Tara Hanks interview

Tara Hanks is the author of Wicked Baby and The MMM Girl MMM Girl cover Tara Hanks

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Ilford, on the edge of East London and Essex . My mother is Irish, and my father, a Londoner, worked as a jeweller. He also lectures in gemmology. I lived in Ilford until I was seventeen, when we moved to Croydon in South London . Each summer we’d stay at my grandmother’s house in Dundalk .

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

My dad read me stories every morning and night when I was a child. We didn’t have television, so reading was very important to me. The first stories I wrote were cartoon strips, inspired by girls’ comics. It was in my early twenties while at university when I started to write poems. Then after graduating, I moved to Brighton and joined a writers’ workshop where I wrote short stories. After a year or two I decided to try a novel, so I jumped in at the deep end.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

I enjoy English writers from the 1930s, like Patrick Hamilton and Jean Rhys – their depiction of urban low life struck a chord with me at a time when my circumstances were quite similar. Emile Zola and other social realists of the 19th century for their skill at portraying people from different backgrounds, and by contrast, romantics like Emily Bronte for their isolation and devotion to nature. American writers like Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck, and Charles Bukowski who has a distinctive, unique voice. I’m also inspired by Russian literature, from Anna Akhmatova to Dostoyevsky, and Alberto Moravia whose satirical novels set in fascist Italy are so powerfully evocative. And more recently, I enjoyed Arthur Golden’s Memoirs Of A Geisha and Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend.

What kind of things do you write?

My novels are based on real events, including the Profumo Affair and the life of Marilyn Monroe. I try to dig through the rumour mill and try to imagine how it would feel to be in their situation. My aim is to get past the layers of myth and find the humanity behind the images we’ve become so familiar with. Although my books aren’t based on my own life, I need to feel an empathy with my characters – so that I can relate my experience to theirs. I try to stay as close to fact as possible – the imaginative part comes from suspending judgement and standing in someone else’s shoes.

What are you working on now?

I’ve just finished The Mmm Girl and am busy with promotion. My next novel will be set during the witch-hunts of the 17th century. While at college I lived close to a castle where many witches were been tried and hung in the past. So now I feel ready to explore that subject and my feelings towards it.

What is your writing day like?

I have young children, and my routine is based around them. During the day I work on research, promotion and editing. Then at night when my children go to bed, I write. I’m fairly spontaneous and disorganised, but when I find real inspiration, I have to see it through.

What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?

The feeling of being on a journey that, however well-planned, is unpredictable.

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

I often feel rather sad and lost when I finish writing something. I find it hard to let go and have to stop myself from changing too much.

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

When somebody not only enjoys my work, but gets to the heart of whatever I’m trying to express. That’s when I feel that I’ve communicated clearly, and been understood.

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

I write the kind of books that I’d like to read, or at least that’s the plan. I don’t really think about trying to reach a particular audience, because it can become inhibiting.

Do you have a homepage? Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):

My website: http://www.tarahanks.org/

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