Joanna Rees – Romantic Adventures

Joanna Rees writes sweeping romantic adventures that combine mystery, romance and glamorous international settings. There’s a hint of Jackie Collins or Shirley Conran in her heroines, girls like Vita, the heroine of her A Stitch In Time historical fiction series. The second book in the series, The Hidden Wife, is a story of creativity and courage, living in the turbulent and freeing times of 1920s Paris and London and then 1929 Hollywood coming up next. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and Joanna talks about the dream start she had in writing – with an early book that went to the top of the best seller charts and was made into a movie – and the ups and downs life has brought since, including facing down breast cancer and writing about it in a novel, a funny novel, which will be out next year. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: A working relationship that ended in marriage &#8220;Instant&#8221; success &#8211; and ups and downs The shock of breast cancer The serendipitous meeting with novelist Jeffrey Archer Tackling controversial topics with humor On being the &#8220;ultimate chatter box&#8221; Where to find Joanna Rees:&#160; Website: https://mumwritesbooks.wordpress.com/ Blog: https://mumwritesbooks.wordpress.com/ Facebook: @joannareesbooks Twitter: @joannareesbooks Her husband author Emlyn Rees: https://emlynrees.com/ What follows is a &#8220;near as&#8221; transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Jenny Wheeler: But now, here&#8217;s Joanna. Hello there, Joanna, and welcome to the show. It&#8217;s great to have you with us. Joanna Rees: Jenny, thank you so much for inviting me. I&#8217;m thrilled to be on, and I love the podcasts. I&#8217;m very excited to have a chat today across the other side of the world. I&#8217;m in slightly stormy Brighton in the UK. Joanna Rees &#8211; historical adventures Jenny Wheeler: Yes, it&#8217;s lovely. Beginning at the beginning, was there a once upon a time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction, and if so, was there a catalyst for it? Joanna Rees: Well, yes. I always was a writer. Mainly I was a talker actually, it&#8217;s by accident I became a writer. I would have probably been better off doing what you&#8217;re doing, a podcast or radio. When I was little, I was a terrible chatterbox and I had an older sister who I&#8217;m very close to, who was a real bookworm. She used to love reading books. My mother used to take us to London – we lived in Essex, which is about 30 miles away from London, but my grandmother lived in London. I always loved London. We used to go and see her at the weekend in the car, and I used to always want to chat and my sister wanted to read, and so my mother gave me a book and said, just write everything down. Thus followed this ridiculous long diary entry of ‘we&#8217;re at the traffic lights’, ‘oh no, they just changed’ – me trying to record the journey as we went. But my dear Nanna in London would patiently sit down and listen to some of the stuff I&#8217;d written. The writer&#8217;s fantasy life That was my first inkling that I could entertain people with my writing. Skip forward and I went through school and to university. I did an English drama degree and I always wanted to be a novelist. I always had this vision that I would be rolling up to Harrods in a great white stretch limo in my beautiful trouser suit, signing for my fans. I had ridiculous fantasies about it. Anyway, then I got sucked into real life, waitressing and terrible jobs. Eventually I got this job as a copywriter for an agency. You know cereal packets, when you have your cereal in the morning, and you have promotions on the back. We had sugar puffs and I was writing Honey Monster’s Soccer Pop-Up’s. I was suddenly like, I don&#8217;t want to be doing this. I want to be writing a novel. Why am I at 10 o&#8217;clock on a Friday night, in the office, still trying to close this all down. It really wasn&#8217;t what I wanted to do. Never Miss out! Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts. Yes please to FREE BOOKS and updates on popular books We won&#8217;t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] *{box-sizing:border-box;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] legend{border:none;font-size:inherit;margin-bottom:10px;padding:0;position:relative;display:table;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] fieldset{border:0;padding:0.01em 0 0 0;margin:0;min-width:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] body:not(:-moz-handler-blocked) fieldset{display:table-cell;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h1,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h2,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h3,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h4,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h5,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h6{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]){text-align:left;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] hr:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]){color:inherit;font-style:initial;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .ordered-list,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .unordered-list{list-style-position:outside !important;padding-left:1em;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .list-item{padding-left:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="modal"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="slide in"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:none;}.formkit-sticky-bar .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-select,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-checkboxes{width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{border:0;border-radius:5px;color:#ffffff;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-align:center;font-size:15px;font-weight:500;cursor:pointer;margin-bottom:15px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:relative;vertical-align:middle;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus > span{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit > span{display:block;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;padding:12px 24px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input{background:#ffffff;font-size:15px;padding:12px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;line-height:1.4;margin:0;-webkit-transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:focus{outline:none;border-color:#1677be;-webkit-transition:border-color ease 300ms;transition:border-color ease 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-webkit-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-moz-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:-ms-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]{position:relative;display:inline-block;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]::before{content:"";top:calc(50% - 2.5px);right:10px;position:absolute;pointer-events:none;border-color:#4f4f4f transparent transparent transparent;border-style:solid;border-width:6px 6px 0 6px;height:0;width:0;z-index:999;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select{height:auto;width:100%;cursor:pointer;color:#333333;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:0;padding:0 6px;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;appearance:none;font-size:15px;padding:12px;padding-right:25px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"]{text-align:left;margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]{margin-bottom:10px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] *{cursor:pointer;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]:last-of-type{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"] + label::after{content:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::after{border-color:#ffffff;content:"";}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::before{background:#10bf7a;border-color:#10bf7a;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label{position:relative;display:inline-block;padding-left:28px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{position:absolute;content:"";display:inline-block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before{height:16px;width:16px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;left:0px;top:3px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{height:4px;width:8px;border-left:2px solid #4d4d4d;border-bottom:2px solid #4d4d4d;-webkit-transform:rotate(-45deg);-ms-transform:rotate(-45deg);transform:rotate(-45deg);left:4px;top:8px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert{background:#f9fafb;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:5px;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;list-style:none;margin:25px auto;padding:12px;text-align:center;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert:empty{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-success{background:#d3fbeb;border-color:#10bf7a;color:#0c905c;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-error{background:#fde8e2;border-color:#f2643b;color:#ea4110;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;height:0px;width:0px;margin:0 auto;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;width:0px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div{margin:auto;width:12px;height:12px;background-color:#fff;opacity:0.3;border-radius:100%;display:inline-block;-webkit-animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(1){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.32s;animation-delay:-0.32s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(2){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.16s;animation-delay:-0.16s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner{opacity:1;height:100%;width:50px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner ~ span{opacity:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;width:100%;z-index:5;margin:10px 0;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;background-color:#ffffff;border:1px solid #dce1e5;border-radius:4px;color:#373f45;cursor:pointer;display:block;height:36px;margin:0 auto;opacity:0.95;padding:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-indent:100%;-webkit-transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;width:190px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:focus{background-color:#ffffff;-webkit-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);-ms-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);opacity:1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="dark"],.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{background-color:transparent;border-color:transparent;width:166px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{color:#ffffff;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}@-webkit-keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}@keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote{padding:10px 20px;margin:0 0 20px;border-left:5px solid #e1e1e1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .seva-custom-content{padding:15px;font-size:16px;color:#fff;mix-blend-mode:difference;} .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{border:1px solid #e3e3e3;max-width:700px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-background{width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;background-size:cover;background-position:center;opacity:0.3;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:20px;width:100%;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-header{margin:0 0 27px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-subheader{margin:18px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee{font-size:13px;margin:10px 0 15px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee > p{margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-fields{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;margin:25px auto 0 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field{min-width:220px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 0 15px 0;-webkit-flex:1 0 100%;-ms-flex:1 0 100%;flex:1 0 100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:40px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"]{margin-left:-5px;margin-right:-5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 5px 15px 5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field{-webkit-flex:100 1 auto;-ms-flex:100 1 auto;flex:100 1 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{-webkit-flex:1 1 auto;-ms-flex:1 1 auto;flex:1 1 auto;} I had this epiphany moment at 25, and I thought, if I don&#8217;t write a novel, I never will. Chucked in my job, dumped my boyfriend, sold the car, got a job as a waitress and a tiny little computer, and wrote my first novel. And that was that. Jenny Wheeler: Fantastic. You&#8217;ve got a wonderful story on your website about that decision, that it was your ‘following your dream’ decision. It was a pretty amazing, courageous thing to do at 25, but it also opened another doorway in your life that has had long-term consequences, didn&#8217;t it? Tell us about that. Young in swinging London Joanna Rees: I was mid-twenties and at that time, it was the mid-nineties, and it was so much fun in London. I had a little flat on Portobello Road and I was having a great time and I was loving writing my novel, but I was terminally single. There were lots of boyfriends around, but nothing serious and I thought, where is my prince? Where is the guy? I thought if I follow my dream to write, I will definitely find the man of my dreams. I was invited to go to write for a website. This is how long ago it is, Jenny. We were invited to go for an interview for a website. What was a website? We had no idea what a website was. First bestseller a joint book with her husband Anyway, we were going to be interviewed for Guardian website about first time novelists and I was going with Emlyn, who was my agent&#8217;s assistant, who I met briefly in Curtis Brown when I first got my book deal. We went and met in this pub, it was ironically called The Front Page, and I thought, he&#8217;s nice. He was going out with somebody and it was not a romantic thing, but we were both in the same boat. We both had our first novels published, and we were writing our second novels whilst working and trying to keep everything afloat. Anyway, we became friends. He became a confidant because we were in totally different social swims. We would go out and chat about our lives and what we were doing, how hard writing was, and all the various people that we were seeing. And we were totally at loggerheads about how to deal with things. Learning how to co-write He would say, that guy’s never going to call you, and I was like, oh my God, you cannot behave like this in the office. So we became confidants and one night we got very drunk and he said, you know what? We should write this down, this is really funny. And I went, yeah, that&#8217;s a good idea. Anyway, I woke up the next morning with a shocking hangover and Emlyn rang me from the office. It was one of those moments where you say yes, and it changes the whole course of your life, because he rang me and said, do you remember what we were talking about last night? And I went, oh, what did I say? He said, you know, it&#8217;s about us writing a novel together. Do you want to do it? I went, yes, I really do. So he then went away and wrote this first chapter, taking all his experience and all of his mates’ experience and wrote this kind of Jack the lad guy called Jack and took it up to the cliffhanger moment where he turns around and sees this girl in a nightclub, and then handed me the book at that point and said, over to you, you write it now. So I wrote the chapter of Amy. We had no idea how it was going to work, but when we put the two chapters together, we knew we had comedy gold and we gave it to the agents and the agents went nuts and there was a massive book auction. Suddenly we were thrown together on the front pages, having had this massive book deal. My friends are like, who&#8217;s Emlyn? What’s going on? And that was that. Then we wrote together. We wrote Come Together. That’s how we got together. An unexpected first hit Jenny Wheeler: That became a film as well, didn&#8217;t it? &#160; Joanna Rees: It was made to into a Working Title film and it was published in 26 languages, so we became very successful on the back of it. We were writing together, but we had two book contracts, so we wrote Come Together and Come Again. We went abroad. When we look back on it now, it&#8217;s hilarious because we were very famous and it was a great laugh. We thought every book was going to be like that because we were in all the papers and on the television. Our children now embarrass us terribly by finding old YouTube clips of us on nineties television programs. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/jenny-wheeler/2020/11/Come-Again-cover.jpg" alt="Come Again - follow up book with Emlyn Rees" class="wp-image-6938" width="310" height="310" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/jenny-wheeler/2020/11/Come-Again-cover.jpg 500w, https://storage.googleapis.com/jenny-wheeler/2020/11/Come-Again-cover-300x300.jpg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/jenny-wheeler/2020/11/Come-Again-cover-150x150.jpg 150w, https://storage.googleapis.com/jenny-wheeler/2020/11/Come-Again-cover-75x75.jpg 75w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px" />Come Again &#8211; follow up book with Emlyn Rees That&#8217;s how we got together. We had this very Victorian relationship because we were writing together, we were being very constricted by the whole thing. It was magical, it was a brilliant way of getting together. Jenny Wheeler: When did it turn from being a working writing partnership into a romance and a marriage? Joanna Rees: We were writing this warts and all book about 20 something life. It was about this couple who meet, they get on really well, they get drunk, they jump into bed together, and then they have to deal with the consequences, the fallout of the fact that they actually like each other. Whereas for us, we were very Victorian. It was like an old-fashioned romance of letters in a way because Emlyn would write a chapter and then give it to me and I&#8217;d be like, you can&#8217;t do that to my character! I&#8217;d roll up my sleeves and go, right, I&#8217;m going to get you back, and I would write the chapter back, so we had this correspondence going on. Working relationship turns to love We&#8217;d see each other a lot and I’d say, is that you, did you do that, did I, what happened? Eventually we landed up being in a situation – it was very near the end of the book – and I said to Emlyn, are we going to talk about this? He said, what do you mean, talk about what? I said, this, between us, and he went, absolutely not, and left the restaurant. It was like, oh, that didn&#8217;t really go to plan. Anyway, he came back three minutes later and went, there are ten good reasons why we can&#8217;t get together. And I stood up and kissed him, and that was that. We’d fallen in love, you see, and then we had to sort out ourselves to the publishers, but that became part of the story of how the book was promoted, that we were together. It was really good fun, we were having such a laugh and we&#8217;re very lucky. Unlike the fiction we wrote, falling in love the old fashioned way where you get to know somebody really well, and you fall in love with their head rather than everything else, that&#8217;s the way to do it. Jenny Wheeler: That&#8217;s a wonderful line. Have you ever got to use it in a book – there are ten reasons we shouldn’t be falling in love? Joanna Rees: Not yet. One day. It’s funny because at the time we were very much writing about our own experiences, but then we were starting to write books that were romantic comedies, but they also have darker elements. Finding new directions Emlyn is a thriller writer so he&#8217;s always trying to get a body under the basement. There&#8217;s always a body under the patio or something. He wanted to have this darker element in it, which was fun, but also we didn&#8217;t want to plunder our lives for the fiction we were writing. We were offered the chance of carrying on with Jack and Amy, and writing Jack and Amy have a baby, and all the friends, and they’re moving out of London and it felt too close to home and too raw. We didn&#8217;t do that. We wrote seven novels together and then we decided to go in slightly separate directions. Blockbuster style books &#8211; Joanna Rees I&#8217;ve always wanted it to be Jackie Collins, you see. I wrote this big book called Platinum, which is three women taking revenge on a nasty Russian oligarch. It was so much fun to write this big book, big plot. I&#8217;m a bit of a magpie, Jenny. I like a bit of thriller and I like a bit of intrigue and I like a bit of romance. I wanted to expand my writing, not just writing contemporary stuff. Jenny Wheeler: That&#8217;s a nice way to move on to talking about how your writing has evolved. The most recent books you&#8217;ve published are historical fiction in a series called A Stitch in Time. You&#8217;ve got two of them out so far, and the third one&#8217;s coming soon, and they are set in England and France and finally move to Hollywood in the later twenties. Talk to us about A Stitch in Time. Joanna Rees: I wanted to channel my inner flapper girl. I love musicals, I love going to theater – 42nd Street, all those big musicals. I’ve always loved a big spectacular musical and I&#8217;ve always loved that period of the 1920s. I remember watching Midnight in Paris, the Woody Allen film, but before that, there was Bugsy Malone and all those stories that evolved this era. Historic novels set in the Jazz Age When I looked into it, the late twenties were a very interesting time for women. They were a liberating time, women were doing all sorts of wonderful things, but it’s also this time of jazz and music. On the surface, everything is quite genteel, but there&#8217;s this current of youth and fun and exuberance. I wanted to write about that. The first one is called The Runaway Daughter, and it&#8217;s about our girl, Anna Darton. She runs away from the Darton Mill because she thinks she&#8217;s killed her brother, Clement. He is really evil. He&#8217;d be so much fun to write, he&#8217;s such a baddy. Anyway, she runs away on a steam train and arrives in London penniless, clueless, scared, then ill, then really worried about what she&#8217;s going to do. The Runaway Daughter &#8211; Joanna Rees She gets scooped up by lapsed, debutante, American Nancy, who mistakes her for someone else and whisks her off to an audition at the Zip Club, which I&#8217;ve made up, but it&#8217;s very much based on a club by Trafalgar Square, right in the middle of London. It’s this underground, seedy, late night review place run by this terrible guy called Jack Connelly. There&#8217;s a group of dancers there, and on the way, Nancy renames Anna, Vita. She says, I&#8217;m going to call you Vita, because she likes Vita Sackville-West. So Vita Casey is born. Anna completely reinvents herself and becomes this flapper girl and falls in with Nancy and this crowd. She&#8217;s hiding her identity the whole time and learning as she goes along, winging it basically. She&#8217;s terribly scared she&#8217;s going to be found out for being an imposter, but she has this brilliant time. She falls in with Percy, who does all the costumes on the side. He&#8217;s a West End costumer, but he does all the dancing girls costumes and she&#8217;s quite well endowed herself, she&#8217;s got quite a bust which is not fashionable at that time, so she wants to create a bra she can move in. She invents this bra and underwear line called Top Drawer Underwear. Paris fashion in the 20s The girls all help her, and she gets into the shops with it. It’s the story of the birth of an underwear empire. She&#8217;s really creative and she finds her creativity, but her past is catching up with her. In the background, rumbling on, is this whole thing where she&#8217;s going to get found out and caught. I won&#8217;t tell you what happens because I&#8217;m not going to give the plot away, but she has to run away to Paris. The second one is in Paris and it&#8217;s called The Hidden Wife. She&#8217;s in Paris now, which is very exciting and, oh, that was fun to write. We went on a family mission to go there and have a look around because there is quite a lot of 1920s Paris that is still there, all the old buildings are there with the old restaurants and stuff. Jenny Sacerdote painted in 1921 A very interesting thing happened because I wanted Vita to be working for a fashion designer to learn fashion. I didn&#8217;t want it to be Coco Chanel because everybody knows Coco Chanel and she was around at that time in Paris. Anyway, I was looking it up and I found a very old Vogue article from 1928 featuring this woman called Jenny Sacerdote, who was a big designer at the time. She had purpose-built offices on the Champs Élysées and she dressed everyone – the Queen of Japan, Fred Astaire&#8217;s mother and sister, Mary Pickford, she had all these celebrities coming to her office. There was a website still of Jenny Sacerdote, so I emailed. I said, this is a bit of a strange one, but I am an author from England, and I would like to use Jenny Sacerdote in my book. An amazing lifework renewed Could you tell me some more information? I got this amazing email back from Anne who runs Jenny Sacerdote. She told me this fantastic story, and this was really fun for research and quite a lot of it went in the book. Jenny Sacerdote was born in the late 1800s in a very small town in the Dordogne in France. She was very bright, but she never knew her father, she was an only child. There was a bit of a stigma attached to it at the time, where she lived, but she was very, very bright and she became a Professor of Languages. She was quite highly qualified, and at about the age of 30 she thought, I don&#8217;t want to do this, I want to be in fashion. Bless her, she went to Paris, set up her own fashion house, which became so successful that she landed up going to the Champs Élysées. Jenny Sacerdote &#8211; known for beautiful dresses She was a massive workaholic, and she was quite a celebrity in her day. Then the war came, and she was quite old by that point – in the 1940s, she was in her seventies, and she didn&#8217;t have any descendants. So the whole brand disintegrated and that was it – it was gone. A hundred years later, this lovely woman Anne, who was herself doing marketing stuff at the age of 30, went, I want to be in fashion. She had always known about Jenny Sacerdote because her dad had come from the same little village in the Dordogne, so she&#8217;d known about this local celebrity made good. She did a bit of research and she found all these amazing drawings Jenny had done in the twenties. She made the first uniform, she was actually the one who invented the little black dress, she did all these incredible dancing, amazing costumes and beautiful dresses. The Sister Returns ends series Anne has revamped the brand. She now makes these 1920s dresses that Jenny Sacerdote designed, for a modern audience. I had to buy myself a couture dress, obviously. I bought a flapper girl dress, which features in the book, which was very exciting. So I have Vita going to go to work for her, and that&#8217;s really fun.&#160; Now I have nearly finished The Sister Returns, which is proving quite tricky to pull it all together at the end. It&#8217;s easy puffing life into a book but getting it all in at the end is quite difficult. That is set in New York in 1929 and in Hollywood in 1930. Now I&#8217;m looking at all the beautiful costumes in Hollywood and all those big sets and the MGM lot and it&#8217;s so much fun. It’s really an excuse to set books in the period I would love to go and travel too. Jenny Wheeler: The Hidden Wife, for people who haven&#8217;t read it yet, finishes with her boarding a liner to go to America, doesn&#8217;t it? The door is open for this next exciting chapter in her life at the end of The Hidden Wife. It is nicely set up for the next stage. Joanna Rees: Yes. I&#8217;ve never tried a trilogy before. I&#8217;ve written loads and loads of books, but it&#8217;s quite fun writing a trilogy because you know your character, so you can have real fun with it. Also, there are certain constraints because they can only do so much. Never Miss out! Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts. Yes please to FREE BOOKS and updates on popular books We won&#8217;t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] *{box-sizing:border-box;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] legend{border:none;font-size:inherit;margin-bottom:10px;padding:0;position:relative;display:table;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] fieldset{border:0;padding:0.01em 0 0 0;margin:0;min-width:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] body:not(:-moz-handler-blocked) fieldset{display:table-cell;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h1,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h2,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h3,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h4,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h5,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h6{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]){text-align:left;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] hr:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]){color:inherit;font-style:initial;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .ordered-list,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .unordered-list{list-style-position:outside !important;padding-left:1em;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .list-item{padding-left:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="modal"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="slide in"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:none;}.formkit-sticky-bar .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-select,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-checkboxes{width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{border:0;border-radius:5px;color:#ffffff;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-align:center;font-size:15px;font-weight:500;cursor:pointer;margin-bottom:15px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:relative;vertical-align:middle;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus > span{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit > span{display:block;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;padding:12px 24px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input{background:#ffffff;font-size:15px;padding:12px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;line-height:1.4;margin:0;-webkit-transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:focus{outline:none;border-color:#1677be;-webkit-transition:border-color ease 300ms;transition:border-color ease 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-webkit-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-moz-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:-ms-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]{position:relative;display:inline-block;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]::before{content:"";top:calc(50% - 2.5px);right:10px;position:absolute;pointer-events:none;border-color:#4f4f4f transparent transparent transparent;border-style:solid;border-width:6px 6px 0 6px;height:0;width:0;z-index:999;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select{height:auto;width:100%;cursor:pointer;color:#333333;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:0;padding:0 6px;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;appearance:none;font-size:15px;padding:12px;padding-right:25px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"]{text-align:left;margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]{margin-bottom:10px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] *{cursor:pointer;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]:last-of-type{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"] + label::after{content:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::after{border-color:#ffffff;content:"";}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::before{background:#10bf7a;border-color:#10bf7a;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label{position:relative;display:inline-block;padding-left:28px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{position:absolute;content:"";display:inline-block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before{height:16px;width:16px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;left:0px;top:3px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{height:4px;width:8px;border-left:2px solid #4d4d4d;border-bottom:2px solid #4d4d4d;-webkit-transform:rotate(-45deg);-ms-transform:rotate(-45deg);transform:rotate(-45deg);left:4px;top:8px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert{background:#f9fafb;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:5px;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;list-style:none;margin:25px auto;padding:12px;text-align:center;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert:empty{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-success{background:#d3fbeb;border-color:#10bf7a;color:#0c905c;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-error{background:#fde8e2;border-color:#f2643b;color:#ea4110;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;height:0px;width:0px;margin:0 auto;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;width:0px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div{margin:auto;width:12px;height:12px;background-color:#fff;opacity:0.3;border-radius:100%;display:inline-block;-webkit-animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(1){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.32s;animation-delay:-0.32s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(2){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.16s;animation-delay:-0.16s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner{opacity:1;height:100%;width:50px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner ~ span{opacity:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;width:100%;z-index:5;margin:10px 0;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;background-color:#ffffff;border:1px solid #dce1e5;border-radius:4px;color:#373f45;cursor:pointer;display:block;height:36px;margin:0 auto;opacity:0.95;padding:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-indent:100%;-webkit-transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;width:190px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:focus{background-color:#ffffff;-webkit-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);-ms-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);opacity:1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="dark"],.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{background-color:transparent;border-color:transparent;width:166px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{color:#ffffff;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}@-webkit-keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}@keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote{padding:10px 20px;margin:0 0 20px;border-left:5px solid #e1e1e1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .seva-custom-content{padding:15px;font-size:16px;color:#fff;mix-blend-mode:difference;} .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{border:1px solid #e3e3e3;max-width:700px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-background{width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;background-size:cover;background-position:center;opacity:0.3;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:20px;width:100%;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-header{margin:0 0 27px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-subheader{margin:18px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee{font-size:13px;margin:10px 0 15px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee > p{margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-fields{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;margin:25px auto 0 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field{min-width:220px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 0 15px 0;-webkit-flex:1 0 100%;-ms-flex:1 0 100%;flex:1 0 100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:40px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"]{margin-left:-5px;margin-right:-5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 5px 15px 5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field{-webkit-flex:100 1 auto;-ms-flex:100 1 auto;flex:100 1 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{-webkit-flex:1 1 auto;-ms-flex:1 1 auto;flex:1 1 auto;} You know, as a reader, what you want to happen, so you have to make it as juicy as you can and tease the reader. It’s fun in this book to pull the same trick, where you have to do the same thing over and over again, because if people like the book, then they want the same sort of thing, but different. You have to keep doing that. That’s been fun to try and do that. I have been loving writing them. A Twist of Fate &#8211; Archer inspired Jenny Wheeler: You mentioned the big, expansive book. Shirley Conran was another one of the authors that did that sort of book, and I think you mentioned in your website that you used to be an admirer of her. The male version of that is probably Jeffrey Archer and I was mentioning to you before we started that I&#8217;ve been listening to one of your books on CD in the last few days, A Twist of Fate. I was partly drawn to it because years and years ago, I read one of Jeffrey Archer’s early books, Cain and Abel, which is about twins that get separated at birth, and one has a very wealthy and lucky life and the other has to do the hard grind. A Twist of Fate has got a similar pattern with two babies who are separated and have very different lives, but then they come together, and they weave in. A Twist of Fate &#8211; Joanna Rees I wondered when I started listening to it, whether you were aware of the Jeffrey Archer book and had been tempted to try and do something similar or whether it was just coincidence. Joanna Rees: Oh, no, I’m an absolutely huge fan of Cain and Abel. It&#8217;s one of my very first, very influential books and interestingly, when A Twist of Fate came in – I’ll tell you a funny story. I met Jeffrey Archer when I was in a restaurant in London. I was waiting for a friend of mine who&#8217;s a theater director and I bought her a copy of the book. When I was waiting, I met this guy at the bar, and we were chatting. He was older guy, and he said, I&#8217;m training to be an auctioneer. I said, oh, that&#8217;s really fun, I’ve only ever been to one auction – we were talking about charity auctions. Strange serendipity in art I told the story about when I was temping, when I was trying to write a book, about how I&#8217;d landed up organizing a benefit for Mike Atherton, the English cricketer, and the girl I was working for was his friend and she was organizing this benefit. There was this big black tie do at Grosvenor House Hotel and I must have been about 26 or something. And clueless. I&#8217;m on the table with all the cricketers from the English cricket team, and there was a celebrity auction, which Jeffrey Archer is running. Jeffrey Archer&#8217;s Cain and Abel an inspiration He starts this auction and I&#8217;ve had a few glasses of champagne, Jenny, I won&#8217;t lie. They start this auction and I landed up bidding on this signed England players rugby shirt. Eventually Freddie Flintoff, bless him, saved me because I was about to be lumbered with a two-grand bill, which I couldn&#8217;t afford at all, I had not two pennies to rub together. I remember this charity auction very well. I&#8217;m talking to this guy at the bar about this event when in through the restaurant door walk Mike Atherton and Jeffrey Archer. The guy turns around to me, he goes, oh, that&#8217;s so strange, that is a twist of fate, right? And I went, this is even weirder, this is my book, A Twist of Fate, which is based on one of Jeffery Archer’s books. Anyway, this poor guy was a friend of Jeffrey Archer’s and was taking over from him at this charity thing. Sisters separated at birth We were having this hilarious conversation, this guy and I, looking at each other going, this is so strange, we were literally talking about these two very people and they have just walked into the restaurant. I talked to Jeffrey about my book and I said, this is it, this is A Twist of Fate. He said, what is it about? I said, it&#8217;s a little bit like Cain And Abel, and he went, that’s a very good place to start. I didn&#8217;t have them as twins, I had them as sisters. I love that idea of two women not knowing who each other are and not realizing that they are sisters. I&#8217;ve always been interested in writing about sisterhood and female friendship predominantly. I&#8217;m very close to my sister, so that sister relationship and not realizing you are sisters was a great one to play with. Jenny Wheeler: Yes. I was thinking about it afterwards, because I did assume at the beginning that they were twins, you might not have ever said it. I didn&#8217;t go back to the first CD once I&#8217;d finished listening to it, but I did have the impression at the beginning that they were twins and then of course later on I learned that they weren&#8217;t exactly twins, and I thought, I wonder if she&#8217;s been really clever and left readers to conclude erroneously that they were twins. Joanna Rees: I wanted them to be very close in age, so they might as well have been twins because they had to have the sort of same start. In my mind I didn&#8217;t want to make them actual twins because I thought, you have expectations about twins and a telepathy of twins. In literature, there&#8217;s some twin baggage that comes when you write twins. I didn&#8217;t want to explore that. That wasn&#8217;t the point. I did think about that, but it made it a bit distracting because as a reader, if it&#8217;s a twin, there&#8217;s a different vibe to it somehow. I wanted to make them very close in age, but not actual twins because I wanted it to be more a pure sister thing. That&#8217;s where I started. Big international books her joy On the other hand, I didn&#8217;t want to set it so much apart because they&#8217;re really close in age, but I didn&#8217;t want to have it too spelled out because that also wasn&#8217;t the point. The point is that these two babies are separated at birth and I didn&#8217;t make them twins and I deliberately left it so that people could either assume that or not, depending on how they want to read it. Jenny Wheeler: Yes. It covers a great deal of ground. The two women both end up with very exciting careers and you have the chance to take them to some wonderful places and wonderful experiences. It is one of those big international books we&#8217;ve been talking about. Joanna Rees: I love that, because I sit in my seat here in my study in my pyjama bottoms or my jogging bottoms, and I go to all these amazing places in my head. It’s a great one for having all those locations, and I love that in books as well. It&#8217;s quite nice to write different types of stuff – I’ve written contemporary stuff, but it&#8217;s also nice to write stuff that&#8217;s historical, it&#8217;s nice to write stuff that&#8217;s got loads of locations. I like doing big, broad brush strokes of the canvas, and if you do that, you can liberate yourself to set scenes in different places. Never Miss out! Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts. Yes please to FREE BOOKS and updates on popular books We won&#8217;t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] *{box-sizing:border-box;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] legend{border:none;font-size:inherit;margin-bottom:10px;padding:0;position:relative;display:table;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] fieldset{border:0;padding:0.01em 0 0 0;margin:0;min-width:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] body:not(:-moz-handler-blocked) fieldset{display:table-cell;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h1,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h2,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h3,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h4,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h5,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h6{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]){text-align:left;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] hr:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]){color:inherit;font-style:initial;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .ordered-list,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .unordered-list{list-style-position:outside !important;padding-left:1em;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .list-item{padding-left:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="modal"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="slide in"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:none;}.formkit-sticky-bar .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-select,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-checkboxes{width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{border:0;border-radius:5px;color:#ffffff;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-align:center;font-size:15px;font-weight:500;cursor:pointer;margin-bottom:15px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:relative;vertical-align:middle;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus > span{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit > span{display:block;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;padding:12px 24px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input{background:#ffffff;font-size:15px;padding:12px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;line-height:1.4;margin:0;-webkit-transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:focus{outline:none;border-color:#1677be;-webkit-transition:border-color ease 300ms;transition:border-color ease 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-webkit-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-moz-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:-ms-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]{position:relative;display:inline-block;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]::before{content:"";top:calc(50% - 2.5px);right:10px;position:absolute;pointer-events:none;border-color:#4f4f4f transparent transparent transparent;border-style:solid;border-width:6px 6px 0 6px;height:0;width:0;z-index:999;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select{height:auto;width:100%;cursor:pointer;color:#333333;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:0;padding:0 6px;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;appearance:none;font-size:15px;padding:12px;padding-right:25px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"]{text-align:left;margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]{margin-bottom:10px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] *{cursor:pointer;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]:last-of-type{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"] + label::after{content:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::after{border-color:#ffffff;content:"";}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::before{background:#10bf7a;border-color:#10bf7a;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label{position:relative;display:inline-block;padding-left:28px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{position:absolute;content:"";display:inline-block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before{height:16px;width:16px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;left:0px;top:3px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{height:4px;width:8px;border-left:2px solid #4d4d4d;border-bottom:2px solid #4d4d4d;-webkit-transform:rotate(-45deg);-ms-transform:rotate(-45deg);transform:rotate(-45deg);left:4px;top:8px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert{background:#f9fafb;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:5px;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;list-style:none;margin:25px auto;padding:12px;text-align:center;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert:empty{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-success{background:#d3fbeb;border-color:#10bf7a;color:#0c905c;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-error{background:#fde8e2;border-color:#f2643b;color:#ea4110;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;height:0px;width:0px;margin:0 auto;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;width:0px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div{margin:auto;width:12px;height:12px;background-color:#fff;opacity:0.3;border-radius:100%;display:inline-block;-webkit-animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(1){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.32s;animation-delay:-0.32s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(2){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.16s;animation-delay:-0.16s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner{opacity:1;height:100%;width:50px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner ~ span{opacity:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;width:100%;z-index:5;margin:10px 0;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;background-color:#ffffff;border:1px solid #dce1e5;border-radius:4px;color:#373f45;cursor:pointer;display:block;height:36px;margin:0 auto;opacity:0.95;padding:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-indent:100%;-webkit-transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;width:190px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:focus{background-color:#ffffff;-webkit-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);-ms-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);opacity:1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="dark"],.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{background-color:transparent;border-color:transparent;width:166px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{color:#ffffff;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}@-webkit-keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}@keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote{padding:10px 20px;margin:0 0 20px;border-left:5px solid #e1e1e1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .seva-custom-content{padding:15px;font-size:16px;color:#fff;mix-blend-mode:difference;} .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{border:1px solid #e3e3e3;max-width:700px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-background{width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;background-size:cover;background-position:center;opacity:0.3;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:20px;width:100%;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-header{margin:0 0 27px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-subheader{margin:18px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee{font-size:13px;margin:10px 0 15px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee > p{margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-fields{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;margin:25px auto 0 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field{min-width:220px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 0 15px 0;-webkit-flex:1 0 100%;-ms-flex:1 0 100%;flex:1 0 100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:40px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"]{margin-left:-5px;margin-right:-5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 5px 15px 5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field{-webkit-flex:100 1 auto;-ms-flex:100 1 auto;flex:100 1 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{-webkit-flex:1 1 auto;-ms-flex:1 1 auto;flex:1 1 auto;} That&#8217;s what Platinum taught me. I had three women and I had three locations. What’s brilliant about that is you can always find somewhere fabulous to write the scene. It gives you quite a lot of inspiration. There are a lot of places I&#8217;ve been to in my books that I really want to go to myself. I have travelled quite a lot, but there are a lot of places I would love to go to. The Cancer Ladies Running Club Jenny Wheeler: Changing the tempo a bit, you also write under the name of Josie Lloyd and you&#8217;ve got a book coming out next year, which sounds like it very definitely is a change of pace from what we&#8217;ve been talking about. It&#8217;s called The Cancer Ladies Running Club. It’s not out yet so I don&#8217;t know anything more about it than the title, but that alone tells you that it&#8217;s going to be perhaps a bit more serious and thoughtful and not quite as escapist. Tell us about that book. Brighton Marathon &#8211; cancer fundraising Joanna Rees: This book has come about because in 2017 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was called up for a routine scan and, bingo, they found it. It was a terrible shock, I was really stunned and shocked and I landed up having a mastectomy and then chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It was a bolt out of the blue and a shock to the system. But I realized very quickly, because I&#8217;ve got three girls and because I&#8217;m very much in love with my life, I was like, this isn&#8217;t going to beat me. This is not the worst thing that could happen. It is a bummer, but I&#8217;m going to get through it. Help came in an unexpected form. One of the mums at the school gate, Ros, said, you need to keep fit while you are having all your treatment and my instinct was to get into bed and pull the duvet over my head. I was like, what? Keep fit? What, now? I&#8217;ve always been a kind of runner, reluctant runner, but I have done a marathon before and I do run a bit and she said, come and join my running group. The importance of exercise It&#8217;s very important. In Australia, for example, they&#8217;re building gyms next to oncology departments because they&#8217;ve shown the link between exercise and health can make a massive impact on your treatment outcomes. So I landed up going to the seafront in Brighton, where I live, and I met this group of girls who were all going through cancer treatment at various stages. Most of them had finished. One of them, Jane, was just ahead of me. At first it was like being a heavily pregnant woman going to meet new mothers because they gave me all the gory stories of what was going to happen. I was like, oh, this is really scary, but I loved their gallows humor about the whole thing because as soon as you get a cancer diagnosis, everybody is really serious and treats you really seriously. You&#8217;re not allowed to have a sense of humor and you&#8217;re not allowed to joke about it or be irreverent about it. Brighton Half Marathon contestants I found my tribe with these women because we would laugh about it and how people couldn&#8217;t say cancer, they would whisper it. We had all of this camaraderie. A few weeks later I went down again, and their local press was there and they said, it&#8217;s so great you&#8217;re running the Brighton Marathon 10K. I said, what? And Ros said, didn&#8217;t I tell you, this is a training group for the Brighton Marathon 10K. I was like, are you kidding me? We&#8217;re going to do a 10K, I’m just about to start chemo. I&#8217;d had an operation at this point. To cut a long story short, we did a bit of training and so on a very bright April day, just before my third chemo session, we did the Brighton Marathon 10K. I thought, I&#8217;m just going to give it a go and see how it goes. The power of team effort I was running completely bald. It was so hot, I took my cup off, and I&#8217;m totally bald. As I&#8217;m running, all these women come up to me and they tap me on the shoulder – everybody is running for various charities – and a lot of women tap me on the shoulder and go, keep going, I&#8217;m clear three years, keep going, I&#8217;m clear 10 years, keep going, I&#8217;m clear five years. I had this amazing surge of love and support from all these women that were running with me. Then this one woman sought me out. She came up to me and she had this gorgeous mane of long glossy hair. She was really healthy, really fit and she said, I had stage four cancer and they thought I was going to die. That was four years ago and I&#8217;m completely fine. She said, keep going. And off she ran, she was much fitter than me, slogging around to get to the finish line. Anyway, on the last turn of the race, she had waited for me. She said, can you stop a minute, I have been waiting for you. I said, what is it? She said, I want to tell you a story. When I was going through my treatment, I was at my lowest ebb. I was sitting in a café across the road from the hospital., and this woman came up to me, a complete stranger, and said, listen, I know what you&#8217;re going through, I&#8217;ve been there myself, but I just want you to keep the faith and have hope that your life is going to be better than ever on the other side of this experience. A special butterfly necklace This woman in the café had taken off a little necklace, a little butterfly pendant necklace and given it to this runner, who then took off the same necklace, this necklace I wear every day, and she said, this is a little butterfly of hope. I&#8217;ve been wearing it every day for three years, and I want you to have it, and I want you to know that your life is going to be better than ever the other side of cancer. That is what I&#8217;m giving you. I didn&#8217;t even know her name, Jenny. I gave her a massive hug, we had a few tears – it was quite emotional – and then off she went. I found the rest of my girls and we ran the rest of the race and I was absolutely euphoric, and also so moved by this experience. I thought, I need to write about this, I have to write this story. But I also want to make it fictional because there&#8217;s so much that happens when you have cancer. Life doesn&#8217;t stop when you have cancer. You are still a mum, you&#8217;re still writing, you&#8217;ve still got a business, you&#8217;ve still got a marriage, you’ve still got friends, you’ve still got things to negotiate, you’ve got elderly parents. I wanted to write all of that. So I wrote this book that&#8217;s a fiction book called The Cancer Ladies Running Club, but it&#8217;s based very much on that experience. It was supposed to come out this year but it got canceled because of COVID-19 so it&#8217;s coming out in May. Offering hope and optimism It has come out in Sweden so far, there are a few foreign deals for it. I&#8217;m very, very proud of it and it&#8217;s very close to my heart. It&#8217;s a contemporary fiction, but I also wanted to write something positive about cancer because there are a lot of women like me who are not just surviving but thriving the other side of cancer. Cancer in our popular culture is used very much as a kind of tearjerker in films and television programs and certainly in literature. Somebody gets cancer and it&#8217;s curtains. But one in two of us are going to get cancer in our lifetime, and one in eight women get breast cancer, so not everybody dies. This is a good news story and it&#8217;s a positive story. It&#8217;s tells it like it is. It’s not shying away from the truth and it&#8217;s a bit gory in some of the details, but it&#8217;s truthful and it&#8217;s hopeful and funny in places. It&#8217;s a lighthearted book about cancer, if you can have such a thing. It’s out in the world. Jenny Wheeler: It sounds wonderful. I can&#8217;t wait to read it when it finally gets there. Moving away from the specific books and talking a bit more about your writing career and your personal life, you mentioned that you&#8217;re passionate about a type of yoga that I must admit I&#8217;d never heard before called Qi Gong. Is that how you say it? Joanna Rees: Yes. I got into Qi Gong because when I got cancer, one of the things I realized was that I had been busy for 30 years. Happily so, but I had been really, really busy. I had been busy running a very hectic social life, three kids, marriage, dog, house, working, books, writing. At no point had I put my health or my needs at the top of my list. Making health a priority I was very happy for my needs to sink to the bottom of my list because I&#8217;m very happy to look after everybody else. It makes me very happy to look after my kids and my husband and my friends, but I realized that I hadn&#8217;t really put my health first at all. Children parodies she writes with husband Emlyn The thing that shocked me most about the cancer was that it happened on my watch and I hadn&#8217;t really noticed. I&#8217;d sort of noticed, but I hadn&#8217;t checked in enough with myself to know that something was badly wrong. I hadn&#8217;t stopped to take note. When I had cancer I thought, I really need something. I didn’t want to do something that’s bending, stretching and straining when I&#8217;ve got all this scar tissue, so I didn&#8217;t want to do traditional yoga. I was still doing the running, but I wanted something that had a spiritual dimension to it that would help me, and I found Qi Gong. Qi Gong is really ancient, it&#8217;s from China, it’s basically Chinese yoga. Like all Western yoga and all yoga practices, it&#8217;s the same deal. It’s slow, deep breathing and movement and your mind in combination is what relaxes you and what centers you. It&#8217;s very slow, it&#8217;s very easy. It&#8217;s slow meditative movement with breathing. I do a little exercise routine every morning and it feels like I can connect to myself and connect to the universe through it. Like anything, the more you do it, the more you get out of it. I do recommend it for anybody of any age and any kind of fitness. It is a brilliant entry level. I started it when I was still quite poorly from my treatment and my operation. It was really nourishing and nurturing and I felt that if I do it every morning, I get a chance to check in with myself and make sure I&#8217;m okay. That&#8217;s where it&#8217;s come from, but I really love it and it makes me very happy. Running is much like writing Jenny Wheeler: Are you still doing the running? Joanna Rees: Yes, still doing the running. I&#8217;m doing the 10K next year, it got canceled this year. I am a bit of a reluctant runner. I can&#8217;t say I love running, I love the feeling after running. When I ran the marathon though, interestingly, I realized that running and writing are quite similar. What I realized is that when you run, it is all mental. It&#8217;s physical, obviously, because you have to be slightly fit enough to run, but you don&#8217;t have to be that fit to run. You can run quite slowly. The problem is the mentality of it. When I was running the marathon, I suddenly thought, this is the same as finishing a book. You never ever think you&#8217;re going to do it, and you do it. Then you can see the finishing line in sight. Qi gong exercise &#8211; a new discovery for Joanna Rees The trick is that you have to run a bit and then go, right, I&#8217;m going to run to that bin, and when I&#8217;ve got to the bin, I&#8217;m going to stop and congratulate myself and sit down and put my feet up. Then you get to the bin and you go, I’m just going to run to the next bin. That&#8217;s how I do it. Once you realize it’s mental, it&#8217;s quite easy. Jenny Wheeler: Is that how you write your books too? Joanna Rees: Yes, although, interestingly, I have found this whole year and lock down more challenging than I thought. When the first COVID thing hit here and everybody went into lockdown, I was quite smug. I was like, I&#8217;ve been doing this for 20 years, darling, I know what I&#8217;m doing. The bite of the pandemic Then what I realized was that there is a world of difference between writing novels just with Emlyn in the house and having our own creative process and trying to write full time with three hungry teenagers in the house. That&#8217;s quite challenging. I also realized that for a long time I’ve thought, I wish I had more time to write, I wish I wasn&#8217;t so busy, because I always fill up my time with people. I love people and I love seeing people. I&#8217;ve got loads of friends. I love being around people, but I also like going to the theater and the cinema. I see a lot of comedy, a lot of live music and all of that feeds into my creative process. I didn&#8217;t realize how much that cultural thing and the people thing fed into my creativity. Sarah Burton &#8211; a favourite author Then I’m stuck in my office, waiting for inspiration. My creative process has been really disrupted by this, so I haven&#8217;t written as fast as I would normally like. But it&#8217;s getting there, chipping away at it slowly but surely. Jenny Wheeler: That&#8217;s great. We must be coming to the end of our time together, we&#8217;ve been chatting away madly, but turning to Joanna as reader. We call this The Joys of Binge Reading and it is for people who are looking for their next great read. Tell us what you&#8217;re reading at the moment and what you&#8217;d like to recommend. Joanna Rees: So many things. I love reading. That&#8217;s why I became a writer, because I love reading and I love the feeling – I get this when I&#8217;m writing – I think books are so special because you get that form of escapism from a book that you never really get from anything else. A book is a very private thing. It can go in the bath with you. Joanna&#8217;s favorite authors It can go in bed with you in a way that nothing else does. I have always got a book on the go, I always have done, and I am an avid reader. I&#8217;m not a terribly fast reader, so I envy people who can read very fast. At the moment I&#8217;m reading a book called The Strange Adventures of H by Sarah Burton. It is a really interesting book set in the plague, in the Tudor Ages. It&#8217;s about a girl, H, and she goes to stay with her aunt in this family. It’s about her adventures going forward and that&#8217;s quite interesting because it is resonant with the whole Covid thing that&#8217;s going on. City of Girls &#8211; Elizabeth Gilbert I really love Elizabeth Gilbert. She wrote Eat, Pray, Love, but she&#8217;s written two wonderful books since that I&#8217;ve enjoyed. The Signature of All Things is set in America, when America was first founded, and it&#8217;s about Alma who is a botanist, and she starts recording. She&#8217;s a big collector of books and she works for her father. That&#8217;s really interesting. The one I&#8217;ve just read of hers, which is her most recent book, is called City of Girls and it&#8217;s set in New York in 1940. It&#8217;s about a young girl who goes to stay with her crazy aunt who runs a theater, a really shabby, dilapidated theater in New York, and it&#8217;s about these New York theater folk. They put on a show called City of Girls and it&#8217;s just magic. What else do I read? All sorts of things. What happens is Emlyn will read a book in bed, quite often a thriller, and he&#8217;ll nudge me awake and go, listen to this bit, this is a really good line. He&#8217;ll finish the whole thing and then go, right, your turn, you read it. I’m like, why am I going to read it now because you&#8217;ve told me all the best bits. So as well as reading my own stuff, I do get Emlyn’s stuff by default as well. A wide range of different books I do like a thriller and I quite like psychological thrillers. I’m good friends with Lisa Jewell. She writes brilliant books. The Family Upstairs is one of my favorites I&#8217;ve read recently. Rosamund Lupton – there are all sorts of people I read. I read quite a lot of contemporary fiction, but it&#8217;s quite difficult when you&#8217;re writing contemporary fiction. You have to be careful. I have to read different types of genres to what I&#8217;m writing. I can&#8217;t read any historical fiction when I&#8217;m writing at the moment, because you pick up a voice. You do tend to mimic if you&#8217;re not careful. Rosamund Lupton &#8211; latest thriller Jenny Wheeler: Looking back, you sound as if you’ve had an ideal career that anybody would want, but if you were doing it all again, is there anything you would change? Joanna Rees: No, I&#8217;ve had a really wonderful ride. I think when you&#8217;re a writer, you have to write because you love writing. You can&#8217;t write because you want to have the stretch limousine rolling up to Harrods. One day maybe that will happen, but that’s not why you write. You write because you love the process of writing. I have learned that it&#8217;s all luck and timing, and some books fly and you weren&#8217;t expecting them to, some books you thought would be massive bestsellers just fall, wither on the vine and die. You don’t have that much control over the publishing process and over timing and sales and stuff. We would all love to be more successful, but I have had my moments of being really successful and they don’t last. It ebbs and flows. I like the bit where I&#8217;m at my desk and writing because nobody&#8217;s expecting anything of me. The creative cycle There are scary bits where you have to go to deal with a new book or you&#8217;re waiting for affirmation from an agent or a publisher that they like your book, and that can be challenging. In another life maybe what I would have done is an app where, when you get the call from Hollywood, your phone goes mental and there&#8217;s confetti or something, because we are all waiting for the call. But it has been a very lovely way of earning a living and I&#8217;ve been incredibly lucky because I&#8217;ve been at home with Emlyn, so we&#8217;ve had this lovely life together, walking the dog and hanging out in our home and being able to bring up our kids. Lisa Jewell &#8211; Invisible Girl I&#8217;ve been there at the school gates to pick up the kids, although quite often I turn up the school gates crazy – I’ve got book head and my friends will know this – don’t talk to me because I’m right in the middle of a murder. My children have learned, I&#8217;ve always dug them out of bed no matter what time of day or night it is, when I have finished a book. The tradition is they type “The End” – all of them. The little one does the space in the middle – she’s not so little anymore – but I always get them to type “The End”. At the end of a book I am always wrung out. If you’re not absolutely mentally and physically exhausted at the end of a book, you haven&#8217;t run the marathon. You haven&#8217;t done your job. Quite often I’m tear stained and I haven’t washed for days and I’m smelly and I&#8217;m sitting in my jogging bottoms in my study and they haven&#8217;t been disturbing me. The next twelve months Eventually I go, this is it, come and type “The End”. Then I always look at them and go, please be accountants, look what this is doing to your mother, don&#8217;t be writers. But of course they are all creative, so they all want to write. Jenny Wheeler: What is next on your agenda? For the next 12 months what are your projects? Joanna Rees: I&#8217;m finishing off The Sister Returns. That’s very exciting, to see Vita, and what’s going on with her. Then I&#8217;m writing the second book, I got a two-book deal contract for Josie Lloyd and I&#8217;m writing a book called Love in the Death Café. When I first got cancer, I went to a death café, which is a movement that started off in the States. It&#8217;s not religious or anything, people started up this movement in order to talk about death because until Covid came along, as a society, we weren&#8217;t talking about death at all. People very much shied away from death. We used to have death in the community, we would have died at home and people would lay out bodies. We have medicalized death to an alarming degree. There&#8217;s very much a movement towards more of a natural death like you would have a natural birth. And I met somebody who is an end-of-life doula. Like you would have a midwife or a doula for birth, there are end-of-life doulas now training to sit with somebody when they&#8217;re dying and to sort out the family situation and the family issues and to be with the person who is dying and to make sure they have a good death. Tackling another tough topic Having a good death is something we don&#8217;t really discuss but it&#8217;s very important for the family and it can be something liberating and joyous and spiritual and wonderful and we don&#8217;t really plan it. Also, we don&#8217;t really talk about grief. So I went to this death café, and like the Cancer Ladies Running Club where a group of strangers come together, it was this group of strangers, and we laughed, it was funny and life-affirming and sad and interesting. We had this very in-depth discussion on a Tuesday afternoon over cups of tea about death and about dying and what happens and who believes what, and I thought it would be a very good basis for a novel. I started writing it and then Covid hit and I stopped writing it because it&#8217;s very difficult to write a contemporary book about people not talking about death, when suddenly all everybody is talking about is death. I&#8217;m going to restart that possibly in the new year and see where we&#8217;re up to with Covid because none of us knows whether it’s a blip and we&#8217;re going to go back to normal or whether it&#8217;s not a blip and it&#8217;s going to be with us for ages. Life wisdom for facing the end I know we&#8217;ve all been looking to you guys and how brilliantly you&#8217;ve done over there, but here it&#8217;s terrible right now. It&#8217;s pretty bad and there&#8217;s a lot fear around it and a lot of anxiety and I think people are talking more and are thinking more about their death and about how it happens. It&#8217;s very liberating once you do talk about death and it&#8217;s very damaging if you don&#8217;t talk about death. I&#8217;ve got lots of friends whose parents have died recently who didn&#8217;t ever get to have that conversation. My own mother died five years ago this month, in 2015. She had Parkinson’s and she was bed-bound for the last year of her life. She had a terrible time, bless her, and I had a great conversation with her about death. I said to her, Mum, you&#8217;re not getting out of this bed, the end is coming, are you alright about dying, because if you&#8217;re not, we need to talk about it. I was really worried that she was scared, and nobody&#8217;s mentioning it to her and she&#8217;s not mentioning it to us, and she doesn&#8217;t want to talk about it with us because she doesn’t want to scare us, which is what happens. You have this lack of communication. Love in the Death Cafe &#160;I said, I need to know, are you scared about it? She said, oh no, I’ve got plenty of friends on the other side. She said, there&#8217;s Nanna, and the dog. It was so wonderful. We had this lighthearted conversation about her own death. She made me a lot less afraid and also it was lovely that we talked about it and I knew what she wanted. Never Miss out! Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts. Yes please to FREE BOOKS and updates on popular books We won&#8217;t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] *{box-sizing:border-box;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] legend{border:none;font-size:inherit;margin-bottom:10px;padding:0;position:relative;display:table;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] fieldset{border:0;padding:0.01em 0 0 0;margin:0;min-width:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] body:not(:-moz-handler-blocked) fieldset{display:table-cell;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h1,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h2,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h3,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h4,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h5,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h6{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]){text-align:left;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] hr:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]){color:inherit;font-style:initial;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .ordered-list,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .unordered-list{list-style-position:outside !important;padding-left:1em;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .list-item{padding-left:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="modal"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="slide in"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:none;}.formkit-sticky-bar .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-select,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-checkboxes{width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{border:0;border-radius:5px;color:#ffffff;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-align:center;font-size:15px;font-weight:500;cursor:pointer;margin-bottom:15px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:relative;vertical-align:middle;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus > span{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit > span{display:block;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;padding:12px 24px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input{background:#ffffff;font-size:15px;padding:12px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;line-height:1.4;margin:0;-webkit-transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:focus{outline:none;border-color:#1677be;-webkit-transition:border-color ease 300ms;transition:border-color ease 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-webkit-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-moz-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:-ms-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]{position:relative;display:inline-block;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]::before{content:"";top:calc(50% - 2.5px);right:10px;position:absolute;pointer-events:none;border-color:#4f4f4f transparent transparent transparent;border-style:solid;border-width:6px 6px 0 6px;height:0;width:0;z-index:999;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select{height:auto;width:100%;cursor:pointer;color:#333333;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:0;padding:0 6px;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;appearance:none;font-size:15px;padding:12px;padding-right:25px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"]{text-align:left;margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]{margin-bottom:10px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] *{cursor:pointer;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]:last-of-type{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"] + label::after{content:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::after{border-color:#ffffff;content:"";}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::before{background:#10bf7a;border-color:#10bf7a;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label{position:relative;display:inline-block;padding-left:28px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{position:absolute;content:"";display:inline-block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before{height:16px;width:16px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;left:0px;top:3px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{height:4px;width:8px;border-left:2px solid #4d4d4d;border-bottom:2px solid #4d4d4d;-webkit-transform:rotate(-45deg);-ms-transform:rotate(-45deg);transform:rotate(-45deg);left:4px;top:8px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert{background:#f9fafb;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:5px;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;list-style:none;margin:25px auto;padding:12px;text-align:center;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert:empty{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-success{background:#d3fbeb;border-color:#10bf7a;color:#0c905c;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-error{background:#fde8e2;border-color:#f2643b;color:#ea4110;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;height:0px;width:0px;margin:0 auto;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;width:0px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div{margin:auto;width:12px;height:12px;background-color:#fff;opacity:0.3;border-radius:100%;display:inline-block;-webkit-animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(1){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.32s;animation-delay:-0.32s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(2){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.16s;animation-delay:-0.16s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner{opacity:1;height:100%;width:50px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner ~ span{opacity:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;width:100%;z-index:5;margin:10px 0;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;background-color:#ffffff;border:1px solid #dce1e5;border-radius:4px;color:#373f45;cursor:pointer;display:block;height:36px;margin:0 auto;opacity:0.95;padding:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-indent:100%;-webkit-transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;width:190px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:focus{background-color:#ffffff;-webkit-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);-ms-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);opacity:1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="dark"],.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{background-color:transparent;border-color:transparent;width:166px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{color:#ffffff;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}@-webkit-keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}@keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote{padding:10px 20px;margin:0 0 20px;border-left:5px solid #e1e1e1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .seva-custom-content{padding:15px;font-size:16px;color:#fff;mix-blend-mode:difference;} .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{border:1px solid #e3e3e3;max-width:700px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-background{width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;background-size:cover;background-position:center;opacity:0.3;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:20px;width:100%;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-header{margin:0 0 27px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-subheader{margin:18px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee{font-size:13px;margin:10px 0 15px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee > p{margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-fields{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;margin:25px auto 0 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field{min-width:220px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 0 15px 0;-webkit-flex:1 0 100%;-ms-flex:1 0 100%;flex:1 0 100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:40px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"]{margin-left:-5px;margin-right:-5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 5px 15px 5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field{-webkit-flex:100 1 auto;-ms-flex:100 1 auto;flex:100 1 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{-webkit-flex:1 1 auto;-ms-flex:1 1 auto;flex:1 1 auto;} I think all of these things are quite important in the same way that we talk about cancer. It needs a bit of debunking. Fiction stories are certainly for me the best way of getting my head around things. I&#8217;ve always found fiction to be very informative in a way that non-fiction isn’t. I like reading non-fiction, but it&#8217;s not my primary love. I&#8217;ve always loved the wisdom that comes from books. That’s why I wrote The Cancer Ladies Running Club – because I didn’t feel there was anything out there that was truthful and honest and could give a bit of an insight into this, not for people who have had cancer but for everybody else who hasn&#8217;t. In the same way, that&#8217;s what I want to do with Love in the Death Café – to create this joyful book that looks at death. That’s what I’m doing next. That&#8217;s going to be fun. Jenny Wheeler: I hadn&#8217;t heard of the death café movement, so that&#8217;s very interesting. Where to find Joanna online Joanna Rees: Look it up. They have them all over the world now. There are no rules or anything, the idea is that anybody can come together and chat about death. It&#8217;s not religiously affiliated in any way, it&#8217;s just encouraging people to sit down and to have the conversation. A lot of people live with an enormous amount of anxiety and fear about their own death or the death of their loved ones, and it&#8217;s quite debilitating for a lot of people. As always, talking about things makes a big difference. Jenny Wheeler: That&#8217;s lovely. You have already said you&#8217;re a real people person, but where can your readers find you online and do you enjoy interacting with them? Joanna Rees: I do enjoy interacting with my readers. I&#8217;m not terribly good at the online stuff. I do it, but I find it quite time-consuming and you get suckered into it. I have such limited time for writing, but I try to be at my desk writing and I have to turn the internet off and I have to turn my phone off, to give myself even the vaguest chance of being able to write. I&#8217;m on everything. I&#8217;m on Twitter at @josielloydbooks I&#8217;m on Instagram @josielloydwriter.. I&#8217;ve been doing a bit of Instagram recently. I&#8217;ve got a blog at www.joannareesebooks.com. I&#8217;ve got Facebook pages for Josie Lloyd (&#160;@josielloydwriter&#160; ) and Joanna Rees (@joannareesbooks.) Sharing and celebrating books That&#8217;s probably the easiest way of finding me. I&#8217;ve got Joanna Reese books, Facebook page, so if readers want to find me, I am there and can be contacted. I love hearing from people. Honestly, it only takes one reader to contact you and say, I loved your book, to make the whole thing worthwhile. To have been able to give that experience to somebody else makes it all absolutely brilliant, so I do love hearing from readers and I love it that there are readers out there wanting stories and wanting to hear more. And I love it that people like you engage with authors and make a world happen in which we can all share and celebrate books. Jenny Wheeler: Joanna, thank you so much. I think we&#8217;ve gone way over time, but it&#8217;s been absolutely fascinating to talk today and you&#8217;ve got some great stories there. Just keep on going, as they say. Joanna Rees: Thank you. It&#8217;s so lovely to talk to you. Jenny Wheeler: Bye now. If you enjoyed Joanna Rees&#8217; romantic adventures you might also enjoy Kate Alcott&#8217;s Hollywood Stardust historicals. LISTEN TO KATE Thanks To Our Technical Support: The Joys of Binge Reading podcast is put together with wonderful technical help from Dan Cotton at DC Audio Services. Dan is an experienced sound and video engineer who’s ready and available to help you with your next project… Seek him out at&#160;[email protected]&#160;or Phone + 64 – 21979539. He’s fast, takes pride in getting it right, and lovely to work with. Our voice overs are done by Abe Raffills, and Abe’s another gem. He got 20 years of experience on both sides of the camera/microphone as a cameraman/director and also voice artist and television presenter. Abe’s vocal delivery is both light hearted and warm and he is super easy to work with no matter the job. You’ll find him at&#160;[email protected]