by Paige Toon
Most recently, While You Were Sleeping by Dani Atkins, and before that, it was You Me Everything by you! A quick look at my bookshelf brought back many snotty-nosed memories: The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, The Fault in our Stars by John Green, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, You’re The One That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher, The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, Wonder by RJ Palacio, to name but a few.
Olivia Heys: Why do you set so many of your books in both England and Australia?
Because, like Lucy from Lucy in the Sky, I’m torn between two countries. I’m happily settled with my husband and children in the UK, but the rest of my family are in Australia, where I grew up, and I’d give anything to be able to pop over there more often. Australia is so far away, but writing about it brings it closer.
Louise Pentland, author: I fantasise about writing in quaint tea rooms with giant scones and mugs of hot chocolate, but in reality I write most of my work in my ‘soft office’ aka My Bed!! Where is your favourite place to write?
I actually did write a few books from a coffee shop, listening to music to drown out the clatter while my kids attended a nearby nursery. Now I write from my office or on my laptop if I feel like a change of scene. I wrote a chunk of The Last Piece of My Heart from my campervan at the end of our garden. Bridget, my heroine, was living in a campervan so I loved being able to picture her surroundings.
Hannah Clarke: Which book was the hardest to write and why?
Johnny Be Good was tricky because I was pregnant and my head was all over the place, but once my son was born, I flew through it while he slept in the pram beside me. The One We Fell in Love With was my most challenging because it’s written from the perspective of three different sisters – triplets – and I had to make ‘the twist’ work.
Dani Atkins, author: In all of your books, who has the best first kiss?
The first kiss is probably my favourite thing to write. Rose and Toby from The One We Fell in Love With, Charlie and Bridget from The Last Piece of My Heart, Nell and Van from Five Years From Now… This is a difficult one! I think it’s a toss-up between Johnny and Meg from Johnny Be Good and Leo and Laura from The Longest Holiday. I’ll go with the latter because Johnny had just had a fag so I doubt he tasted very nice!
Molly Lucitt-Rees: Do you know how your story ends before you write it?
Usually, but when I wrote One Perfect Summer, about twenty thousand words from the end, I realised it wasn’t going to be as clear-cut as I had envisaged. I basically decided to let the ending write itself and it was so liberating that I did the same with Thirteen Weddings. Those two endings might not have been straight-forward happy-ever-afters, but that wouldn’t have been realistic for the characters at the time. I’m glad I got to revisit these stories, though.
Lucy Diamond, author: Which of your characters is your favourite and who would play them in a movie?
I love them all, don’t make me choose! My characters don’t look like anyone else inside my head, but readers have suggested Charlie Hunnan and Chris Hemsworth would make good Johnny Jeffersons, so I’ll go with those options – but Chris would have to lose some of his superhero bulk first…
Victoria Ashford: What piece of advice would you give sixteen-year-old Paige?
‘Five years from now, you’ll look back and understand why this happened’. My dad gave me this same advice when I was seventeen and struggling with my A levels. He was right: I ended up going to a different university where I met my future husband – our two children would not exist if I hadn’t messed up my exams. Most clouds have a silver lining, and even bad things have helped inspire my novels so I’d just say, soak up every experience and remember those emotions because one day you’ll write about them. Five Years From Now is a good example of this.
Mesha Prout: Which book did you most enjoy writing?
The Sun in Her Eyes and All About The Hype were the easiest to write, possibly because the settings were already familiar to me, but Lucy in the Sky will always have a special place in my heart because it was my first. I was deliriously happy to have been given a book deal after dreaming about being an author since I was a small child. I loved every minute of the writing process.
Millie Tyerman: Was there a specific moment in life that inspired you to write romance novels?
I wrote what I most enjoyed reading at that moment in time: chick-lit! Now that term is considered by many to be derogatory, but that annoys me. To me, it’s the literary equivalent of a romcom movie: a gorgeously warm love story that makes you feel a rollercoaster of emotions as you fly through the pages. I’ve lost count of the number of readers who have told me that my books helped to get them into reading; that they couldn’t finish a book until they read one of mine. How can that be a bad thing?
Look out for the brand new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author Paige Toon. The perfect summer read for 2019!
IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE
Angie has always wanted to travel. But at 29, she has still never left her small mining town in the Australian outback. When her grandmother passes away, Angie finally feels free to see the world – until she discovers a letter addressed to the father she never knew and is forced to question everything.
As Angie sets off on her journey to find the truth – about her family, her past and who she really is – will enigmatic stranger Alessandro help guide the way?
COMING 2019
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paige toon
Paige Toon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of over thirteen novels.
To find out more about Paige and her writing, or to join The Hidden Paige newsletter and receive free short stories, visit her website:
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Also by Paige Toon
Lucy in the Sky
Johnny Be Good
Chasing Daisy
Pictures of Lily
Baby Be Mine
One Perfect Summer
One Perfect Christmas (eBook short story)
The Longest Holiday
Johnny’s Girl (eBook short story)
Thirteen Weddings
The Sun in Her Eyes
The One We Fell in Love With
The Last Piece of My Heart
A Christmas Wedding (eBook short story)
Five Years From Now
Young Adult
The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson
I Knew You Were Trouble
All About the Hype
First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2018
A CBS COMPANY
Copyright © Paige Toon, 2018
The right of Paige Toon to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4711-7944-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4711-7945-7
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Typeset in the UK by M Rules
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
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