Sarah Edghill interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

My name is Sarah Edghill and I have been making up stories since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I live in the Cotswolds in the UK with my husband, three children and far too many animals.

When did your love of books begin?

Aged five, I spent several months in hospital after an operation. I remember little about it now – apart from hiding when the physios came to make me do exercises. But I was an early reader and during that stay in hospital I ploughed through all the Famous Five and Secret Seven books by Enid Blyton, then moved on to Swallows and Amazons. I had a vivid imagination and always saw myself taking part in the action. For my seventh birthday, I was given a little toy typewriter and began to hammer out (literally) dozens of appallingly bad adventure stories.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

For many years I worked as a journalist, writing for newspapers and magazines on everything from property and consumer issues, to entertainment and celebrity interviews. This was a fantastic way to learn the craft of writing, adapting what I was doing to suit different tastes, sticking to a set word count and meeting deadlines.

I’d always wanted to write fiction, but had no idea where to start. Then I did a weekend Guardian Masterclass on Novel Writing and was hooked. 

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

After that Masterclass I wrote my first book, which was dire, then ditched it and wrote another. Over the years I did courses and workshops, attended writing festivals and churned out more novels. Not all of them saw the light of day, but at least three went out on submission to agents, and the rejections poured in! Rejection is tough but resilience is so important for a writer, and there’s no better way to acquire it than to pick yourself back up every time you get knocked down. It’s not always easy to keep believing in what you’re doing, but I never considered giving up, because I loved the process of writing. And the more I wrote, the better I got at it. Some authors find success with the first thing they write, but most of us struggle to find our way and – if we’re lucky – our second or third, or even sixth, book will find a publisher. And although the process of becoming an author can be hard, depressing and frustrating, it’s also constructive – provided you keep writing and stay open to advice and criticism.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Stop thinking about it and start doing it! What you write in the early stages probably won’t be much good, but you will get better and your writing will get sharper. Write every day – even if it’s just a few sentences – and soak up as much help and advice as you can. 

Tell us about your book/books:

There are so many fantastic courses out there and so many authors willing to offer support to those who are slightly behind them in the race we’re all running. Other writers are a supportive bunch. No one understands the ups and downs of being a writer, quite as well as someone who has gone through the process themselves. 

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

My first published novel, A Thousand Tiny Disappointments, came out last September and tells the story of Martha, whose mother dies unexpectedly, leaving everything to a stranger. Juggling a difficult home life and getting no support from her uninterested husband or arrogant brother, Martha is left facing the ultimate moral dilemma: should she carry out her mother’s last wishes, or destroy the evidence so no one will ever know? 

I love writing about human beings and the way they relate to each other: how they deal with whatever life throws at them, even if it means occasionally behaving badly or doing something they know will have consequences,

Being a published author has been a fantastic experience and I’ve loved (almost) every minute of it! I now have a second novel, His Other Woman, coming out on 20^th May. The insecurity authors feel about their work never goes away, you just have to learn to live with it and shout down the little voice inside your head that tells you you’re not good enough.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

I hope they will remember my stories, and that my books will make them think about their own lives and relationships. But mostly I’d just like readers to be entertained by what I write. I want to create books that people find hard to put down; the sort of books that make them want to read just one more chapter before they turn out the light at night.

Where can people connect with you?

My.book/TinyDisappointments and I’d love to hear from anyone who reads it. His Other Woman will be available to preorder from April.

I am on social media, links below:

FB Sarah Edghill Author

I sarah.edghill

T @EdghillSarah