|  Let's
face it. We all know how different men and women
are. You don't need an advanced degree
to figure that one out. But, what if you could
actually step inside your husband's head
for just one day without him even knowing and
learn firsthand what makes him tick? How great
would that be? Better yet, imagine being able
to find out why he repeatedly says those insidious
remarks that absolutely make your head spin or
maybe why he insists on being so insensitive
when all you really need is a hug?
THE MARRIAGE DIARIES is the modern day wife's
dream come true. Rebecca Campbell's lead
character doesn't get to peek inside her
husband's head, but what she does get is
the opportunity to read his on-line journal about
her, their son, and their married life. Can you
just imagine what it would be like if your husband
kept a journal about your life? You'd finally
get a glimpse into his heart.
 I was sent THE MARRIAGE
DIARIES to review for www.freshfiction.com and
I immediately fell in love with it from the very
beginning. Be warned! It is not your typical
fluffy romance. There are sex scenes and lots
of them. So, if that is not your cup of tea,
as the British would say, this book is definitely
not for you. On the other hand, if you are looking
for a well written, realistic take on the marriage
scene, this book is a winner! I honestly could
not put it down and I think you'll agree.
Not to mention, the fashion aspect of the book
is worth the read in itself. Find this book in our catalog.
When I contacted Ballantine about interviewing
Rebecca, they gladly agreed. It has been such
a pleasure getting to know her, especially since
she lives in England! My first British author!
She is absolutely charming, funny, and now my
friend. As part of the column, Rebecca has graciously
donated five books to give away! So, don't
forget to look for the trivia question at the
end and be one of the first five people to Email
me with the correct response. Good Luck!
So, in honor of Rebecca, go grab a cup of tea
and get to know my friend, Rebecca Campbell.
JEN: What is your educational and professional
background?
REBECCA: I went to an all-girl school in London,
which was very academic and competitive – the
kind of school where, if you didn't go
on to become a senior TV executive or a leading
heart surgeon, you felt you'd let everyone
down. After that I took a degree at the London
School of Economics. That led on to a brief and
not very successful career at a Japanese bank.
That made me realize that working for Paddy Campbell – my
mother's fashion business – wasn't
so bad after all. I took some classes in the
more technical aspects of design, pattern cutting,
that sort of thing, and then began designing
alongside my mother.
JEN: Why have you chosen to focus on the fashion
industry in your writing and have you ever modeled?
REBECCA: Well, they say write what you know!
My first novel, Slave to Fashion, was
very much about life in a small fashion company,
modeled more or less exactly on Paddy Campbell,
and my third is also partially set in the fashion
world. I like writing about fashion for various
reasons. It's full of weird and wonderful
people, eccentrics, egomaniacs and fruitcakes
of all kinds; and because it's a world
I know intimately, I don't have to spend
too much time on research, which means I can
concentrate more on character and plot, letting
the setting take care of itself. My second novel, Slave
to Love, is set in an auction house, and
I had to spend months getting the background
right. Have I ever modeled? Not tall enough,
not thin enough, and my boredom threshold is
way too low.
JEN: The Marriage Diaries is your third
novel. At what juncture in your life did you
begin your writing career? Why become a writer?
REBECCA:
In the back of my mind I always knew I was going
to write a novel, but I didn't have the
space in my life to do it. Weirdly it was having
my first child, Gabriel, that gave me the time
to write. I had three months off work, and
then eased myself back very gently, and my
husband was around to help with the childcare
so I found that my life was suddenly relatively
easy. I'm not one of those writers who
would write even if they weren't published.
I write to amuse and move and engage, and as
soon as I thought I wasn't doing that,
then I'd stop. Having said that, writing
is a great way to explore how you actually
feel about the world.
JEN: Do you feel pressure to exceed the high
expectations of your readers with the writing
of each novel? And if so, how do you overcome
it?
REBECCA: I don't really feel the expectations
of my readers in that way. I focus more on just
writing the best sentences, paragraphs and chapters
that I can. My husband is quite a severe critic,
and if I've got him hooked, I know I must
be on the right track.
JEN: From conception to completion, how long
does it take for you to write a book? What is
your writing schedule?
REBECCA: I generally assume that a book will
take a year, but that's everything up to
the final edit, along with all the gaps and the
waiting around. In terms of the actual writing
time, if I squished it all together, I guess
it would be about three months. It really isn't
a very hard life. I write a thousand words in
a couple of hours, and that's more than
enough. But then I suppose my subconscious mind
is working away at the various problems and dilemmas
in the current book. It's amazing how often
I'll go to sleep fretting over what happens
next, and the next morning it's all there,
taken care of.
JEN: As writers, we are constantly fine tuning
our craft. What is the major difference in your
writing style and perhaps even your thought process
from your first novel, Slave to Fashion,
to your third, The Marriage Diaries?
In what area have you seen the most growth?
REBECCA: I've always enjoyed writing descriptive
passages, but dialogue has come much harder.
I think that's where I've really
improved – catching the rhythms of the
way people speak. There was a massive stylistic
change between my first two novels – the
first is a first person narrative, whilst the
second has an almost nineteenth century narrative
voice. In The marriage Diaries I have
two first person narrators. I don't see
any of these as being an advance on the others:
they're just different ways of telling
the story.
JEN: How does the publishing business differ
in England compared to the U.S. and which audience
is harder to please?
REBECCA: Tough question. In the UK my first
book was launched with a huge fanfare. There
were posters all over the Underground and train
stations and bus stops. I had a lower key launch
in the US, and my book had to spread by word
of mouth. I'm not sure that there are any
fundamental differences between the kind of people
who read my books in the UK and the US. The main
difference for me is that the US market is so
much bigger – there are simply more readers
in the States. That means there will be more
readers who happen to be on my wavelength. On
the publishing side, I've always been very
impressed with the editors I've had, especially
my latest, Signe Pike, who manages to be both
fiercely intelligent and incredibly sweet.
JEN: My readers might not know, but your husband
is also a writer. What's it like having
two creative people under one roof? Do you both
write at home? Do you critique each other's
work?
REBECCA:
It works very well for us. Anthony writes during
the day, and I write in the evening. He's
much more of the tortured artist type than me.
But I think we both write for each other. There's
a lot of cross fertilization between us. He's
even put characters from my books into his. There
was a small problem early on, when I was rather
more successful than him – a situation
mirrored in The Marriage Diaries – but
it's evened out now. If anything he's
the famous one now, in the UK at least.
JEN: An obvious question, but one I must ask.
Is Celeste, the main character in The Marriage
Diaries, modeled after yourself and is the
character Sean modeled after your husband? At
the end of the book, you do allude to that, but
really how similar?
REBECCA: The basic set-up, involving the husband
staying at home to look after the child, while
the mother works is based closely on our experience,
and Sean is very closely modeled on my husband.
In fact most of what he says in the novel is
straight quotation. He's funny and annoying
in just the same way, full of ideas and jokes
and mad invention. It's more complicated
with Celeste and me. In some ways she's
similar, but I made her much chillier, much more
cynical and calculating.
JEN: Since adultery is a main storyline of the
book, (I don't want to give the plot away!),
were you fearful that your friends might raise
an eyebrow and think of you in a different light?
REBECCA: Yes! Nobody believes that all the adultery
is made up. I wish my life were that exciting!
I haven't let my parents read the book – it
would be too embarrassing. It was only after
I re-read it recently that I realized how much
sex there was in it, and how explicit it was.
JEN: The one character, in my mind, that stands
out is Uma Thursday. How did you come up with
her? Did you have a good time writing her zany
lines?
REBECCA: She's actually a pretty accurate
portrait of a real person, only slightly exaggerated.
She's rather wicked, and it's always
fun to write villains. She also has some good
qualities – she says what she thinks, she
knows what she wants, she has a certain panache.
JEN: What is your favorite part of the book
and why?
REBECCA: I love writing big flashy scenes with
lots of things happening at the same time – like
the shop opening scene in the book. But I also
really enjoyed writing the emotionally intense
scenes between Celeste and her lover, Ludo.
JEN: What message, if any, are you sending your
readers in The Marriage Diaries?
REBECCA: I'm always a little wary of books
with a simple message. And it's very difficult
to avoid sounding very bland. I suppose you could
extract something like: “learn to appreciate
what you have, keep working at relationships,
don't give up on a good thing”. But,
you know, who needs to be told any of those things?
I'm more trying to show how characters
change over time, and analyze the forces that
bring about that change. Oh, and I'm trying
to be funny while I'm at it!
JEN: Will there be a sequel?
REBECCA: I'd love to write the sequel.
It's all worked out. It may change, but
at the moment I'm planning another baby
for Celeste, and a terrible tragedy.
JEN: If you could do one thing over in your
writing career, what would it be and why?
REBECCA: I think I'd have written this
book after Slave to Fashion, and Slave
to Love after that. There was just too much
of a jolt between the first two books, and I
lost some readers. Anyone who enjoyed Slave
to Fashion will like The Marriage Diaries.
JEN: What surprises you most about your fans?
REBECCA: That I've got any!
JEN: Do you have a web site? Blog? Mailing list?
REBECCA: I'm rather behind the times in
that respect. But I'm being pestered about
it so much that I'm going to get a website
soon. I worry that if I start on a blog I'll
never have the time to write another novel.
JEN: Do you have any public appearances scheduled
in the U.S.?
REBECCA: I'm still waiting on a call from
Oprah.:)
Thank you, Rebecca, for taking time out of your
busy schedule to speak with me! Best of luck
in the future and please keep us posted on your
upcoming releases!
Okay….the first five people to answer
the following question correctly and Email me
at jensjewels@gmail.com will
win a copy of her book: What is the name of Rebecca's
first book she had published?
We already have five winners. Congratulations to
Kelli C, Katie F, Tami I, Lisa I, and Stacy B.
Next month, I will be bringing to you an interview
with Kim Edwards, the author of THE MEMORY KEEPER'S
DAUGHTER. You won't want to miss it!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Until next month…..Jen |
Meet
the Author: featuring Jen's Jewels