Adele Parks is one of Britain's best-known authors for her modern, realistic, funny novels the first of which, Playing Away, was published in 2000. She has worked in advertising and as a management consultant with Accenture. Her other novels include Game Over, Larger Than Life, Still Thinking of You and Husbands. She says that The Other Woman's Shoes is her most personal book and once you read it, you'll understand why - the emotions she takes you through are raw and at some points heartbreaking. Adele lives in the South of England with her family. She took time out of her busy writing schedule to give us her top 5 writing tips and top 5 reads.
Adele Parks's 5 writing tips
1. write.
Seriously, it astonishes me how many people tell me they want to be a writer but then confess they never write anything more elaborate than a shopping list. Write every day.
2. read.
Novels, articles, newspapers - anything you can get your hands on. If you are not familiar with (in fact, if your not in love with) the written word, you'll never be a decent writer.
3. develop a thick skin.
You'll almost certainly get a few knock backs along the way. Pick yourself up, brush yourself down and start all over again.
4. go on a course.
I did a degree in English Literature and Language, I'm not suggesting you have to do the same but a weekend creative writing course may help with understanding the tools of the trade, such as structure, plot and characterisation.
5. listen
Be inspired by everything that is going on around you. Visit Adele Parks's website at www.adeleparks.com
Adele Parks's 5 essential reads
(in no particular order)
1. once in a house on fire by andrea ashworth
Amazon review: Set in grim 1970s Manchester, Once In A House On Fire tells the harrowing true story of three sisters and their mother, from the point of view of the eldest sister Andrea. They are a close-knit, loving family but are forced to battle with poverty, depression, and terrifying abuse at the hands of two stepfathers. Andrea, a sensitive and highly observant child, witnesses and suffers unbearable cruelty yet refuses to give into despair. She seeks escape in learning and is ultimately able to see a future beyond the darkly violent world of home.
2. emma by jane austen
Amazon review: Emma Wodehouse has led a simple life, but during the course of this she at last reaps her share of the world's vexations. In this comedy of manners, the heroine learns to come to terms with the reality of other people, and with her own erring nature.
3. anna karenina by tolstoy
Amazon review: Acclaimed by many as the world's greatest novel, this is the story of a wife, Anna Karenina, who abandons her empty existence as the wife of a Petersburg government minister for a passionate relationship with a young officer, Count Vronsky.
4. vile bodies by evelyn waugh
Amazon review: In the years following the First World War a new generation emerges, wistful and vulnerable beneath the glitter. The Bright Young Things of twenties' Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade. In a quest for treasure, a favourite party occupation, a vivid assortment of characters hunt fast and furiously for ever greater sensations and the fulfilment of unconscious desires.
5. the magic faraway tree by enid blyton
Amazon review: Jo, Bessie and Fanny take their cousin Rick on an adventure he'll never forget to the magic Faraway Tree, where he meets Moon-Face, Silky the fairy and Saucepan Man, and visits all the different lands at the top of the Faraway Tree. Like the Land of Spells, the crazy Land of Topsy-Turvy, and the land of Do-As-You-Please, where the children ride a runaway train!
Adele Parks is one of Britain's best-known authors for her modern, realistic, funny novels the first of which, Playing Away, was published in 2000. She has worked in advertising and as a management consultant with Accenture. Her other novels include Game Over, Larger Than Life, Still Thinking of You and Husbands. She says that The Other Woman's Shoes is her most personal book and once you read it, you'll understand why - the emotions she takes you through are raw and at some points heartbreaking. Adele lives in the South of England with her family. She took time out of her busy writing schedule to give us her top 5 writing tips and top 5 reads.
