Today we're joined by KT Valentine, author of romantic comedy
Dispatches From the Dating Zone, for the weekly Q&A! In the novel, Fleur Summers is on a quest to find Mr Right, with the help of her friends and family.
Tell us about your latest novel in 15 words or less.One woman's fight to find love the hard (and very funny) way! Raunchy, raucous, relatable.
What inspired you to write Dispatches from the Dating Zone?Along time ago someone told me that some of the best writers are the ones that write about what they know. Whether that was the case or not, it got me thinking about everything I’d been through over the years and how I could draw on it for inspiration. After turning my life around and spurred on by my family and young son, I finally put pen to paper again and ‘Dispatches from the Dating Zone’ was born.
Where do you do most of your writing?As a single mum, working full time and raising my 12-year old (who’s going through a phase of thinking he’s 16) whilst trying to write a full length novel the only time I was really able to write was in the evenings. Where I wrote it varied, from the dining room table to lying on my bed, basically it was wherever I got the urge. Writing day in and day out was something I had to be really disciplined about so the location of where the writing took place didn't really worry me.
What is your favourite book?I have lots. Too many to mention. But I'm currently enjoying JoJo Moyes' One Plus One.
Which part of Dispatches from the Dating Zone did you enjoy writing the most?I loved writing the humour and the interactions between Fleur and her son Tobey. Being a mum myself, it seemed to flow easily and it was important to me that Tobey played a prominent part in this story as our children do in all of our lives.
Who is your favourite literary heroine?It would have to be a coin flip between Jo March from Little Women and Bridget Jones. Jo March, because I remember reading Little women as a young girl and I really related to Jo. Like Jo, I loved reading and writing and my three siblings and I were always putting on endless plays for my poor parents. As for Bridget, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't something about Bridget I relate too.
Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to become published writers?Just go for it. Self confidence isn’t one of my strong points and putting my writing out there for people to read and ultimately judge was scary, but the thought of looking back on my life as an old woman wondering ‘what if?’ was the motivation I needed to get myself into gear. At the end of the day, if you have a passion for writing and work hard at it, anything is possible. Look at me.
Are you working on anything else at the moment and if so, can you tell us?Yes, I have started work on the sequel to
Dispatches from the Dating Zone which will be out next year. So watch this space.
Thanks, KT!
You can find out more about KT Valentine over at her
website, Facebook (KT Valentine), or
Twitter.
Dispatches from the Dating Zone by KT ValentineHaving exhausted all the conventional ways to meet her ‘Mr Right’ (and because now she really is a little bit desperate), Fleur Summers turns to her well-meaning, but eccentric friends and family for help.
From ‘Man Mountain’; an engineer who eats everything in sight and tall dark handsome Tom with big hands but no idea how to use them, to the mysterious and brooding Henry Austin. Follow the trials and tribulations of Fleur’s journey as she works her way through a number of eventful blind dates, all in the name of finding true love.
