10 Tales of secrets, lies and family spies
MOST
bestselling authors will tell you about the hours of solitude spent in a lonely bolthole crafting their latest masterpiece.
But for literary powerhouse Adele Parks, she does it all with her husband in the next room.
Adele, the author of 17 Sunday Times bestsellers with sales of more than three million in the UK alone and in the top 1% of most-borrowed library authors, creates hit after hit while sounding-board husband, Jim, works in the room next door.
“We have quite an interesting domestic arrangement,” Adele smiled.
“Both of us work from home and we have converted two spare bedrooms into offices.
“He is a web designer, so it’s very rare when he isn’t able to talk to me when I go through to see him, but sometimes when he comes in to speak to me I’m in the middle of writing a really good scene.
“I suppose we’re quite spoiled, as we get to sit down together for lunch every day. Many years ago I used to work in advertising and he was in marketing, so we were used to lots of people around us and it was a very different atmosphere.
“Jim creates websites for authors, so he knows my profession, but his real strength is when I’m getting towards the end of a novel. I will always read the manuscript out loud to him and gauge his feelings.
“I can read him so well, so I know if he is glazing over or if he is really amused or emotional about a part.”
Adele, whose books have been translated into 26 languages, published her first book in 2000 and has enjoyed a bestseller every year since.
The 49-year-old puts her love of books down to her childhood in the Teesside village of Eaglescliffe, near Yarm, where her parents and elder sister still live.
“I don’t know if it was the time or the place I was brought up in, but we were very much encouraged to read,” she continued.
“When my sister or I were ill, we would be bought a book.
“When I realised this was the case, I would put talc on my face to look pale and sit next to a radiator to get a temperature and pretend I was unwell.
“I knew Mum would pick up an Enid Blyton book for me on the way back from dropping off my sister at school.
“We also had a very matriarchal family – my two nannies, two great grandmas and my aunties were all around as I grew up – and my sister and I would just sit and listen, taking it all in, as they talked with my mum. I think that gave me my authorial voice.”
Adele’s latest, I Invited Her In, is described as being in the “domestic noir” genre and is a darker tale than some of her previous novels.
It’s the tale of two old university friends, Mel and Abi, whose paths cross years later to set off an unsettling tale of jealousy, betrayal and revenge.
Adele, who has a teenage son, Conrad, pays little attention to genres – so long as you don’t call her books chick lit.
“New genres constantly seem to be invented,” said Adele.
“I remember with my first novel, Playing Away, I was asked by my editor if I wanted it to be marketed as a literary novel or a commercial novel and I asked what the difference was. I was told a literary novel would sell 7,000 copies and a commercial novel could sell 70,000, so I said I’ll have that one then!
“It’s become more sophisticated in genre classification since.
“All my books are about relationships – not necessarily romantic, as it could be parents and kids, friendship groups, and so on. I’ve also written historical novels.
“I just write the next book I want to write, the same as I read any book I want to read, and don’t think about genres.
“The chick lit label, however, does annoy me.
“The reason I get angry is that it’s defined by a gender, which nothing else is. If it’s a horror or a thriller you wouldn’t say it was for a certain gender, but chick lit is a woman writer only suitable for a woman reader.
“If you push that notion, does that mean women’s brains are incapable of reading more – or does it mean men can’t or won’t read about relationships?
“A chick is something very young, cute and fluffy – I’ve never been fluffy and I’m not cute!
“It’s derogatory and there is no male equivalent.
“The only time it comes in handy is in my roles with two literary charities.
“When I’m trying to make books seem unscary, chick lit is a very accessible term and I find it an easy way to introduce new readers to books.”
I Invited Her In is out this week.