Claire Calman is a writer and broadcaster best known for her novels that combine wit and pathos, including the bestseller Love is a Four-Letter Word. She has also written many short stories and comic verse and has appeared on BBC Radio 4, LBC, and BBC Radio London as well as many other stations.
Q. What inspired you to write ‘A Second-Hand Husband?
Lots of separate strands started to plait together in my mind…It’s partly a sort of comic take on ‘Rebecca’, with the second wife feeling overshadowed by the first – only in my book, the first wife is very much alive and well and annoyingly glamorous. Also, I am a second wife myself. I’ve never met my husband’s ex-wife, but if you’re insecure, it’s too easy to imagine that your predecessor must have been wonderful in every way. Also, I grew up in a step-family, though my mum and step-mum actually got on very well together.
Q. Do you like to give a steer to narrators on the characters in your books, or do you prefer to let them interpret the story in their own way?
I did get to select the narrators from audition tapes. This mattered particularly for my multi-viewpoint novel, ‘Lessons for a Sunday Father’, where I wanted all four voices – Dad, Mum, teenage son, and 10-year-old daughter – to sound right and clearly distinct. For ‘A Second-Hand Husband’, the narrator, actress Tilly Vosburgh, and I had a long chat on the phone. She was fantastic about asking exactly the right questions about how I thought the characters would sound.
“Even though I moan about it (writing’s hard!), it’s clearly the best job in the world. Earning a living from making things up – it’s brilliant.”
Q. Can you tell us about your writing process? Do you plan everything out or write freestyle?
I’m afraid my process is so chaotic, I’m not even sure you could call it a process…it’s taken me a long time to accept that I work in a way that might seem horrific to anyone who’s well organised. It’s a bit like making a patchwork quilt – I don’t entirely know how it will all fit together at the beginning, but I just keep working away until I can see it more clearly. Most scenes I start off by scribbling away with a pen, then as I transfer to the laptop, I redraft and sharpen. Then, along the way, I rewrite again. And again….
Q. What do you enjoy about working with Boldwood?
Oh, it’s the people! Without a doubt. They’re just all an incredibly nice, positive bunch of people – professional as well as really friendly. My editor, Sarah, was brilliant with ‘A Second-Hand Husband’ – very astute about which changes would make the book better.
Q. Is there a particular book that has changed your life?
For me, I think it isn’t one particular book, but books in general and the joy of reading. Reading has always been my chief solace and escape. I absolutely love that complete absorption you can have when you allow yourself to sink into the world of the book you’re reading. I find writing difficult, but it is in some ways parallel to reading – that submersion into something quite different.
Q. What are you listening to at the moment?
Such a treat – I’m actually listening to the audio version of my sister’s most recent book: ‘Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years’ – Stephanie Calman. She’s narrated it herself so it’s like having her right there in the room with me. She’s very funny and it’s very sharp and true about the difficulties of being a parent – while making you laugh.
Q. What’s your favourite thing about being an author?
Even though I moan about it (writing’s hard!), it’s clearly the best job in the world. Earning a living from making things up – it’s brilliant. On a good day, what I love most is the writing itself – when it flows, it’s like flying, the thoughts crystallising into words and appearing on the page almost like magic. But, even when it’s challenging, wrestling with the difficulties – plot glitches, problems with dates/times, structural wrinkles – it’s always, always so interesting.
Claire Calman books on xigxag
