This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
To celebrate the publication of the fab Della Says: OMG - Keris Stainton invited us to be part of her blog tour. We happily accepted and decided to ask her a few cheeky questions about her years as a teenager. I love this interview (and the accompanying pics!) and hope you do too!
At what age did you start writing a diary?
I'm not sure. I remember getting one of those lockable diaries for Christmas and thinking it was the best thing ever. Maybe I was about 8? I did the typical thing of starting a new diary every new year and it gradually fizzling out by mid-January…
Can you give us an example of a typical page in your diary?
Ha! Well I remember one page where I'd drawn a picture of an apple with two overlapping circles. A boy I liked had taken a bite of my apple and then I'd taken a bite next to his bite. I wrote that I'd "practically kissed him". I also remember a dramatic bit about "cutting my hand open" on a yoghurt lid and how such terrible things always happened to me.
When you were fifteen, did you suspect that you may be a writer in the future?
I don't think so, no. I don't really remember, oddly enough. I know that I wrote and I loved reading, but I don't think I'd ever considered the idea of actually being a writer. In fact, I remember exactly when I thought of it and I was about 25! But as soon as I did think of it, I knew it was exactly right.
What was your first ever snog like?!
Ha! Utterly dreadful. It was on a family holiday and I'd been kind of flirting with this Spanish guy. He went off to the loo and so I saw my chance and went off to the loo too. NOT the same loo, obviously, but I thought we might both come out at the same time and bump into each other. And that's what happened. He kissed me and kind of grappled with me, like I was trying to get away and he was desperate to stop me? But I wasn't, I was just standing there. Eventually I pushed him away and I think I said something hideously embarrassing like, "That's enough of THAT!" All very disappointing.
Della works part time in her parents deli. Did you have a job as a youngster?
My first job was a Saturday job in a bookshop/stationers. I was really excited to work with books, but the manageress was horrible and wouldn't let me near the books, only the stationery. The hours were something like 8.30 to 6 with half an hour for lunch and I got paid £10. I got the sack after going to Birmingham to see Bros on a Friday night. I got the overnight coach back and it got held up so I had to miss work. It worked out quite well since I moved on to John Menzies and they paid £17, but I had to wear a nylon overall-dress that used to spark when I took it off.
What were you like at school?
I was very swotty and also very shy. I remember one girl having a go at me, saying I was always in a world of my own. I was really self-conscious and paranoid and didn't enjoy senior school very much at all. Best years of your life, my arse.
What kind of books were you into as a teen? Do you think that has had any bearing on the young adult writing you do now?
I loved Sweet Dreams books. I've bought some recently on ebay and they're… not as good as I remember. Thinking of You was my favourite, but I also loved one called PS I Love You. They were, I suppose, full-on teen romance and I was completely addicted. (I'm just looking at one now. I love how literal the covers are - Dance of Love has a girl holding ballet slippers on the cover, Love Match has a girl and boy in tennis whites.) Then I discovered Danielle Steel and loved them for a while and then I moved on the Jackie Collins. There was one book of hers that just blew me away, I read it in one sitting. I'd never read a book that had separate, apparently unrelated, characters and plots that all came together at the end. (I can't remember which book. I asked on Twitter and @luisaplaja thinks it might be Lucky). And, yes, I think they've probably all influenced the writing I do now. I would love it if my books were as addictive as Jackie Collins and as comforting/relateable as Sweet Dreams books were to me.
Did you have posters from magazines on your bedroom walls? If so, who were they of?
I've attached a photo… But the first poster I had was of John Travolta. I used to kiss it goodnight. I also remember having posters of Terence Trent D'Arby, who I thought was just *beautiful*. (I still have posters on my walls, btw, but now they're in my office rather than my bedroom. I have Russell Brand, George Clooney and Adam & Joe in front of me right now.)
Did you have a best and worst teacher at school?
Ooh. Good question. I think maybe the best and worst teacher was the same person! Miss Bell, my English teacher at senior school. She was very old-fashioned, strict and serious – I still picture her if I use the word "loads" instead of "lots" – and I was really intimidated by her, but she was also passionate about books and reading. She made us read Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and I can also remember her praising a short story I wrote. That was probably the first time anyone gave me any feedback on my writing, so I've always appreciated her for that, but you totally CAN start a sentence with the word "and", Miss Bell – I do it all the time!
What advice can you give to young people who wish to have a career in writing?
I should probably say don't listen to advice! Years ago, I read something along the lines of "If you say you want to be a writer, you don't really want to be a writer; REAL writers say they want to write." I'd been saying I wanted to be a writer and, ridiculously, that put me off for years. I think that all you really need to do is to read and to write. I wouldn't even say 'write every day' (because I don't). One thing I do think is important is a support network. I formed an online writers' group and it was the best thing I ever did.
Thanks Keris!
