If a mid-morning Hob-Nob and a nice sit-down accompany your reading, then chances are that in-between the article about the suburban bigamist and the celebrity wordsearch, the work of Lynne Hackles will have punctuated that Tetley moment. Lynne's short stories have graced a clutch of magazine titles, including Take a Break, Bella, and the veritable People's Friend. She's even sold some to Woman's Day and That's Life in Australia, where they're probably served with Tim Tams and Lipton's.

But it wasn't always so. Back in the no-nonsense days of education, Lynne's headmistress suggested she leave school a year early so that the rest of the class could concentrate on their work. Before rediscovering her true vocation, she drifted in and out of over 50 jobs. A chance at publication led to a flourishing full-time stint as a writer, and now Lynne churns them out like billy-o. Lately she's tackled longer works, including a novel of her own and one of someone else's. When not writing, Lynne is passing on her wisdom to others as a tutor of creative writing courses.

Lynne says her favourite subject to talk about is "Writing for the Women's Magazine Market". So never one to miss a trick, we wiped down the worktop, popped the kettle on, and heard what she had to say.


Great Writing: As predominantly a short story writer, was it difficult to make the leap to a full-time writing career?

Lynne Hackles: Writing was a hobby until five years ago. I was about to begin my 60th? job (I've lost count) working for the minimum wage in a dress shop. The night before I was due to start, an editor phoned to say she wanted to buy my story, and had I got any more. I'd have needed to work three weeks in the shop to get what I was paid for 1000 words so I decided to write full-time instead of going out to work. My aim was to sell one story per fortnight and I've managed that.

GW: Do you find that the house style required for your stories varies across magazine titles?

LH: All magazines are slightly different so if a story comes back rejected from one, I change it slightly and send it to another. The rule is not to let a rejection sit on the desk for longer than 24 hours. I'm lucky because my style can change to suit whatever market I'm writing for. Besides short stories I write regular pieces for Writing Magazine, Flair, and for Link, the newsletter of NAWG (the National Association of Writing Groups), and I'm a tutor for a leading correspondence school.

GW: You've also written a children's book, Racing Start. How did that come about?

LH: With Racing Start, I spotted a gap in the market for 10-12 year olds. Blackie, the old respected company, had a series of sports fiction books. They'd covered football, tennis, swimming etc. and I wrote to tell them they'd missed the best sport in the world, cycle racing, and they said, well you write it then. So I did and it was accepted. At the time I didn't realise how lucky that was.

GW: And now you've completed an even greater challenge.

LH: Yes - I recently wrote my first full-length novel, which my agent is currently trying to place. It was a different approach to short story writing, and I enjoyed not having to come up with new ideas every day. My characters were there waiting for me each morning and I was able to include the food and frocks - descriptions which there aren't word-room for in short stories.

GW: So being successfully published in other areas doesn't guarantee publication of a novel?

LH: No - the novel is still doing the rounds. I've had lots of lovely rejection letters. It's difficult out there at present, especially for a first novel, and the fact that I'm well published in other areas doesn't appear to count. I am still hopeful though and have confidence in it.

GW: Well go on then, sell it to us.

LH: Too old for chick-lit, too traumatised by motherhood to consider hen-lit, I've opted for the next logical stage - old-boiler lit, if we stick to the poultry analogy. Hag-lit if you prefer, though that sounds like something served with chips and mushy peas in a greasy spoon café.

My heroine is Gail who is on the scrap heap after being made redundant, just as she was getting over being left by her husband. He ran off with her best friend's daughter. There's a host of eccentric characters (I picture them all as people from a Beryl Cook painting) including Pearl, Gail's mother, who dresses in clothes from a different era each day. Gail has to put up with Pearl on one side and her single-mum daughter on the other. Then there's Barry, all kipper tie, wide lapels and Kevin Keagan curls. And Dilys whose first job every morning is to paint on her eyebrows and who loves sci-fi, especially the cult tv show, Zany Scrapes on Planet Zog. William, Gail's' lodger is also addicted to this show which comes in useful as he can pretend any alien germs he may have picked up are being zapped when he's in Lexi's shower, prior to having sex. This suits Lexi as she has compulsive behaviour disorder and likes everything to be spotless, which is why she employs Gail and Dilys, and Big Nesta to clean her house for her, when they start up their cleaning company - Girls Will (if you don't want to). That happens to be the title. ‘Sounds like a brothel,' comments Pearl.

After lots of traumas and lots of laughs Gail ends up, not only with a growing business, but also in the arms of the right man. And along the way she manages not to murder her mother or her daughter.

With more and more of the population being over 50 and so many women of my age telling me they are tired of reading about 20 and 30 somethings I set out to prove that there's life in the old girls yet. We are the first generation of grannies too busy to look after our grandchildren. We are out there enjoying ourselves with not a grey hair or knitting needle in sight.
 
GW: As if all that wasn't enough, you've also turned your hand to ghost writing. Was it difficult to write about someone else's experiences?

LH: One of my rules is ‘never say no'. If someone asked me to write a piece in Martian I'd say yes and worry about it later. That's why I said yes when approached to ghost a book, even though it was for a woman who'd been brought up in the Welsh valleys, married into the aristocracy and found herself mixed up with politicians and paedophiles. It was a rags to riches and back to rags story. The strangest thing was being in Waterstones watching her sign books while I stood there, after doing all the work!  

Ghost-writing is journalism and completely different from novel writing but, I'm a writing butterfly and flit between fiction, non-fiction, children's writing and adults. Everything goes on the C.V. and the longer it gets, the better it looks!

GW: What's your writing discipline? Do you write every day?

LH: Writing is my job now and involves getting up every morning, dressing, putting on the slap, and going to work - even if it is only up the stairs. I pretend I'm in an office otherwise the day would be frittered away. Professionalism is nothing to do with money. It's the attitude.

GW: Do you have any other advice for aspiring writers?

LH: Funny you should ask that...


Yes, funny indeed. NAWG recently Lynne's Handy Little Book For Writers which is overflowing with tips. It costs £3.50, including p&p, and can be ordered from NAWG, 40 Burstall Hill, Bridlington, YO16 7GA.