I don’t really get into a writing routine until March or April, when I’ll write a few hundred words a day, often in a cafe in the morning after the school run. Lisa Jewell Read Quote
I take the six weeks of the school summer holidays off because I’m pretty sure I’m not going to look back on my life one day and say, ‘Damn, I wish I hadn’t spent so much time with my children.’ Lisa Jewell Read Quote
People say ‘chick lit,’ and what they mean is ‘crap.’ And so even though you might sell 100,000 copies of a book, you’re never going to win a prize. These are books that people don’t just read, they devour them – they stay up into the early hours because they want to devour them. Lisa Jewell Read Quote
I was brought up in the same house I was born in, and I lived there until I left home as an adult. I also went to a Catholic school, which was full of Irish girls whose parents never split up, so everyone I knew had these big family set-ups. Lisa Jewell Read Quote
When I travel, I can leave everything at home apart from books. I curate my holiday reading rigorously and would be devastated if I found I’d left one at home. Lisa Jewell Read Quote
That whole idea of chick lit being a thing that you just lump all the commercial female writers into – it went on for years.I’d switch on the radio, and I’d hear, ‘Two female authors are here to discuss chick lit – is it dead?’ and I’d think, ‘Argh, no, not again. Are we seriously still having this conversation?’ Lisa Jewell Read Quote
There’s a weird contrast between my usual daily routine and then my book coming out. It’s like someone’s just suddenly opened the curtains in a dark room, and everyone’s looking at you. Lisa Jewell Read Quote
I tried to write about my first marriage in a fictional version but got two pages into it and realised it was too personal. Then I came up with an old-fashioned love triangle, which became the plot for ‘Ralph’s Party.’ Lisa Jewell Read Quote