Jill Mansell

Jill Mansell - Diary February 2010

Hello again! Are you wondering why it’s been so embarrassingly long since I last posted anything here? Well, I have an excellent excuse this time, and my excellent excuse is going to form the basis of this diary entry.

OK, here we go.
The dog ate my homework.

No, of course that isn’t it. The reason I haven’t posted anything is because I’ve been busy elsewhere: on Twitter. Where, some of you may have noticed, I post QUITE A LOT.

I didn’t want to when my publishers first suggested it to me. It was their idea, you see, and I was very against it. They thought it might be a nice marketing tool, a way of publicising my books. I thought it would be incredibly difficult, a tremendous chore and unbelievably time-consuming because I’d constantly having to be thinking what to write next. I thought Twitter sounded completely pointless, because the tweets can’t be more than 140 characters long. But my publishers nagged and nagged and urged me to give it a try, and promised that if I really hated it I could stop.

So I did give it a try, and within a day I was hooked. Tweeting was so easy and quick and funny and interesting and wonderful, I couldn’t imagine being without it. My publishers haven’t actually said as much, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re secretly wishing they’d never suggested it, because tweeting is so much more fun than writing books it may affect my future output. (Joking, everyone at Headline! Obviously I wouldn’t let that happen. Well, probably not!)

I think Twitter particularly suits those of us who work from home and miss the buzz and chatter of the traditional workplace. Someone described it as the perfect magic coffee shop in the sky, that you can pop into any time you like, for as long as you like. It is filled with an ever-changing cast of characters chosen by you. You can eavesdrop on interesting conversations and join in if you want to. The chatter is between people you either do know, or would like to know. You don’t have to put up with anyone boring, because if you aren’t following them, you won’t see what they write. Most of the people I follow are fellow writers and journalists, and others in the book trade. Some people on TV are interesting, whilst others aren’t. Some comedians can’t help being funny, others don’t want to waste their funniness on Twitter. (As soon as you make this discovery, you unfollow them.) Finding out what celebrities are like from their tweets is fascinating for me. Watching friendships spring up between people who haven’t met is even more interesting. The dazzling wit, the banter and the sheer entertainment factor is what I love.

What else? Oh yes, research. People are so happy to help out a clueless writer. When I asked on Twitter which hospital my character would be taken to if they broke their leg in Primrose Hill, I had replies within seconds. Every question I’ve posed has been answered. And it’s a two-way street – when readers ask me about my books, I answer them. We can start off talking about something one of my characters did and end up chatting about shoes or holidays or the best restaurants in the Cotswolds...

Another lovely thing is watching a favourite TV programme and being able to comment on it with others. It makes it so much more fun – especially since no one else in my family likes watching most of the programmes I love. Shared interests can cause new Twitter friendships to spring up. Choose your topic and go and see who else is talking about it. Make comments of your own and fall into conversation with like-minded people. Stay and continue if it proves interesting. If you want to leave, you can leave. No pressure to stay and be polite whilst secretly wishing you could go home!

Since starting to write this, a link was posted on Twitter that led me to a wonderful blog post explaining all this far better than I can. Please read Angela Montague’s perfect argument by going here, http://www.push.uk.net/twitter-landing.html, then clicking on the link to ‘This Twitter Thing’.

So that’s it, basically. Something that I thought was going to be a tedious chore has turned out to be an absolute joy, and I have made many new friendships as a result. Last week I attended my first Twitter meet-up in London and encountered lots of these friends for the first time in the flesh. I couldn’t wait and I wasn’t disappointed – we had a fabulous evening. Our magical coffee-shop/cocktail party had come to life!

In other news, my new book is out! And yes, I was watching Mamma Mia when I came up with the idea for the title. An early (male) reviewer commented drily on the surname of the main male character, which he evidently felt was over the top. I’d just like to explain that LaVenture is my mother-in-law’s surname, (and the name of most of our relatives) and I knew she’d love it if I put it in a book. When I gave her the first copy and showed her, she was thrilled. And cried a bit. So I’m glad I used it, despite the mean reviewer!
Happy reading, everyone. I hope you enjoy the book!
Love
Jill x