‘My best writing advice? Get on with it!’

Meet Candice Carty-williams, one of 10 on our Women’s Prize Futures shortlist, who wrote Queenie after winning a place at a writing retreat run by bestselling author Jojo Moyes

The inspiration for Queenie was being a Black woman in my 20s and navigating all that life threw at me and my friends.

Was it hard to get published?

I worked in publishing, so knew what was floating about; what had been published, what was yet to be published, and there wasn’t anything around or on the horizon that spoke of my experience. I wanted to change that, and applied to Jojo Moyes’s writing retreat. I was clear about the fact I worked in publishing, wanted to tell the story I wanted to tell, but didn’t have the time, space or money to get anything on the page. Months later, I heard I’d been chosen and I remember thinking that it was the start of something. I borrowed a friend’s car, drove two hours to the retreat and as soon as I sat down to write, this story just came tumbling out.

By the end of the first night I’d written 8,000 words and, by the end of the retreat, I’d written 40,000. In the next few weeks I finished writing it, then I sent it to agent Jo Unwin, who immediately kept sending me lines from the book. I wasn’t sure if she liked the lines or was telling me to correct them. Turns out she did like them – and the whole book. She agreed to represent me, and sent the manuscript to publishers. Nine rejected Queenie, four offered to publish it, and I chose Orion.

What motivates you as an author?

Hoping young Black writers know their stories are valid, too.

What is your favourite book by a woman?

Here Comes The Sun by Nicole Dennis-benn. It’s a tale of love, heartbreak and women doing what they have to, even if it doesn’t serve them, to look after those they love. It’s set in Jamaica and I read it while I was there, and I felt so connected to the story.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

I can’t actually remember any, so I’ll give you the advice I tell myself: just get on with it!

What do you think you would be if you weren’t a writer?

I still want to do something that facilitates the needs of young people, such as running a youth centre. I used to go to this dilapidated youth centre in Ladywell every summer and it changed my life.

What do you hope to have achieved as a writer in 10 years’ time?

I hope that I can carry on reaching readers who can find themselves in any of the characters I write. The characters I’ve written, and continue to write, are complex, they’re far from perfect, but they try their best. And I think that that is all we can do.