By Hannah Cornish

FRESH from the success of the chick-lit novel The Reluctant Celebrity, Laurie Ellingham took some time out to talk to me about relationships, teenage years, Hollywood and of course, books.

Where did your passion for writing come from?

I started writing from the day I understood the concept of a story. I was 8 years old and in year 4, and my teacher at school was really encouraging. It started from there but I stopped writing once I went to University and just got on with living my life. When I finished I picked it back up again. I studied Psychology at University, it was hard work but that’s where my love of understanding how people and relationships work. I think that’s why I’ve always leaned towards writing about relationships.

What process did you go through to write The Reluctant Celebrity? Was it drawn from personal experience?

I was going out with a boy at University who was in a band, it never went anywhere, but I sat there and thought to myself “What would it be like if he became really famous and I’d be the ex girlfriend?”. From there, the seed was planted in my head about what would happen if a boy and girl did finish a relationship, and then he did become a really famous person and the tabloid got wind of their relationship and what that would do to her, being such a private person. So most of my stories come from one tiny little thing, that I sort of think what if, and get inspiration from that.

When writing books, how do you come up with the characters? Do you ever use people that you know in real life?

I’d love to write my friend into a book, but it’s actually much harder than you think. You know the characters better if you make them up. I do a lot of planning. I like to write down their characteristics, like their favorite colour or food, or if they’ve got certain mannerisms. It’s my job as a writer to make the reader know who’s speaking from the description alone. If you put the work into the planning stages for all of your characters then it makes it so much easier to write the novel.

How hard was it to crack the industry and get your novel published?

Balancing two children can be difficult, but I spent a good month really planning it out so I knew exactly what was happening. Every writer is different, there’s not really a set way to do something. It can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to complete a novel, and then you have to go through all the editing phases which can be a long process. I self published The Reluctant Celebrity on Amazon and it became really popular in the charts, and from there I was approached by a publisher who wanted to take it on, I was really lucky on that attempt. It was a gamble but I couldn’t face any more rejections when I’d poured my heart and soul into something. As a writer you do doubt yourself but I think that’s just part of it.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

That’s a really good question! I love running and when I’m out, I always see lots of giant posters and I love to look at them and think, imagine if my books were made into a Hollywood film! I think as a writer, I really want to just keep writing novels that people enjoy reading. I’d love to keep going and get better at what I’m doing.

If you could write a letter to yourself when you were in your teens, what would you tell yourself?

Another good question, I love that! I think when I first started; I thought I was brilliant at writing. It took me quite a long time to realise, until my mid to late 20s, that I needed to grasp how to do it properly. I’d love to tell myself to not be so cocky, listen to other people because they know what they’re talking about. There were so many points where I just thought, I’m going to give up, but I’m so pleased that I didn’t.

What authors or books inspire you?

I’ve always really loved reading and that feeling of escapism. I loved Judy Bloom when I was growing up; she really defined my key teenage years. She just managed to capture a lot of how you feel and the teenage nature. As I got older, I started to read books by authors like Sophie Kinsella. I really admire her and hope to one day be like her, so other people can be like “Oh yeah, that Laurie Ellingham, I’d love to be like her”.

What tips do you have for young budding writers?

I think my one tip would be to just sit and write. Which I know sounds like a rubbish tip but you’ve really got to as a budding writer. You’ve really got to maintain and find time to write. The more you write, the better you get at it so, my tip would always be, read lots of books. Challenge yourself with what you’re reading. Make it a priority to write because once you start getting into the story, it will start flowing a lot better.

Laurie will be doing a series of book signings and workshops in July:

11th July The Epping Bookshop 12.30

18th July Harwich Library 11am

25th July Loughton Library – Talk on Making the leap into publishing