Live webchat with best selling author Jane Green - Mon 2 July 1.30-2.30pm

Fantastic questions! This was one of the best chats I've done - thank you so much to all of you for turning up. My warmest wishes and love to you all,

Jane xx

fabulouse

How important is it to have an agent?

And another one, sorry - do you think writers are born? Or is it possible to learn how to write good books?

I think you can absolutely learn how to write, and there are many great books on how to structure a good story. Good luck!

solidair

It's difficult to do sex in a novel that's not written primarily to titillate, isn't it?

Either the sex is written to excite - which is fine but can unbalance the story - or it often sounds a bit daft. Still, bet you could do it. Maybe you should try it under a pseudonym?!

(Sorry, that's not really a question)

I think you have to to it to titillate otherwise why do it? I remember being very clear about that when I wrote the sex in Mr Maybe - there seemed to be no point unless I did it properly. I did read lots of porn beforehand to make sure I got it right! Pseudonym might be a good idea. How about titles? 60 Shades of Green?

hrichards

Hi! I was just wondering if you've started writing a new book yet, and if you have, when will it come out in the UK?

I have almost finished the edits on Family Pictures, which will be out in March 2013. It is the story of two women, one in California, one in Connecticut. They have never met, have very different lives, but one terrible weekend they discover they have more in common than they think...

flopsybunny

Do you still need to do book tours? Most authors claim to hate them. I'd have thought your books were guaranteed to be successful without having to do them any more.

I'm that rare author who quite loves them. Writing is so solitary, I love getting out on the road and meeting my readers. It can be exhausting, but there are the luxury hotels (oh the horror), and the lovely, lovely people - I tend to find it all quite exhilerating. Also, I love public speaking. Bizarre, I know.

twinsmum100

I love your books! Jemima J is just my favourite character, so excited you have a new book coming out.

How would you define your style? Do you sit and write in Pj's and no make up, or are you glamtastic?

Thank you!! Am just starting to think about a future sequel to Jemima J...

I'm not glamtastic in the slightest!! I glam up a bit for photo shoots and events, but the real me is make-up free, hair scraped back in a clip, cargo pants, flip flops and a T-shirt.

Greasy skin as a teenager means I'm a lucky forty-something - no wrinkles, so the face is great, but the body is changing. Let's just say last summer was the summer of the bikini. This summer? Summer of the poncho...

grancanaria

Did you move to America for love or work? Does it feel funny having your children grow up in a country that wasn't where you grew up - or does it feel completely like home?

I moved for work, then fell in love. It doesn't feel weird, although I did hate it when their accents changed from the very British to the American. They are now completely americanised, and whenever I try and correct their homework they roll their eyes and tell me I'm wrong, and they do it differently in America. (for differently, read incorrectly. Please. Since when did the 'u' in colour go awol?)

nanaej

Do you think a great writer is one who sells thousands or more copies of a book or one who writes a book that critics laud but is not widely read?

Either. Both.

I had dinner recently with a writer who has had huge acclaim for her novel in all the magazines. She was upset that she hadn't been reviewed in the more serious press, but also upset she hadn't sold more copies.

You can't have it both ways. Both have their merits.

My best friend is a literary writer. Neither of us feel less/better than the other. We are both writers, both good in our field.

twinsmum100

Love the bathtub scene in Mr Maybe, it always makes me nostalgic about an old boyfriend

feistygran

I was intrigued by your answer to granIT which made me wonder if the ingredients of a bestseller are different in the US and the UK. Quite a few British writers have enormous success in the US - you included - but some don't. Can you see why that is or is it always a bit of a mystery why some authors are popular in different places?

I think it is often a bit of a mystery. Before Bridget Jones's Diary, Straight Talking was turned down by everyone in America. They "loved" it, but didn't know how to publish it. As soon as BJD became such a huge (and in the US, unexpected) hit, they were desperate for more.

I am very English, but with quite an American sensibility, which helps. I've always spent a lot of time in the States, since childhood, and perhaps I have an understanding, or a warmth, (or indeed a soppiness???!!) they can relate to?

dietarysupp

I don't want to pre empt The Patchwork Marriage - which I am very keen to read! - but what conclusions have you reached about the ingredients of a happy marriage?

That kindness is paramount. So often we don't consider our partners, we make jokes at their expense, we snap at them. Being mindful of how we treat them and being kind are crucial.

Also, I think, showing them you love them. We all become complacent, we are all busy, life gets in the way for all of us. But nothing makes us feel more loved than someone doing something to show us.

I wrote about acts of love in The Love Verb, that loving someone requires acts of love, it is about what you do, not what you say, and nowhere is that more important than in your marriage.

topcat

Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey and do you think 'mommy porn' is going to be a whole new genre or will it flare and fade away?

I suspect it will flare and fade away. I will confess that I started reading, then jumped from sex scene to sex scene. I didn't quite get it, but that's just me. Clearly it's tapping into something huge, and I am wondering if I should put a little more sex in my novels...thoughts?

(And I'm quite good at it...there is a bathtub scene in Mr Maybe that makes 50 Shades of Grey look like Enid Blyton. Just sayin')