Today’s interview is with women’s fiction writer Hayley Walsh.
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
HW: I am forty-four years old. I live in far western Sydney Australia with my partner. I have two stepsons. I work as an Aged Care Clinical Nurse Consultant in my day job (the job that pays the bills lol). I love animals, coffee, a nice glass of Moscato, and going on cruises. I have always loved to write and finally decided to take my passion for writing seriously in my late thirties. I published my first book, a fun little novella titled Crayons and Chaos in March this year. My next book, a novel titled Making March will be released on the 23rd May. (Update: Making March is out now). I have a wicked sense of humour and love to write funny stories women can relate to. My characters are very raw and very real.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
HW: I am a true pantser through and through, much like I am in every other aspect of my life. I tend to fly by the seat of my pants. I’m not much of a planner. When I write a story, I have the main plot and the characters well developed in my head, with a few points jotted down on paper, and I know how it will end. The middle part of the story tends to work itself out as I go along. The characters take the book where they want it to go. There is never a dull moment. I don’t have set times where I sit down to write. I write when inspiration strikes. I have note pads everywhere for that very reason.
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
HW: I would have to say Crayons and Chaos. I was looking for something to write while getting my completed manuscript for Making March ready for publication. My real-life experience of becoming an instant step mum with no kids of my own was the perfect inspiration for a good story. It was a fun story to write, as I didn’t need to look far for ideas. I started writing it in September last year.
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
HW: In Making March, the bride’s mother Marie, is the resident clown of the story. She is always up to no good, and embarrasses herself with her disgraceful behaviour. Her antics were fun to write about.
LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
HW: Marian Keyes is my favourite author. I am also a big fan of Sophie Kinsella and Helen Fielding. Bridget Jones’s Diary is my all-time favourite book, written by Helen Fielding. Both Crayons and Chaos and Making March are written in first-person point of view, in diary form, and were inspired by the book.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
HW: I think the pandemic has us all feeling a little down. My books are full of humour, and I am finding it hard to write funny at present. The next few months will be hard, as both myself and my partner work in health, on the frontline. This means we need to keep our distance from loved ones including his boys, my mum, and his mum and stepdad.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
HW: I am working on a third book, a novel titled Scattered Scones. It is about a fifty-two-year-old woman named Penny who receives a shock diagnosis, is unhappy in her marriage, and takes off on an impromptu crazy road trip with her bestie to try and reconnect with her estranged daughter from her first marriage before it’s too late. What she finds along the journey, is much more than accepting her diagnosis and learning to live again.
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
HW: If one person reads one of my books and I make them laugh, I have done my job as an author of light-hearted women’s’ fiction.