Media & Reviews
Interview on writing website 'Writewords'
http://www.writewords.org.uk/interviews/ali_macnamara.asp
Ali McNamara Interview
WriteWords talks to Ali McNamara, aka WW member Alimac
Tell us something about your background.
From Notting Hill with Love...Actually will be my first novel to be published, but the third novel I’ve written and put through the agent/publisher submission process. Believe me my pile of rejection letters is just as big as anyone else’s! It’s a romantic comedy about a girl that loves the cinema, and sets out to prove to her family and friends that you can actually live your life as if it were a movie.
How, when and why did you first start writing?
My path into writing is a slightly unusual one!
I’ve always been a big fan of the singer, Ronan Keating. One day I had been away on a training course with my work, and I posted a message on his website’s forum about playing Ronan’s music while I’d been staying on my own in a hotel. Another girl responded – Karen, who had also just come back from a training course for her own job and had done exactly the same, and we began a silly late night conversation on the forum. Over time this little chat between ourselves began to develop into a story, to which we kept adding new instalments every night, until we began to realise that more and more people were logging on to the message board simply to find out what happened next in our tale. It sounds incredibly bizarre I know, but its true – the website often used to crash because there were so many people waiting for their nightly fix! Fans from around the world would wait impatiently until I got in from work late at night (because I worked in fitness, I often worked evenings.) demanding the next part of the story. This went on for some months until eventually we’d run out of adventures for Ronan to have, and so we had to bring the story to an end.
We then had so many requests to make the story into a proper book that we decided to do it for charity. I collated, with help of some friends, all the many instalments that were on the forum, edited them into a novel, and then sold email & disc copies of the story to anyone who wanted one.
I then had further requests for more stories, so on my own this time I went on to write two more novel length stories featuring Ronan along the same lines – posting them on the message board in instalments every night – then selling them at the end as a complete novel on disc or email attachment with the proceeds going to charity.
So something that started out as a bit of silly late night banter between two strangers, in total raised over £1000 for Ronan’s cancer charity – The Marie Keating Foundation; brought me together with one of my best friends – Karen, the girl from Glasgow I wrote the first story with; and made me realise that writing was not only something that I really enjoyed doing, but something that other people seemed to enjoy reading too.
I then decided it was time to have a go at writing a ‘proper’ novel, and it was my third attempt at this From Notting Hill with Love...actually which is going to be my first published novel. Oddly it has a Ronan Keating link – in that Ronan sang the theme tune to the movie Notting Hill, a song which features in the story.
Who are your favourite writers and why?
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got when training to be a personal trainer was ‘always make time to exercise yourself - it’s your job to be fit.’ And I think that’s the same for writers, you should always try to make the time to read. However, that’s sometimes easier said than done, and my new year’s resolution this year is to read more! But when I do get the chance I read very much within my own genre – Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, I particularly admire Cecelia Ahern’s vivid imagination in her later books. She’s not afraid to try something different than books about shopping, fashion and shoes! My writing hero however is not an author, but a script writer – Richard Curtis. He even has a small cameo part in my novel!
How did you get your first agent/ commission/publication? Can you tell us about the process/journey?
As I said before it wasn’t easy, I wasn’t one of those fairy tale authors who get taken on by the first agent they submit to and then subsequently get a six figure publishing deal from the first publisher that takes a look at their manuscript. But I believe in life ‘everything happens for a reason, and if I’d been picked up off the many ‘slush piles’ my manuscripts languished on any earlier, I wouldn’t have met my fantastic agent, Hannah Ferguson of The Marsh Agency. Hannah is great; she’s very down to earth and approachable, enthusiastic and keen. I couldn’t ask for a better literary agent to work with.
My editor at Little Brown, Caroline, is great to work with too, I think I’ve been very lucky in finding such a fantastic team of people who seem to love my novel almost as much as me!
What's the worst thing about writing?
Sitting still so much, definitely. I used to be a fitness instructor so I was very active all day. Writing involves too much sitting down at a desk – not good for the fitness levels or the figure!
And the best?
When you finally get that call.
What was your breakthrough moment?
The day I heard Little,Brown were going to publish From Notting Hill with Love...actually. Even though I wasn’t really expecting to hear anything on that day, (my novel had been to an acquisitions meeting the previous afternoon and I knew it might be a few days until I had any definite news,) I couldn’t really settle down to do to anything because it was playing on my mind all the time, so I thought I’d put a DVD on. I was probably punishing myself with this choice – especially if it had been bad news, but I choose Notting Hill. Notting Hill is such an important part of my novel that for a while just watching the film would fill me with mixed emotions. Desperation, when I wondered if anyone would ever love my novel as much as I did, would then turn to a determined hope, when I just knew that one day they would.
On this day the film was just ending and was in the final scene - the press conference when Hugh Grant asks Julia Roberts the question about staying in England, when my phone rang...
Incredibly it was my agent, Hannah, and as she told me the good news (just as well it was good or I may never have been able to watch that movie again!) and was talking, and I was trying to take it all in, pinching myself that this wasn’t all a dream. I could hear the strains of ‘She’ by Elvis Costello playing in the lounge as the final credits began to roll up the screen on the TV. It could have been a scene from my book it was so perfectly timed!
What inspires you to write?
I’m an only child, so I had plenty of time to day dream while I was growing up. I think this helped fuel my very over-active imagination. Now I’ve found an outlet for that I’m just putting it to good use!
Do you have a writing routine? A place that’s special?
In the past I used to write my novels on the family computer, but I have my own desk now that’s kept only for writing. Unfortunately it’s still in the same room as the family computer, so unless I’m writing when the house is completely empty, I often get disturbed. My dream is to have my own writing room.
Where do you get your ideas from?
From Notting Hill with Love...actually came to me when I was watching one of those countdowns on the music channels – ‘100 greatest Movie theme tunes.’ And I got the idea for the novel I’m currently working on from a conversation I had with my husband when we were on holiday in Ireland about how easy it would be to live on a remote island.
Any tips for writers?
Never give up! If this is what you really want to do and you genuinely believe your novel is as good as or even better than what’s already out there on the bookshelves, then keep going. One day someone will read it that loves it just as much as you and (more importantly!) will want to publish it.
What would be your dream writing job/opportunity?
My absolute dream would be for Richard Curtis to want to turn one of my novels into a movie! Or even to write my own romantic comedy film and be there at the movie’s premiere. I told you I had a very over active imagination!
What’s next for you?
This year is going to be very exciting with the build up to the publication of From Notting Hill with Love...actually in November. Because it’s my first novel every stage is new and extra special - from the copy edit to getting the all important front cover. I nearly burst my husband’s ear drum the other night when I found my novel listed on Amazon, Waterstones & WH Smith’s websites for the first time I was so excited.
I’m also working on my next novel - a Celtic romantic comedy set on a remote island just off the west coast of Ireland.
http://www.alimcnamara.co.uk
I also blog here:
http://alimcnamara.blogspot.com
* Exciting Pre-reviews of From Notting Hill with Love... Actually on Chick Lit reviews & Five minutes peace
* Interview with literary agent Hannah Ferguson mentioning me.
Some fun reviews of my past stories & novels
‘Chapter 11 already! & I'm sooooo not stopping to do the stoooooooopid ironing! Ur a genius!
'I sat and read this in a marathon time of one day! I didn’t want to put it down until I’d found out what was going to happen, it really did keep me guessing all the way through who JC Blue Eyes was going to turn out to be.'
'It's gone 5am and I've just finished your novel, and the reason I'm up so late is cos I couldn't put it down, it's great!'
'Your characters were believable & likable, and there were moments that I laughed out loud!’
'There was humour and wit, and some of the one-liners were class!'
'You are a natural born story teller!'