So,
here we are on the next step of Louise Phillips' Red Ribbons blog tour!
Wednesday night was her big night, and when I say 'big' I am not
exaggerating, her launch in Hughes and Hughes was massive! So completely
well deserved!
We
had a bit of a chat, before and during launch day. What I wanted from
Louise was to see launch day through her eyes, so I asked her all sorts
of annoying questions about how the day was going... she was good enough
to answer. And while I was at it, she was quizzed on the book itself,
Red Ribbons...
TrÃona:"It's the beginnings of the
day of your launch, how are you feeling? Excited? Nervous?
Terrified!"
Louise: "I feel all of those things Triona and
so much more. My head is rushing with so many thoughts that my mind
can’t filter it all properly. I suppose it’s a bit like all major
events in your life, you plan, you imagine, you think you know how
you are going to feel, you tell yourself that when the time comes,
just savour it, bank it in that place called memory, and while you’re
at it, remember to enjoy yourself!
I have read in public before, I have
spoken in public before, and yes I am often nervous, but I have
worked hard to overcome these things, yet another skill base of being
a writer that you must manage. But no matter how many times I prepare
properly, I still get those butterflies. Now, it’s usually five
seconds before I am called on to speak! But this morning, those darn
butterflies are turning into armies of butterflies, they have minds
of their own, and I’ve a feeling I ain’t going to be able to stop
them. Practically everyone I know will be at the launch this evening,
and that in itself is a pretty scary thought!"
TrÃona:
"Okay, so it's the beginning of launch day, tell me about another very
important beginning, that of 'Red Ribbons' - where did the story come
from?"
Louise: "It started with an ambition of mine to
get inside a bad man’s head. This challenged me on two fronts.
Firstly crossing gender – not as easy to do fictionally as you
might imagine, and secondly, to enter the mind of a character so far
removed from me as a person, that the only place I could find him was
in my deepest fears."
TrÃona: "Lunch Time! This evening is
getting closer! What's happening in the Phillips household now?
Getting hair done? Tweaking the speech?"
Louise: "Hair is booked for one o’clock.
Melissa, the best hairdresser in the world will be chatty, that girl
can make a dull day turn into a carnival! I’ve to pick up about a
million things, including balloons, red and black ones with ribbons
standing 7 feet tall. Three o’clock is the makeup appointment. I’m
dreading this as the trial run wasn’t very successful. I don’t
like heavy makeup, and strong lipsticks don’t suit me, but I was
aiming for something that might be a little beyond my usual bland,
neutral, ah that girl doesn’t wear makeup kind of look, but
DISASTER. So I’m not sure what’s going to happen there – I
guess I’ll just wing that.
My house looks like a bomb hit it, and
I’m not sure why! Hubby is being helpful, but I can tell I’m
stressing him out – I’m stressing me out.
Every time I pick up the piece of paper
with my few words jotted down, by hands shake – NOT A GOOD SIGN!!"
TrÃona: "Back to the novel! Okay, so you've begun the novel, but how difficult was it
getting that first draft down on paper?'
Louise: "Maybe it’s a bit like giving birth;
you only remember the good bits afterward
I had to be disciplined, I committed to
2,000 words per day, or 10,000 per week. This often meant eating into
Saturday and Sunday, as once I commit, I am usually pretty stubborn
that a thing will happen. I would write early morning, and midday
when I got the day job out of the way, I would write instead of
making dinner, shopping, washing, talking to friends on the phone. I
postponed the entire Christmas preparation until the eve of Christmas
Eve. I edited the previous day’s work to get my mind back into the
script each day. I read it aloud; I read it from the voices of the
three main characters, starting with the killer’s voice. I darn
near panicked when I felt time was running out on me. I wanted it
finished by a certain date. A date I had promised to myself, in part
of means of tricking those doubting voices that come into every
writer’s head.
The first draft nearly killed me at
times, but God did I miss all my characters when it was done."
TrÃona: "Time to be leaving the house.
Calm before the storm?"
Louise: "I’m now aiming for storm before the
calm. It will be okay on the night!!! Clichés exist because they
usually make sense, but I’m aiming for a u-turn on this one. It is late afternoon, and I already
think I should have packed the bag of things I need before this!!!"
TrÃona: "When your book was picked up by
Hachette - that must have been amazing... but while it probably felt
like the end of one journey, was it really the beginning of a new
one?"
Louise: "It felt like a dream come true, yet
another cliché, but sure every now and then it’s nice to use them.
I had no idea what the next leg journey would entail. I knew nothing
about agents, contracts, publishers, what was and wasn’t expected
of me. I had done research of course, but the real deal is very
different when it happens. Suddenly there are a million questions and
the learning curve looks daunting. I had no idea of so many things; I
had very few answers to lots of questions. But I learned fast,
because you have to. Every part of the journey is different, from the
early days of contracts and deadlines, to editing, copy editing,
cover design, website development, all the way to writing the
acknowledgements, and now the launch speech. It is all new and scary,
but thrilling and ultimately what I’ve always wanted to do."
TrÃona: "You're on your way to town,
into Hughes and Hughes. Soon, very soon, everyone will be able to buy
their own copy of Red Ribbons. How does that feel?"
Louise: "Oh God! And oh God again!! It feels
like the most amazing thing ever. I’m a writer. I write stories.
And now I’m a writer whose book will be read by friends, family,
strangers, the girl from the shop where I ordered the Red Ribbons for
the launch, my doctor, my butcher, my life, and then some more. How
the heck can you get your mind around such a thing? But, if people
read my book, and I’m sincerely hoping many do, and if they like
it, well I love them. We all have tons of love in us, and I’m
hoping I’ll work hard on my reserves, build them up to a nice big
juicy healthy heart!"
TrÃona: "The final draft, the book that
went to the printers, how did you feel about it?"
Louise: "I felt proud. I know others might not
like it, I know it may not be perfect, I know I will open it up at
times and think I could have done that better, but right then, and
now, I know I worked that manuscript to the very best of my
experience, and I still read parts of it and think, my heaven, that
was a story worth telling."
TrÃona: "You're here! And so is your adoring
public! Do you feel like you've won the X-Factor? (without any nasty
Simon Cowell!)"
Louise: "I could do with a Simon Cowell to
concentrate my thoughts! The staff in Hughes and Hughes have been
brilliant, and I feel very confident that they know what to do.
Everything should be in place, but I’m so used to doing things for
myself, that the feeling of letting go is making the whole thing feel
strange. I’m watching people arrive, and I’m nervous that not
enough people will show up, and equally nervous if lots of people do.
I don’t do celebrity, so it feels totally weird. Part of me
wants to point to Niamh O’Connor, and believe it is her book launch
and not mine. I already feel like I’m going to cry because I see so
many familiar faces, and those I don’t know, I’m wondering should
I know. People are being lovely, and supporting, and amazing, and I
probably have a stupid grin on my face, even though the tears are
very close."
TrÃona: "Once the book is out there, with
the public, what are your hopes for it?"
Louise: "I hope people love it. One person, ten
people, a hundred people. I did a reading in Ballymun a couple of
weeks before the launch, and the following week, twelve people had
the novel on back order with the library! How utterly fantastic is
that, twelve people putting their name down to read my book. I hope
it creates excitement, I hope people tell me if they liked it, I hope
to see it in shops at the airport, someone reading it on the dart, on
the bus, curled up on their couch at home, put on shelves in faraway
holiday places, on the beach. Each copy is a piece of me, I hope it
does its job and then some. All the other stuff, PR, promotion,
league tables, reviews, and everything else which goes hand in hand
with publication, only matters if the story is right, as Stephen
King says, "it’s all about the story."
TrÃona: "It's the end of the evening. It must
have been one hell of a day. How are you feeling?"
Louise: "My feet are wrecked, high shiny black
heels are dangerous!!! I’m elated. I’ve never talked so much in
my life. I’ve forgotten who I’ve told what to. My hubby looks as
wrecked as I do, my entire family look like they been through it all
with me, because, they have. I’m hoping for so many things, but
right now, I’ve made my brain stop. It has happened. The book is
launched. It is a done deal, until of course the next leg of the
journey gears up. For now though, sleep is very much on the cards."
TrÃona: "So, what's next for Louise
Phillips, published author?"
Louise: "Doing what I love. Writing. I’m back
to The Dolls House the first chance I get. My aim is to have first
draft finished by Christmas, now where have I heard that before???
January, I’ll be minding my beautiful granddaughter while my
daughter finishes her Master's, so everything else will take a back
seat to that. Come February, it will all start all over again. Crazy
but great!"
(PS... Just a reminder to everyone, and yes, I mean everyone!, get out and buy the book this week. But when you do, make sure you go into Easons, Hughes&Hughes, your local bookshop and buy it - Amazon is great but Amazon doesn't count towards the Irish best sellers list - and that is where we want her to be! We have until Tuesday to get her there! Go Red Ribbons! )
(PPS... My international readers, we'll let you order off Amazon :) Unless of course you have Irish relatives...Get them to get you a copy ;)
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