Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming #1 New York Times best-selling author and screenwriter, Jojo Moyes, to the School in conjunction with Linghams Booksellers as part of our Inspiring Talks Series.
Jojo’s new book, Someone Else’s Shoes, was the topic of conversation and everyone was intrigued to hear all about her journey to success from starting as a young journalist in London, to becoming an award-winning romance novelist. Jojo spoke candidly about her early writing career and novel knockbacks retrospectively admitting she too felt they weren’t worthy of the acclaim she had hoped they’d receive at the time. Knowing writing was her passion, she didn’t give up and went on to write best-selling novel, ‘Me Before You’, admitting the book’s success changed her life. The book went on to sell over thirty-eight million copies worldwide and has been translated into forty-six languages having the number one spot in twelve countries.
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Following the success of the novel, it was adapted into a major film starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke for which Jojo wrote the screenplay describing the experience as a steep learning curve. We were interested to hear about her process when researching her books and the level of detail required to ‘put the characters together’. She explained how she developed their backgrounds and personalities using timelines on whiteboards and post it notes on her dining room table – to her family’s dismay! As Jojo’s novels have so many twists and turns along the way, the process helps her to fill in any gaps in the story or understand how a particular character may react to a situation based on their life experiences. When discussing her latest book, Someone Else’s Shoes, she told the audience the book was based on a short story she had written some years ago and spoke openly about the book’s two main characters, Nisha and Sam. The story begins when the two characters, who lead completely different lives, accidentally exchange gym bags and the events which follow turn their worlds upside down. She didn’t give too much away when it came to the story as most of the audience were still waiting to read their copies!
After the talk, Jojo answered some questions from the audience and treated us to a scoop or two along the way. When asked if she had any more film or TV adaptations of her books in the pipeline, she said she was currently working on a pilot for a US TV adaptation of Someone Else’s Shoes which was met with excited gasps and whispers from the audience. Responding to a question regarding her writing process and how she knew something she was working on would be a success, she explained that she too needed to feel the emotion she was trying to evoke when writing - if she cried or laughed writing it, she was pretty sure we would feel the same when reading it.
The evening finished with a book signing where Jojo kindly posed for photos and signed copies of her books, old and new. We’d like to thank Jojo for talking so openly and answering questions with honesty regarding her career throughout the evening, the night was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.