"Amazing Gracie" is your first novel, a romantic comedy. What did you enjoy about writing your novel?

Well, I really enjoyed writing the first draft – because the first draft was fun and easy to write and not at all hard work. The hard work came later with the many rewrites I had to do. But that’s probably just me being lazy!

Aside from that, probably the most enjoyable part of writing this novel was the initial development of my characters and their relationships with each other. I loved creating all of the diverse and quirky characters in the novel and deciding just who they were going to be, who they were going to love and hate, and how their lives were going to intertwine with others. And of course, once I’d created those characters I found myself with complete control over their lives – something I took full advantage of.

And so I took great delight in putting my lead character, Gracie, into some very awkward situations and then watching her try to wriggle her way out of them. Which may sound cruel, but it’s very much in keeping with the novel’s theme – one young woman’s triumph over adversity. Gracie had to go through the bad stuff in order to deserve her happy ending – and I really enjoyed putting those obstacles and complications in her path along the way.

As a new author, what challenges did you face creating your first book? Based on your experience, what words of advice can you give to budding writers?

One of the toughest things about creating a first novel is actually finding the time to sit down and write. I’ve lost count of the number of people who, upon learning that I’m a writer, have told me that they’d love to write a novel but just don’t have the time to do so. Now, some might say that if writing a novel was that important to these people, they would make time in their busy schedules to get it done. And in some cases that could be true. But things aren’t always that simple – especially for anyone attempting their first novel.

When I started writing Amazing Gracie, I was working a five-day week, getting up early and getting home late due to a long commute into work. For most first-time writers, this will be a familiar situation. After all, everyone needs to eat and if you’ve just begun your writing career it’s not going to pay the bills for quite some time unless you’re very, very lucky. Most likely, your writing is going to have to be squeezed in around a day job for the time being.

So you may not have much free time in which to write. Then again, you may have more time than you think. The trick is to make the best possible use of the time available to you. I wrote large chunks of Amazing Gracie during my lunch hour at work. Sure, my colleagues all thought I was anti-social because I’d go off by myself every day to eat and write (and my work more often than not ended up smudged with sticky marmite stains) but the important thing was that I was getting a whole hour’s worth of writing done each day – and even more at weekends!

Of course, while this worked for me, it might not be the solution for everyone. Each writer will work differently, but the thing to remember is that there’s always time available to write if you look hard enough. How about when you’re sitting on the train or bus on that long commute? Or could you give up an hour’s worth of television time in the evening and spend that writing instead? Or maybe even get up an hour earlier in the mornings (it wouldn’t be my choice, but I’m sure there are some writers out there who don’t mind those early morning starts!).

I’m not saying that finding the time to complete a novel when you’re trying to juggle your writing with any sort of other work is easy – because it’s not. But if you really want to get that novel written, you need to get organised and make time for your writing. And remember not to treat your writing like any other chore – it’s supposed to be enjoyable and if you think of it as being fun, rather than work, you’ll be more inclined to sit down and dedicate your time to it.

What elements are necessary to make a romantic comedy work for romance readers?

I’ve always considered the most important element of any novel to be the main character or characters involved. In my opinion, character is even more important than plot and a novel’s success will often depend on the reader’s ability to relate to the characters in the story. For a romantic comedy such as Amazing Gracie, where all the events taking place are seen through the eyes and thoughts of one main character, it’s doubly essential that this character is a memorable and likeable one. After all, the reader isn’t going to read on if the character telling the story is boring them to tears!

So a strong lead character is really the starting point for any good romantic comedy. The next step is to surround that character with an assortment of interesting and quirky supporting characters. These characters should be as different from the main character as possible but should not overshadow the lead in any way. In a novel like Amazing Gracie, the characters included should serve one of three purposes – love complication, comic relief or antagonist. Sometimes a character will provide aspects of all three, but it’s important that there’s a good balance between the characters.

Then, once the characters of a romantic comedy have been established, the writer should put those characters into situations full of romantic, dramatic or comedic potential – and allow the characters themselves to find the romance, drama or comedy in that particular situation. It’s important that these things aren’t forced but instead evolve directly from the characters’ personalities, needs and desires. Speaking not just as a writer but as a reader, I’ve always found character-led novels to be far more captivating and engrossing than those that are plot–driven. But maybe that’s just me!