Aired 9 months ago
38:55
Kathryn Hughes International Best Sellers
Kathryn Hughes' first dual time line novel, The Letter, became a word-of-mouth best seller that knocked Gone Girl off Kindle’s Number One spot.
Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Kathryn talks about her stories of family secrets and deep emotion, and having actress Joanne Froggart – Anna Bates in Downton Abbey – voice her third book, The Key - for audio.
Six
things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:
The difference between writing a book and being a writerThe fascination of the story ideaMen like them too: 'dual time line mysteries with emotional depth'Her latest book - set in Spain and ManchesterThe page-turning writers she admires mostHow she'd like to give herself a ten year head start
Where to find Kathryn Hughes:Â
Website:Â https://kathrynhughesauthor.com/
Facebook:Â @KHughesAuthor
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/khughesauthor
What
follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for
word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.
Jenny: But now, here’s Kathryn. . Hello there Kathryn and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.
Kathryn: Thank you very much for having me, it's my pleasure.
Jenny: Beginning at the beginning – was there a “Once Upon a Time†moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction?? And if so what was the catalyst for it?
Kathryn Hughes - Best Selling mysteries
Kathryn:Â Â Â Â I don't think there was an actual catalyst for it. I think, looking back, I'd always wanted to write a book, not necessarily be a writer. Those are two very different things. And in my 20's I had a go. I don't know if you've heard of Mills & Boon in New Zealand, the romance publishing house offering formulaic and extremely popular stories. I was mistaken in thinking it might be easy to write - it's not, it's extremely difficult, and they have very high standards, but nevertheless I did write about 50,000 words - it was probably terrible and I have no idea where it's gone to, I hope it never surfaces ..!
But back in 2007 I did have an idea for a book and it was around an old un-posted letter. Who wrote the letter, but never sent it who was intended to receive it, but didn't, and why it never got posted, I had absolutely no idea. I just had the idea, and all I had to do was expand it to 90,000 words. . . Easy!!!
Jenny: Yes - we all know how easy that is! But just tracking back a little to your remark about the difference between writing a book and being a writer. Could you expand on that?
How Kathryn got started
Kathryn: Well I was very naive. I thought if I wrote a book a publisher was going to say 'Oh a book, wonderful' and publish it. I didn't realize, "No" One book deals are hardly ever heard of.... I'm talking about commercial fiction They want to know you can keep producing, ideally for most publishers, at least one book a year. Publishers, quite rightly, don't want to invest in you unless you can do that. Quite understandably because they have to persuade supermarkets to take your book, they have to help build your brand. Naturally, it's a lot of hard work for them, so you have to be able to followup with more books and then it's great for everybody.
Kathryn Hughes' The Letter - No 1 on Kindle
Jenny:Â It seems quite amazing to me that you say you had this one idea, about an unpublished letter, and nothing else and you managed to expand it into a 90,000 word novel, especially as an inexperienced writer. Perhaps now it would be easier to spin out the story lines... But how did you get from that kernel to a whole tree, and what kept you focused in the hard times.
Kathryn:Â IÂ think it was because I thought it was a really good idea. I liked the fact that the letter had not been posted, even though it had a stamp on, and it was all ready to go. And then the idea of someone finding it, and the distraction of what was going on in her life at the time - the mystery - taking the ...
