Adele Parks: 'I decided to be a writer when I was 7, but it seemed as likely as marrying a prince'

The house I grew up in, in Teesside, was full of books. It was more Jackie Collins and Jilly Cooper than Tolstoy or Dickens. My mum, Maureen, read for escapism and entertainment. My dad, Tony, was more of a newspaper person. We’d visit the library daily; I’d wait there after school for my sister Andrae, who is three years older than I am.

When I was little, I’d sit by the radiator to get hot, put talcum powder on my face to make me look very white, and plead a fever. I knew if I was ill, my parents would buy me a book, and I’d be sent to bed. The librarian suggested the idea of becoming a writer to me when I was seven. I went straight home and announced it to my parents. They’ve always been fabulously supportive, but we didn’t know a single person in publishing. It seemed to them as realistic as if I’d told them I was going to marry a prince.

I was first published in Blue Jeans magazine when I was 12, with some ridiculous romantic poem, having never had anything romantic ever happen to me at all.

I was quite a chubby, non-active child, and all I did was read really. I’d definitely tell my younger self to exercise more. Now, I love swimming and yoga, and feel a lot healthier.

I went to a local comprehensive, and was very swotty as a teenager. I read English at the University of Leicester, and I’d always be scribbling in a notebook. I’m very good at imagining myself into other people’s worlds. I thought I’d kept my ambition to be an author secret – but when I got my first book deal, my old uni friends told me that I had gone on about it every time I got drunk.

I never imagined a wedding – surprising for someone who spends so much time imagining – but I’ve had two. My first was a big traditional wedding, but I split up with my first husband when I was 31, just as I was beginning to open up as a writer. [Parks published her first novel, Playing Away, in 2000 – and has penned 20 since]. I met Jim a few months later and we eloped to Vegas. I didn’t expect him to be the next love of my life, or for it to work out. But then I remember thinking, this is actually working for me – perhaps it’s what I’ve always been waiting for. Jim changed his surname to mine and massively supports my career, which I’d always wanted – but I’d never seen any models for a relationship like that around me.

I have one child from my first marriage, Conrad, who has just turned 20 and is at the University of Warwick. For him, Jim is Dad, although he also loves his biological dad. While I never thought I’d only have one child, I’d never consciously planned how many I would have. All my planning had always gone into my career.

In my 20s, I’d worked in global advertising for Accenture, but then I lost a number of loved ones. It was a hard time. I went to a grief counsellor, and said I couldn’t imagine moving forward. She said I needed to concentrate on myself, and asked what made me happy, that was nothing to do with anyone else. Eventually I muttered to her that I scribbled – and she suggested I focus on that.

All I did in my 20s was work. I used to give up a lot of stuff to do the extra drafting of an essay. Don’t get me wrong, I did go out to parties, but mostly it was a slog. I would probably tell my younger self to relax a little bit, but a bit of me thinks, well, maybe I’d tell her not to change a thing. You’re old for a lot longer than you’re young, so maybe putting the hours in then needed to happen.

My younger self knew I wanted to be a writer, but would be impressed by my consistency. I never thought I’d write a book every year that would always be a bestseller. The most exciting thing for little me would be that people truly care about what I’m writing, and that I’ve got a say – which I don’t think many working class girls in the North East of England felt entitled to in the 1970s. If I could go back in time I’d tell her to be more confident, and that it would all be fine.

This year, I got a film deal for my novels Just My Luck and Lies Lies Lies, which is very exciting. She’d think that it was marvellous.

Interview by Madeleine Howell

Just My Luck by Adele Parks (published by HQ) is out in paperback on December 10th