Talking To: Vikki Patis
It was potentially only after ending the Zoom call (2020’s official sponsors) with Vikki Patis that I was as starstruck as I should have been. Words swept through my mind - ‘over 50,000 books sold, ‘George R.R Martin told me…’, ‘Amazon’s Top 100 Chart’...
It was a true pleasure to sit down and chat with Vikki about her life as an author; she was down to earth, funny, interesting, and, to be honest, I’m off to buy all of her books right now. (You can read the interview whilst I do that.)
So, tell me about yourself?
So, I live in Hertfordshire with my partner, two cats and a wild golden retriever puppy. I went to university in Cornwall and then Plymouth. I studied Policing and then Criminology. I wanted to be a solicitor or a barrister but I had some ill health so I realised that wasn't really going to be compatible. Now I work for a Medical Device Supplier; as well as doing my writing.
Let’s kick this off… We’d love to know. Is there a fact about your writing that not a lot of people know?
I have a music playlist for every book. All different. Sometimes it can range from Slipknot to Britney Spears. It all happened because my first book, The Diary, features music quite heavily. It was set when I was teenager and I listened to music to get into the mindset of my 15 year old self; remembering going out drinking and listening to music on those tinny phones. I found it really powerful and now it’s carried on.
So, how did you get into writing?
Well, I'm afraid I've got that stock answer but I've always wanted to write and I have always written. I used to pinch exercise books from school and fill them up with stories and then gift them to friends on the school bus.
So you've always wanted to write, but what was the moment when you decided to properly give writing a book a go?
So, long story short, I used to have a blog where I'd review new books and interview authors. In 2014, I had the opportunity to interview George RR Martin. I've never been so terrified in my life. It was just incredible. He was just so sweet and kind. He asked me if I write and I said ‘I can't finish anything’, to which he said ‘write short stories.’ He used to write little short stories by hand and sell them for something like a quarter and that was his inspiration for writing! I don't like reading short stories personally, it's not something I enjoy. So I battled with it and I thought... well I think he knows what he's talking about. So I wrote a collection of short stories and it made me think, ‘Well, okay, I can do it.’
It's amazing that George RR Martin is in your origin story!
So you’ve published three novels so far. Can you tell us briefly about your three published books?
So The Diary is mostly the story of Lauren and Hannah, who died when she was 18. It's about how their lives are interconnected and how everything that happens to them as teenagers informs the rest of their lives. In the book, it's the 10 year anniversary of Hannah's death and Lauren goes back to her childhood town. She finds herself brought back into those old friendships and old secrets.
In The Girl Across The Street, the book kicks off with an event of Isla witnessing a hit and run. Isla lives in a lovely house with a seemingly lovely husband. There is another woman called Beth, who lives across the street on a slightly less lovely street. Isla is in an abusive relationship with Jake and Beth is in a bit of a tricky relationship with Kyle. It's about what a lot of women put up with in their relationships. It's about the relationship between women; how we can connect, understand each other and ultimately save one another, in some ways.
Then in my most recent book Girl, Lost, there are twins, Freya and Imogen.They are in their 20s and they’re about to go travelling with their best friend, Emily. The day that they're meant to go, Freya goes missing. Then three days later, Emily goes as well. Five years later, Imogen is in Australia, and her Mum calls and says Emily is back - with a child. It’s about the questions and the tangle of lies that are left.
I would love to be able to write a whole book but I can’t even imagine the process of fleshing out the whole plot! What’s your writing process like?
When I started out on my first two books, I knew very little, and I was what they call a ‘pantser’, so flying by the seat of my pants. I had a seed of an idea and just went with it, like with The Girl Across The Street, that idea came from, up the main road, when I was driving along and I saw that a tree was knocked on its side and there was glass littered everywhere and I just thought…Oh, what happened there? I took that idea and thought 'let's write it down and get the characters out and see what happens.' Now it's slightly different. I do a lot on plot so I spend some time doing "Serious Author Thinking."
And when you first started off writing, how did you find the publication process?
I'm gonna sound like a twat but with my first book, The Diary, I found the publisher that I thought was the best fit, which was Bookouture, and thankfully, they took it on. They were the only people I submitted it to at the time.
Oh, wow. That's amazing. Did you learn anything about the publishing process that you didn’t expect?
Ooh one thing... so, in general, as an author, you have no control over everything on the outside of the book, so the cover for example, or the title. So, I had originally called The Diary 'In Bloom' and the title was changed by the publisher. As well as that, when I saw the cover I loved it, but it has two pink wellington boots on it - which aren’t in the book. So I had to add them in haha!
I know you said that you love a whole array of genres, including Women’s Fiction and Historical Fiction, but what is it about the darker tone of Psychological Suspense, Thrillers and Dystopian novels that you enjoy?
I always want to write about something that is important to me. With The Diary, for example, that came out of me wanting to write about something that happened to me as a teenager and work through it as a form of therapy. So, in The Diary the event is that the main character Lauren was raped as a teenager and that is the core moment that starts everything off. So by nature of it, it is dark, but also, I think it is so important to write women’s stories; what we go through, not all of us, but many of us, too many of us, go through a lot of things. Similarly, in my second book, The Girl Across The Street, it's about an abusive marriage which is slightly based on my parent’s relationship, of how it could have been before they had me and how my mum would have felt. So, again, by nature it’s very dark. Or in Girl Lost, Emily’s father was abusive, as was mine growing up. However, I do always try to work through those issues in the book so people reading them can see there is a resolution.
Writing about those huge topics, do you ever feel a sense of gravity and responsibility to present a message?
So I always know that I can never write from every single person's perspective and I can only write from my own but I do try to have a balance in there; even in other characters where they may even play devil's advocate.
It’s incredible as well; your books have been read by so many people. How does that make you feel?
Honestly, I feel a little bit of the imposter syndrome. There are a lot of highs and extreme lows in publishing; especially with my first book. The one and two star reviews come in and you really feel it, but then when it does shoot up in the charts, you're like 'oh my god, this is amazing'. Even within the writing process, when I write my first draft I think 'this is amazing, I'm the best writer in the world' and I know when it comes to the editing process I'm going to hate it. So I let myself enjoy that small period of time when I think I'm the most amazing writer I've ever met.
What has been the best moment of doing what you do?
I did a book launch for 'The Diary' - it was very open; just inviting friends and family and they could invite whoever too. It was mostly just informal. Then there was this moment when someone I knew from when I was younger came up and said 'Please can you sign it?'. It was so surreal. I've always wanted to be an author and it's those smaller moments from me. Like, another moment is when my mother in law had the book on her kitchen side and someone turned round to her and said 'Oh, I read that, it's a brilliant book, I really enjoyed it." They're moments that you don't forget.
Which was your favorite book to write?
I'm gonna have to say that it's the one that can't talk about which is coming out in October. What I can say is that I was inspired by going to a funeral in December. It's difficult because at funerals there are a lot of things that aren't said. For example, when my dad died there was a lot of stuff that was not said - and my Dad was horrible. I remember standing at his funeral thinking 'why are we saying these things?'. It inspired me to think "Okay, what would happen in a book like this?'. It’s written from multiple perspectives and it’s all about the relationship they had with the man who died.
That sounds so interesting!! It sounds like you’ve got so much going on. What’s the dream plan when it comes to your writing?
I want to be in all the bookshops. I want to be in the supermarket. I want to have an advert on the tube. Maybe a film... I want to be all over. And to live in Cornwall with cats and dogs.
And, finally, we have a lot of writers at The Everyday - myself included - who would say we all struggle getting ideas off the ground or getting the ball rolling. What advice would you have for us?
Challenge yourself just to write.... I think one of my favourite sayings is Hemmingways's 'Write drunk, Edit sober.' Oh and write short stories!
You can order any of Vikki’s books HERE.