We sat down with the author of the Irish Summer best-seller, Our Song, Anna Carey.
Anna, you are a firm favourite for readers this summer, but who’s top of your pile?
The Wedding People by Alison Espach has been recommended to me by lots of people whose taste I trust, so that’s up next.
How do you feel when you see someone reading your book?
My first reaction is pure happiness, and then I pray that they like it!
Where do you get your ideas from?
I firmly believe in writing the book you want to read. With Our Song, I love stories about second chances and I really wanted to write a book about someone who gets a different happy ending to the one she expected.
What is your writing process like?
I try to write 1,000 words of the book I’m working on every day. I write at my desk, but I work out plot points and any problems I might have with the book when I’m away from my desk, walking around Marino and Clontarf. I’m constantly making notes on my phone when I’m out and about.
What did you do with your first advance?
I wish I could say I splurged on something extravagant but it was a long time ago and it wasn’t very much money so it must have gone towards rent and boring living expenses!
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
From my childhood to my early thirties? Too many to count! Since I published my first novel in 2011? Two. I might even finish them one day.
What are you reading at the moment?
I love books about the golden age of movies and I’m currently reading and loving Charmed Lives by Michael Korda. It’s very entertaining non-fiction book about the author’s legendary uncle, the film tycoon Alexander Korda, and his brothers.
What book should be on everybody’s shelf?
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. It’s a funny, wise, beautiful novel.
Which fellow author do you admire?
Juno Dawson. She’s a brilliant writer for adults and young people whose work for older LGBT teenagers has been the target of multiple book bans and smear campaigns.
What was the last book that made you laugh?
I recently reread David Nicholls’ Starter for Ten which made me laugh out loud a lot.
What is the first book that made you cry?
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was obsessed with it when I was a kid.
What books are on your bedside table?
Mostly books I’ve started but not finished so I won’t name any of them!
Our Song by Anna Carey is published by Hachette Books Ireland in Trade Paperback, €15.99