The best-selling author, former glossy magazine editor and podcast host Vicki Notaro on the books that changed her life.
Fun, romantic and escapist, how do you write a book as entertaining as your new release, Long Story?
I have a very active imagination! I think the world can be a very difficult place these days politically, and the news is a real downer. I never want to avoid what’s happening, but you’d go mad if you focused on the negatives all the time. When I read a book, I want to escape in to a world that’s realistic and relatable, but that’ll also make me laugh. Overall, I want people to feel good when they read my books, not depressed. There’s enough of that going around. Saying that though, you will probably shed a tear reading Long Story!
Is a book like this as fun to write as it is to read?
Oh, absolutely. I adore the writing process, it’s a solitary pursuit but a really exciting one. I love getting to the sweet spot where the characters feel like real people to me, not just imaginary friends I invented in my head. There comes a point when you’re just letting them do their thing rather than playing puppet master, and it’s very satisfying.
For those yet to read, give us a teaser…
Long Story is the tale of Tara and Alex, two best friends in their late 30s who met as tweens at a Dublin stage school. Tara has gone on to become a wildly successful Hollywood actress, while Alex is a pop culture writer and podcaster. They swore when they were teenagers that they would never let anything come between them, but their bond is put to the test when their former classmate, the rock star Sean Sweeney, releases a memoir that reveals his dalliance with Tara… one she never disclosed to her smitten best friend. The book goes back and forth between Tara and Alex as their friendship begins to degrade at perhaps the worst possible time for it to happen. It’s pacey and exciting, and I loved writing these strong, spunky women and their friends and family.
It’s set between Ireland and the US in the glamorous world of celebrities. Is Stoneybatter, where you live and where we’re taking these pictures today, going to feature in a book anytime soon?
Perhaps! I am currently finessing my third book, and my very own ‘hood makes a small appearance. Maybe for book four I’ll be brave enough to set some of the action here! I adore Stoneybatter, from the girls in my favourite beauty salon Top To Toe to Anto in Walsh’s pub, it’s an area chock full of characters and they all consistently inspire me! There’s nothing like a true Dub…
This is your second release in two years, you’ve not been waiting around! Are the novel ideas just bouncing around?
Yes, constantly. I have a running collection of notes in my iPhone that only I can understand – thankfully – and that’s where all of my plots eventually come from. I love my work, so it’s not a hardship at all to write fiction full time – quite the opposite really. And I break things up by hosting my podcast, You Had Me At Hello. I interview people about their favourite romantic movies, and I have to watch romcoms for research purposes – basically the best job ever!
You dedicate this book to your mum and dad who we know are really proud of you. But are you proud of your own achievements?
I really am. I’ve been pinching myself a lot over the past few years. Of course, I work hard but there is a lot of luck involved, and a lot of chasing opportunities. I’m an only child, so making my parents proud means an awful lot to me.
You were a magazine editor before you were an author – both very cool jobs. But do you love being an author now?
I love, love, love it! If you’d asked me when I was a kid what I wanted to be, I’d have said a writer. I don’t think I knew magazine editors were a thing back then, but I knew that authors were! I’ve always been a huge reader, a total bookworm. My Junior Infants teacher would tell you that I asked when we were going to learn to read properly on my first day of school. Dad had been teaching me at home, and I was impatient and very precocious.
What do you miss most from your days working in an office as a glossy magazine editor?
Look, it was always nice to get a steady stream of makeup in the post to try out! And reviewing hotels was an amazing perk of the job. I also miss the camaraderie of working in a team, we had some brilliant craic over the years. I will always look back on it all extremely fondly.
When writing, what do you need/not need? And how do you structure your writing day?
I need silence and solitude, and to be cosy – I cannot think if my feet or hands are cold! I write in the spare room of our little house, and I have a really nice if compact set up. The dog snoozes beside me, and I take breaks to bring him out or to grab a coffee. I don’t like to make any plans at all on writing days, I need to focus entirely on the task at hand. I also know when I’m spent for the day, or when it’s just not flowing. I try to give myself as much space and time as possible, so I’m not fretting about a deadline.
And where do you like to read?
I read in bed most nights, and often stay up far too late when I’m engrossed in a story. I also read lots on holiday – that’s when I bring my stack of paperback proofs with me and fly through them. My husband Joe and I are going to Mexico in a few weeks, and I cannot wait to do absolutely nothing but get lost in my books with a Margarita in my hand.
Are you a Kindler or a paperback reader?
Both! Nothing beats a real book, but Kindles are very handy in the dark and on airplanes. I don’t listen to ebooks, but I love that other people do and my debut Reality Check has been very popular in that format!
Are you an impatient reader? Sheild O’Flanagan gives every book she starts 60 pages to get her interested, and if it hasn’t bitten by then, she closes it!
Yes, absolutely. If I’m not grabbed, I won’t continue and perhaps that’s why I like to make sure my books are action-packed from the get go. I’m impatient in life, generally.
What is the first book you remember loving?
Starring Sally J Freedman As Herself, by Judy Blume, when I was nine. My nanna brought me to Eason O’Connell Street and let me pick my own book, and I was transfixed. I still have my copy! I quickly read everything Judy ever wrote, even books that were for young adults and let’s just say I learned a lot!
Is there a book that changed your life?
The book that really made me want to be an author was Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes. I read it on holiday when I was a teenager, and couldn’t believe there was this cool, funny, emotional book by an Irish woman. I’d read beloved Maeve Binchy and bold, brilliant Jackie Collins, but Marian sort of encapsulated both of them for me. I adore her to this day and she is thekindest person I’ve met in publishing.
What about a book that left you thinking about it days later?
The Names by Florence Knapp. It’s a new release, and it’s remarkable. It follows three separate narratives each depicting what the life of a boy would have been like had he been given a different name, and it’s beautiful and heartbreaking.
Which authors do you admire?
All of the aforementioned. There are so many wonderful Irish women writers that have been so wonderful to me – Patricia Scanlan, Cathy Kelly, Andrea Mara and Louise O’Neill to name but a few. We’re just absolutely killing it in the literary world internationally, look at Sally Rooney’s massive success flying the flag for Ireland. It’s amazing. I also love books by Abby Jimenez, Elin Hilderbrand and Emily Henry – they write fiction aimed at women so well, with depth, warmth, humour and emotion.
We cane across this quote recently, “I lived in books more than I ived anywhere else.” Have you?
Definitely. I’ve never lived anywhere but Dublin, but in my mind I’ve seen the world. I feel like I know Nantucket Island like the back of my hand thanks to Elin Hilderbrand!
What’s next? And is there a grand plan?
More writing! Books, screenplays, non fiction, whatever tickles my fancy. You Had Me At Hello will also be back in the autumn for season three, so there are plenty more romcoms to be watched too.
Long Story by Vicki Notaro, €16.99, is out now!