1 – I lived in Istanbul for eleven years and speak Turkish, which comes in handy in kebab shops. I loved the food culture in Turkey and the general hospitality, which is why I stayed there for so long. It’s such a warm-hearted country.
Jody Sabral
2 – I make voice notes on my phone when I have an idea so that it’s not lost for good. When I have writers block or am feeling frustrated I go for a walk. Or take my longboard out for a spin. But I don’t wait for inspiration, I sit down every day and write, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not.
3 – Music is a huge part of my life and I like to see at least one live gig a month. If I’m feeling down I put on a song and dance. This cheers me up. I couldn’t live without Spotify. I’d love to be on Desert Island Discs one day. I think that might be m greatest ambition.
4 – I have a cat called Bob Dylan aka BD. He was a rescue cat and his name was originally Dillon, but I changed it to Dylan, then came Dylan Thomas but I thought I’d rather have a nobel winning rock n roll star in my house than an alcoholic poet so he became Bob instead.
5 – I moved to St Leonards on Sea because I love the light by the coast. After leaving Istanbul and moving to London I really missed being by the water, so I spent the past five years traveling to the coast all around the south east and eventually settled on Hastings. There is a very rich collection of artists and creatives living here. I was born in St Leonards too oddly, and apparently those who are must carry a stone with a hole in it or they are destined to return. I’ve recently required one of those stones.
6 –I swim almost every other day. It’s a chance to listen to myself breathe and switch my brain off and just concentrate on the movement.
7 – My parents are both American.
8 – I Love entertaining and cooking for large numbers of people. It was such a huge part of living in Istanbul, and I brought this culture back with me.
9 – I’ve written two pilot episodes for TV and had meetings with a couple of production companies about them. I would love to see my characters come to life with the help of great actors. Winning a BAFTA is another career ambition.
10 – I love readers’ feedback even if it’s negative because it helps me grow as a person and a writer. I hope I NEVER LIE starts a positive conversation about alcoholism in this country as well as entertain because I feel art and literature can and should stir something in its audience. From the initial reviews it feels like it has hit a nerve, and I'm genuinely enjoying how baffled some people are by this book.
