I write about women who are figuring out their shit.
I guess the words ‘write what you know’ are beyond cliche at this point.
It doesn’t mean that it’s not true.
Each book I write is about figuring out a problem. But whilst the last few have been about different family dynamics and relationships, they’ve all been about young women reaching a point in their lives when they reassess.
In the Martini Club books, each woman was wrestling with different demons. For Savvy, it was about being meek, forever in the shadow of her mother’s fame. For Mia, it was dealing with the stuckness of her life – how long it had been on hold since her father’s illness, and what she would do after he was gone.
In Martinis and Memories, Bel was a different story. Bel was older, she’d lived a very full life that on the outside, looked perfect. She had her style, her confidence, her autonomy – she lived the life she wanted. She’d made her mistakes and left them behind in a pursuit of a new life.
But no one’s life is perfect.
The difference between Bel’s inner and outer realities is a lot like looking at other people’s social media feeds. It seems impossible to imagine that some people are unhappy, and yet behind the veneer there’s a truth.
I’ve been writing about growing up for a while now – the moment you realise you should have your life more together by now, that you should have been doing X, Y or Z. Bel, luckily, doesn’t give a crap about all that. She just wants what she wants. She wants to not feel so alone when she does it.
She was so focused on success, on appearing strong, that she forgot to let people in along the way. When you convince others you’re untouchable, people stop reaching out.
