Meet Paige Nick
When I discovered that I swam with a best seller author, in the very next lane… GASP, I knew I had to create an author interview with her. Not only is she a best selling author, but the main instigator in the very real online book club: The Good Book Appreciation Society. In fact, Paige Nick is one of those extremely busy and energetic folk that are just a joy to be around. I immediately rushed out and bought her latest novel: Book People… and attended her brilliant Book Launch at The Book Lounge. If you live in the world of books, you would have seen this book everywhere… in every bookstore, instagram, radio… everywhere! And for good reason, it is without a doubt an excellent read.
Book People
Book People is a book written for readers everywhere, especially readers who are members of a book club or readers that love navigating the world of books on social media or even better, both. It is the story of Harry Shields, who rather fancies himself as a brilliant crime writer. He is also a member of an online book club, The Good Book Appreciation Society, where he has more than one identity, more than one login. Harry starts to recomend his own book, and book lovers in general are not loving his book… things start to fall apart and his best friends and even his wife are completely over his “self-made drama.”
Meanwhile, Norma, the owner of the online book club finds herself putting out several fires a day, and they almost always involve Harry. Norma’s boyfriend, who has given up his life and everything else to write the book of his life, has spent all her savings and more, is actually wallowing in the world of online games and self-pity. She has a career pivot, for the better… only to discover that she has to pick up all the pieces online and in real life…
I could talk about this book all day, it is very cleverly written… loads of nuances and great observations about the truth about life, love and everything else. It is quirky, funny, poignant and most importantly, honest. This is a great comfort read… you will want to read it fast… pick a weekend and go!!! Highly recommend this, definitely on my list of favourite reads of the year.
Se7en Questions for Paige Nick
- Tell us a little bit about your writing journey. How did you become a writer? Did you always want to become a writer?
- Who or what do you think had the biggest impact on you becoming a writer?
- Tell us about your work style: Are you compelled to write when inspiration strikes or disciplined, or do you just squeeze it in whenever you can?
- Where do you work best? On the couch at a desk? While you are at it, tell us about your dream workday.
- I love your characters, they are so full of life, where did you find them? Where do you get your inspiration to create them?
- What made researching for this book great, did you get to do any interesting interviews or visit any unusual places? (A publisher’s catacomb, for instance… dream job right there!!!)
- Do you have something to tell our followers who think that they might have a book inside of them, a word of encouragement or some advice? And where can our readers find you…on instagram? Website?
With a name like Paige, did I ever even have a choice? I always wanted to be in advertising, and writing seemed like the best fit for me, cos, can’t for the life of me do much else. I got my first job as an advertising copywriter when I was nineteen, and I’m still doing that today. Then at some point the fiction and column writing work followed and fit in. My career path has all felt pretty organic.
My English teachers. I was lucky enough to have three really good ones through the course of primary and high school. Each of them not only inspired me, but they all made me feel like maybe it was something I could do. As a kid, when someone you respect tells you you’re good at something, whether you actually are or aren’t, it encourages you to try a little harder at it.
All three. There’s my job which has me conceptualising and writing advertising copy all day, and then I squeeze in the fiction and other stuff in every other gap I get. I’m a pretty disciplined writer, but I think that’s because I enjoy it so much. I also get really obsessed when I’m in a project, and then I don’t want to think or do about anything else.
I can pretty much work anywhere. I have a desk I love working at, and a proper, serious desk chair (because if you’re going to be a writer, you have to invest in a chair that won’t kill your back if you sit in it for nine hours straight every day). But I also move around the house. Right now I’m typing this on my bed, which is another favourite place to write.
The interesting people around me seep into my brain. My characters are often a mish-mash of people I’ve known throughout my life, or seen on a plane, or swim next to at training, or hover behind in the queue at a sandwich shop. Due warning Se7en, there’s a very large chance you or some part of you will appear in my next novel.
My fourth novel, Dutch Courage, was set in a strip club in Amsterdam, and the research for that was really mad and really fun, and really interesting. But this book is about a book club on Facebook called The Good Book Appreciation Society, and I run a book club on Facebook called The Good Book Appreciation Society, so I’ve been doing the research subconsciously since I started the club in 2013.
Sarah Bullen is one of the best writing coaches I know. If you think you have a book inside you, she will help you get it out. I am on allllll the social medias; @amillionmilesfromnormal on Instagram, I spend lots of time on Facebook, please come find me, and you can search and join The Good Book Appreciation Society, which I run on Facebook, if you come search for us, it’s the one with 23k members. See you there.
Thank you so much to Paige Nick, for her brilliant book and always swimming faster than me. And to The Book Lounge for a fabulous launch and PanMacmillan South Africa. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely my own.