I read The Honey Trap by Mary Jane Baker a few months ago and thought it was a great book. You can read my review here. To celebrate the release of The Honey Trap in paperback, I am posting a Q&A with Mary Jane as part of the blog tour.
Congratulations on your fabulous book, Mary Jane!
Q: Have
you always wanted to be an author? If not, what did you think you
were going to be when you grew up?
A: As a kid I always wanted to be a
writer like the ones I most admired (CS Lewis and Enid Blyton),
although after seeing Flight of the Navigator I briefly toyed with
becoming a space explorer. The first proper story I remember writing,
age 7, was called The Red Unicorn, about a tiny unicorn that could
shrink and grow at will (heavily plagiarised from the Mrs Pepperpot
stories!).
Q: What
inspired you to start writing?
A: Good question! After a brief attempt
to write a romantic novel at university (in fact a very early draft
of The Honey Trap, sort of), I lost confidence in my writing for a
long time and gave up altogether. I did eventually return to
non-fiction writing, but it took me a while to dust off my fiction
writing skills. There were two catalysts for this: first, the
publication of a popular erotic novel that shall remain nameless,
which convinced me I could do just as well, and secondly the
discovery of the NaNoWriMo event and forums, which gave me the
support I needed to get over my confidence problems.
Q: When
did you realise your potential as a writer?
A: When I first let other
people read my writing and received some lovely compliments – and
when I opened your acceptance email!
Q: What
was the inspiration for your novel?
A: I suppose the characters came to
me first, with only a sketchy idea of the plot. I wanted to create a
heroine who was realistically flawed and complex, with a wry, pithy
sense of humour and a strong sense of her own worth, and a hero who
was a person rather than a type, generous, funny, capable of a range
of emotions and steering far clear of the alpha stereotype common in
some romance. I also wanted the secondary characters to have range
and not just be plot props. Once I had the characters I let them
guide the plot, and was surprised where I found it going. The charity
ReelKids, for example – a workshopping project for disadvantaged
young people run by the hero which features heavily – didn't exist
at all in my plan!
Q: What
is the best advice anyone has given you about writing?
A: “Push on
into the white space” was my mantra when finishing my first draft,
provided by someone on the NaNoWrMo forums. This was the advice I
needed to finish - don't worry about quality, don't go back to edit
and obsess. Just tell your story and worry about the tidy-up later.
And remember Hemingway: all first drafts are s**t, so don't expect
yours to be any different!
Q: Aside
from writing, what is your favourite thing to do?
A: I love rambling,
and I'm also a crafter (knitting and crochet). I like to read,
especially the classics, and (unsurprisingly) I love vintage film!
Q: What
are your top ten favourite books?
A: Wuthering
Heights – absolute classic, and written only four miles from my
house! The one book I can read over and over and still find something
new.
Catch-22
– very powerful, funny and harrowing, a masterpiece. Never known
anyone able to combine humour and poignancy in their writing as
seamlessly as Heller. An emotionally draining read though.
Mrs
Dalloway – always get this out in the summer as an uplifting read
(odd for a book about existential angst, maybe). Love the way the
domestic dramas play out in the characters' heads.
Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy – never fails to make me laugh out loud, and
love the quintessentially British tone in a science fiction setting.
Pride
and Prejudice – Lizzie is a standout character in literature for
me. Not sure we realise now what a brave (even foolish) thing it was
to turn down proposals willy nilly in Regency times!
Vanity
Fair – again, another standout character, Becky Sharp. The wry,
darkly comic tone of this book and the contrast between the two
heroines draw me back to it on a regular basis.
Soul
Music (Discworld) – my favourite of the Terry Pratchett Discworld
books. Like Hitchhiker's Guide, I love the placement of a very
British sense of humour in the environment of a Tolkienesque fantasy
world, and Pratchett's witty tone and tight plotting.
Jane
Eyre – another locally written book I come back to a lot. As stated
below, I love the equality between Jane and Rochester, and the hero's
willingness to display vulnerability with her.
The
Awakening – this was the book that first made me identify as a
feminist I think, and consider a woman's right to make her own
choices.
To
Kill a Mockingbird – very powerful exploration of justice and
social isolation through a child's eyes, and I love Scout as a
character.
Q: What
are your top three romantic books and why?
A: Jane
Eyre – I love the equality between Jane and Rochester that she
defiantly claims for them, despite the difference in social station
and gender; the way she always stands up to him and he loves her for
it.
Wuthering
Heights – essentially a love story between two highly dislikeable
people, but very powerful in its portrayal of that, and again, the
characters of Cathy and Heathcliff have a very equal relationship.
The
Hunger Games – I read this trilogy recently and very much enjoyed
the portrayal of the love story between Katniss, Peeta and Gayle, the
way it was coloured by their experiences and the way the two men
respect her right to choose. Always love a love triangle, and I think
she made the right choice in the end!
Q: What
are your top three romantic movie/TV kisses and why?
A: Tim
and Dawn in The Office – love the choreography of this, his thumb
on her cheek, the tears, and the way we all had to wait so long for
it.
Katniss
and Gayle in The Hunger Games – I don't often cry over kiss scenes
but when Katniss kisses what she thinks is an unconscious Gayle and
he later tells her he'd have to be dead to forget it, awww!
George
Bailey and Mary Hatch in It's A Wonderful Life – when they're on
the phone together and can't seem to keep their hands off each other
despite trying to resist, always gets my heart fluttering!
Q: If
you could ride off into the sunset with a fictional character, who
would you choose and why?
A: Tough
one. Probably Han Solo from Star Wars, 1977 edition of course...
Excellent answers! Han Solo - obviously! Thank you for visiting my blog, Mary Jane, and good luck with your book.
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