On becoming a published author...

Claire Frances: author of 'To Hell With It'

Guest Blog:

My Journey to Becoming a Published Author

I’ve wanted to be an author since I was a little girl, although I don’t think I became fully aware of that until my twenties. I used to write mini-stories in the back seat of my parents’ car on our way to Cornwall for the summer holidays, and I would proudly read them out loud. I used to use their old typewriter in the dining room and still remember the buzz it gave me because it’s the same buzz I get now when I write.

I left school after my GCSEs at 17 and went to a college of Further Education. I used to go back to see my friends, who’d stayed on to study for their A Levels. I would show off that I could call my teachers by their first names, but really, I felt left behind, I hated the course, and had no idea what I was doing.  

There was one occasion when I had gone back to see my friends at my old school, and a teacher shouted out, in front of everyone: “Claire Frances, GET OUT! We can’t have all the wraiths and strays coming back in here.” 

To say I felt humiliated doesn’t quite cut it. I had gone through my entire school life believing I was stupid and having very little confidence, and I went into my adult life much the same. In fact, I always felt trapped at school, in relationships, and in jobs, and used to spend most of my time at school daydreaming out of the window, making up different stories in my head, and working out ways I could escape. 

All of my school reports said the same thing: “If Claire spent as much time concentrating on her school work as she does daydreaming out of the window, she’d do really well.”  

Fast forward a few years into my twenties, and I was renting a room at a friend’s house. I used to use his computer when he was working away and was compelled to write stories. I loved the feeling it gave me – it made me feel alive. I was quite lost back then, but I knew I wanted to write. 

I remember one day, reading the back of Cecelia Ahern’s book, PS, I Love You, and her biography. I saw that she was published by HarperCollins, and it hit me then. I thought: That is my dream. I’m going to have that one day. And I held on to that dream for over twenty years.

With only my GCSEs to my name, I started a part-time diploma writing course in the evenings and then went on to do a creative writing course with The Open University. I then applied for a job as a journalist at my local newspaper and was over the moon when I got the job. I worked there for two years but I got signed off with stress and left. It was then that I decided to apply for a master's in professional writing at a university. The course was distance learning, over two years. I had a portfolio of writing and the qualifications I’d gained part-time, and was so happy when I got accepted onto the course. I studied while working shifts in a pub and cleaning houses. At the end of the course, I had the first 15,000 words of a novel. 

Life took over, and the book got put in the drawer, but after marrying my husband and having children, I decided to try and finish it. When I finally did, I remember reading it through and crying. I hated it! I deleted every word apart from the first 350! I then started it again.  

A few months later, I enrolled in another writing course with Curtis Brown Creative and took six online courses. It was there that I met the most amazing group of writers, and at the end of the course, I received an email saying that they loved what I’d written and offered to help me submit to agents once I’d finished the book.

This was the incentive that I needed. Armed with no sleep (my babies didn’t sleep through the night, but they did in the car!), I’d drive up to the moors with my laptop, flask of tea, and a pasty, and get to work while they slept in the back – starting and stopping the engine when they stirred. I wrote my first book this way. 

Although I was told the book needed a lot of work, I was lucky enough to be offered representation. I stayed with the agent for 14 months and re-wrote the book four times, but the book got worse and worse, and, in the end, the agent and I parted ways. 

It was a daunting time because I knew how hard it was to get an agent, but I was so fortunate to find another one. We worked on the book for 8 months, but when it was nearly ready to go out on submission, the agent left the agency.

I made the decision to try and stay where I was, so I submitted my book to a different agent at the same agency, and thank goodness found Rachel, my agent at Mushens Entertainment. I re-wrote the book partially for the sixth time, and then it finally went out on submission. 

I sat back and waited for the book deal because I honestly thought that I’d get one. But it didn’t come. I didn’t get a book deal. I was absolutely gutted - four years and six rewrites later, and nothing! 

After picking myself back up again, I started another book, got 17,000 words in, but I just wasn’t feeling it. That was when my agent said, ‘Don’t be afraid to start again.’ And I thought to myself, well, I’ve been doing that for most of my life. So, I did. 

I told her about an idea I had for a book about an Irish woman called Pearl, who suffers from severe OCD and never leaves her village but goes on an epic adventure in search of a real connection. 

And she said, ‘Go for it!’ So, I did…

It took four months to write the first draft of To Hell With It. Having lived with OCD for most of my life, I drew on my own experiences and turned them into fiction to help me write the book, which at times I found quite confronting. But I wanted to shine a light on OCD because not many people know how debilitating it can be for the sufferer, and their loved ones. I also wanted to help those suffering with OCD to feel seen.

The book went out on submission soon after. And then something wonderful happened... I got offered a two-book deal with my dream publisher, HarperCollins, One More Chapter, who told me my book reminded them of Holly’s adventures in PS, I Love You! I couldn’t believe it! Better still, Cecelia Ahern said she’d read the proof – I felt like I’d come full circle! 

I don’t know if she’s read it yet. I know she doesn’t post about books she doesn’t like, and I am constantly checking her Instagram to see if she has! She’s been my inspiration for over twenty years, and it would mean everything to me if she likes To Hell With It.

Sometimes, I think back to that teacher who shouted at me to get out and the school reports about daydreaming out of the window, and I think to myself, ‘Daydreaming out of the window for this wraith and stray turned out pretty well!’

When it was all going wrong, a lot of people said to me that they were surprised I hadn’t given up, and I was always a bit taken aback by this. For me, giving up was just never an option. 

Because you don’t give up on something you love.

More insights on To Hell With It:

·         To Hell With It is a tribute to my grandmother who was born and raised in Drangan, where half of the book is set. She used to say to me “To hell with it!” whenever I was upset to make me feel better so I feel like she’s cheering me on from heaven. She is weaved throughout the pages of the book.

·         It was an editor’s Kindle Pick on Amazon and was picked for Amazon First Reads.

·         To Hell With It was in the top 100 in Kindle for disability fiction.

·         I also got a book deal with a publisher in the Netherlands and the book has been translated into Dutch.

Click for Claire's Book