Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Zuzu's Petals is funny, too

I've just been interviewed by a talented young journalist called Diane Shipley, for a feature in The Big Issue (in the North) and she asked me - amongst a gazillion other questions - if my fiction was going to take a different direction now.

She pointed out that Zuzu's Petals - whilst being funny - has a serious theme, and it's dealt with realistically. Was my next book going to be serious? What kind of books did I want to write in the future?

Good question. I burbled about a bit and then said "Comic fiction with emotional depth."

But is that true?

I want to write about life, and life is all kinds of things - serious, funny, gruelling, heartbreaking, fun, boring, wonderful, ridiculous, exciting, and frequently stranger than fiction. Does fiction have to be categorised?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Sue, this post brought a lump to my throat - sorry, I should have revealed myself as related to Diane before!
I just wanted to say that I've read your books - in the wrong order but it didn't matter - and I think there is just the right amount of everything. I would find it hard to categorise either book. What I can say is that when I'd finished 'Plotting' I wanted more of the same. So please hurry - no pressure, though! Maybe there was always a need to categorise books - for libraries and bookshops, for example? Otherwise how would people locate their chosen subject? Have you noticed that different categories are being invented as we speak? All those books about personal tragedy have their own special category now, they don't even come into a 'biography' section. Basically, I think I'm saying 'yes' in answer to your question because otherwise, it's just all far too confusing for we, the public.

Anonymous said...

PS didn't mean to be anonymous but you'll know it's me, maz.

Sue Hepworth said...

Hi Maz, I suppose you're right about the categorisation - i don't want to pick up a book and find I am reading sci-fi, for example. I'm interested that you would find it hard to categorise either of my books. If you can't do that, can you say what kind of a cover you would expect them to have? or - what kind of cover they would have to have had for you to pick them up in a shop? ( assuming no-one had recommended them)