insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 22 - December 2016 | Page 16

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

AUTHOR PROFILE:

Fiona H. Joyce
Fiona H. Joyce’s debut novel, Dirty Weekend in Brighton, from Brighton Rock Press, is a fun
yet dark and dramatic story of a couple trying to rekindle their marriage. But, when they both
want different things, and when there are two teenagers in tow, things can be much more
difficult that you might imagine. We spoke to Fiona about how she came to write the book,
and what she plans to do next.

Congratulations on your first novel,
Dirty Weekend in Brighton. Can you tell us
a little about it (without giving too much
away!)?
Thank you. The book is a dark comedy with
themes to make the reader laugh and cry.
But, what Dirty Weekend in Brighton is really
about is empowerment and control – a woman
fighting for control of her life in a challenging
environment where women and mothers are
expected to be superwomen. Yes, they can
have it all, but at a price, and I think that price
is a loss of control. Women ultimately become
controlled by the very things that they set out
to have control over: work, children, husbands,
money...
What led you to writing the novel?
A very roundabout route to writing! I started
out as a lawyer, but never really enjoyed it. I
always wanted to do something creative and
the most I enjoyed law was when I was writing
something for a law journal or a document.
Then, I opened a chain of vintage jewellery
shops and that really took off until the one
in Ship Street, Brighton, had to close due to
major building works. That’s when I would
sit there with no customers, dreaming up
my novels, and after observing an amusing
family in the shop one day, the idea for
Dirty Weekend in Brighton was born.

You are a Sussex author, and Brighton
has clearly influenced your writing in
Dirty Weekend in Brighton. What are your
main Sussex inspirations and influences?
As soon as I decided to write about a weekend
away, it just had to be Brighton; a place I love
and hate. I love it because it has so many
endearing characteristics: wonderful seafront,
iconic West Pier, historic Lanes, the Pavilion,
grand architecture, hippy North Laine, laidback nightlife and beautiful nearby countryside.
At the same time, I hated it from when I
worked there: it can be dirty, noisy, drunken,
flashy, overpriced, bursting at the seams
with day-trippers, brash, vulgar and in your
face (I’m thinking candy floss, fish and chips,
amusement arcades on the pier etc), and I saw
both sides at once.
What do you hope to achieve with the book?
My expectations for a first novel in print were
actually very low. I just thought about it in
stages. First, I just thought I would be happy
to finish an actual novel, just to say I had done
it. And then I thought it would be great to get
an agent interested, after which if a publisher
actually wanted to publish it then that would
be wonderful. But then it started to sell, and
Waterstones and other bookshops stocked
it and that’s when I thought, ‘Goodness, I’m
an author and people are buying my book!’

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The book is doing really well and getting good
reviews, so it has achieved far more than I
thought it would.
What does the future hold?
The future is very exciting! My next book,
3 Point Four Grams, will be published early
next year. I am also working on several
new projects including a screenplay of
Dirty Weekend in Brighton, which has film
production interest. I rather like the idea of
Colin Firth to play the husband, but we’ll see.
I am also writing a new book, Ocean Drive,
which is a ‘social realist’ story, but with a
Hollywood ending – whether that is a happy or
sad one, you will have to wait to find out. The
book is about a middle-class wife and mother
who has lived an affluent and very comfortable
life, who finds herself suddenly on her own and
facing eviction from her home. All her worst
nightmares converge in a perfect storm of
catastrophe and she has to either adapt and
face the challenge, or curl up and die.
www.fionahjoyce.com
@fiona_h_joyce
/fionajoyce