It takes two to bring a romantic novel to life
WHEN single mother Claire Connor turned up on the doorstep of international best-selling author Graham Taylor three years ago for an interview to become his secretary, she never dreamed that one day she too would become a published writer with a five-book deal.
A chance meeting with Graham's wife, Kathy, led to Claire applying for an admin job with the acclaimed Yorkshire author, but little did she know he also had another task in mind for her.
The 32-year-old has written short stories since she was a child and had entered numerous competitions but never been successful.
She showed Kathy one she was about to submit to Cosmopolitan magazine, unaware that Graham was on the look-out for a co-author for a series of chick-lit books he had been commissioned to write by publisher Authentic. It was passed on to Graham, 51, who loved it and immediately called Claire to ask if she would like to write with him.
"I think my reply was 'Is the Pope Catholic?'" she laughs, as she sits in Graham's home in Scalby, near Scarborough.
The pair hit it off straight away and Graham says he enjoyed writing Rosie: Note to Self – the first in the Lipstick Confessions series – more than any other he has produced.
"It's the best experience I have had because it can be very lonely writing a book.
"It's been great to have someone to bounce ideas around with. And having a male and a female writer means we can make the characters more believable.
"I don't know much about the inner workings of a woman's mind but obviously Claire does and I offered my opinion if Claire wrote something I thought a man wouldn't have done or said.
"Our characters have gone through the mill of two minds so you get all sorts of different angles on them."
And Claire agrees: "As a woman it's very easy to write a female emotional blueprint on to a man because it's coming from within you and your own experiences.
"Working together means that the end product is more than either of us would have produced on our own."
Their first novel took over a year to write with Claire, who has a six-year-old daughter, Sophie, and still lives at her parents' home in the seaside town, often working into the early hours of the morning.
"When I first started working on the book Sophie wasn't at school so I had to write during the night out of necessity," she remembers.
"Then I realised it's when I work best. I can concentrate, there are no other distractions."
Copious amounts of hot buttered toast, crisps and glasses of milk keep her going until the early hours of the morning when she grabs a few hours sleep before it's time to make Sophie's breakfast.
"I sometimes arrive at the school gates looking rather bleary-eyed and it's a bit of a rush to get there on time but we've managed," she says.
During the process of writing their first romantic novel the two have become great friends and say they now see each other as family.
"She's even got her own key to the house and comes and goes when she likes," says Graham, author of Shadowmancer and the Mariah Mundi series.
"She's like a sister to me and has been a real benefit in my life during a very difficult year health-wise for my daughter and myself. Claire has been a real rock.
"We've shared our inner-most thoughts and told each other things we've never told anybody else before. When you're co-writing with somebody, it's essential you are open and honest."
The prolific author has been suffering heart problems for the past seven years and has a condition which last week required open-heart surgery at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.
"I had the operation to regulate the rhythm of my heartbeat as my health was getting progressively worse," he says.
"When I have an attack, my legs go weak, I can't stand up and my face goes numb. It's hell. Hopefully this will make a big difference but if not I may have to have a pacemaker fitted."
Having such an eminent author as your mentor may suggest it's Claire who has benefited most but Graham disagrees.
"I have learnt a lot about how to write a book from Claire – about characters, phrasing and all sorts of things," he states.
"For the first time ever while writing, I cried. I sat at my computer and sobbed when I read a scene Claire had written dealing with the grief our main character Rosie faced when she lost her young husband."
And writing a romantic comedy which could one day be made into a film – Entertainment Motion Pictures has already snapped up the rights to Rosie: Note to Self – has won much kudos with his three daughters Hannah, 21, Abigail, 18, and 10-year-old Lydia.
"Hannah said it's the first book of mine she's enjoyed. She did say she had to put the fact her dad and Claire had written it out of her mind so she could appreciate it though," chuckles Graham.
Inspiration for the five books derives from the Bible and Rosie: Note to Self is a modern take on the Book of Ruth which deals with the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law when they endure a mutual tragedy.
Their second book is half written and deals with the often controversial issue of surrogacy as well as adultery, jealousy and anger.
So, with her first novel on the bookshelves, another on the way and the possibility of a Hollywood film in the offing, could life get any better for the young mum?
"I would love to get married and have somebody to share the special moments in life with and if Graham gets his way that's what will happen because he's always on the look-out for a fitting husband for me!" she says.
Perhaps Claire could pen a happy-ever-after scenario for her own life? Wherefore art thou Mr Darcy?
Suitable candidates please apply in writing.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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