About Nigel
Nigel May is a TV presenter and journalist. As a writer he has written
for many of the UK’s most successful magazines and newspapers,
specialising in showbiz and celebrity, as well as writing on subjects
ranging from relationships through to travel. His first two novels Trinity
and Addicted were instant bestsellers. Addicted is currently in the
Kindle Top 100.
Hello Nigel welcome to Booky Ramblings of a Neurotic Mom
Was there anything particular that inspired you to start your journey of being an author?
I worked for many years as a showbiz journalist so writing has always been my first love. I interviewed celebrities and had countless articles published which was wonderful. I kind of fell into working on TV though around about the year 2000 and what with one thing and another I stopped writing. Then about six years ago I suddenly had a real pang to write again. I live away from London so writing for magazines and newspapers wasn’t going to be so easy so I thought ‘why not write a book’. It is something that I had always longed to do and I had a few ideas bouncing around inside my brain, so I sat down on my days off and started to write my first novel, Trinity. It was such a joy to do.
What would you say is the hardest part of writing/publishing a book for you?
I think starting and plotting out the book is always pretty hard as you want to make sure that you are moving in the right direction from the beginning. I jot down ideas for plotlines as and when they come to me. Sometimes by the time I am ready to start a novel I may have lots of different strands ready to explore. I think making sense of them all and deciding which ones to keep and which ones to sideline is always hard too. And edits are really hard sometimes when you have finished a book. Cutting out chunks that you may have spent days writing is never easy.
If you could only read four books for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Great question! Well, apart from my three of course (which I would keep stashed away from sight so that they didn’t count as one of my four choices!) I would say And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie as it’s brilliant writing, Lace by Shirley Conran as it inspired me to write a gripping saga, Divas Las Vegas by Belinda Jones as one of the characters is based on me and Belinda is an amazing authoress and finally any of The Hardy Boys books as they were my favourite when I was a kid.
Do you and your main character share any personality traits?
My main characters are normally always women, so gender wise we are completely different! I suppose I have traits that pop up in some of my characters though. In Scandalous Lies the main character is Georgia, who is hunting for her best friend Mitzi after she disappears. Georgia doubts herself a lot which I suppose is a trait I can definitely relate to. She is determined though and I am definitely that. If I believe that something can be done, then I will strive to do everything I possibly can to try and achieve it.
If you could live in any book what book which would it be?
Tales Of The City by Armistead Maupin. It’s a charming tale of life in San Francisco and the relationships between a group of misfits who all become friends, lovers, colleagues, enemies, mentors etc. It’s such an uplifting read, as is the entire series that follows it. When I went to San Francisco I had to visit the place the plotline is based on as a kind of pilgrimage.
Where do your ideas for your books come from? Dreams? Music?
Anywhere and everywhere. Although you are spot on with dreams. I am able to remember most of my dreams and sometimes I have woken up with a character name in my head. There’s a stripper in my second book, Addicted, called Twinkle Stimulation (it’s her stage name) and that actually came to me in a dream about somebody trying to get into America but they were denied entry as their passport name said Twinkle Stimulation and their real name was Claire. Weird, eh?
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Three words…..never give up. Oh, and write about something that you enjoy.
Scandalous Lies
Lovers and liars, divas and sinners, welcome to a world of scandal, where one woman will pay the ultimate price. SUSPENSE: Georgia’s best friend, ballroom dancing sensation Mitzi, has vanished with boyfriend Foster while on holiday in California. Can Georgia get to the truth of their disappearance before it’s too late?
SECRETS: Reality TV star Nova could give the Kardashians a run for their money. But while she allows millions of viewers into her fabulous home, she’s unaware what her husband, celebrity mogul Jacob, is up to behind closed doors …
SEX: Tanya is filthy rich, married to a man who adores her but she is restless. And her sexual appetite is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.
SCANDAL: Victoria, once the trophy-wife, has lost her mojo. Determined to get her life and marriage back on track, she’s desperate to inject some excitement in her life – but at what cost?
From the glitz of Hollywood to the glamour of Milan and the exotic luxury of India, Scandalous Lies is a deliciously unputdownable read.
Links
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Nigel_May
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