Lolly Luck Blog Tour: Interview with Ellie Daines!

Hi everyone! Today on the blog I am welcoming Ellie Daines, author of the fabulous book Lolly Luck (see my review here) as part of the Lolly Luck blog tour. If you haven't read Lolly Luck yet, make sure you do! Ellie answered some questions I had. I hope you enjoy reading her answers as much as I did! (sorry there's no pictures in the post, my computer was acting up today >:(. I will edit it in the next couple of days and put in pictures, when it will work again!)

1. Hi Ellie! It's great to have you on the blog today! For those who haven't read Lolly Luck, could you tell us a bit about it?

Lolly Luck is about an optimistic young girl who's incredibly lucky - she's always winning things and finding money - but she's soon questioning her luck when things start  going wrong for her family. First her dad loses his job then the family lose their home and soon there's and even bigger shock in store for Lolly which turns her world upside down.

2. When did you decide you wanted to become an author?

I've dreamed about becoming an author ever since I was really young. At school I used to love writing short stories and entering them into competitions. During my years at university I wrote a couple of stories but they didn't really go anywhere. Still, writing these stories did help me find my writing voice. However it was only when I started writing Lolly Luck that I thought to myself I'd like to pursue a career as an author.

3. What was the inspiration behind Lolly Luck?

My original idea for Lolly Luck came from a personal experience. I'd gone for a  web editing job with a company and had been invited for an interview only to receive a call from my recruitment  consultant a couple of days before the interview telling me it had been cancelled because the person who was supposed to be leaving changed their mind and the company were happy  for him to stay on. I was very disappointed at the time because it did seem like it'd be the perfect job. However I thought that the whole fiasco would make  a really dramatic moment in a story and I wrote the scene where Lolly's dad receives similar news and the rest of the story pretty much evolved from that one sub-plot. This scene is also a critical one  because what follows is a devastating revelation that changes Lolly's life forever.

4. Do you ever base your characters on yourself or people that you know?

Yes. Certainly with the character of Lolly I based much of her personality on my childhood self. Like her I was very lucky as a youngster and I even had a knack for for dreaming winning lottery numbers. And when writing about Lolly's friendship with her best friend Nancy, I took inspiration from my own friendship with my best friend at primary school, a girl called Dinah, who's still a good friend of my today.

5. Who were your writing idols growing up and who are they now?

Like most kids I was a massive fan of Roald Dahl and I do think  reading his books as a child encouraged me to put pen to paper myself. But never had I imagined that one day my book would be in a bookshop right next to my literary hero's books, which is an amazing feeling. Authors that I admire today include Andrea Levy and Terry McMillan

6. What is your favourite things about writing books and being an author?

I absolutely love the thrill of creating characters, exploring themes and simply getting emotionally involved with the story. I also think that as an author you really have to love what you do to keep that motivation going in order to complete your novel. For me, there are days when I'm so excited about what I'm writing that I don't really want to go to sleep and I can't wait to wake up in the morning.

7. What was the publishing process of Lolly Luck like?

Interesting.  Like many authors I had my fair share of rejection letters especially when I was trying to look for an agent. But Eve White came back to me and she really liked the style of my writing so I signed with her. She later approached my editor Charlie Sheppard at Andersen Press who was really keen on the book even though I hadn't finished it yet and I was offered a two-book deal.

8. How does it feel seeing your own book in bookshops?

It's wonderful. I'd say having your book on the shelf of a bookstore is what most authors dream about. The shelf is effectively our platform, giving us the opportunity to share our work with the rest of the world.

9.  What authors and books do you like to read?

I like to read a range of books and I love chick-lit novels  and one of my favourite chick-lit author would have to be Carole Matthews. The most recent book I've read is A Cupboard Full of Coats By Yvette Edwards who's also represented by Eve White. It's a stunning book and incredibly moving.

10. Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers reading this blog?

I'd say try to set aside some time each week or every day to do some writing. Write about subjects that interest you and don't start your editing until you've actually finished your story because it's very easy to get bogged down in the editing, which will only slow you down. And finally, never leave the house without a pen and paper/notebook because you never know when inspiration will strike!


Thanks Ellie! Check out the next stop on the tour tomorrow at Bookhi!

You can buy Lolly Luck here or here.