Author interview: Chrissie Manby

Today I’m delighted to welcome author Chrissie Manby to One More Page to tell us about her new Christmas novel, A Proper Family Christmas. Chrissie is the bestselling author of seventeen romantic comedy novels including Kate’s Wedding and What I Did on my Holidays, and a guide for aspiring chick lit writers, Writing for Love. She was nominated for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance for Getting Over Mr Right. Raised in Gloucester, Chrissie now lives in London. Welcome Chrissie!

Your new novel, A Proper Family Christmas has just been released. Please could you tell us a little about it and your inspiration for it?

A Proper Family Christmas follows the further adventures of the Benson family, picking up the story just as they get back to Coventry from Lanzarote. SPOILER ALERT for those who haven’t reading A Proper Family Holiday. The long-lost daughter whose existence Jacqui admitted in the first book is back. Born Daisy Benson, her name is now Annabel Buchanan and she’s grown up in a very different world to her sisters, full of money and privilege. Jacqui is thrilled that Annabel, her ‘Daisy’, is back on the scene but Annabel’s motives for meeting the Bensons, her birth family, are complicated. Annabel’s own daughter Izzy is in desperate need to a kidney transplant and she is hopeful that one of the Bensons will help out. Expect some serious sibling rivalry.

The Benson and the Buchanan families are very different; who was your favourite character to write and why?

The Bensons and the Buchanans are indeed very different. The Bensons are salt-of-the-earth working class and Annabel is, well, a bit of a snob. But I loved writing them all. And, if I’m honest, there’s a lot of me in Annabel. I was given up for adoption as a baby and through Annabel I found a voice to say an awful lot of things I haven’t dared say before. That was cathartic. If I had to pick one character though, it would definitely be Jack. Writing scenes for Jack, the six year old, always puts a smile on my face. He’s loosely based on my two nephews, who are always making me laugh with the funny things they say.

What are your top three tips for surviving the Christmas season?

Gin. Champagne. And staying out of the kitchen.

There are lots of laugh out loud moments in the book; please could you share your favourite Christmas cracker joke with us?

What’s brown and sticky? A stick.

If your main characters were putting on a Christmas Panto which roles would they take?

There are so many characters it’s hard to know where to start. The obvious answer is Cinderella, with poor put-upon Chelsea in the title role with her two big sisters as the uglies. But that’s a bit harsh. I hope all three of the Benson girls have their redeeming features. Perhaps they would put on Hansel and Gretel, instead, with Jack and Lily in the title roles.

Which three Christmas songs would you put on the soundtrack for A Proper Family Holiday?

The Coventry Carol, which is my favourite Christmas song of all time, for the sad bits.

Wham’s Last Christmas for lovelorn Chelsea.

And Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody, for the knees-up at Ronnie’s house.

And finally … what can we expect next from Chrissie Manby?

I’ve just starting writing another novel featuring the Bensons. It’s a summer release and they’re back on holiday but this time they’re going on a cruise. Expect more family drama and lots of laughter, especially from Granddad Bill and Jack. I’m really looking forward to taking the Bensons on another adventure. Having such a wide range of characters to play with is great fun. The possibilities are endless. And this time, I’m going to be able to do some fantastic research too. As I write these answers, I’m looking forward to going on my first ever cruise on Princess Cruises’ new ship The Regal Princess out of Fort Lauderdale in Florida. I can’t tell you how excited I am. At last, an excuse to wear all my stripy t-shirts!

Follow Chrissie on Twitter , or visit her website www.chrissiemanby.co.uk to find out more about her writing.

A Proper Family Christmas is out now in paperback and eBook, published by Hodder.