Authors: Cecelia Ahern

One Hundred Names (42 page)

Constance advises Kitty that telling a story is about seeking the truth, getting to the heart of what is real. Is that what you aim for in your writing, too?

People ask if there’s ever a part of me in any of my main characters and while people will be looking for similarities between Kitty and me, it’s really Constance that I’ve chosen as my vessel to air my opinions!

I think often reporters want to tell their own story, they hear something which interests them, they perhaps talk to the person the story is related to and then they spin it, in a direction which suits them. Sometimes it’s better and more interesting to just listen to what the person has to say. That’s the story. It doesn’t have to make sense, it doesn’t have to be clever, it doesn’t have to all add up, there doesn’t have to be a reason for everything. Sometimes things just are as they are. Ask the right questions, listen to the answers and write it. When I’m writing, even though I’m writing fiction, I have to write what I believe is real. Would somebody really feel this way in this moment? If it doesn’t feel right, I can’t write it.

While I was writing
The Time of My Life
, in the opening chapters Lucy Silchester is talking about her life. Even though it was all the information I wanted to convey and I was describing the life I wanted her to have, it didn’t feel authentic, something about it felt like a writer writing her words rather than what she would actually say. I kept reading it over wondering what I could tweak to make it feel more real. I couldn’t tweak anything. I’d have to delete it. But I liked it. I liked how I’d written it. I liked how she sounded. Then I figured it out. So after her long introduction about who she was and what she was about, I simply wrote, “Okay. I lied.”
This
felt right. Lucy, the compulsive liar was born. She would lie about everything. She would always tell stories about herself which weren’t true but through hearing her lies, her truth would be known. That felt real. For me, that was getting to the heart of what was real.

I don’t think writers should be writing what they think people want to read, I think they should be writing about what moves them, what they find interesting and only then will the reader care. Likewise, I think that people whose job it is to find the stories shouldn’t be looking for what they
think
people want to read, they should look for something that moves or interests them. Often the response to my work from the TV and film world is, “Sorry, we’re looking for vampires stories now” or “Sorry, the erotic story is hot right now”. I think people should be just simply looking for a good story. I think that audiences and readers really just want a good story at all times no matter what appears to be in fashion.

I’m always asked why I
choose
to write commercial fiction. As if secretly inside I possess the skill to write literary works, crime or historical fiction but I’m repressing it. I write what is considered commercial fiction because that’s the way that I write. That’s my voice. It’s just there. I haven’t created it, no more than when we open our mouths we don’t decide what pitch or accent we will use. We speak as we naturally speak. I write as I naturally write. I’m not aiming my work at anyone for any reason. I write it and the people who are interested read it. Simple.

Did you use a telephone book to search for the one hundred names, or did you make them all up?

Yes, I spent a long time going through the phone book looking for the names that jumped out at me. I put myself in Constance’s shoes and tried to think of what she would have done. Knowing what she was trying to achieve, I tried to see what names would jump out at her.

Constance and I agree on there being a lot of Murphys in Ireland.

One of the many ideas in
One Hundred Names
is that everyone could secretly be a diamond in the rough – is this something you believe in as well?

I simply think that everybody has a story to tell. While those stories may not be interesting to everybody, I don’t believe anybody is boring and nobody should feel that they are. People are fascinating creatures and we don’t have to go far to hear an interesting story or find a hero, or hear a genuine love story, or something that will break our heart. Those stories are all around us, and exist within the people we see and talk to everyday. We just have to ask, then listen.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you ...

My precious family; David, Robin and Sonny.

Thank you ...

Bertie, Mimmie, Terry, Georgina, Nicky, Rocco and Jay, Neil and Breda.

My agent Marianne Gunn O’Connor.

Lynne Drew, Thalia Suzuma, Kate Elton, Belinda Budge, Victoria Barnsley, Lucy Upton, Louise Swannell, Liz Dawson, Moira Reilly, Tony Purdue and the huge and wonderful HarperCollins team worldwide.

Vicki Satlow and Pat Lynch.

All the booksellers who have supported my books and the readers who have welcomed me into their lives. I’m eternally grateful for the honour and hope I have succeeded in delivering something which will move and entertain you.

About the Author

Before embarking on her writing career, Cecelia Ahern completed a degree in journalism. In addition to her bestselling novels, all of which have reached number 1, Cecelia has written for TV and for the stage. She lives in Dublin with her family.

Cecelia’s books are hugely popular internationally, and she is published in over forty countries around the world. Log into her Facebook page for exclusive updates and to be the first to find out about the next book. Find out more here: www.facebook.com/CeceliaAhernofficial

By the same author

PS, I Love You

Where Rainbows End

If You Could See Me Now

A Place Called Here

Thanks for the Memories

The Gift

The Book of Tomorrow

The Time of My Life

Short stories

Girl in the Mirror

Copyright

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Harper

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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Cecelia Ahern asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Ebook Edition © October 2012 ISBN: 9780007477197

Version 1

FIRST EDITION

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