Congratulations on being longlisted for our unpublished prize! Could you tell us about your novel in one sentence?
In the peaceful 1930s village of Farnley, Miss Merriman earns the gratitude of an ancient elemental god, and her prayers are answered with unexpected and alarming results.
Have you always been interested in (comic) writing, or did you fall into it unexpectedly? Have you ever kept a teenage diary?
No, definitely no diary, teenage or otherwise, with two sisters that would have been asking for trouble.
I don’t know about comic writing, but I always wanted to write. Then, when I finally got the time to try, it turned out to be a bit funny. It just happened. I even wrote a horror novel that was supposed to be gruesome and gory, instead my main character ends up running for his life, almost pissing himself, and screaming ‘Faaaaaaark’ at the top of his lungs.
We’d love to hear about where you get ideas for your wondrous wit? Do you have any tips you could impart to aspiring witty writers?
Friends! There’re never more laughs than getting together with a group of girlfriends. And everyone has a favourite funny story about something that’s happened to them, you just have to ask.
Speaking of which, where does your writing magic happen?
I have a boring kitchen table/WFH set up where writing is perpetrated. However, I’ve recently moved to the Scottish Borders and now have a view of the ocean out my window (‘Faaaaaaark!’). Yet to see how this affects productivity…
What is the best piece of content by a witty woman you’ve read/watched/listened to/experienced recently?
Not recent, but I was originally led astray by Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, brilliant laugh out loud stories.
More up to date joys include Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce, the exceptional My Mess is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett and all of the Murderbot Diaries books by Martha Wells.
P.S. +any show with Sarah Millican.
Finally, what does being longlisted for the CWIP prize mean to you? Do you have any advice for other witty writers thinking about entering the prize?
It’s astonishing, isn’t it? I made this thing up in my head and now other people have actually read it and thought it was funny? It’s such a strange, amazing and wonderful feeling. And, like most writers I’d love to be published, so it’s fantastic to have the encouragement.
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