FAQ
Martina Devlin talks about midnight feasts, reading
books while her friend sizzles at her new boyfriend and
trying to trick the slob part of her nature into
switching on the computer. What inspires you to write?
I write because it's what I love to do best - simple as
that. I really like eating chocolate, spending all day in
my pyjamas, watching old black and white films (All About
Eve with Bette Davis is a favourite), having midnight
feasts with madly over-excited nieces and nephews,
walking by the sea with an ice-cream from Teddy's,
drinking coffee and gossiping with friends. But I'm
happiest of all when I'm writing, I suppose it's the
storytelling bug. As for inspiration - well, you'd be
amazed how much can be gleaned from midnight feasts,
drinking coffee, walking by the sea...
Do you have a writing routine?
I potter about in the morning in my ancient green
dressing gown drinking coffee, reading newspapers,
wishing the post was more interesting, wondering who I
can ring and basically doing anything to avoid switching
on the computer. Finally guilt, an emotion I have never
been able to overcome, spurs me into action and I change
into a deeply unflattering pair of jogging bottoms and
venture into the study. And then I always wonder what the
fuss was about because once I start I'm grand. It's just
that initial impetus to face the computer screen I find
problematic. I keep trying to trick myself into it - just
sign on and then you can make a lovely pot of coffee
without even writing a word - but the fiendishly cunning
slob part of me never falls for it.
How do you cure writer's block?
Tough love - I punish myself into it. Basically I force
myself to sit at the computer screen and eventually
boredom overcomes the writer's block and something
trickles out in the way of words. I suppose all those
years of working as a journalist help because you know
there's no point in waiting for the muse to strike or
newspapers would be full of yawning empty spaces where a
scintillating 1,000-word article on why pet-owners feed
their animals more wholesome food than they eat
themselves should be.
What are you reading at the moment?
Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse which I borrowed from
a friend. I started reading it when I was at her house
for dinner so I could meet her new boyfriend. There were
only the three of us and I felt I had to do something to
occupy myself or I'd be scorched by all the sizzling
glances ricocheting between the pair of them. They're at
that early stage when everyone else feels like a voyeur
beside them. I may have to buy the book anyway because -
forget about that over-hyped shoe fetish - a girl can
never have too many books. Martina Devlin's top tip: pile
them high and they save you redecorating to hide damp
patches on the wall.
What's the biggest myth about being a writer?
That it makes you wealthy. I know more writers starving
in garrets than lounging in palatial splendour. Well, not
exactly starving, but a bit on the skinny side. Most of
them would be happy to make a decent living from their
craft, never mind hit the jackpot, but many authors have
to juggle writing in their spare time with holding down a
day job. I've done that and, trust me, it's exhausting.
This isn't what you want to hear, is it? You want me to
tell you about the enormous advances you'll receive with
which you'll buy sports cars and holiday homes in St
Lucia. Well, go for it - it happens for the odd writer.
Has your life changed since you became a
novelist?
I get recognised by eight-year-old girls in my home town
of Omagh now, ever since I was invited back to my old
primary school, Loreto Convent, to give a talk to a
couple of classes about writing. They asked masses of
questions - mostly variations on how much I earned. None
of them read my books, of course, but I'm hoping they'll
browbeat their mothers into buying them. Whenever I'm
back in Omagh (I live in Dublin) I'm always being waved
at by small girls in Angelina Ballerina T-shirts. It's
quite exciting really, and makes me wish I were a
children's author. I keep thinking I should invent a boy
wizard who goes to wizard school and .... really? Drat.
Children are so cheerful at that age, they beam at you
and say hello and sometimes they'll even give you their
hands to autograph as a ploy to avoid washing. Whoops,
no, that's the eight-year-old boys.
How long does it take you to write a novel?
About a year. It always seems to take this length of
time, whether I'm working full-time on a particular novel
or engaged in other activities as well, such as holding
down a job. Frankly, I'm mystified by this. However I've
concluded it's been ordained that all my books should
take a year to finish and some peculiar loop of time sees
to it that they do.
What advice would you give budding authors?
If you really want to write, then sit down and get on
with it. A lot of people talk the talk but that's all
they ever do, they never get round to writing. Here's an
amazing secret I've discovered: if you plod away, week
after week, eventually your book will be finished -
that's a promise. Now, a few basics. Once it's done - or
sooner if you feel confident enough - choose three agents
who handle the type of book you've written. Send off an
SAE, a brief synopsis and the first three chapters. Don't
be disheartened by rejections - we've all been rejected.
It isn't exactly good for the soul but it isn't the end
of the world either. Just think to yourself: 'That mean,
horrible person is going to be so sorry when I'm number
one in the bestsellers.' I also recommend giving a nasty
character their name. Then try somebody else. Or have a
lash at writing another novel. Or both. Also, pay no
attention to that malarkey about literature versus
commercial fiction because there's only good and bad
writing. So my most important advice of all, and I've
saved it to last, is to write from the heart.
Who is your all-time favourite author?
Would you go away out of that, as we say in Omagh (best
repeated in an Omagh accent). Sure I couldn't choose just
one. And since I don't want to make any enemies of living
authors who've been overlooked, I'll sneakily just name
some dead ones. Virginia Woolf, even if she was a
desperate snob, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas
Hardy - although you have to be in the whole of your
health before you can tackle him - James Joyce, WB Yeats,
Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare, because he used such
fabulous words. Like gaudy, for example.
What can readers expect from you in the
future?
I'm currently working on my next novel - that's the stock
answer all writers give - but I am actually due to hand
in the manuscript of my fourth novel imminently so I'd
better get cracking on it or I'm in trouble. Not to
mention breach of contract. At the moment it's called
Temptation, although that may change by the time it hits
the shelves - I like it, what do you think? - and it's
due out in mid-2004. I intend to carry on writing novels
as long as people are prepared to read them and I hope
that means I'll be tapping away on my computer for
decades to come. Failing that, maybe my brothers will
give me a job as a waitress in their café. I fancy being
one of those world-weary, but with a heart of gold,
waitresses you see in old black and white films.
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