Inspiration and influences by Elle Field

As a new pal of Elle Field's, I'm absolutely delighted to hand the blog over to her today...

As a child and tween I was an avid reader, happily spending most of my pocket money buying the latest Point Horror, Sweet Valley or Babysitter Club books. This didn't change when I became a teenager - rather than lipsticks and nail polishes, Bill Bryson and Robert Rankin books became my must buy books. Turning eighteen and going off to university, something changed.
It wasn't that I didn't enjoy reading any more - far from it - it was just that most of my time was taken up reading books, articles and journals related to my degree subject. I moved from devouring fiction for enjoyment to studying non-fiction for my degree. From the Charter of the United Nations to Anthropology texts by Levi-Strauss and Malinowski, my reading habits were very different during my four years at the University of St Andrews... apart from in the summer, that is.
In the summer holidays it was different. There were no tutorials or essays to focus on, only sixteen glorious weeks to unwind and recharge for the next academic year. I could finally read what I wanted. During those summers I fell in love with chick lit novels - I needed something light and entertaining because of reading those heavy, and often quite dry books during term-time. It was one chick lit book in particular that set me on my path as a chick lit author. 

That summer I can recall deliberating over two books at the bookshop. I can't recall the book I didn't purchase that day, but the one I chose became one of my favourite books and, in part, influenced me to write the genre I write. The book was Cents and Sensibility by Maggie Alderson and things might have been quite different today if I had picked the other book. However, the reason I chose this book was because of what was said in the 'About the Author' section - Maggie's happened to mention she was educated at the University of St Andrews and, so, my choice was made!
Maybe if I had have spent my summers reading crime thrillers I would now be a crime writer, but I think I can safely attribute my chick lit writing to those lazy summers reading Sophie Kinsella, Freya North, Jane Green, Chris Manby, Adele Parks and many more fabulous authors. What I read definitely inspired what I write; straight after I had finished reading Cents and Sensibility I put pen to paper and started writing my very first chick lit book. 

That book was never published but it taught me a great deal about writing a book, helped further by reading voracious amounts of chick lit books. I'm pleased to say though that the second book I attempted was Kept, which was published earlier this year, and six months on I'm releasing my next book. On October 17th Geli Voyante's Hot or Not will be released in Kindle and paperback formats.
I'm thrilled that I'm now on Amazon alongside my favourite authors, and it's all definitely down to those summers I spent reading chick lit.

About the Author

Elle Field is a twenty-something chick lit author who lives in South London with her boyfriend. She enjoys exploring and photographing Blighty's capital, seeing far too many musicals, and eating her way around London's culinary delights.
Her debut novel Kept was released earlier this year, and her next novel Geli Voyante's Hot or Not will be published on October 17th in Kindle and paperback formats. Watch out in 2014 for the sequel of Kept, as well as The Dirtification of Tabitha-Rose.
You can read Elle's literary, London and life adventures on her blog: http://www.ellefield.co.uk
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Buy Kept on Amazon