Today it was my pleasure to drop in on Janet Emson on FromFirstPageToLast, her super eclectic blog. We talked about books, and writing and more books!!!
Her site is well worth mooching about it, although, fair warning, you may find yourself losing track of time a bit:-)
Here’s the link:
https://fromfirstpagetolast.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/faith-hogan-qa/
And here I’m posting the q&a for you!
Today I’m pleased to welcome Faith Hogan to the blog. Faith’s debut novel, My Husband’s Wives was published by Aria on 1 May 2016
Faith kindly answered a few questions.
Tell us about My Husband’s Wives:
My Husband’s Wives is a contemporary novel, set squarely in the Women’s Fiction genre. It tells the story of a relationship that evolves between four women who each, in their own way, loved the same man. I’m very often surprised in life at how badly wrong we can be in our judgements of others and this book explores this among other topics. It has been described as ‘a story of love, jealousy and misunderstandings,’ and I think that pretty much covers it!
What Inspired you to write My Husband’s Wives?
Like all books, there was a spark. For me, it was the idea that life can change utterly with a knock on the front door. That is where the book starts, it’s where the story truly begins. It is very much a character driven book and in many ways, I’m proud of each of the four women in the book. I had struggled in the past with writing women’s voices – sometimes joking that men were far less complicated. With these characters, they arrived full formed, laughing and giving out and they didn’t stop talking until their story was told!
Are you a plan, plan, planner? Or…
I’m a bit of both. Certainly, I’ll sit for many weeks, looking as writerly as I can, while I stare into space and let my imagination run riot. It is the only way to really develop a story that resonates for me. I love a chart, I love mapping things out, post it’s are my best friend, as is the ruler and lots of different colour markers. I’ll probably map out the novel three times during the various drafts – but sometimes, I do wonder, is it all just procrastination? At the end, the novel looks nothing like the plan – and I actually think this is a very good thing indeed.
My Husband’s Wives is your debut novel – what has surprised you about the process of getting published?
There are many answers to this question and if I was asked the same thing in a week’s time, I’d probably come up with a range of different points. However, off the top of my head… I’d say that I love how everyone is so enthusiastic – they adore the industry they are working in. I haven’t met one person who is jaded and that goes right across the board. There’s a super vibe from everyone you connect with from the publishers, the agent, the publicist to the bloggers, the readers and the media. There is a great love of books that just pulls everything and everyone together.
The other thing that the whole experience has thrown at me is that I’ve learned a lot. Take heart if you’re waiting and waiting to get published, because it is true, the more you write, the more you learn. I feel a lot more comfortable in my own shoes now than I would have if I’d signed a publishing deal a decade ago.
If you could read only one book…
I would re-read Ivanhoe. I read it for the first time as a teenager, more because it was there than for any other reason. I’ve dipped into it again, but truly, I would need less distractions to really get the most out of it now.
When you’re not writing…
I’m a walker. I love walking in the nearby woods, on the beach or just around the town. I will walk in rain, sun (infrequent in the west of Ireland) and snow. I feel the day is not complete unless I get to breathe some fresh air and move around a bit!
When I’m not writing, I have four children, a husband and a demanding cat to look after and there’s nothing nicer than everyone sitting down for a movie or heading out for a day if the weather is nice.
And, did I mention that I’m quite fond of reading…
What question have you never been asked in a Q&A that you’ve always wished you were…
Would you like dark chocolate or truffles with that latte?
I’ll have both, thank you!
Many thanks, Janet for having me on your great blog. It’s a great thrill to be featuring alongside so many super authors!
Faith x