I adored Gemma Burgess’s debut novel The Dating Detox and was so thrilled that Gemma said yes when I asked if she would like to do an interview with us! Here it is and I for one think it’s a rather fantastic interview. Here are Gemma’s answers!

1. Tell us about your debut novel The Dating Detox.

The Dating Detox is an anti-romantic comedy. It charts the adventures of relationship-challenged Sass as she navigates London’s bastard-infested waters with nothing but a vow of dating chastity to protect her…

I wanted to write a book that was about girls being very funny even when life is going badly wrong. Something that was comforting and chatty and warm but not fluffy or patronising.

2. What can you tell us about your second book, The Late Starter/The Dating Virgin?

Ha – Oh God, I have to choose a title soon, I’d love your readers thoughts on it!

I think The Dating Virgin has a nice ring to it, but I don’t want people to think it’s a sequel to The Dating Detox, as it’s a different story altogether: it’s about a girl who leaves her boyfriend after a seven-year relationship and has to learn to date and be single from scratch… It’s something that a lot of women I know have been through and it’s very hard. Her flatmate is a classic class-A bastard, and he teaches her everything he knows, and so she approaches the dating world like a man – or more specifically, like a bastard…

3. Where did your postcard campaign idea come from to help publicise The Dating Detox? [Visit Gemma's website here: http://www.gemmaburgess.com/ to see how you can get your hands on Gemma's fab postcards.]

Well, I had a few ideas to publicise The Dating Detox, and this one was just one of my favourites. I discover books via the internet, reviews and word of mouth… so the postcards, in theory, are a bit like word of mouth. I wanted to be able to tell people about the book, and then for people who liked the book to be able to tell their friends about it (what you’d call a STAF campaign in advertising: ‘Send To A Friend’. I know, I know, those advertising people are so smart with their acronyms, huh?).

Plus, the idea needed to be lowbudget, and I love postcards and am more likely to stick them up above my desk than any other advertising medium… and well, what it comes down to is that I think they’re funny. So my logic is that if someone else thinks they’re funny, then they’ll probably like the book.

4. Sass is a very quirky heroine who isn’t afraid to speak her mind (I love her), is she at all like you?

Thanks! My family and friends think she’s very like me, though I think she’s an amalgamation of me now, plus me from a few years ago (when life seemed a lot more confusing and difficult), plus a bit of my sister and bit of a few other girlfriends. (I actually think I’m more like Kate – I stockpile everything and can be a tiny bit OCD – but no-one else seems to agree with me.)

I think it’s instinctive to at least base the main character’s viewpoint on life on your own… as that’s when it sounds true. Even when she’s being a bit of a plonker.

The things that happen to her, however, didn’t happen to me… not quite the same, anyway…

5. How did your publishing deal come about?

I started writing about a girl waking up surrounded by teary tissues and empty fag packets as the image made me laugh… and it kind of took off in my head. So I kept writing, but I never thought anything would happen.

Then my sister read it and thought it was funny so I kept writing it to make her laugh.

Then, thanks to the near-constant nagging of my mother and boyfriend, I sent three chapters, plus a cover letter and a full synopsis, to ten London literary agents that I picked randomly from the internet based on their postcode (my reasoning being that if they were in W1 or WC1 they were probably doing well). This is a startlingly imprecise way to do it so I wouldn’t entirely recommend anyone does the same, though it worked for me… anyway, I got a few rejections, and about six weeks after sending it in Laura Longrigg at MBA called and said ‘May I read the rest?’. And I leapt for joy and then realized I had to finish it – I’d only written about a third at that point. But luckily I respond well to deadlines. (And praise. Praise is very good for me.)

So then I was surgically attached to my laptop for a month, finished it, got her feedback (which was incredibly brilliant to have – esp as I’d only written 65,000 words ie about half the length it needed to be), wrote a second draft, then I signed with MBA, then Harper Collins happened and well, here I am…

6. Who are some of your favourite authors/books?

Argh this is a hard question. Nora Ephron, David Sedaris, Jilly Cooper – they all have that intimate chattiness with the reader that I aspire to… I love Stella Gibbons, she can write with a little wink. Nancy Mitford, obviously… I love Jane Austen, but everyone loves Jane Austen, don’t they? I love Kingsley Amis very much indeed: Lucky Jim is an amazing book and I’ve read it about 20 times. I recently read The Group by Mary McCarthy and it was fantastic, too – highly recommend it…

7. What’s the best thing about being a published author?

I’ve had some lovely emails from girls who really liked the book. I honestly can’t describe how awesome that is.

8. What’s your normal writing day like?

I still work some of the time as a copywriter in advertising (I freelance, which means ad agencies get me in for a two-week project, for example – so then I write my own stuff for a week or two and then freelance again – it’s perfect for me). So on those days I wake up at 6am, write till 8am, then go to the agency, then come home and write from 6pm till sleeptime with breaks for dinner and hanging out with my young man.

On days when I’m not freelancing, I wake up at 6am and write all day, with breaks here and there so I can do some exercise etc.

If my mind starts wandering I take myself for walkies in Notting Hill. I like walking and thinking and saying hello to the shops.

9. Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Hmm… I don’t feel all that qualified to offer advice…. Well, I would say that writers should read as widely as they can… you’d never want a chef who’s only ever eaten one kind of food, would you?

I’d also suggest that people just keep writing. I read something once that said ‘Writers write’ and it’s sort of pseudo-philosophical but totally true. The more you practice, the more the written word will bend to your every will and whim.

And keep trying till you find a voice you’re comfortable with; one that sounds true. Right now, I can’t write any other way than I do – I’ve tried different tenses, I tried third person etc – but to get the immediacy and intimacy that I want, I need to stay in first person present tense. It’s like having a little chat with the reader

Thanks so much Gemma!

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