‘Sometimes the universe conspires with you to make things better’ — Nicky Greenwall on her debut novel A Short Life

Nicky Greenwall is a well-known producer, entertainment journalist and former TV presenter. Her debut novel, A Short Life, is a gripping and suspenseful domestic thriller, in which conflict hits a group of friends when one of them dies in mysterious circumstances.

The Reading List: #TheFlap is based on the Proust Questionnaire, an infamous parlour game invented by the French writer Marcel Proust, who believed the answers would reveal a person’s true nature.

So far we’ve revealed the inner character of South African literary luminaries such as Sihle Khumalo, Pamela Power and Sam Wilson, so you’re in good company. Let’s dig in! What were some of the unexpected challenges that came up while you were writing?

Nicky Greenwall: Trying to read back what I’d written while pretending to experience the words for the first time, as a reader would. I’m an impatient person so, waiting for enough time to lapse to forget what I’d written was a challenge. So far, the feedback has been that the ending was the surprise I had hoped it would be – a huge relief!

TRL: What was unexpectedly easy?

Nicky Greenwall: Editing. I had edited quite heavily before I sent the book to the publishers, but had heard horror stories about the red-pen carnage an editor would then inflict before the book went to print. Happily, my wonderful publisher-turned-editor Catriona Ross used her digital red pen to write very kind things in the margins when she enjoyed a turn of phrase. I wasn’t expecting any positivity in that part of the process.

TRL: What question do you think readers are going to ask you the most?

Nicky Greenwall: “Have you ever done what the character does in the last chapter.” The answer is “yes”.

TRL: What was the most difficult scene or chapter to write?

Nicky Greenwall: I spent a lot of time working on the last chapter. It had started out as a short story, but somehow ended up in this book. When I sent the final manuscript to the publisher I accidentally omitted the last paragraph. Turns out, it works better without it. Sometimes the universe conspires with you to make things better.

TRL: If you could co-author a book with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and what would it be about?

Nicky Greenwall: Mike White. If not a book, then a script. Season 4, 5 and 6 of The White Lotus.

TRL: What’s the best music to write to?

Nicky Greenwall: I can’t write with any type of audio going on anywhere. Silence is the only way.

TRL: What’s your favourite writing spot?

Nicky Greenwall: My little wooden desk in my home office, facing a window where birds come and go.

TRL: What habit distracts you most from writing?

Nicky Greenwall: Making tea.

TRL: Which writing talent would you most like to have?

Nicky Greenwall: I’m not sure if writing is a talent or a discipline. Perhaps it’s both and I’d like more of both, please.

TRL: What books do you currently have on your bedside table?

Nicky Greenwall: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, Entitlement by Rumaan Alam, God’s Pocket by Sven Axelrad and Lifespan by David A Sinclair.

TRL: What books would you recommend within your genre?

Nicky Greenwall: Her by Harriet Lane and None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell.

TRL: What is your greatest indulgence?

Nicky Greenwall: To write. And to hurkle-durkle. Sometimes I do both at the same time. DM

A Short Life by Nicky Greenwall is published by Penguin Random House SA (R300). Visit The Reading List for South African book news, daily – including interviews!