Saturday 2 November 2013

Q & A with Paige Toon on Johnny's Girl

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When Paige asked bloggers to help her promote Johnny’s Girl, I was immediately up for it. Paige is by far my favourite author and I was so excited to be able to ask her some questions. 








Bio
Paige Toon was born in 1975 and grew up between England, Australia and America. A philosophy graduate, she worked at teen, film and women’s magazines, before ending up at Heat magazine as Reviews Editor. Paige is married, has two small children and lives in Cambridge.
The Longest Holiday is her seventh book.






Interview

1. Your new short story Johnny’s Girl comes out on November 7 (pre-order here). What   inspired you to write more about Meg and Johnny? How did Jessie come to mind?

I got the idea for Johnny's secret daughter when I was writing Baby Be Mine and Meg was worrying Barney might not be his only secret child out there - Johnny had a lot of groupies! There's so much mileage in Johnny and Meg as characters, and I'm excited to be able to bring you a whole Young Adult series from January, following the trials and tribulations of Johnny's 15-year-old daughter Jessie.

      2. How can a reader imagine the process of writing a book and publishing it?

I was very lucky to get a book deal before I had written my debut book, Lucy in the Sky - my publisher liked the idea about a girl getting on a 14-hour flight and getting a text message from her boyfriend's phone from the girl claiming to be sleeping with him. The idea is so important - that initial hook needs to pull you in. I wrote a blog about getting published on Simonsandschuster.co.uk - search for Paige Toon Author Voices.

      3. Are you planning to write stories about characters we already know, like Kitty, Bridget, Holly etc.?

Whether they become main heroines, I'm not sure, but you will definitely see them again. Kitty is in Johnny's Girl and Bridget is a big character in next May's Thirteen Weddings. I'm loving writing about her again.

      4. I love all of your books, but Chasing Daisy is kind of my favourite. What inspired you to write this story and will we ever read more about Daisy?

My dad used to be a racing driver (in fact, if you've seen the movie Rush, my dad's Formula 1 BRM drive was bought by Niki Lauda from right out under him!). Knowing how dangerous the sport is gave me the idea for that thing that happens halfway through Chasing Daisy... I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it.


5. All your books and their characters are somehow connected to each other and that’s really great. How did you come up with that?

I stole the idea from one of my favourite author, Marian Keyes, who did this with her Walsh sisters books. I wanted readers to know what happened to Lucy and Nathan, so I linked that book to Johnny Be Good and have done ever since.

      6. What can we expect from your YA series?

It's very much written in my style so I think my older readers will (hopefully) love it as much as my younger ones. Jessie is my feistiest heroine to date - I loved writing her character and can't wait to write the second book in the series.

      7. You write about so many different characters, where do you get your inspiration for them?

I usually get a plot idea first - often one just pops into my head when I'm watching TV or a film or reading a book or even just looking out the window. The character develops the more I think about the plot. They take on a life of their own.

8. I am so glad Laura found her Happy End and that you dedicated a story to her. Will there be more about Leo and Laura?

You'll definitely hear about them again - Bridget will certainly talk about them in Thirteen Weddings. I love that I can now write short story e-books because, even if characters don't warrant a whole book, at least I can drop in on them from time to time.

      9. Your books are always located in great and amazing places, what can we expect of the places in your future books? Any new locations in sight?

Thirteen Weddings is set mainly in England, but there's one wedding near San Sebastian in Spain. I love writing about beautiful locations.

      10. Last but not least: If you could pick one male and one female character of your books, who would it be and why?

It's very hard to choose because I'm attached to them all, and if you asked me this question tomorrow I might say someone else, but right now I'm thinking a lot about Johnny and Meg - I love that he's a bad boy gone good - he's so sexy and I think that comes across in Johnny's Girl. And I couldn't possibly separate him from Meg, so I'll go for her as my fave heroine too!


Thank you so much Paige for answering all my questions. You’re a star!!! Can’t wait to read Johnny’s Girl and all your following books. xxx



You can find the author on Twitter: PaigeToonAuthor


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