Zoë Richards is an author and writer, having written for national magazines for many years. She is represented by Clare Coombes of The Liverpool Literary Agency. Her debut novel, Garden of Her Heart, published by UCLan Publishing, is a heartwarming story about recovery, community and purpose.
Zoë is an experienced speaker, panel facilitator, and interviewer with experience on radio, including as a pundit on BBC Radio Merseyside for many years, and through being the host of the Write, Damn It! Podcast. She is also experienced at running workshops on topics such as creative writing, putting yourself out there as an author, handling imposter syndrome, and dealing with writing demons to get the writing done.
With over 30 years of working on mindset, and as a teacher of coaching for more than 25 years, Zoë coaches writers in dealing with imposter syndrome, helping them to overcome their demons and blocks, and get the writing done. Much of what she uses on mindset comes from lived experience, as she is a suicide survivor, and it is through her recovery that Zoë learned the power of the mind, and a positive approach to life.
During her career, Zoë worked for the NHS for many years where she managed projects across a range of health services including those for children and young people with special educational needs.
1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
Writing Garden of Her Heart, which has a theme of recovery along with community and purpose, helped me deal with things going on in my own life, such as being a carer for my mum and also for my husband, and working through my own mental health issues. It has, quite literally, changed my life as I find I'm now more chilled than I was before writing it. I guess you could say it was cathartic. My latest novel, which is a standalone sequel, was something I needed to finish as I was dealing with my mum's cancer diagnosis and then her death 6 weeks later. So another cathartic process but for different reasons. In that respect, although there's less of me in this second novel that I've literally just sent off to the publisher, the writing process still do me a lot of good.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
I've written a lot of non-fiction for work, so writing fiction has always been a release for me. However I've written poetry or sorts all my life - in fact, I wrote a poem for Garden of Her Heart, and it appears twice.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
I plot the boundaries of a novel, and play around with who the characters are, what the setting is, and what the key plot points are, all before I write anything. As a result, although it's not a detailed plot, I know where the story is going, and so it doesn't take me long to write a first draft. I can write that in 3-4 months, and then I spend about 2 months editing it. I've just spent a weekend away at a writing retreat where I was able to workshop book 3, another sequel to Garden of Her Heart, over 4 days, and I'm aiming to have the first draft completed in under 3 months. I think my career of writing huge reports to deadlines must help me with focus and delivery.
4 - Where does work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
I work on a book rather than short pieces, though I do have a notebook that I call 'Where Ideas Go To Grow', which has notes on ideas that I can use for short stories or to combine into something bigger. So far I've used bits from this notebook for scenes, but nothing more than that.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I love doing readings - though not too long, and that's from personal experience of listening to too many readings from writers who don't know how to inject any energy to what they're reading. It's an art form to be able to do a good reading, and I've benefitted from being able to practice with my writing tribe, getting feedback on how to energise a reading. I combine my readings with background about the inspirations and themes of the novel, so that people have a greater understanding of the 500 or so words that I read. I also find that reading out loud helps us to hear what works and what doesn't in our writing, so even if I'm on my own, I will read my work out loud.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
On a personal, writerly level, I'm currently working on understanding what my voice is, as people say it's distinct but I don't know what it is yet. A friend recently said that it's akin to our personality - others might know and understand my personality better than I do myself, and voice is like that. In terms of concepts within my writing, I'm interested in the masks we were and why we wear them. This could relate to mental health, where you can find people hide what is going on for them until they are in crisis, or to neurodiversity where women, for example, mask their ND traits, just as much as it can be about how we play at being different people in different situations.
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
We have many roles – to entertain, to get people thinking, to help people know they’re not alone or to feel seen, and probably many more. One role that is important to me as a writer is to handle representation with sensitivity whilst also not shying away from the issues that need to be covered. For example, in Garden of Her Heart my main character was brought up with coercive control. My editor wanted me to change something about the relationship she had with her parents, and because of my lived experience I knew I couldn't do that - I have to be true to the real experience of coercive control. As a result, I have been contacted by readers who tell me they feel seen, and I think that's part of my role in my writing.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I love working with my agent first for an editorial pass, as she is also an editor, and then with my editor at my publisher. Their perspectives help me to lift the novel to a better place, strengthening my writing. Both are the kinds of editor who suggest rather than dictate, leaving the final decisions and the rewrites of scenes to me, which means that the novel is still my voice. It's hugely beneficial, and I truly think it's a shame that editors don't get their names alongside the author's, as it's definitely teamwork.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
I was told by an author at a book event to finish writing in the middle of a chapter, or at least part way into a chapter, as it helps you start up again the next day. I can report, it works! When I don't do this, I can struggle to get going the next day, and worse still if I can't write for whatever reason for a few consecutive days.
10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I retired from employed work at Easter, but before then I would get up early and write for an hour before breakfast - that could be 5:30am or 6am. Now, my routine is that every day's a writing day, even if I only write 10 words. And those 10 words might be a quick pass over a section I've already written - I'd not quite call this an edit, but it's a pass over it to make sure it makes sense. I'm finding that now I'm a full-time writer, routine can be my enemy, because it's easy to create rules that I can only write if the set up is right. In fact, I can write anywhere, anytime, anyhow.
11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
Any time I get stuck I go for a walk - preferably out in nature. My brain starts ticking over and ideas start to flow. I'll often plant a question as I start my walk, and leave it to my sub-conscious to do its thing. I'll also read and chat to friends. The one thing I can say that dulls any inspiration is social media.
12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
I'm not a fragrance person. However I live near the coast (about a mile from the sea) and we have very fresh air here. So if I go into a city, like when I visit London, I love to get into a park for a bit so that I can enjoy slightly fresher air than you get on the crowded, pollution-soaked streets.
13 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
Always nature, and I also love visiting our local art gallery in Liverpool - The Walker Art Gallery - and seeing what stories there are in paintings. As well as that, I go into cafés and let myself be inspired by people interacting with each other. I love observing real life, and that’s probably my greatest influence.
14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
I don't know that I can pick a single writer, but I do find that my writing benefits from reading works that are considerably better than my own, so that I can learn from how they craft a sentence. If I had to pick any writer, though, I'd choose Elizabeth Gilbert or Brené Brown, and happily listen to their books on audio again and again. I also listen to the radio as you never know what you will learn and how you might use that in the future.
15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
I don't have much left on my list, as I did 50 things in my 50s. I always wanted to go to Iceland to see the aurora borealis, and then when I was in The Lake District earlier this year I was fortunate to see the most spectacular display. I'm pretty fearless, and if I come up with something I want to do, I now just get on with it.
16 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
I'd love to be an actress - in fact, I've always wanted to be an actress who writes. And if I didn't write novels, I'd love to be able to write a screenplay.
17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Nothing made me write - it's more a case of I can't stop myself.
18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
The last great book I read would be Prima Facie by Suzie Miller - and I saw the film of the play recently too, with Jodie Comer. Wow! Just Wow! It ought to be compulsory viewing for men, and for anyone in the legal profession. Due to my husband's health, we don't watch many films as he can't concentrate that long, but a TV series I absolutely love is Slow Horses. That's really clever writing, and so well acted, particularly Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb.
19 - What are you currently working on?
I've just handed in book 2 which is a standalone sequel to Garden of Her Heart. I think my publishers like the title, and if so, that will be called Tell It To The Bees. And to stop myself constantly checking emails to find out what my publisher thinks, I'm working on book 3 which is a Christmas novella in the series. After that, I have a historical crime novel I'd like to get back to, but as I write uplifting bookclub fiction for my publisher, I might need to carve out some time for working on that.
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