Author Interview: Meet.. Jill Mansell!

1. Could you please tell us about your latest book, The Unpredictable Consequences of Love?

Oh Kevin, this is my least favourite question because it's like being asked to write a synopsis, which is my least favourite occupation! I will say, though, that as usual I have lots of gorgeous characters interacting with each other and getting up to all sorts. There's plenty of sun, sea and sand, and hopefully lots of laughs, with some sad bits too and a few secrets thrown in for good measure. There's also an hotel that I'd love to visit, if only it existed in real life!

2.  As a writer, what is the thing you enjoy/dread most in the writing process?

I dread starting a new book and not knowing what it's going to be about, having not yet found the first ideas that will spark off the rest of the story. This is the stage I'm currently at and it feels scary - I always wonder if I've finally reached my book limit. Hopefully, though, by the time you publish this Q&A those elusive ideas will have magically arrived and I'll be setting out on my way. The moment the characters and the story begin to emerge from the mist is one of my favourite parts of writing. Six hundred handwritten pages later, I also very much like writing The End!

3.  You are no stranger to the genre, what do you think of the term “chick lit”? How do you feel when your readers classify your books as that?

It's shorthand, it gives a vague idea of a book's style, but it isn't hugely helpful. I wouldn't want someone in their sixties to think my books are only about young girls seeking love and new shoes - my characters cover ALL age ranges and some of the themes in my books can be very serious.

4.  Do you think social media/blogosphere play a part in publishing today?

It definitely plays a part, but is it worth the time it takes? That's the question! It is for me because I love Twitter and Facebook, but if I left them alone there's a chance I'd produce more books, so it's swings and roundabouts really.

5.  Describe The Unpredictable Consequences of Love in 5 words. Go!

Funny, sunny, emotional feel-good fiction.

6.  If you weren’t a writer, what do you see yourself doing for a living?

I'd probably still be working in Clinical Neurophysiology, a job I did for 18 years. Loved it.

7.  It’s normal for authors to dread bad reviews, but how do you react to them? Do you read them and take them as constructive criticism? Or do you just ignore them?

Of course it hurts when people don't enjoy my books, but after this many years I'm used to the occasional bad review. I do read all of them and I definitely take constructive criticism on board, but silly comments drive me nuts - like when readers on Amazon sneer that from the first few chapters they could tell how the book was going to end. I write romantic comedy so the rule is that it has to end happily. How that happy ending is achieved is the reason we enjoy reading my kind of book.

8.  Do you read books of the same genre you write?

I used to read my genre avidly, all the time, then a while back lost my ability to enjoy reading any books at all, which was a horrible shock to the system. My most favourite pastime suddenly became my least favourite and I was bereft. I'm reading a bit now, but mainly non-fiction or a bit of YA. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!

9.  What is your current read? Please share!

I recently read Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe. Adorable in every way, highly recommended.

10.  Last question. What’s your favourite chocolate?

I wish I could be sophisticated and like plain chocolate, but I just can't. Cadbury's Dairy Milk is my favourite. I know, I'm a heathen.

The Unpredictable Consequences of Love is out now on hardcover and Kindle.