What can readers expect from The One We Fell in Love With?
Paige Toon
I always write my stories completely from the heart and really try to put myself in my characters' heads so I feel every single emotion they go through. My readers often tell me this is how they feel when they read my books, so hopefully you'll laugh, cry, be swept away by the romance and feel utterly torn at times. This is the first time I've written from the perspective of three different women. They all fell in love with the same man when they were seventeen. Now in their late twenties, one of them is marrying him. There are a few twists and turns along the way, one of which I think will take readers completely by surprise.
You grew up between England, Australia and America so how much has this travelling influenced your writing?
Massively. I always set my stories in beautiful locations around the world and try to travel there to research the book before I write it. It definitely makes me - and the reader - feel more connected to the book when I'm able to write about the things that I see and feel. The One We Fell In Love With is partly set in the French Alps, where I holidayed with my family a couple of years ago, and it also has a few scenes set in Byron Bay, Australia, where we went last Easter.
You've worked in teen, films and women's magazines so what has been your most memorable experience from them all?
I have so many happy memories of working in the magazine industry! It's so hard to pinpoint a favourite, because sometimes I'll just remember something out of the blue, someone I've interviewed but forgotten about. One of the very first people I interviewed was a young Jake Gyllenhaal. It's nuts to see how famous he's gone on to become. He was so young and very sweet and smiley.
You used to work at Heat as the reviews editor, so what was a typical day like at the office?
I worked at Heat for seven years before leaving to have a baby - every time I go into London I'm full of nostalgia, walking through Soho and remembering the screening rooms where I used to watch films in the daytime. I think that was my favourite part of the job, plus I had access to any book, album, DVD or TV show I could possibly want. It was the most fun job ever, and involved interviewing quite a few celebs, too.
Why is this book the perfect summer holiday read?
For me, the perfect summer read means being able to immediately lose yourself in a story, and be completely swept up in the characters' journeys as you fly through the book. I hope I've delivered that with this one!
How much has your background in magazine writing affected your novel writing process?
I'm not sure that it has. I remember when I first got a book deal, people asked if I'd chosen to write chick-lit because that genre was perfect for the Heat market, but it wasn't like that at all. I always advocate writing what you want to write and writing from the heart - you can't do that very well if you're trying to pick and choose your audience. I write the sort of books that I want to read.
Both Marian Keyes and Giovanna Fletcher have said wonderful things about your new book, so how does it feel when your writing gets such high praise from fellow authors?
Absolutely incredible. The response to this book has blown me away. Marian and Gi were two of the very first people to read it (Gi when she was heavily pregnant and about to give birth). To get the emails from them, telling me how caught up they had been in the story, feeling every emotion I had hoped they would feel and also having the perfect reaction to one particular scene that I hope takes readers by surprise - well, I actually cried tears of happiness, I'm not ashamed to admit it!
What advice do you have for people who want to write novels alongside another job?
As long as you're loving what you're writing, you'll write as and when you can. I wrote Lucy in the Sky in two and a half months while I was still working at Heat full time, and it was one of the happiest times of my life. I wrote before work, during lunchtimes, after work and at weekends, and the momentum carried right through to delivery. I was very, VERY lucky to have a book deal, though, so I didn't have to face the fear of it never seeing the light of day. These days, with self-publishing, authors no longer need to worry about not getting a book deal - they just have to grab the bull by the horns and go for it!
What are you reading right now?
Jane Costello's Summer Nights at the Moonlight Hotel - it's very funny and has sentences like, 'It feels as though my eyelids have been smothered in Pritt Stick and adorned with a catatonic tarantula' - I'm still giggling about it, now.
What is next for you?
The third and final part in my Jessie Jefferson rock star series for young adults comes out in July, and I'm currently writing my eleventh women's fiction read, which is partly set in beautiful Thailand where my family and I went at Christmas. After that, I'm finally going to write the young adult fantasy novel that I've been thinking about for the last three years - watch this space!