A glorious ‘unboxing’ of the dreaded round robin letter - Ruth Foster tells us how it really is when we all try to show off while breaking the law at the same time - fabulous
- CWIP
- Sep 26
- 2 min read
For readers who haven’t (yet!) read your ‘A perfect Year?’ Can you tell us about it in one sentence?
A Perfect Year? is the story of three unlikely neighbours, told entirely through 21 years of their annual round robin letters.
What is it about round robin letters that inspired you?
The glorious mix of content: everything from holiday disaster anecdotes to a graphic description of Uncle Clarence’s medical condition. And not forgetting the yearly update on the family pet. Nowhere else do you find life changing events and humdrum detail so completely intertwined on a single sheet of A4.
Do you think drawing from the 80’s and 90’s offer up more comedy? and if so, what did you love/hate about that time?
No-one remembers it raining on childhood holidays. It’s the same looking back at the 90s and 2000s. It felt at times like the 60s reinvented: Britpop, a new young government, a boom time. The yuppies of the 80s became the aspirational parents of the 90s, taking over traditional suburbs with home makeovers and school place battles. So much comic potential!
Why did you choose crime as a backdrop to sit alongside your witty style of storytelling?
Every good book needs a murder mystery…and Upley Rising, where A Perfect Year? takes place, has its very own.
Which witty novel inspired you the most growing up?
I was a boringly serious child reader. But I eventually discovered witty writing through the incomparable Bridget Jones’s Diary.
How long have you wanted to write and finish a manuscript? Where do you write? Do you take coffee breaks or stick to water /wine/other? Any writing habits gratefully received.
I’ve been writing comic reviews for years, but who doesn’t want to write a novel? Trying to be witty over 80,000 or more words is a challenge. It’s important to test ideas out. I write anywhere I can set up my pc – but the main work is the thinking in between. I go for lots of walks to think ideas through. It’s amazing how stomping through a muddy field (I live in rural Devon) can get ideas going. I try them out on the sheep.
Finally, can you tell us why you think CWIP is important?!
Writing something that makes people smile or laugh is the most rewarding experience I can think of. When people tell me they have laughed out loud reading A Perfect Year? I am ridiculously happy. But the old cliché is true that writing is a lonely job. So recognition from a respected award like CWIP is crucial for giving authors confidence: and helping to spread the happiness. What could be more important!
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