Summer Nights

The title was the first thing that caught my attention. It had me puzzled for a while! Can you explain more about it for our readers?

The story takes place during the long summer after sitting GCSEs. When a party to mark the end of Year 11 takes an unexpected turn, the summer of a lifetime becomes something a lot darker and more complicated.

The book addresses some of the complexities of young romance. Do you write from lived experience or is it all fictional?

Until I went to university, my teenage years were largely romance-free so most of what I write is fictional! Having said that, I’ve drawn from my own emotional toolbox (developed in the years since) to craft the characters and situations. As an example, the mix of emotions Rhiannon experiences as she is getting to know Cal felt very familiar to me. I was a very quiet child and teenager and spent a lot of time watching and listening to those around me. I may not have been having the typical teenage experience myself, but I like to consider myself a reliable witness!

There are also the complexities of friendships, those which are well-defined and those which take us by surprise, how do you make them feel real for the reader?

My friends are incredibly important to me, and I put a lot of effort into maintaining my friendships. Finding a person that you click with is as dizzying as falling in love and I think this experience is especially intense when you’re young.

At the same time, I wanted to capture the jealousy, insecurity and competition that can arise in very close friendships. No one in the book is perfect or behaves perfectly and I didn’t want to shy away from this.

You tackle the issues your characters are facing head on. Does that make it easier to write their stories?

I write in first person present tense, which allows me to really get into the heads of my characters. My style is naturally quite direct. My aim is always to make it as easy as possible for the reader to put themselves in the character’s shoes. 

Ben, Molly and their other friends who appear throughout the story, have you tried to make them ‘typical’ teenagers so readers can relate? Is that challenging?

I’m fortunate in that I have two stepchildren (12 and 17) to steal from! I also have a very good memory and find it easy to put myself in the shoes of a teenager, despite the fact it’s been a long time since I was one.

Obviously, there are differences between being a teenager now and being a teenager in the ’90s (as was the case for me), but some fundamental things don’t change, and providing the author is emotionally truthful, I don’t think it matters how old they are. I’ve tried to make Molly, Rhiannon and Ben’s emotional journeys as real and relatable as possible so that anyone reading can also imagine themselves in their shoes. It’s my job as an author to make that as easy as possible.

As an adult writing Teen/YA fiction how do you put yourself in the shoes of your characters? Do you take on the personas a little like actors?

I used to be an actor, and definitely think the skills I cultivated while training and working lend themselves to writing too. At the end of the day, both jobs are all about storytelling. I also remember my teenage years very clearly and am not afraid to take myself back there and revisit that cocktail of emotions, however painful or cringey that might sometimes be!

My acting background comes in especially handy when crafting dialogue. The easiest way to work out if a scene is working or not is to act it out. I can often be found talking to myself!

How did you balance the act of leading the reader, and characters on through the story and being upfront immediately with them all?

This was one of the hardest parts of the writing process, especially when it comes to the character of Ben.

Of the three narrators, he is keeping the most from the reader, so I had to work carefully to make sure his sections of the story were as satisfying and authentic as possible. It helps that Ben really struggles to be honest with himself. It makes sense that this would then translate to what he reveals to the reader.   

On the subject of balancing, the story focuses, primarily, on three characters, how do you make sure each has enough space in the story?

It’s interesting, I have no idea how evenly weighted their sections are. I didn’t keep track because, although I wanted a degree of consistency, I didn’t want to be a slave to the structure. I instinctively knew who should be narrating when (well, most of the time!).

There’s a sequence towards the end of the book that takes place at a family barbeque. I tried writing the scenes between Ben and Molly from both their points of view and it took me a while to figure out whose head we should be in for certain pivotal moments. It was a real case of trial and error to get that balance right.

What is the appeal of writing for teens. Would you ever consider changing your audience?

I started writing for teens sort of by accident. When I began working on my debut novel The Art of Being Normal, I had no idea who it was for, only that I wanted to write a story about a transgender teenager (I was working as an administrator for the Gender Identity Development Service at the time).

In the very early stages, I think I even had a go at including an adult perspective. I then got a place on the 3-month novel writing course at Curtis Brown Creative and the course leader there very quickly identified that I was writing YA. Once they said that, it clicked, and I’ve been writing for young people ever since. Teenagers are often experiencing things for the very first time, which is endlessly interesting to explore as a writer.

I also write for a slightly younger audience with the Bigg School series (aimed at readers 9-12) and am currently working on a brand-new series for young teens.

Do you want to give r readers the chance to find escapism when they read or stories that they can relate to?

A bit of both. My number one priority as a writer is to entertain. I believe that a book can cover serious topics at the same time as being fun to read. The best compliment I can get is when a reader tells me that they ‘couldn’t put it down’. That means I’ve done my job well.

Can you recommend some of your own favourite reads?

It’s so hard to narrow down but here are some of my all-time favourite YA reads:

Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Cruel Summer by Juno Dawson

Trouble by Non Pratt

The Spinster Club trilogy by Holly Bourne

Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

The Truly Devious trilogy by Maureen Johnson

Lisa Williamson is the author of a number of varied books for Teen/YA readers and middlegrade readers, if you're interested this graphic shows them, I highly recommend exploring them!