The Great Escape (42 page)

Acknowledgements

Enormous thanks to Caroline Sheldon and Bryony Woods, and to Sammia Rafique and the super-talented team at Avon. Thanks to Margery and Keith for unfailing support, and to my lovely friends Jen, Kath, Cathy, Michelle, Marie, Cheryl, Carolann and Fliss for always being there. Every two weeks, I get together with Tania, Vicki, Amanda, Sam and Hilary – I’m lucky to belong to such a brilliant, boosting writing group. Above all, a million thanks to my wonderful family. Jimmy, Sam, Dex and Erin – I love you more than words can say.

About the Author

Fiona Gibson is an author and journalist who has written for many UK publications including the
Observer
, the
Guardian,
Red
and
Marie Claire
. She also writes a monthly column for Sainsbury’s magazine.

Fiona lives in Scotland with her husband, their twin sons and daughter. She likes to run, draw, walk the dog, play her sax, watch cheesy movies and lie in a bubble bath with the door firmly locked. To find out more, visit www.fionagibson.com.

By the same author:

Babyface

Wonderboy

Lucky Girl

Mummy Said the F-word

Stories We Could Tell

Mum On The Run

ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE A NOVEL?

Kick-start your future best seller with Fiona Gibson’s top 10 tips …

1.
Discover your voice.
Every writer needs to find their own ‘voice’ – a way of telling a story that feels natural and is compelling for the reader. The best way to do this is to not to think about it too much, but to write as often as you can, in various styles, until you land upon the one that feels right for you. Even if you don’t have much spare time, an hour a day spent at your laptop (or with notebook and pen) will bring on your writing in leaps and bounds.

2.
To plan or not to plan …?
I don’t tend to plot a book in too much detail as I like the feeling that things can take a different or surprising turn at any stage. It keeps the process interesting and fun. But having an outline does act as a sort of security blanket – I need to know what main events will be, and usually how the story will end.

3.
Don’t share your work too early.
I suspect that most of us ask friends to read our work because we feel insecure and want the boosting effect of praise. If a friend expresses some doubts about it, it can really knock your confidence – yet, if they’re wildly enthusiastic, you might think they’re just being kind. Try not to crave reassurance as you write your book. No one has to see it until it’s ready, or as good as you can possibly make it. I used to share early chapters with the writing group I belong to, but I’m less keen these days – it feels too private.

4.
Set a word count target
– say, 500 or 1000 words a day. Treat your writing as a job, making yourself sit down and get started instead of fiddling about on Amazon or tidying your desk.

5.
Don’t sweat over the details.
If you’re awash with self-doubt, remind yourself that a first draft can be as rough as anything as that’s all it is –
a draft.
No one’s going to break into your house, have a sneaky read of it and fall about laughing. Also, I’d suggest writing this first draft fairly swiftly, rather than getting bogged down in details at this stage. I try to get a first draft written in six months or so, then I go back and edit it twice or even three times. Keep pressing on, getting the story down – it’s what gives a story its momentum. You can always go back and fix those tentative early chapters at a later date.

6.
If you’re having a confidence crisis
… read writers who inspire you, go for walks with your notebook or sit in cafes and eavesdrop. Getting published might seem daunting but publishers do want great books, and agents want great authors – it’s how they make a living, after all. I don’t believe it’s a case of ‘who you know’ in book publishing. If an editor happens to love your book, then they’ll buy it, hopefully!

7.
Write when you’re most productive.
We all have times of day when the words flow more easily, so whether it’s early in the morning before your family wakes up, or in the wee small hours late at night, use this time to move your book forward.

8.
Enter writing competitions.
Short story comps are a great way to hone your writing, work on your voice and style and possibly even net a prize. Most importantly, the closing date acts as a deadline, ensuring that you finish your story on time.

9.
Create a support system.
While I’m not keen on sharing a book I’m working on – my editor’s usually the first one to read it – I do enjoy the company of other writers. The group I belong to has a mixture of professional writers and others who write purely for enjoyment, and our areas range from historical fiction to bonkbusters and poetry. We do writing tasks together, and critique each others’ work – it’s hugely helpful and stops me feeling isolated.

10.
Finally, try to enjoy your writing.
You can often tell when a piece of writing has been literally squeezed out – the best writing generally feels effortless. So try to write what feels natural and enjoyable to you. Likewise, I don’t believe in looking for gaps in the market or consciously trying to create the ‘next big thing’, as it’s impossibly to tell what people will want to read next. I prefer to go by my own gut feelings, and if what I’m writing seems to flow entertainingly, then hopefully my readers will think so too.

Fiona Gibson Q&A

What items couldn’t you live without?

A notebook and pen. I’m a notebook obsessive and have dozens for all different purposes: plotting books, writing lists and scribbling notes on how I plan to be a better, fitter, healthier and more productive person (which, I have to admit, never quite works out – things rarely progress any further than the notes stage!). My other must-have item is a cafetiere – I drink way too much coffee, about a pint in the morning, to kick-start my brain. I’d also find it hard to get by without my trainers (for running), a bottle of posh bubble bath or bath oil for a soothing soak at night, and music – I have something playing all day as I hate writing in silence (Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes are current faves).

Which authors inspire you?

A Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing is one of my favourite books. I love how Melissa Bank writes with such a cool, sassy and accessible voice. And Mark Haddon did something amazing when he wrote The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – his main character, Christopher, was utterly believable. My kids loved it too.

Do you spend a lot of time researching your novels?

Not really – I find out what I need to know as I go along. But research is good, as it often throws up lots of new ideas for a character or plotline. I spent some time meandering around Garnet Hill, near Glasgow Art School, when I was writing The Great Escape.

What is a typical working day like for you?

I start work at my laptop in my tiny workroom at 10 am, after I’ve walked Jack, our rescue collie cross. I’ll work through till 3.30 pm when the first of my three children comes home from school, then grab more time in the late afternoon or evening if I need to. I wrote my very first book entirely at night, but couldn’t do that now – I no longer have that sort of stamina. I did take my laptop on holiday to Cornwall last summer, to finish a book, but have been banned from doing that ever again! I grab a couple of hours at weekends too – I work an awful lot, more so now my kids are older (my daughter Erin’s 11 and my twin boys, Sam and Dex, are almost 15).

Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, how did you cope with it?

Yes, I’ve had small, short bouts of it, and find there’s no point stressing at the screen – a big blowy walk usually helps, or some cleaning! Something physical, rather than too brain-achey. Luckily, it happens very rarely – usually when I’m stressed about a tight deadline, or have taken on too much. Then I’ll be rigid with fear about how I’ll get everything done. But if I get enough sleep, and work steadily, things usually turn out okay. It was much harder to focus when my kids were little, all milling around the house all day. School is a fine invention …

Do your characters ever surprise you?

Yes, all the time – they run away with themselves. I don’t plot a book terribly accurately before writing. This can be nerve racking, but it also allows room for surprises and changes, and writing is more fun this way, I find.

Which five people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party?

I’m re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird after 30 years, as my sons are studying it at school. So I’d like the mysterious Harper Lee to be there, alongside Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Roald Dahl – plus my late grandma, May. She was a lovely, kind Liverpool lady and a hoot at parties. If we were playing Trivial Pursuit, and a question came up along the lines of, ‘What is Brazil’s biggest export?’ she’d retort, ‘How am I supposed to know that? I’ve never been to Brazil!’ We did things like baking and drawing together when I was little and I adored her.

What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?

Before writing books, I worked on teenage and women’s magazines, ever since I left school at 17. The oddest of these was when I was taken on as beauty editor at the teen mag Just Seventeen, knowing not a jot about beauty or correct mascara application techniques. In preparation for my interview, I read the Vogue Body and Beauty Book from cover to cover, and slapped on as much make-up as I could possibly fit onto my face. I was twenty, and getting the job meant leaving Dundee for London, which was terribly exciting.

And what can you tell us about your next novel?

It’s called Pedigree Mum and was initially inspired by Jack, the mad hound we acquired from the Dogs’ Trust in Glasgow. After eight years of being nagged to death about having a dog, I finally crumbled. This triggered the idea for a story about a mum trying to keep everything together after a break-up, and a move from London to a posh seaside town where everyone is kitted out from the Toast catalogue. Moving to a new place can be daunting, especially if your marriage has just ended – yet it’s at times like this that we often think, heck, I’ll just make life
more
complicated by getting a dog. I like to take inspiration from my real life and had a feeling that Jack would throw up lots of ideas and humour. And I couldn’t resist the title – even though my kids don’t get the pun at all! Jack prefers a different brand, you see …

Here is an exclusive extract from Fiona’s upcoming novel Pedigree Mum, out in 2013.

Pedigree Mum

by Fiona Gibson

Chapter one

Certain activities should be left until the children are safely tucked up in bed. With all the swearing and blood loss involved, they’re best not undertaken with impressionable young people around. Kerry Tambini has already acquired a repetitive sewing injury from jabbing herself with the needle several times in one spot; all this to stitch a few name tapes onto school uniforms for the new term ahead. Does she
have
to do this, or could she get away with writing their names in Biro on the wash-case labels instead? It’s considered slapdash, Kerry knows this – but surely it’s better than staining Freddie and Mia’s white polo tops and sending them to their new school covered in blood?

As a fresh scarlet bead seeps from the wound, Kerry abandons the uniforms. By some miracle, she manages to locate the first aid box from one of the many packing crates which are still full and stacked precariously along one wall of the living room, like reinforcements against floods. Opening the tin of plasters, she selects the one that’s cunningly disguised as a strip of streaky bacon (Freddie had requested these in last year’s Christmas stocking; the set includes an egg, sausage and a blob of beans – a full English breakfast in plaster form).

They’re too thick, that’s the trouble, Kerry reflects as she sits back at the kitchen table. No, not her children – Mia’s old primary teacher described her as a ‘smart cookie’ and Freddie was virtually in charge of his nursery. She means these blasted name tapes, which might as well be made from rhino hide. The Biro option hovers tantalisingly in her mind, even though Kerry has already surmised that Shorling-on-Sea is a
sewn-in-name-tapes
sort of place.

The small, compact seaside town had a very different vibe when Kerry spent childhood holidays here, in this very house where her Aunt Maisie used to live. Back then, the place bustled with holiday makers scoffing chips from greasy paper bags, and children carried enormous pink clouds of candyfloss. Whereas the smell of fried onions once hung tantalisingly in the air, these days it’s all organic bakeries and seafood restaurants. Apparently, more scallops and langoustines are consumed per capita in Shorling than anywhere else in Britain. Eating a donut in public would probably have you shot. The Gold Rush Arcade is now a Wagamama, the Word’s Biggest Museum of Tattoo Art a glass-walled restaurant filled with glossy people tackling crustaceans with an impressive array of little metal tools. The middle-aged ladies in velour tracksuits who once ran the numerous B&Bs – where did they all go, Kerry wonders? – have been replaced by glowy-skinned women entirely kitted out from the Toast catalogue.

Of course, during their more recent visits, when Aunt Maisie had mooted the idea of Kerry and Rob buying her home at a ridiculously low price, she’d realised that Shorling had gone posh. But it wasn’t until they’d actually moved in, and got the lie of the land, that the extent of the transformation had truly sunk in. Still, Kerry thinks, pushing the pile of name tapes and uniforms aside, at least there’s one final weekend left before autumn term starts. Her friend Anita has suggested that she and Kerry take their children to the end-of-summer beach party, and if Freddie and Mia can squirrel out a few new friends, surely starting school will be a little easier.