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Q &
A |
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1. Your memoir is very revealing; does this bother you
when you come face to face with your readers?
I am not at all bothered when I come face to face with my readers.
What I feared was ridicule from the critics; when the reviews were
good, I was happy and remain so.
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Katie Darling, Bath
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2. I would imagine
A Round Heeled Woman would be read and enjoyed mostly by a
mature female audience, what kind of feedback, if any, have you received
from both younger and male readers?
I have been surprised by the warm reception given the book by younger
and even young women, something on the order of "You go, girl!"
As for men, I am told by bookshop owners that men who buy the book
say they are buying it for their wives, also that men will pick
up the book and take it to the back of the shop to peruse. On the
other hand, there are those men who see the book as an invitation
to intimacy and misbehave accordingly.
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Petra Lloyd, Colchester
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3. Have you been propositioned by lots of men since the publication
of this book?
Yes, I have been propositioned by lots of men, not always let's
do it now proposals but leading in that direction. Have I accepted
any? You'll have to read my next book which I am writing now.
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Carol Shepherd, Basingstoke
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4. What are you working
on at the moment?
I am working on a follow-up to Round-Heeled Woman. It will answer
questions such as What happened then? Are you still seeing Graham?
and so on. It will also include stories of others as they have come
to me over the past two years.
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Hilda Jackson, Leeds |
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5. Do you think the
book would have been received differently had it been written by a
man?
If a man had written a book like this, nobody would have published
it. Serial sex, a May-December love affair is no big deal if it
is the man who is older and the woman younger. So why write a book
about it?
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Gaynor Sharpe, Swansea |
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6. Were your family and friends supportive of you throughout
the experience, what did they think of the book?
My son was supportive of my putting the ad in; however, he has
not read the book and does not intend to. My friends? Some of them
were supportive, some not. Those who were not are no longer my friends.
If you want further details, you'll have to read my next book which
I am writing as soon as I stop writing to you.
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Dick Sinclair, London |
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7. What advice would you give to someone planning to embark
on a similar adventure to the one you have experienced?
I simply can't give advice, but if you insist I would advise that
1) you send not your best photograph but your third best; that way,
you will be a pleasant surprise when you show up. 2) Figure out
who and how your action might hurt; if the answer is "only
me," then be prepared and go ahead or not.
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Susan Morgan, Buckingham |
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8. How did you go about writing this memoir? Did you write it/
take notes as you went along or did you write it from memory after
the experience?
I have kept journals for many years, so it was sort of automatic
to keep one when these amazing things began to happen. I found writing
in my journal a way of keeping total chaos at bay. When I decided
that maybe this might be a book, I turned to my journals.
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Yvonne Tebbutt, Liverpool |
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9. How did it feel when you first saw the published book in
the shops?
Fortunately, I was with a friend when I first saw my book in the
shop window because I damn near fainted and he caught me (a pleasant
experience). When I recovered, I just got very happy.
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Tamsin Piper, Brighton |
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10. Are there any plans to make a film of A Round Heeled
Woman if so; is there an actress you would want to play you?
Sharon Gless, of TV's Cagney and Lacey, has optioned the book.
She is not sure what she will do with it though she hopes to play
part of me. I guess Madonna is busy as are the Spice Girls so any
old actress will do.
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Narita Patel, London |
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Other
Interviews
Chloe Hooper for A Child's
Book of True Crime
Bo Caldwell for The Distant
Land of My Father
Carol Goodman for The Lake
of Dead Languages
Mary Lawson for Crow Lake
Mark Haddon for The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Karin Slaughter for Kisscut
and Blindsighted
Sebastian Faulks for Birdsong
Elizabeth Bergs for True
to Form
Anne Tylers for The Amateur
Marriage
Rose Tremain for The Colour
Alice Hoffman for Blackbird
House
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