6. Your last book in the Shopaholic series ‘Christmas Shopaholic’ released in 2019 and since then you have written two standalone novels. Are you planning to write more books in the series?
I want to explore more stories in the near future. But I’m not sure I can ever say goodbye to Becky from the Shopaholic series. I think I’ll be back, I’m not sure when. I also wrote some Pandemic Becky diaries which were a lot of fun. But I guess I want to wait until all is well, see where we all are and I think I’ll be able to write more easily then.
7. Tell us about some of the best books you have read during the pandemic.
‘The Beloved Girls’ by Harriet Evans is a lovely book, set in the present day. Plus the full series of Jenny Colgan. Her latest novel ‘An Island Wedding’ is based on a Scottish island and it comes out next year… Recently I read a wonderful book ‘Sorrow and Bliss’ by Meg Mason. It’s funny and painful, exactly the kind of book I love. It is about a mentally ill woman. It sounds dark but it’s really funny and I really recommend it.
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