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Sunday, 10 January 2010

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Sex and the Style Editor

Alison Tay

Meet Ruth Saberton: the real Carrie Bradshaw

My very special guest blogger and chick lit novelist Ruth Saberton reveals it's not all Sex And The City...

The fabulous novel Katy Carter Wants A Hero by Ruth Saberton is out on 1 April 2010

'Wellies. Check.

Gallons of tea. Check.

Granny style thermals to keep out the bitter cold. Check.

Small house in Cornish fishing village. Check.

Friends I hardly see because I'm too busy writing. Check.

You're probably really disappointed now. I'm nothing like Carrie Bradshaw at all, am I?

But wait! It means you don't need to look like Sarah Jessica Parker or lead the Sex And The City lifestyle to be a writer.

All you need is a little bit of talent, a sprinkle of luck, skin so thick that even living in a vat of moisturiser wouldn't soften it, and lots and lots of hard work. If you really want to write you don't have to live in Manhattan and wear designer clothes.

You just need to believe in yourself and follow your dreams. It's that easy and that hard.

On April 1 my debut novel Katy Carter Wants A Hero is published by Orion and I'm so excited because it really is a dream come true. Wannabe writers take heart - when you finally sell your book all the pain of writing it and trying to get a book deal is instantly forgotten. It's the best feeling in the world!

When I'm not writing I'm a teacher, which pays (some) of the bills and is also a lot of fun. I've written two of my own novels, Clover and Katy Carter Wants A Hero and right now I'm working on another for Orion called Second Thoughts.

The fact that my heroines tend to be scatty and hide their credit card bills under the sink is purely fictional and, if my dad's reading this, bears absolutely no relation to my own life. Anyway, what credit card?

A few years ago I decided that rather than just dreaming about being an author I was going to really go for it.

I wrote Clover in about five months and writing it was the easy bit. There then followed endless rejections from agents and publishers and it was soul destroying. Some people were helpful and encouraging but my impressive collection of rejection letters was starting to get me down to say the least.

I was on the brink of hurling my manuscript and myself off the nearest cliff - rather too easy to do when you live in Cornwall - when I decided to abandon writing about exotic locations and the super rich to concentrate on something a bit closer to home.

Writing about what I knew was the key and soon I'd started Katy Carter Wants A Hero, the very fictional tale (honestly!) of a teacher who dreams of being a best selling novelist.

I worked away night after night and all my friends forgot who I was but it was worth it because this manuscript attracted the attention of literary agents and publishers.

Lots of editing, despair and rewriting later the hard work paid off and last year Orion bought the book!

The German rights have already been sold and as I type the American rights and the film rights are under consideration. Fingers crossed!

Some authors do get massive advances and become millionaires over night but that's really rare. Sadly! If you want to get rich quickly don't be a writer. You have to write because you love it. It's a lot of work and it certainly doesn't pay for a designer wardrobe.

But saying that it is the most brilliant job in the world. And wearing a tutu to school would only be asking for trouble anyway!'

Katy Carter Wants A Hero is available to pre-order at Waterstones.com

Learn more at RuthSaberton.co.uk and don't miss Ruth's 10 point plan to getting published, coming soon.

Comments

• Kathy Wallis - January 11 08:46

  What an honest article. Good Luck with the new book.

• Sheila Morris - February 19 20:58

  Well done Ruth!! You deserve every success! xx