If I Never Met You

Mhairi McFarlane’s Inside Story: “What I like doing is taking a high-concept romantic comedy idea and then putting it into a setting that we all recognise. In If I Never Met You, she works at this really quite sexist, old-school law firm with a bunch of blokes. I used to work in a newsroom and I have lots of friends who are solicitors. I know that really bloke-y office. Then I drop the fake romance into that world. I think you get the thrill of escapism because it’s quite a ridiculous thing, really. Nobody would actually do that in real life, but at the same time, it feels real when you’re reading it, or at least I would hope it does. Marrying those two things is what people like my books for, I think. The escapism and the realism at the same time.

“I think each time I go to start a new book, I just ask myself what I want to write about. What do I find interesting? What do I find intriguing? I think the minute you start to think, ‘What would be commercial? What would everyone like?’ then you’re a bit sunk because, without sounding too pretentious, it’s not coming from a very real place. I think readers are very good at sussing a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the author. I think you have to communicate, ‘I love this story, I want to tell the story,’ and then you've got people’s attention.

“Actually, readers respond brilliantly to that. A few times now, I’ve moved on a bit because you can’t keep keep doing the same. Readers want all the same elements, but they dowant you to offer them something a bit fresh each time. I don’t think things would be going particularly well for me if I was still writing You Had Me at Hello.

“You have to develop. Push yourself. Perfect example: the first draft I’m working on at the moment is giving me absolute hell. I said to my editor the other day, ‘Finally I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.’ Probably you should be biting off more than you can chew. If you’re biting off exactly as much as you can chew comfortably, then there’s probably a problem.

“This is quite painful to admit, but in terms of research, I do very little. Because it’s romance, because it’s romantic comedy, it’s not like I have to know how CERN works or whatever. With If I Never Met You, my friend who’s a lawyer, I asked her a few questions about court procedure and all the rest of it. I}m sure by the way, mangled it. I definitely got one bit wrong because I have someone banging a gavel. Then I read The Secret Barrister book on holiday.

“It said, ‘If there’s one thing I hate in any drama or entertainment is when they pretend that UK courts have gavels.’ I was like, ‘Oh, bollocks.’ That’s where my research is. Because a lot of it is emotions and relationships, it’s a question of mining what feels real in me. It’s not really about going to a third party and saying, ‘What was this like?’ Or, ‘What’s that like?’ I have, occasionally. All my friends are absolutely used to me being incredibly nosy about their relationships and the pasts of anything they’re getting up to.

“I am, I suppose, let’s call it curious. I’m not someone who, if I was left alone in the room with someone’s diary, I would look at it. Partly because I would think, ‘Oh God, I’m going to see things I don’t want to be burdened with.’ No, I’m not that level nosy, but definitely in the pub if my friends are like, ‘I’m seeing this bloke,’ then yes. I’ll definitely, definitely be nosy about that.

“They’ve all been so nice about things being used. All my friends are positively like, ‘Use it. Go on. Stick it to him. Describe what happened here,’” or whatever. They’re all really good about it, which is lucky because I’m on six books. I always find it hilarious when you get the question: ‘How much of this is you?’ It’s like, ‘Jesus, really. Not much. I haven’t lived six romcom books in my life, nor would I want to.”