Author Interview: Dorothy Koomson

Dorothy Koomson has been one of my favourite authors ever since I picked up a copy of Marshmallows for Breakfast YEARS ago. Her amazing books have been coming thick and fact since then and Dorothy’s latest novel That Girl From Nowhere is no exception. It’s typical of Dorothy’s style of writing; powerful, intense and hugely emotional. To celebrate the release of That Girl From Nowhere in paperback, I was lucky enough to chat to Dorothy as part of her official blog tour…

Hi Dorothy, welcome to Bookaholic Confessions! I’m so excited to have you on my blog today… Would you like to start by introducing yourself…?

My name is Dorothy Koomson and I’m the author of 10 published novels including The Cupid Effect, My Best Friend’s Girl and That Girl From Nowhere, as of March 2016.

 

Can you tell us a bit about your novel, That Girl from Nowhere (due for release in paperback on the 24th March 2016 with Arrow)?

This is the story of Clemency who is at a crossroads in her life. She’s suffered a bereavement and her long-term relationship has broken down so she decides to move from Leeds to Brighton to try to change her life. Clemency was adopted as a baby and was born in Brighton but she isn’t searching for her birth parents. Her adoptive mother who she has a very complex relationship with, decides to move with her. When Clemency gets to Brighton, through her work as a jeweller she runs into someone who actually knows what happened to her birth parents and from then onwards Clemency’s life takes many shocking twists and turns.

 

That Girl from Nowhere was one of my personal favourite novels of yours, I absolutely loved everything about it. It’s been really well received and has gained some fantastic 5 star reviews. What inspired you to come up with the storyline?

I had the idea for That Girl From Nowhere a few years ago but I remember at the time it didn’t seem to be flowing. I wanted to look at what would happen if an adopted person accidentally came across their birth parents, but it wasn’t the right time to write it, so I had to put it to one side and write another book. Some years later I came back to the idea and everything seemed so much clearer, the plot had changed, the characters were much more vivid in my mind and I had a much better way of marrying the two different storylines together.

 

How long did That Girl from Nowhere Take you to write?

Physically writing it – about six months. That doesn’t really include researching it nor putting it aside all those years ago, which all adds to it.

 

I’m going to ask a really difficult question now…Do you have a favourite out of all of the novels that you have written?

I have to – after much duress – say The Cupid Effect. It is my first novel to be published and so is the reason I am a writer today.

 

…Or how about a favourite character?

The heroine of The Cupid Effect, Ceri D’Altroy, is the character that is most like me and that is why I like her so much. Although I do adore Greg Walterson from The Chocolate Run – yes, I know he’s not real.

 

Have you ever experienced writers block? If so, how did you overcome it?

I haven’t suffered from writers’ block yet. That’s mainly because if something isn’t working or I can’t write something, I will just move on to another part of the story and come back to that part later. It helps that I don’t start writing at the beginning of the story and then work to the end. I write in whichever order the scenes come into my head.

 

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I loved reading and telling stories from a very young age and decided to try writing them down when I was 13. I always wanted to work with the written word, which is why I grew up to become a journalist then an novelist. Although at one point I did want to be a librarian.

 

Who are your favourite authors and which books have you recently read and enjoyed?

As a writer it’s important to read a lot and read widely so I find it hard to pin down anybody in particular as favourites, although I love Harper Lee, Jackie Collins and J G Ballard, Mayo Angelou, Terry McMillan. There are so many others, though that I love for lots of different authors for lots of different reasons.

 

And finally – can you tell us a bit about what you’re up to at the moment?

I’m currently trying to decide between the three different ideas I’ve got for the next book. It’s not easy!

 

A huge thank you to Dorothy for answering my questions & to Hayley from ed pr. ♥

 

That Girl From Nowhere by Dorothy Koomson is published on 24^th March by Arrow, price £7.99 in paperback. Share your favourite photo and its story to #ThatGirlMemories to win a Fujifilm Instax 8 camera.

 

♥ Dorothy Koomson ♥   |  Website  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |

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