To date North County Dubliner, Colette Caddle has written 11 bestselling novels, her latest is Always On My Mind. It is a story of cold feet, miscommunication and an important decision for Molly, the main character, when her heart is in conflict between old love and her fiancé.Colette never thought of writing as a career when in school. With her, diversity is the name of the game; she had worked in many areas from computer programming to marketing insurance products when one day when she read “a bad book,” and thought “I can do better than that.”
Colette starts each story with a backdrop, then picks characters and writes their CV’s. Instead of a complex plot, Colette chooses a scenario and lets her character’s decide on the story. Always On My Mind is out now and her twelfth book will be available in autumn.
Getting the time to write is very tricky, according to wannabe writers. But Colette told me, “you can always think and observe, you must never forget that. I don’t have time is one prevarication we all use; yes, I’m as guilty at the next person. But, you know, there’s always a way. I remember something a good friend said once when we were discussing people who claimed that they had no time to exercise – she was an avid Corrie fan, never missed it, but while she watched, she did her sit-ups! In other words, there’s always a way!”
Colette got a three book publishing deal after sending off three chapters to Poolbeg. “When I got the contract I wasn’t actually working. Also, the first book wasn’t finished and I felt very paranoid and superstitious about it so I told no one until I was almost finished, and then only close family. By the time I told friends, I was very close to giving birth to my first child and that was much more exciting and believable! I found it hard to see myself as a legitimate author until I actually saw the book on the shelf.”
I was intrigued to know how she had learned her trade. “I didn’t actually ‘learn’ it. When I put pen to paper on that first story, ‘Too Little, Too Late’, it seemed a good idea to write about something I loved so I would keep writing no matter how tough it got.”
Colette starts with a……………read the rest of my interview with her on writing.ie
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Michelle Moloney King 