Author Alexandra Potter talks to us about her latest novel More Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up and her love for the Brönte sisters having grown up near their hometown of Haworth.
Alexandra Potter is an award winning novelist. Her first novel What's New Pussycat? was published in 2000 and immediately became a bestseller. Her novels include Be Careful What You Wish For and the hugely successful Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up.
Alexandra's latest novel sees Nell Stevens return in More Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up which is published by Macmillan on 17 August. You can find Alexandra's other books on our catalogue.
I grew up near Haworth, home of the famous Brönte sisters. When I was a child, my sister and I would often visit the parsonage, which is now a museum, and I was fascinated by the miniature books, smaller than a playing card, written by Charlotte Brönte when she and her sisters were children. Inspired by these ‘little books’ I created my own. I always wanted to be a writer and these sisters became my heroes. An avid reader, as I grew older I read all the novels written by the Brönte sisters, including the famous classics Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte and Wuthering Heights, by her sister Emily, both of which are still two of my favourite novels today.
I started my career working in magazines, both as a freelance features writer and a sub-editor. Constantly thinking of ideas for articles, pitching and writing them, then seeing them published in glossy magazines was a wonderful experience and gave me the confidence to know I could write. However, it was when I decided to write my first novel and sent off the first three chapters to several agents, that my dream of being a novelist began to look like more than just a dream.
After signing with my agent, she sent off my manuscript to several publishers and there was a bidding war between several publishers. I can still remember receiving the phone call telling me I’d sold my novel and been offered a two-book deal – it was a real ‘pinch me’ moment. I was just twenty-nine years old and my first novel, What's New Pussycat?, was published a week before I turned thirty.
When I’m writing a novel I have to clear my diary, turn off my phone and close the door of my home office. It takes a lot of focus to create an imaginary world and fill it with characters; to work out a plot and a storyline; to come up with exciting reveals and twists for the reader, and working from home it’s so easy to be distracted. I have always treated writing as a full-time job – it’s how I pay my mortgage and my bills – and so I work five days a week, Monday to Friday.
I try to work regular hours and usually start around nine am, break for lunch and some exercise, and close the laptop around six. However, authors don’t have to ‘just’ write anymore – often we can be writing one book while promoting one we’ve previously written – so a lot of the day can be spent posting on social media, replying to messages from readers or emails from publishers, and writing features like this one!
I’m so excited about this new novel, as it’s a follow-up to Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up. It’s eighteen months later and we get to meet Nell again. To discover that her life still isn’t going to plan. And she’s still asking the big questions and getting none of the answers. Set over the course of a year, we get to discover what’s next for Nell and it also includes all the same wonderful cast of characters, so lots more from Cricket, Edward, Arthur and the rest of the gang.
I knew from the moment I finished the first Confessions that Nell’s story hadn’t ended. Far from it, it was only just the beginning. In fact, in the final tongue-in-cheek obituary at the end of the novel, I say that Nell is still living her best forty-something f##K up life. However, it wasn’t until the novel was published and became a word-of-mouth international bestseller and the basis of the hit US TV show, Not Dead Yet, (which you can watch in the UK on Disney+) that my editor suggested I write a follow-up. I was over the moon as it meant I could hang out with two of my favourite characters again – Nell and Cricket - and spend the next year going on more adventures with them!
I’m currently promoting More Confessions in the UK (published August 17) and the first Confessions in the USA (published Sept 5) so that’s keeping me very busy! But soon I’ll be starting a new novel. While there is definitely more to come from Nell and Cricket - I already have the title of the third installment – I’m going to take a little break from Nell and write a new standalone novel. I can’t say too much about it at this stage, only that it’s going to involve some brilliant new characters, an exciting storyline and will be hopefully be as funny, heart-warming, thought-provoking and uplifting as my previous novels.
I don’t know if I would call myself a romantic writer. I think I’m very much a realistic writer. I believe in love, and different kinds of love are always at the heart of my novels, but my mantra is to always ‘tell it like it is’ and I think that’s why my readers have responded so wonderfully to my novels and found them so relatable.
If I had to choose just one book, it would have to be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I first read it when I was eighteen years old and studying for my English Literature A level and I was blown away by Austen’s witty observations and messages about women in society that are as relevant today as they were then.
I can’t answer this question as all the messages I receive from my readers are absolutely lovely. I am so lucky to have such incredible readers.
I wrote my first novel at nine years old called The Tenth Step - but it wasn’t published :)
