Q&A Interview with Elaine Spires

After taking part in Elaine's Hot Holidays Interview, it's my turn to interview the lovely Elaine Spires, so without further ado I would like to welcome author of Single Holidays Trilogy (which I highly recommend)…….. The one and only Elaine Spires

Hello Elaine thank you for joining me today

Good Morning and thank you for inviting me.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and background?

I was born in the East End of London and grew up in Dagenham.  Having had a bucket of cold water thrown over me by our careers  mistress, who told me that 'Girls from Dagenham don't go to RADA or appear in the West End' when I'd said I wanted to be an actress, I turned, instead to travelling.  My 'gap' year turned into 16 years, during which I lived in Majorca, Ibiza and Corfu, working as a holiday rep and resort manager,  before opening the first Chinese Restaurant in San Antonio, Ibiza and then a languages school, where I taught English to local people and Spanish to foreigners.

When did you know that you wanted to become a writer? and how did you go about it?  

I had always enjoyed writing - I used to make up stories to amuse myself when I was a child and even as an adult sometimes.  I have lived a colourful life and several friends egged me on to write my autobiography.  But, who am I?  Nobody knows me!  My daughter was a child-actor and she studied with Anna Scher, in London.  Anna also ran community theatre classes for adults and I rekindled my love of acting and started going along.  Anna encouraged us to write and stage plays, which I absolutely loved.  After staging a play - What's Eating Me - on the London and Edinburgh Fringes, which was very well received, I didn't want to let go of the heroine, Eileen, and so I turned her story into a book - my first novel.  My second book followed, Sweet Lady, which was also based on a play.  By this time I'd worked as a tour manager for a UK singles' tour operator for twelve years and I had seen and experienced so much during this time that I decided to write my Singles' Trilogy: Singles' Holiday, Singles and Spice and, Single All The Way.

Can you tell us what genre your books are and the audience you write for?   Hmm - I would say my genre is contemporary, reality novels.  My audience is mainly, but not exclusively, female.

What is your writing process? and how long does it take?

I get an idea of main characters and know where I'm starting from and then I just sit down and write.  I tend to chuck it all down and then go back the following day and edit what I've written and then move on, chucking down some more.  I find that the characters almost take over and suddenly the story is racing ahead in a way I hadn't envisaged.    It sometimes takes a long time.  I am behind with my latest book, The Banjo, at the moment. :((

Are your characters based on anyone you know or are they just fictional?  

They are fictional, although there is a little something of me in Eileen (What's Eating Me) and in Eve (Singles' Trilogy) but of all the other characters I can honestly say only four are based on people I know - three in What's Eating Me and one in Singles' Holiday.

Have you wrote about a personal experience in your novels?

I have written about personal experience, yes.  I have fought food and sugar addiction all my life, much as Eileen does, so a lot of her battle is based on my own.  And some of the incidents that Eve deals with in the Singles' Trilogy are based on real-life situations I faced and dealt with, although the characters aren't at all representative of those who were involved in the original incidents.

What research do you do?

Elaine at Taj Mahal doing research for Singles and Spice

Well, as you've seen above, a lot of it is already in my head - even the locations in all the short stories in Holiday Reads and Holiday Reads 2 - but if there's anything I don't know I'll either approach someone I think can help  - people LOVE helping, I've found - or I turn to good old Google!

Who would you like to co-write with and why?

I want to turn each book in my Singles' Trilogy into a TV series and I'd love to write it with Lenny Henry, Peter Kay or Kay Mellor.  And I'd love to write a book with Caroline James.  I met her recently and loved her - we have so much in common!!

What's your favorite book?

That's so hard!  I have really loved so many, many books.  Possibly The Kite Runner?

What's your favorite food?

Seafood!

What's your favorite film?  

Once again, very hard to choose.  I love West Side Story - the I will take the sight of George Chakiris in that mauve shirt with me to my grave! - The Great Escape, ET, The Godfather, Fatal Attraction, Psycho, Tootsie, The Graduate,too many to choose just one, I'm afraid.  

What's your favorite song?  

Loving You, Elvis Presley.

How can readers find out more information about yourself and your books?

On my website - wwwelainespires.co.uk 

on Facebook - www.facebook.com/ElaineSpiresAuthor 

and on Twitter - www.Twitter.com/ElaineSpires

Thank you so much for joining me today, I hear you on holiday yourself next week, I hope you have a lovely time.

Thank you for it's been fun. And yes I am behind with my latest book called The Banjo, so I am off to Antigua next week for 6 months to finish it.