WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
Inspired by her long career in the media industry, former Cosmo editor Vanessa Raphaely has penned her debut novel, Plus One. Oh, and she made 22 000+ new friends online…
We chat to former Cosmo editor Vanessa Raphaely about her debut novel, Plus One
t’s still so strange seeing people carrying my book,’ says Vanessa Raphaely when she spots a copy of Plus One peeking out of my bag. ‘Having people telling me how much they loved it, people that I don’t know – it’s so surreal.’ We are sitting on the patio of her Cape Town home where she lives with her architect husband, Simmy Peerutin, their three children (18-year-old Milla, 17-year-old Max and 12-year-old Leo), two dogs (Lionel the Frenchie, and Biscuit the chocolate lab) and a string of ‘adopted’ children who invade their home on weekends. The name Raphaely is tied to publishing and women’s media in SA; her mother Jane was the founding editor of FAIRLADY back in 1965 before creating Associated Media Publishing (AMP) over 30 years ago, and Vanessa herself spent 30 years in media, mostly at AMP, before stepping down in 2015. But it was only after leaving her full-time job as content director there that she decided to do the thing that scared her the most: write a book.
‘I had worked very hard for a number of years, and suddenly I didn’t have any work. So I thought that I should try something that would be a huge challenge for me; purely to overcome some self-doubt I had carried for many years.’
She also finally had the time to sit down and write. ‘It’s such a privilege, if you are a woman, to be able to focus on one thing. You have to sacrifice something to write a book, and if you are in the lucky space where you’ve got time – the kids are in school and you are not being pulled in a million directions – you’ve got that wonderful moment. And I just filled it.’
Three years and 16 drafts later, her novel Plus One was finally ready.
‘I respect authors enormously. Instead of being inspired by authors, I was intimidated by them. I thought to myself, “I can’t dare to do this.”’
The novel tells the story of Lisa Lassiter, deputy editor of a glossy fashion magazine, FILLE. Lisa’s good friend Claudia Hemmingway, a gorgeous actress on the brink of stardom, gets invited to all the biggest parties – with Lisa as her go-to plus one. When Claudia snags an invite to a luxurious weekend on a billionaire’s yacht in Mykonos, Lisa joins her, expecting a weekend of rubbing shoulders with VIP guests, fun, sunshine and champagne. But things quickly take a dark turn.
‘Everyone on that yacht has a secret; no one is truly who they seem to be,’ says Vanessa. ‘The repercussions of that night follow them for the next 10 years.’
It’s hard not to connect the dots between Vanessa’s life and her novel.
‘It’s definitely not autobiographical, but people do say “write what you know,” so I did,’ she says. ‘I did have a couple of boyfriends who were very successful in Hollywood and still are. I found myself there as an observer – professionally and socially.’
‘I guess in some way, when I was living that part of my life I was taking snapshots for the older me, and maybe for the writer in me. A lot of it is stuff that did happen – and still does.’
Vanessa’s story unexpectedly became even more topical in the wake of the #MeToo and #Times Up movements. ‘You can’t live in the world I’ve lived in, or be a woman living in the world in general, in fact, and not have that as part of your lived experiences.’
Though she’s been swept away by the response to her book, Vanessa still feels insecure about exposing that part of herself to so many people.
‘I always said I’d never write a book because I can’t write for toffee,’ she laughs, ‘but it’s more than that. It’s because I’m a proper fangirl. Books have been constant companions for me and I respect authors enormously. Instead of being inspired by authors, I was intimidated by them. I thought to myself, “I can’t dare to do this”.
‘It took a very long time to get it right, and that lack of confidence and that feeling of “Who do I think I am?” stayed with me throughout the whole process. But you have to push past that and just do it.’
When she’s not writing or promoting Plus One, you’d probably find Vanessa chatting to some of the 22 570* members of The Village, the extremely successful Facebook parenting group she co-founded and runs. She started the group in 2017 with her psychologist friend Megan De Beyer, for parents who need support and advice.
‘Raising teenagers was really hard. And at the time I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do next with my life. So I thought I might as well go on Facebook and gather a few people around me; create a little group so we could help each other.
‘It’s funny because I was never really interested in children,’ she says. ‘But what I was interested in, and still am, is women.’
The group gets hundreds of new members each week and has become a haven for mothers (and fathers).
‘It’s a very warm, generous and kind space, which is very unusual for Facebook groups. It really feels like I have 22 570 best friends,’ she says.
Vanessa believes The Village has the potential to be more than just a group on Facebook.
‘The Village has evolved into a proper community, which I think is pretty amazing. We are developing a website and we’re looking into possibly creating a business, but it’s still a work in progress.’
And for fans of Plus One, not to worry: it won’t be the last novel we get to read from Vanessa.
‘I have all these unfinished ideas that are in ICU, holding on for dear life, waiting for me to work on them!’✤ * Correct at the time of going to print