“Ab-fab” author Jaime Admans
Why is chick lit a favorite genre? I love it because it’s feel-good escapism, I think. It’s also relatable. It’s stories about women just like me, who get themselves into embarrassing situations just like I do, and it usually has a happy ending, which gives us all hope! Chick-lit books are usually uplifting, fun, not too serious, and sometimes just what you need to take your mind off things or get lost in after a stressful day!
I absolutely loved the Bridget Jones stories. Tell me about your writing as it relates to the UK. I think my writing is very British sounding. It’s always set in the UK, obviously because this is my home and the place I know best, and I use a lot of British ‘slang’ words that are second nature to me but other people have never heard of! It’s quite funny to get messages from Americans saying they didn’t get half the words in it, because it’s stuff I use in every day life! I recently read a list of British words with their alternative American versions and was quite surprised by how different we are!
Where do you get your story ideas? Any particular motivation? The smallest things! Inspiration comes from the weirdest places, it can be a picture I’ve seen, a sentence someone has said to me, a news report, anything really. The smallest thing can spark off a landslide of ideas – the hard part is transforming them into a coherent book plot!
How do you feel about being Indy published? I love it! I love having absolute control over my own work, being able to set my own dates and deadlines, and not have to wait months for publishers to get their act together! I don’t think the method of publication matters much to readers, as long as the book is good, most people don’t care if it’s indie or traditionally published. Being indie is also very satisfying as you know that you are solely responsible for a book, so when it’s well received, it’s brilliant. Of course, if it’s badly received, you only have yourself to blame too!
Who would you say were your greatest author influences? Judy Blume for one! It was after reading her books as a teenager that I decided I wanted to be a writer. Her books touched me so much, they meant so much to me when I was growing up, they inspired me to want to do the same – to write books that meant as much to other people as hers meant to me.
What was your most flattering moment after writing the book? A wonderful book blog, that I was already a huge fan of, chose Kismetology as ebook of the year 2012, that was definitely my most flattering moment! I put it out there with very little confidence in my own work, hoping against hope that people would like it, and for someone who reads hundreds of books a year to give it that honour was just amazing! Every good review is always so flattering, and reading people saying nice things about my writing always makes me so happy, but that particular honour really made my entire year!
What are you working on next? I have a Christmas YA romantic comedy coming out on November 6th, called North Pole Reform School. It’s about a girl who hates Christmas, but is taken to a reform school in the North Pole, run by a group of elves who are determined to make her and her fellow Christmas-haters learn to love the season!
