Alexandra Potter is one of my favourite authors. Her books are so quirky, so different to most Chick Lit and it really sets her apart. Her first ever novel What’s New Pussycat? is being re-released this week (and it looks amazing!) and we have an interview with the lovely Alexandra for you all, with news on her new book, too!

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your latest novel to be re-jacketed, What’s New Pussycat, which is out in September?

What’s New, Pussycat? was my first ever book and because of that I hold it dear in my heart. It’s semi-autobiographical in many ways, the main character, Delilah, lives in Yorkshire and dreams of escaping to London, as I did in my early 20s, and the novel traces her journey which is not just geographical but a voyage of discovery about her own self.

I had so many dreams writing this book, and it’s the book that launched my writing career, and so re-reading it again, over ten years later, is almost like a time capsule. It takes me back to that time when, aged 28, I sat down and decided to write ‘that book’ that I’d always talked about.

Writing that book was such an exciting fun time for me. It took six months - the quickest book I’ve ever written - as the words and characters just flowed out of me. It was as if I’d had this story inside me and it was just bursting to get out. Writer’s block is only something I get now!!

I still love the characters of Delilah, Sam, Charlie and the completely barmy Vivienne. Probably even more so, as reading about them again was almost like meeting old friends years later and realising how much you’ve missed them.
It was this idea that led to me thinking that I’d like to update their stories. To find out what they would be doing now, over 10 years since we left them, and so I sat down and wrote both a Prologue and Epilogue to go with this new re-jacketed version.

I think readers who read the book originally will love to find out what happened to Deliah and Sam, it’s like looking on Facebook and finding out what happened to your long-lost friends, and for new readers it gives them a chance to get to know the characters and the story of how they all met, before coming back to the present.

As for the new jacket, don’t you just love it? The designer, Alice, is just so talented and I’ve loved all my covers, but I particularly adore this one.

2. Are you working on a new novel yet? Is there anything you can tell us about if so (what it’s about, release date)?

Yes, I most certainly am! I’ve been working on the new book for the past year and it’s another magical romantic comedy. I can’t tell you too much about it at this stage without giving the plot away, but I will say that I do think it’s something that everyone will be able to relate to. It’s definitely something that has happened to me, and like all my books has left me wondering ‘What If?’…

3. You’ve become well-known for your magical elements in your novels - the lucky heather in Be Careful What You Wish For, the Bridge of Sighs in You’re The One That I Don’t Want etc - how do you come up with the idea for putting something quirky and a bit different in your novels?

Like I said in question 2 I tend to ask the question ‘What If?’ about so many different things. So much so that my friends tease me as I’m always that question. I love writing romantic comedies as relationships are something that really interest me, all the complicated emotions that are involved, the mistakes people can make, the crazy madness of falling in love, the heartbreak that comes with a break-up, the sadness of unrequited love, the importance of timing…

And yet, to this I like to add an extra element, as I did with You’re The One That I Don’t Want. I was talking with friends one day and someone mentioned The Bridge of Sighs and the superstition attached to it. I’d never heard of it before - how if you kiss beneath it at sunset you are guaranteed eternal love - but as soon as I heard it I thought what a brilliant idea for a story! We all know what it’s like to dream of finding The One, but I thought what if you found The One and then couldn’t lose them? What if you couldn’t break up? What if you kissed beneath that bridge and somehow the superstition became a curse?

It was the same for Be Careful What You Wish For. I’m always subconsciously wishing for things, not huge things, just little random things and one day I thought what if they all came true? If I got all those things I wanted? Would it make me happy? We’ve all heard the saying, Be Careful What You Wish For, and so I created the character of Emily and through her, and her relationship with Gabe, I got to explore that idea. I get a lot of emails from readers who say how much they identify with Emily and how, they too, are always wishing for random things, so I guess I touched a nerve there But like I say in my title, Be Careful What You Wish For!

4. Your first four novels (to be best of my knowledge) were magic-free, aside from I suppose the odd quirk of fate, where did the initial idea come from for Be Careful What You Wish For and why wasn’t there any magic elements in your first four books?

My first four books were what I call ‘simple romantic comedies’. They weren’t particularly high concept, but followed the lives of different characters in their quest for love. I had a lot of fun with those first four books as I used to enjoy inter-weaving all the different characters and their storylines and then bringing them all together at the end.

However, I think after I’d written those four books I was looking to write something a little different. Something that challenged me and pushed me as a writer. It was also around this time that I left London and went to Los Angeles and became exposed to lots of different people, different experiences and I think these two elements combined gave rise to Be Careful What You Wish For. It was a risk, introducing this magical element, and it was also the first time I’d ever written in the first person (from the viewpoint of one person, which was necessary to this new kind of magical plot) but thankfully the risk paid off!

5. Your first four novels - Going LaLa, What’s New Pussycat?, Do You Come Here Often? and Calling Romeo - are all currently being re-jacketed and it also appears you’ve updated them (there’s an iPhone on Calling Romeo that I would bet my house on that wasn’t in the original version!). What’s it been like re-reading your novels again and what elements have you changed? Are you just moderning (is that even a word?) them up?

It’s been really exciting seeing my earlier four books re-jacketed and re-published. I still think the stories stand the test of time and are relevant today, and as I said earlier, reading the novels again has been like catching up with old friends. I get quite teary-eyed when I meet characters like Rhian and Clive in Do You Come Here Often and revisit their love story. Or Will and Juliet in Calling Romeo (I cannot read that book without shedding a tear, which is slightly crazy considering I wrote it, but the chapter where she gives him back her engagement ring gets me every time).

As for bringing them up to date, with some of the stories I’ve gone through and taken out elements such as smoking in bars (remember those days?) and very obvious dated references (those pesky celebrity couples do have a habit of breaking-up!). But with What’s New, Pussycat? for example, there were so many references that would have to be changed to bring it up date, it would have completely ruined the story and made it lose a lot of it’s charm, which is why ultimately I decided to keep the book firmly set 10 years ago, and have a prologue and epilogue set in 2011.

6. You’ve lived all over the world - London, LA, Australia - if there was anywhere in the world you could live where would it be?

I’m currently coveting farmhouses in the south of france. Logging onto websites and oohing and ahhing over white-washed stone walls and cornflower blue shutters… I know it’s all a dream and someone must stop me but at the moment it’s my guilty pleasure…

7. To follow that question, if you could set a novel anywhere in the world, what would that dream destination be? If you didn’t have to spend ages researching it, if you have the knowledge without all the hard work.

Gosh, that’s a tricky one. The first place that springs to mind is India, as I’ve visited there a couple of times and been completely entranced by the country. India is magical and I’d love to set a story there. What an amazing backdrop that would be.

8. Your first novel was published in 2000, how do you think publishing has changed since then? Do you think it’s changed for the better?

I only have to get on the tube to see how much publishing has changed as I’m often sitting next to someone with a Kindle. Who would have thought in 2000 that in just over ten years electronic books would be all the rage! It’s quite incredible really, and also very exciting.

As for the question: has publishing changed? It’s quite difficult to answer, as I’VE changed so much during this time. I was incredibly naive when I first started out. I had no knowledge of the publishing industry and how it worked, I just wanted to write a good story, whereas now I obviously know a lot more about how marketing, promotion, trends…

I do think that publishing is always going to have it tough, especially these days, as books are up against film and TV. More and more people want instant gratification, and film and TV give that, whereas you have to commit to a book, you have to invest more time. Of course the rewards are huge - reading a book allows your imagination to take over - you decide how the characters look (even if the author has provided a description) - how they sound - you escape into a world, be it on the bus going to work, or in bed before you turn out the light. A book takes you on a journey. Everyone knows that feeling; when you finish a book that you’ve loved, a book that you’ve never wanted to end, and there’s a great big hole. You can never recreate that feeling with a movie or TV. That’s why books will always be special. Whether they are electronic or from good-old fashioned paper, nothing can ever compare to the power of the written word.

9. Your auto-biography tells me on your website that you’ve interviewed celebrities as wide-ranging as Samuel L Jackson and Rachel Bilson. Who was your favourite interviewee and if you could interview anybody in the world (I appear to be warming to my ‘anywhere in the world’ theme!), who would it be?

Samuel L Jackson was just brilliant. I had him recite the famous speech from Pulp Fiction. He did it straight off, word for word, and with such grace, despite EVERYONE asking him to do that speech. He was just lovely and told me some really rude jokes that sadly I can’t repeat

Hmmm, who would I interview? Well, at this point I should probably say some incredibly important political figure like Nelson Mandela or Obama. But I’d be fibbing. I’d quite like to get all the gossip from Wills and Kate about what that wedding was REALLY like, preferably over a few drinks in their pad in Kensington Palace. Or if they’re too busy (too many royal engagements and all that) how about Brad and Angie at their country estate in the south of france? That way I also get to indulge my fantasies about farmhouses in the south of france….

10. How do you feel about the term Chick Lit? Do you embrace it, do you hate it, or are you an author who isn’t necessarily bothered by tags, just that people read your books?

I definitely fall into the last category. I couldn’t care less what people call my books, all that matters to me is that people continue to read them and enjoy them. I do think when the term ‘chick lit’ was coined it was meant as a bit of a dig at the kind of books me and lots of authors write. Reviewers can get quite snobby about it. Fine, I say, go ahead and review a book that only a few people will read, and ignore a book that will sell thousands…It’s like so many things. Designer clothes are feted and high-street stores are ignored, but if you ask any girl on the street what she’s wearing and where she likes to shop, what’s the betting it’s Zara or Top Shop, and not Valentino or Prada?

11. Your original book deal (Google tells me) was with the Harper Collins imprint Fourth Estate, but you moved to Hodder soon after. Can you tell us a bit about that? We ask loads of authors about their first ever book deal, but not about moves they make during their career so it would be interesting as to how that works. Did you have any say in the matter, or is it a case of who bids the highest for your novels?

Moving to a new publisher involves lots of different things. I was first signed to Fourth Estate, but they were then bought by Harper Collins and my editor left. An editor is very important to a novelist, you have a very close working relationship, and they are the ones that really champion you and encourage you, so after my editor left I decided to move to a different publisher as my original publishers wanted to take me in a different direction. You are quite right in saying that different publishers will bid for your novels, but it’s not always wise to simply go with the highest bid. It’s far more important to go with a publisher and editor who really loves your writing, who shares the same vision as yourself, and who - as I like to put it - ‘just gets you’. I guess it’s a bit like a new boyfriend!

This was the case with me and Hodder. I was living in Los Angeles at the time and looking for a new publisher and I had several offers, but then my agent put me in touch with an editor at Hodder. Her name was Sara Kinsella and we just instantly clicked. She was full of enthusiasm for my ideas and I felt that she could could take my books to a whole new audience. It was with Sara that I wrote Be Careful What You Wish For, and she was really supportive of me writing this book in the first person, which was something new for me, and also this new magical element that I wanted to introduce in this book. She was also really excited about my idea for Me and Mr Darcy, which sounded somewhat bananas when I first pitched it to her: “What? A girl who gets to date Mr Darcy?” but her belief in me, and the support of Hodder, made this into an award-winning bestseller.

Since then, Sara has left and my editor is Isobel Akenhead, who’s just as fantastic and enthusiastic and always full of great advice and ideas. I’ve been incredibly lucky with my editors, and with the whole team at Hodder, because it really does come down to teamwork. From Alice, who’s designed all my wonderful covers, to the marketing team, the publicity team, the sales people… so many people think it’s just a writer and their laptop, but there is a whole army of people that gets my book out there and on the shelf and I’m grateful to everyone.

12. Finally, what advice would you give to the many Chick Lit writers out there hoping to be published right alongside your novels?

My biggest piece of advice would be to believe you can do it. You have to believe that you can do it, which I know is hard when you are often filled with doubts about your writing, and gets even harder if you receive rejections from agents and publishers. But it happens to all writers, and you just have to be determined, silence the naysayers (even if those voices are in your head) and keep pushing forwards.

Secondly, it has to be determination and hard work. Trust me, writing a novel ain’t easy. It takes hours and hours of sitting at your desk, tap-tapping away, trying to think of funny scenes, new and interesting characters, good dialogue. It means staying in and working when it’s sunny inside. Forgoing that Friday night at the pub to finish that chapter. Deleting whole paragraphs (nay chapters!) and not getting disillusioned. Resisting the urge to log onto Facebook. Or ebay. Or websites featuring beautiful farmhouses in the South of France…:)

Good luck!

Thanks so much, Alexandra!

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