…Why I Write By Dorothy Koomson
Many years ago, I had a careers chat at school. I was almost mute with fear as I sat down in front of the careers’ advisor.
She looked like she’d rather be anywhere but sitting in a school talking to a bunch of 13-year-olds about the future. (With adult hindsight, I guess her career didn’t turn out quite how she planned – irony anyone?) I had no idea what to say to her about my plans for the future because beyond a love of reading and television, I was pretty much clueless about what I wanted to ‘be’ when I grew up.
I’d love to say she coaxed out of me my true passion, what would eventually be my true calling – instead she just looked at me until I mumbled something about wanting to be a librarian (because of the books) or to ‘help people’.
I vividly remember her face as she barely stopped herself rolling her eyes at that – she’d obviously heard it all before, several times, and it’s likely very few people actually did go on to ‘help people’.
So, I left her company still as clueless as I was when I went in about what I wanted to do. It wasn’t until I discovered grown-up magazines about a year later that I decided this was the job for me. I wasn’t sure what job exactly, but I wanted to work on magazines (not become a solicitor as my parents hoped I would). It never occurred to me that the stories I’d been writing every evening in my exercise books and passing around every morning to my convent classmates could – or indeed would – become a proper career.
Fast forward a few years, I’ve finished uni, I’ve finished my masters (in journalism), I’m working in magazines while still writing my stories in the evenings.
Why? Why did I continue to put pen to paper and finger to keyboard even though I wasn’t getting paid or had no hope of getting published? Because I had to, is the short answer. And that answer is true today – even after being published. I can’t not write; I can’t not create characters and situations and stories – even if no one is going to read them.
Before The Cupid Effect was accepted for publication, I was having a crisis of confidence about the fact that no one seemed to want to make my stuff into a proper book. I said to my friend, Janet (who played Jess in The Cupid Effect) that I was probably going to give it all up. And she reminded me that I couldn’t do that because I couldn’t not write. It wasn’t a simple case of me deciding to do something else – there was nothing else.
I write because I have to. It’s a compulsion and a passion. A passion I throw myself into doing. I tell a story with all my heart and all my abilities. Writing is a huge, huge part of my life and who I am. Which is why it is so rewarding to hear from readers who have loved my books. And from readers who have been deeply touched by my books. And readers who have changed their lives because of my books. And readers who have been able to make sense of something that has happened to them or what they are feeling because of my books. It’s the icing on the cake of something I love deeply.
Writing is heaven (and often hell) for me, but from the reactions I receive from readers, I have, it seems, unintentionally done what I said to the careers advisor what I wanted to do: I have helped people.
So, that’s why I write. It’s probably not the reason other people write. But for me, I have the best career in the world because I get to help people, I get to tell stories and I get to go to bed at night knowing that every day, I do something that I love.
© Dorothy Koomson 2010
About the Author
Dorothy Koomson is the author of seven novels, including, The Woman He Loved Before, The Ice Cream Girls, Goodnight, Beautiful, Marshmallows for Breakfast, My Best Friend's Girl, The Chocolate Run and The Cupid Effect. Her books have been translated into more than 28 languages across the world.
Dorothy Koomson has two degrees, is a journalist and has written for numerous women's magazines and newspapers, including the Guardian, New Woman and Cosmo. Her first novel for Sphere, My Best Friend's Girl, was picked as a Richard & Judy Summer Read.
Ice Cream Girls Intro
Audio Preview:
http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CPHgrTPs As teenagers Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a high-profile murder. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed "The Ice Cream Girls" by the press and were dealt with by the courts-Poppy headed to prison after being convicted for murder and Serena was set free.
Years later, after having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened. The only problem is she has no one to turn to and no clue where to begin her hunt for Serena.
Meanwhile, Serena is married with children and wants no one in her present to find out about her past. Constantly looking over her shoulder, Serena knows she should come clean to her husband, however, she can't seem to find the words.
With Poppy determined to salvage what's left of her reputation, Serena may not have a choice in reopening a can of worms that may threaten both their lives...again.
Order Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson
ISBN-10: 145550713X
ISBN-13: 978-1455507139
Women's Fiction. Suspense. Emotional Thriller
KINDLE:
www.amazon.com/The-Ice-Cream-Girls-ebook/dp/B005SCRA4E AMAZON:
www.amazon.com/Ice-Cream-Girls-Dorothy-Koomson/dp/145550713X Barnes & Noble:
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ice-cream-girls-dorothy-koomson/1104324268
Posted By: EDC Creations
Sunday, April 29th 2012 at 5:35AM
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