Interview with author Sophie Kinsella

Number of Sophie Kinsella novels so far: 8
Proud home possession: shoe museum (or ‘shoe-seum’)
Latest addiction: Cadbury’s Giant Chocolate Buttons

We caught up with author Sophie Kinsella during the filming of Confessions of a Shopaholic.

RD: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

SK: I was born in London. I ­studied music at New College, Oxford, but, after a year, switched to Politics, Philosophy and Economics and gained a first [honours degree] after only two years of studying. I then worked as a teacher and a financial ­journalist.

RD: When was your first book published?

SK: When I was twenty-four. It was called The Tennis Party and was published under my real name, Madeleine Wickham.

RD: After writing seven books as Madeleine Wickham, why did you change your pen name to Sophie Kinsella for your Shopaholic novels?

SK: When I had the idea for Shopaholic, it was as though a light switched on. I realised I actually wanted to write comedy. No apologies, no trying to be serious, just full-on entertainment. The minute I went with that and threw myself into it, it felt just like writing my first book again—it was really liberating. I chose to publish the first Shopaholic book under a pseudonym because I wanted it to be judged on its own merits. I knew that if I tried to pitch the idea to my publishers, they might be dubious, because it was very different from what I’d written before. So I thought I’d just present them with the finished novel under a different name. They could either like it or not like it.
 

RD: How long does it take you to write a novel?

SK: Usually about nine months in total. I have two stages: the first is the coffee-shop stage, where I sit down, order a coffee, make notes and plan. I do that for weeks before starting to write. The second is ­sitting upstairs alone, writing intensely and listening to very loud music. It’s like soundproofing, because it blocks out the rest of the world and allows me to focus.

RD: Where did you get the idea for Remember Me?

SK: Just me thinking: what if you woke up and everything in your life was perfect? It’s never going to happen to most of us but . . . Also, I’ve always been fascinated by memory, so having a heroine with amnesia was the obvious way to tell the story.

RD: You are involved in the filming of your Shopaholic novels. What’s that like?

SK: The film options were bought seven years ago and at last it’s actually happening. Disney is making the movie, which is called Confessions of a Shopaholic. It’s being set in the States, Isla Fisher is playing Becky Bloomwood and Hugh Dancy is Luke. During the last few weeks, I’ve been with the film crew in New York. The sets are ­fantastic, and I love Becky’s room. And her shoe collection is amazing.

RD: Do you love New York or hate it?

SK: I love New York, so I was thrilled that the film would be shot here.
 

RD: How do you cope with being a successful writer and mother to three young sons?

SK: I’m very lucky. I have a really supportive husband in Henry, and there’s my mum, too. I couldn’t have a career and manage the kids’ ­routines and household thing single-handedly. I’d just go crazy.