Late last year I had the huge good fortune to meet Martina Cole. Petite, attractive and dynamic, she was the loveliest, most down-to-earth person you could wish for, who took the time to chat in spite of being extremely busy.
Me and Martina – having a chat.
I did ask her to feature in Hot Holidays! but apparently, she did something similar through Woman and Home last year about Northern Cyprus, which was reproduced on her Facebook page and she got a lot of nasty comments about the events of 1974 and current political situation in Cyprus and, understandably, didn’t want a repeat. Instead, she agreed to answer some general questions I put to her. As her books are set around the Dagenham area, like my latest book, The Banjo, which is out next week, I thought now would be a good time to post my Q&A session with Martina.
ES: When did you first realise that you had such a great gift for storytelling?
MC: I didn’t know I had a great gift, I just always knew from a very young age that I loved books and writing
ES: Did you have a Plan B? Or did you always know that you’d be a novelist?
MC: I never had a plan A let alone a plan B !! I’ve always worked, I had various jobs and had to get on, work to pay the bills.
What I really love about Martina’s books is that they’re set near ‘my manor’! I love reading about places I know and recognise, so I was keen to ask her about this.
ES: Your books tend to be set along the A13 corridor, often in or around Dagenham. How different do you think your writing would have been if you’d grown up somewhere more affluent?
MC: After the second time I was expelled from school I was made to undergo tests to send me to a special school for disruptive teenagers, after the tests they wanted to send me to a school for advanced children in Brighton but my mother said no. A more affluent background probably would have resulted in university etc so who knows where I would be now !!
ES: That area of Essex/East London has changed so much in the last 15-20 years. Do you think it’s changed for the better? Or do you look back with nostalgia?
MC: I think everybody looks back with nostalgia, overall the area has picked up a lot in that time.
ES: The term ‘Essex Girl’ has always had a negative connotation. Do you see it as that or do you wear it as a badge of honour?
MC: I wear it as a badge of honour!!!
That was good to hear, because so do I. Essex is home to some of the cleverest women and girls in the country yet we get such a terrible name (mostly due to THAT programme!!).
Martina is one of the most successful contemporary British writers so I had to ask for some tips…
ES: What advice would you give to someone like me, a self-published author looking for a publishing deal?
MC: I always recommend the Writers & Artists Year Book, it has everything an aspiring writer needs to succeed in publishing.
ES: Do you consider yourself a feminist?
MC: Yes, of course! Most of the charities I support are women’s charities.
I think I already knew the answer to that. Martina is beyond generous with her charity work.
And finally….
ES: What makes you happy?
MC: Siting on my balcony of my holiday home with a beer, a book and a cigarette!
You certainly deserve that, Martina! Enjoy! And thanks for your time.
