Helen Simonson's best-selling debut novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, started out as a creative diversion for a new mom. Here's more about her novel and writing life:
Jennifer Haupt: After a successful career in advertising and raising two children, you published your first novel at age forty six. When did you first start writing this novel and how long did it take before it was "finished"? And then how much longer before it sold to a publisher?
Helen Simonson: I started writing as a young mother desperate for some small creative and intellectual stimulation for my own brain, amid all the picture books, baby gym sessions and music for mommy and me. I thought writing would be ‘easy' but it is a long and continuing journey. I had been writing over seven years before I began Major Pettigrew and it took over five years to complete.
In an unusual twist, I sold the book almost immediately upon completion — sort of like winning the literary lottery! I was completely surprised and I know I was very lucky. However I do believe that good work will find a home. The timeframe is not really important — finishing the work is the only job of the writer.
JH: How much faith did it take to keep believing in this story, and was there a time when you thought about burying it in the backyard?
HS: I came so close to burying this book — even as I sent it out to the agent who accepted it, I was planning on putting it away and getting a "real" job. The moral of the tale is that dogged perseverance is at least as important as talent in the writing game. Keep sending out the work — and more importantly, keep writing more.
JH: What's one thing about your writing life that may surprise your readers?
HS: I get up in the morning, put on smart clothes and go to a writing "office" in the city. I ride three subways to get there and use that time to shed my ‘mom' persona and become a ‘working writer' instead.
JH: You say that writers should "stop trying to be Ian McEwan and find their own voice." How did you find your voice?
HS: I guess you have to hit rock bottom, right? I was so tired of trying to write gritty, edgy, contemporary stories that might appeal to small literary magazines. One day I gave up and wrote a story just for myself. I was horrified that my story involved a small English village, a rose-covered cottage, and a stuffy British Major right out of an English TV comedy... but when I took it to my workshop everyone just fell in love with Major Pettigrew in a way I had never experienced before. I was not quite sure what I had done, but I recognized that I was on to something new and powerful.
JH: What books are on your bedside table now?
HS: I am reading The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, the powerful story of how six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South and migrated within their own country — a shocking and important history which I'm reading for my book club. They keep me reading non-fiction because otherwise I'm all fiction all the time. I also recently completed Philip Hensher's King of the Badgers(a wickedly amusing British book) and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. Next up are two manuscripts to read for close friends and then lots of research reading for my second novel.
JH: Has your life changed in any unexpected ways since becoming a best-selling author? And, has it not changed in any unexpected ways?
HS: I always joke that my family still seems to expect groceries, dinner on the table, clean laundry and emergency runs to school with forgotten homework or lunch money. Don't they know I'm an author now? Actually, I did not expect any changes in my life from being published and have been surprised by the whirlwind of travel and activity in the last two years. It is enormous fun and somewhat disorienting at times. I might have lost my head but, lucky for me, my two teenage sons are very hard to impress and they keep me firmly in check!
JH: What did you splurge on after receiving your first book advance payment?
HS: It was an incredibly proud moment for me to hold that first advance check and realize that I would be able to make a real contribution towards putting our two sons through college. I can't think of anything I'd rather splurge on more! Of course, there may also have been the odd bottle of champagne popped!
JH: What is the One True Thing you learned From Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali?
HS: Being true to oneself and one's principles is often the harder road, and may seem unlikely to succeed, but anything else is a pale imitation.
JH: What's next for you?
HS: I'm at work on a second novel, and hoping it will take less than five years this time!
Helen Simonson was born in England and spent her teenage years in a small village in East Sussex. A graduate of the London School of Economics and former travel advertising executive, she has lived in America for the last two decades. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, Simonson received her M.F.A. from SUNY Stonybrook, This is her first novel.
Helen Simonson's best-selling debut novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, started out as a creative diversion for a new mom. Here's more about her novel and writing life:
Jennifer Haupt: After a successful career in advertising and raising two children, you published your first novel at age forty six. When did you first start writing this novel and how long did it take before it was "finished"? And then how much longer before it sold to a publisher?
Helen Simonson: I started writing as a young mother desperate for some small creative and intellectual stimulation for my own brain, amid all the picture books, baby gym sessions and music for mommy and me. I thought writing would be ‘easy' but it is a long and continuing journey. I had been writing over seven years before I began Major Pettigrew and it took over five years to complete.
In an unusual twist, I sold the book almost immediately upon completion — sort of like winning the literary lottery! I was completely surprised and I know I was very lucky. However I do believe that good work will find a home. The timeframe is not really important — finishing the work is the only job of the writer.
JH: How much faith did it take to keep believing in this story, and was there a time when you thought about burying it in the backyard?
HS: I came so close to burying this book — even as I sent it out to the agent who accepted it, I was planning on putting it away and getting a "real" job. The moral of the tale is that dogged perseverance is at least as important as talent in the writing game. Keep sending out the work — and more importantly, keep writing more.
JH: What's one thing about your writing life that may surprise your readers?
HS: I get up in the morning, put on smart clothes and go to a writing "office" in the city. I ride three subways to get there and use that time to shed my ‘mom' persona and become a ‘working writer' instead.
JH: You say that writers should "stop trying to be Ian McEwan and find their own voice." How did you find your voice?
HS: I guess you have to hit rock bottom, right? I was so tired of trying to write gritty, edgy, contemporary stories that might appeal to small literary magazines. One day I gave up and wrote a story just for myself. I was horrified that my story involved a small English village, a rose-covered cottage, and a stuffy British Major right out of an English TV comedy... but when I took it to my workshop everyone just fell in love with Major Pettigrew in a way I had never experienced before. I was not quite sure what I had done, but I recognized that I was on to something new and powerful.
JH: What books are on your bedside table now?
HS: I am reading The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, the powerful story of how six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South and migrated within their own country — a shocking and important history which I'm reading for my book club. They keep me reading non-fiction because otherwise I'm all fiction all the time. I also recently completed Philip Hensher's King of the Badgers(a wickedly amusing British book) and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. Next up are two manuscripts to read for close friends and then lots of research reading for my second novel.
JH: Has your life changed in any unexpected ways since becoming a best-selling author? And, has it not changed in any unexpected ways?
HS: I always joke that my family still seems to expect groceries, dinner on the table, clean laundry and emergency runs to school with forgotten homework or lunch money. Don't they know I'm an author now? Actually, I did not expect any changes in my life from being published and have been surprised by the whirlwind of travel and activity in the last two years. It is enormous fun and somewhat disorienting at times. I might have lost my head but, lucky for me, my two teenage sons are very hard to impress and they keep me firmly in check!
JH: What did you splurge on after receiving your first book advance payment?
HS: It was an incredibly proud moment for me to hold that first advance check and realize that I would be able to make a real contribution towards putting our two sons through college. I can't think of anything I'd rather splurge on more! Of course, there may also have been the odd bottle of champagne popped!
JH: What is the One True Thing you learned From Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali?
HS: Being true to oneself and one's principles is often the harder road, and may seem unlikely to succeed, but anything else is a pale imitation.
JH: What's next for you?
HS: I'm at work on a second novel, and hoping it will take less than five years this time!
Helen Simonson was born in England and spent her teenage years in a small village in East Sussex. A graduate of the London School of Economics and former travel advertising executive, she has lived in America for the last two decades. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, Simonson received her M.F.A. from SUNY Stonybrook, This is her first novel.