July 9, 2025 • 19 mins
Dive into the refreshing world of midlife fiction with bestselling UK novelist Jane Costello as she reveals the creative journey behind her latest romantic comedy, "It's Getting Hot in Here." With candor and humor, Jane shares how she's boldly reimagining the rom-com genre with a 47-year-old protagonist navigating perimenopause, teenage children, and unexpected romantic stirrings.
After selling over a million copies of her debut novel and publishing 15 books across two decades, Jane offers a fascinating glimpse into her evolution as a writer. Her story begins not with childhood dreams of authorship, but during maternity leave with her first child, when she carved out precious writing time during nap sessions. For anyone who's ever doubted their creative potential, Jane's journey from uncertainty to international success proves that persistence transforms possibility into reality.
Whether you're an aspiring writer seeking practical advice or a reader hungry for stories that reflect the richness of midlife experiences, this conversation delivers wisdom and warmth in equal measure. Jane demystifies the writing process with refreshing honesty, sometimes describing it as "like knitting with spaghetti," while celebrating how her latest book flowed with unexpected joy. Her advice to writers—begin with a compelling idea, create a rough plot outline, and treat writing as a marathon rather than a sprint—cuts through creative intimidation with practical clarity. And her message to her younger self? "Relax more and worry less. Things are going to work out okay." Don't miss this inspiring conversation about finding new creative chapters in midlife and beyond.
Connect with Jane and purchase her book here:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey Fearless Friends, it's Amy Schmidt and I am so
excited to be back on the airwith a podcast for you, as we
fearlessly face 50 and beyond,and we also face all of those
F-words you know them likefriendship and finances and
fitness and focus.
All of these things that weface and we are going to take
them on with confidence.
(00:20):
Today's guest is Jane Costello.
She's a bestselling novelist inthe UK.
Her first book, bridesmaids,published in 2008, sold more
than a million copies.
In 2018, she published you MeEverything under Catherine Isaac
.
It was translated into 25languages and actually movie
rights were sold to Lionsgateand Temple Hill.
(00:41):
She was born in Liverpool,england, and currently lives
there with her husband, mark,and three sons, and today we are
digging into her newest novel.
It's Getting Hot in here.
It's going to be a good one.
Stay tuned, hey, fearlessfriends.
Well, as you heard in the intro,I'm excited about this
(01:01):
interview today.
I mean one.
I love authors, I love them andI always like to hear a little
bit about the story behind thebook, behind the brand.
So, jane Costello, welcome tothe show, and I have here, for
those that are watching, you cansee a cover of this.
It's getting hot in here and itis just I love it, I love it
(01:24):
and if you are listening withyour earbuds, in I will have
links for where you can orderthis book.
So today we're chatting withthe author and welcome, oh,
thank you for having me.
Yeah, I mean, we kind of didthis last minute.
We were like, all right, we'regoing to do this because Jane's
about to go on her tour andshe's going all over the US, so
how fun is that.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh, I'm so excited.
You know I've been writing for20 years, I've written 15 novels
and you know they've I meanthey've been in lots of other
countries in the world and youknow they're translated into
lots of languages and things.
But this is the first time I'vetoured in North America, so I
am super excited.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I love that, I love that, so let's talk about 20
years to get here.
I was going to say 20 years.
I mean you're 35.
I mean, starting at 15 wasreally I know, I know, I think I
think it's amazing, so.
So writing for me is verytherapeutic.
It's very like I, when I'mhaving a really bad day, I think
(02:29):
my three grown kids and myhusband would say, mom, just go
write something, like just gojournal, go write something and
then come back into the roombecause you're going to be in a
lot better mood.
Is it like that for you?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
No, it isn't.
I'll be honest with you, itreally isn't.
I think the difference isactually, that's not true.
It can be, it absolutely can be, but there's a difference.
When you start sort of writingfor a living, you have deadlines
, you know you have other commit, you're juggling a few things
(03:04):
and, and I think the more booksyou write, the higher you set
the bar definitely.
So you're always pushingyourself and, and I think, if I,
the most enjoyable book towrite is when is your first one,
because no expectations, youknow, doesn't matter if it
doesn't work, whereas with theones that come afterwards, you
(03:27):
know you, you want it to bebetter than the last one.
You know you want to beconstantly improving and you
know some books I've had italways.
To be honest, I've had somebooks that have just flown and
it's been the most lovely,wonderful experience writing it.
I've had other books that havebeen incredibly like knitting
(03:48):
with spaghetti.
You know you're trying to,you've got plot points that just
you know are really difficultto work through and the fact is
you want to make your book asgood as possible.
It doesn't matter how difficultit is for you, you just want
the reader to be reading it andthinking this is lovely, I'm
having a great time, you know.
So yeah, I've had it both ways.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Totally had it both ways.
I love that you're sotransparent about that Before we
talk about the book.
I love that and thetransparency about you know,
some days there's writer's block, it's a real thing.
It's a real thing.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, Do you know, I never tend to get actual writers
, but I'm always.
I'm never short of ideas.
If anything, I have too manyideas.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
What are you doing?
Jotting them down?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
on sticky notes or something.
Oh, thank God for notes on myiPhone.
It's like you don't even wantto see it.
I love it.
The problem is it's exactly it'sbrilliant but before then it
was always I'd carry a notebookaround with me.
Um, you know the old-fashionedway, but yeah, you come up with,
(04:57):
I come up with so many ideas inthe middle of the night or
whatever, and, um, so no, it'snever, it's never writer's block
, it's.
It's.
It's just trying to make theideas that you've got make sense
, and make sense in a way thatfits in with what you've written
before and that is going toreally kind of push the right
(05:17):
buttons with when a when areader is turning the pages,
turning the pages.
That's what I'm going for everytime.
You know, I want, I wantreaders to absolutely adore
spending time with, with mycharacters, and you know, so
you've got to.
You know you've got to.
It doesn't just happen, itdoesn't just happen, you've got
to put a lot of thought into itand uh, there's nothing better
(05:39):
than a good book when you justget lost in it.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
And there is something about that when you
just get lost in it, you're lostin the characters, you just
something resonates in such away and just, yeah, I love that,
I love that.
So if we were to ask you knowfriends of Jane's at 10 and 12
years old, back in like middleschool days, did they think
you'd be a writer?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's interesting.
You know, I never myself everthought I would go on to be a
writer, for the simple reason, Imean, I loved writing stories.
I wrote stories about littleanimals and you know all kinds
of cute things that kids do.
But I never, ever, it never,occurred to me I could be a
(06:20):
writer.
Nobody in my family had been touniversity.
I didn't come from a family that, you know, had people published
, or you know.
I just thought to me, it felt,even when I was sort of in my
twenties, as fanciful an idea assaying, oh well, I want to be a
rock star, or you know it.
Just, it was the kind of thing,being an author just wasn't
(06:43):
really.
You know, it was the kind ofthing, being an author just
wasn't really something thathappened to people like me.
And I think I sort of made theassumption that, even though I
loved books, I loved reading, Iwas always a big bookworm.
I kind of made the assumptionthat you were just born a writer
and it was something thathappened to you rather than
(07:03):
something you could work on orlearn and become really good at,
simply through the, you know,through sheer hard graft and the
, you know, channeling yourimagination.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
And it was only it was only when I was on maternity
leave that I actually crackedit really, which was 20 years
ago.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Isn't that amazing?
And, yeah, it is.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And before then, you know,honestly, I tried multiple times
to write books and I'd sort of,you know, I'd managed to do a
chapter and then, thank God,where's it going now?
I was thoroughly unimpressedwith what I'd created and
thought, well, this is not asgood as anything I'm reading,
you know.
So I'd given up on multipleoccasions, but then just kept
(07:51):
trying and kept trying onmultiple occasions, but then
just kept trying and kept tryingand and yeah, it finally
happened when, when I was onmaternity leave with my first
baby and that kind of.
You know, I don't even know howI did it now, because I mean,
you know, it's not that easywhen you've got a newborn in the
house, is it?
But actually I just spent likean hour or two when he was going
(08:15):
down for his naps.
You know, I just that was mylittle time and that you know,
you talk about you enjoyingwriting.
That was how it felt with myfirst novel.
It was like my time.
And yeah, eventually thatbecame.
That book was published, to myutter astonishment and, to be
(08:36):
honest, that was only ever theidea even of having a book
published felt ridiculous.
When it happened, it was all mydreams come true and it went on
to become a big bestseller inthe UK and various other
countries in the world.
All of that massively surpassedmy expectations and continues
(08:56):
to do so.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
I think that's amazing.
That gave me goosebumps.
Just that story.
You committed to it and we'reall works in progress.
I talk about the fact that youknow we have to embrace lifetime
learning.
We have to embrace being anovice again and just dedicate
that little bit of time whenyour son was napping, put pen to
(09:18):
paper, fingers to keyboard,whatever it is that works for
you.
And it happened, and I thinkthat's amazing.
I love your transparency.
I just I think it's fabulous.
Let's talk about this book.
It's getting hot in here.
I mean the cover alone, and Ijust think it's awesome.
So take me to that moment.
I want to go back to thatminute, that moment in time when
you said this is what I'm goingto write and this is how the
(09:41):
title came to be, how, the wholestory, how everything.
I want to hear it, okay.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Okay, so the first nine books that I wrote were all
romantic comedy and I wrotethem under my name, jane
Costello.
And then I sort of got to mylate, sorry early 40s and all of
those early rom-coms had been,you know, women in their 20s
(10:07):
finding Mr Right for the firsttime in various amusing and
entertaining ways.
But as I got older I thought,gosh, you know, this age gap was
widening between me and my youknow my heroines and I sort of
thought, you know, I'm notentirely sure this works anymore
.
So I made the decision to moveaway from romantic comedy and
(10:29):
started writing sort ofemotional love stories under the
name Catherine Isaac and Iwrote five of those.
You Me, everything is probablythe best known of those and I
wrote those for a while.
But I got to my late 40s andI've been to lots of book events
, particularly in the UK, andpeople would be coming up to me
(10:50):
and say, when are you going towrite another rom-com?
We love the humor, we love thepeople just like to sometimes
read something that they are,you know, that's really going to
uplift them, I suppose.
And I got that all the time andI kind of and I dismissed the
idea.
You know I didn't want to gobackwards and then I sort of
(11:13):
found myself kicking around andthinking you know, I would
really love to read a funny,smart, entertaining rom-com that
featured a woman, not who was,you know, 20, 30 years younger
than me, but actually my age,which, you know, late 40s who's
going through all the thingsthat I was going through at the
(11:35):
time perimenopause, raisingteenagers.
Lisa, who is the main characterin it's Getting Hot In here.
She's twice divorced, so Ihadn't been divorced twice, but
I have been once, you know, so Iknow what it's like to be a
single mom.
She's got this massive juggleon her hands of you know she's
(11:56):
working, she's got all thisstuff going on with the kids,
she's trying to do her bit forthe PTA, all of that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Oh, yeah, relatable Check, check, check yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
A to-do list that is five miles long and that I just
thought you know I need to.
I'm the one to write this book.
You know I've written all theserom-coms but now I've hit this
age and you know I want to writea rom-com.
That is for me and I think, ofall the books I've ever written,
this was.
You know we talked about someof them being really difficult.
(12:30):
This was just an absolute joy towrite, from beginning to end.
It was so interesting, just somuch material in being, you know
, in your late forties, it wasso much fun and yeah, and the
result is it's getting hot inhere, which is about, like I say
, 47 year old, mom of two, she'stwice divorced, she's got this
(12:52):
messy past, she's juggling allthese and basically she has.
When we meet her at the startof the book, she's she's
supporting her best friendthrough breast cancer treatment
and into her best friend's jobat work.
This guy called Zach Russo hasswept in and basically caused
(13:15):
some long forgotten stirringsthat she she assumed were she
was well past and was more thanhappy to see the back off.
Um, but it just opens up thiswhole new chapter in her life
and uh, yeah it was enormous funto write yeah, that's so.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I could see it being a.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Oh well, that would be nice, Wouldn't that be?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
fabulous Yep, yep, and I bet everybody that picks
up a copy will have a link towhere to order it.
I just, I love it, you know, andI think there's so many stories
out there for women.
You know, I always say you holdthe pen to your autobiography
and you know what.
You can edit it often, butwrite your story.
It doesn't have to be abestseller.
(13:58):
It doesn't have to be abestseller.
It doesn't have to be a book,it can just be.
Write down your stories,because we are really
storytellers.
I think women are wonderfulstorytellers and I love that.
This book brought you joy.
You know to create and so whenyou wrote that last paragraph of
that last chapter and finishedthe last page, take me to that.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Don't read the end.
Don't read the end, but whenyou do, you know.
The final line was verysatisfying.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Put it that way.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
That's all I'll say for anybody who hasn't read it
yet no spoilers, I love it.
The final line very, very, verysatisfying on lots of levels.
So exciting.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So, jane, for people that are listening or watching
today and are aspiring authors,you know, they maybe put it off,
they put it on the back burnerThey've been raising the kids,
or if there's somebody out therethat's saying I'll do it next
year, you know, you know thosefamous words I'll do it next
year when I'm 10 pounds slimmer,or when I've got more money, or
when I've got more time.
And that never happens, right?
I mean, I've been trying tolose 10 pounds for I don't know
40 years.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh yeah, we all have, I think we all have, but we do
that.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So if there's somebody listening today that
heard your voice and is going toread your book, or have read
your past books and said youknow what I think I want to do
this author thing, I think Iwant to try it, can you give me
two things that they could dotoday, tangible takeaways for
them, how they could start that,that creative process?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Oh, I could give you about 20 things, but I'll try
and keep it to two.
First one, the first andfundamental one you need to
think of your big idea, rightthat and that you don't have to
sit down at a computer oranything, just do it.
When you're doing I don't know,on the school run or whatever,
or when you're I don't knowwalking the dog, you think of
(15:50):
your big idea and it all stemsfrom there.
If you've hit on somethingthat's original, that speaks to
you, that you think, actuallythis is a subject I really want
to write on, you're reallyhalfway there.
You've got to have the idea inthe first place.
The next thing that I did beforeI, you know, before I actually
(16:12):
wrote my first one and thiseveryone does this differently.
Other authors will tell yousomething completely different.
Everyone does this differently.
Other authors will tell yousomething completely different.
We've all got our own way, butI plotted out you know, my rough
skeleton of what was going tohappen, so that when writer's
block was threatening to hit,actually I thought, right, well,
I'm just going to push throughand I've got a.
(16:34):
You know, I know roughly whereI'm going and I just need to
force myself through it and itis an exercise in sticking with
it.
It's like it's a marathon, nota sprint, you know.
So, yeah, it's one step infront of the other and
eventually, if you do that longenough, you know one word in
front of the other, you'lleventually have enough.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I think that's so important because it is and it's
a commitment.
You know you make a commitmentto start something and finish it
, and some days might not be thebest days, but you know what,
you still try and you commit toit.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
And it's a job.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
It truly is.
So that's great advice.
I love that and I hope that itsparks some interest, because I
know there's a lot of aspiringauthors out there with wonderful
stories to tell and sometimesthey just get stuck in fear or
procrastination or perfectionism.
So throw that all aside becausewe're all too old for that.
Anyway, but I love that advice,thank you, and before we leave
(17:24):
today, now I'll be linking howto get the book.
I'll also link, you know, Idon't exactly know what date
this will be dropping, but Iwill put in there your tour,
especially in the US, becauseyou're touring all over the
place and I am not far fromTampa right now, so I just think
we might need to connect.
I'm going to have to figurethat one out.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Absolutely.
That would be amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
And it should be warm in Tampa.
But I mean, I this is kind ofmy, I'm hoping so.
Yeah, I'm Northeast, Northeastgirl and Midwest girl and in
Florida for my second.
You know winter and wow, it'scold today.
Like it's cold and I'm a girlthat's very used to cold, but
I'm like, wow, this is notFlorida weather, so I hope by
(18:03):
the time you get to Tampa it'snice and warm and sunny.
Before we leave today, I wantto ask you the question I ask on
every episode and I'm alwaysexcited to hear what people will
say.
So, Jane, if you were sittingon the couch and you look over
and there you see Jane at 30,what advice would you give her?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
over and there you see Jane at 30.
What advice would you give her?
Oh, that's so good.
Yeah, relax a bit more.
Try and relax a bit more andstop worrying so much.
You know it was yeah, it wasyeah.
I would say things are going towork out okay.
Yes, isn't that true?
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Things are going to work out okay.
Yes, Isn't that true?
Things are going toeverything's figureable.
Good advice, jane, I love it.
Thank you for your time today,your flexibility and your
patience behind the mic.
You never know what happenswith tech stuff?
You know, we roll with it.
We roll with it Absolutely.
We got there.
We got there.
Thanks so much.
Safe travels to you andcongratulations on it's Getting
(19:00):
Hot in here.
Everybody check it out.
Hey Fearless Friends, it's Amy Schmidt and I am so
excited to be back on the airwith a podcast for you, as we
fearlessly face 50 and beyond,and we also face all of those
F-words you know them likefriendship and finances and
fitness and focus.
All of these things that weface and we are going to take
them on with confidence.
(00:20):
Today's guest is Jane Costello.
She's a bestselling novelist inthe UK.
Her first book, bridesmaids,published in 2008, sold more
than a million copies.
In 2018, she published you MeEverything under Catherine Isaac
.
It was translated into 25languages and actually movie
rights were sold to Lionsgateand Temple Hill.
(00:41):
She was born in Liverpool,england, and currently lives
there with her husband, mark,and three sons, and today we are
digging into her newest novel.
It's Getting Hot in here.
It's going to be a good one.
Stay tuned, hey, fearlessfriends.
Well, as you heard in the intro,I'm excited about this
(01:01):
interview today.
I mean one.
I love authors, I love them andI always like to hear a little
bit about the story behind thebook, behind the brand.
So, jane Costello, welcome tothe show, and I have here, for
those that are watching, you cansee a cover of this.
It's getting hot in here and itis just I love it, I love it
(01:24):
and if you are listening withyour earbuds, in I will have
links for where you can orderthis book.
So today we're chatting withthe author and welcome, oh,
thank you for having me.
Yeah, I mean, we kind of didthis last minute.
We were like, all right, we'regoing to do this because Jane's
about to go on her tour andshe's going all over the US, so
how fun is that.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh, I'm so excited.
You know I've been writing for20 years, I've written 15 novels
and you know they've I meanthey've been in lots of other
countries in the world and youknow they're translated into
lots of languages and things.
But this is the first time I'vetoured in North America, so I
am super excited.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I love that, I love that, so let's talk about 20
years to get here.
I was going to say 20 years.
I mean you're 35.
I mean, starting at 15 wasreally I know, I know, I think I
think it's amazing, so.
So writing for me is verytherapeutic.
It's very like I, when I'mhaving a really bad day, I think
(02:29):
my three grown kids and myhusband would say, mom, just go
write something, like just gojournal, go write something and
then come back into the roombecause you're going to be in a
lot better mood.
Is it like that for you?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
No, it isn't.
I'll be honest with you, itreally isn't.
I think the difference isactually, that's not true.
It can be, it absolutely can be, but there's a difference.
When you start sort of writingfor a living, you have deadlines
, you know you have other commit, you're juggling a few things
(03:04):
and, and I think the more booksyou write, the higher you set
the bar definitely.
So you're always pushingyourself and, and I think, if I,
the most enjoyable book towrite is when is your first one,
because no expectations, youknow, doesn't matter if it
doesn't work, whereas with theones that come afterwards, you
(03:27):
know you, you want it to bebetter than the last one.
You know you want to beconstantly improving and you
know some books I've had italways.
To be honest, I've had somebooks that have just flown and
it's been the most lovely,wonderful experience writing it.
I've had other books that havebeen incredibly like knitting
(03:48):
with spaghetti.
You know you're trying to,you've got plot points that just
you know are really difficultto work through and the fact is
you want to make your book asgood as possible.
It doesn't matter how difficultit is for you, you just want
the reader to be reading it andthinking this is lovely, I'm
having a great time, you know.
So yeah, I've had it both ways.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Totally had it both ways.
I love that you're sotransparent about that Before we
talk about the book.
I love that and thetransparency about you know,
some days there's writer's block, it's a real thing.
It's a real thing.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, Do you know, I never tend to get actual writers
, but I'm always.
I'm never short of ideas.
If anything, I have too manyideas.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
What are you doing?
Jotting them down?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
on sticky notes or something.
Oh, thank God for notes on myiPhone.
It's like you don't even wantto see it.
I love it.
The problem is it's exactly it'sbrilliant but before then it
was always I'd carry a notebookaround with me.
Um, you know the old-fashionedway, but yeah, you come up with,
(04:57):
I come up with so many ideas inthe middle of the night or
whatever, and, um, so no, it'snever, it's never writer's block
, it's.
It's.
It's just trying to make theideas that you've got make sense
, and make sense in a way thatfits in with what you've written
before and that is going toreally kind of push the right
(05:17):
buttons with when a when areader is turning the pages,
turning the pages.
That's what I'm going for everytime.
You know, I want, I wantreaders to absolutely adore
spending time with, with mycharacters, and you know, so
you've got to.
You know you've got to.
It doesn't just happen, itdoesn't just happen, you've got
to put a lot of thought into itand uh, there's nothing better
(05:39):
than a good book when you justget lost in it.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
And there is something about that when you
just get lost in it, you're lostin the characters, you just
something resonates in such away and just, yeah, I love that,
I love that.
So if we were to ask you knowfriends of Jane's at 10 and 12
years old, back in like middleschool days, did they think
you'd be a writer?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's interesting.
You know, I never myself everthought I would go on to be a
writer, for the simple reason, Imean, I loved writing stories.
I wrote stories about littleanimals and you know all kinds
of cute things that kids do.
But I never, ever, it never,occurred to me I could be a
(06:20):
writer.
Nobody in my family had been touniversity.
I didn't come from a family that, you know, had people published
, or you know.
I just thought to me, it felt,even when I was sort of in my
twenties, as fanciful an idea assaying, oh well, I want to be a
rock star, or you know it.
Just, it was the kind of thing,being an author just wasn't
(06:43):
really.
You know, it was the kind ofthing, being an author just
wasn't really something thathappened to people like me.
And I think I sort of made theassumption that, even though I
loved books, I loved reading, Iwas always a big bookworm.
I kind of made the assumptionthat you were just born a writer
and it was something thathappened to you rather than
(07:03):
something you could work on orlearn and become really good at,
simply through the, you know,through sheer hard graft and the
, you know, channeling yourimagination.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
And it was only it was only when I was on maternity
leave that I actually crackedit really, which was 20 years
ago.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Isn't that amazing?
And, yeah, it is.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And before then, you know,honestly, I tried multiple times
to write books and I'd sort of,you know, I'd managed to do a
chapter and then, thank God,where's it going now?
I was thoroughly unimpressedwith what I'd created and
thought, well, this is not asgood as anything I'm reading,
you know.
So I'd given up on multipleoccasions, but then just kept
(07:51):
trying and kept trying onmultiple occasions, but then
just kept trying and kept tryingand and yeah, it finally
happened when, when I was onmaternity leave with my first
baby and that kind of.
You know, I don't even know howI did it now, because I mean,
you know, it's not that easywhen you've got a newborn in the
house, is it?
But actually I just spent likean hour or two when he was going
(08:15):
down for his naps.
You know, I just that was mylittle time and that you know,
you talk about you enjoyingwriting.
That was how it felt with myfirst novel.
It was like my time.
And yeah, eventually thatbecame.
That book was published, to myutter astonishment and, to be
(08:36):
honest, that was only ever theidea even of having a book
published felt ridiculous.
When it happened, it was all mydreams come true and it went on
to become a big bestseller inthe UK and various other
countries in the world.
All of that massively surpassedmy expectations and continues
(08:56):
to do so.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
I think that's amazing.
That gave me goosebumps.
Just that story.
You committed to it and we'reall works in progress.
I talk about the fact that youknow we have to embrace lifetime
learning.
We have to embrace being anovice again and just dedicate
that little bit of time whenyour son was napping, put pen to
(09:18):
paper, fingers to keyboard,whatever it is that works for
you.
And it happened, and I thinkthat's amazing.
I love your transparency.
I just I think it's fabulous.
Let's talk about this book.
It's getting hot in here.
I mean the cover alone, and Ijust think it's awesome.
So take me to that moment.
I want to go back to thatminute, that moment in time when
you said this is what I'm goingto write and this is how the
(09:41):
title came to be, how, the wholestory, how everything.
I want to hear it, okay.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Okay, so the first nine books that I wrote were all
romantic comedy and I wrotethem under my name, jane
Costello.
And then I sort of got to mylate, sorry early 40s and all of
those early rom-coms had been,you know, women in their 20s
(10:07):
finding Mr Right for the firsttime in various amusing and
entertaining ways.
But as I got older I thought,gosh, you know, this age gap was
widening between me and my youknow my heroines and I sort of
thought, you know, I'm notentirely sure this works anymore
.
So I made the decision to moveaway from romantic comedy and
(10:29):
started writing sort ofemotional love stories under the
name Catherine Isaac and Iwrote five of those.
You Me, everything is probablythe best known of those and I
wrote those for a while.
But I got to my late 40s andI've been to lots of book events
, particularly in the UK, andpeople would be coming up to me
(10:50):
and say, when are you going towrite another rom-com?
We love the humor, we love thepeople just like to sometimes
read something that they are,you know, that's really going to
uplift them, I suppose.
And I got that all the time andI kind of and I dismissed the
idea.
You know I didn't want to gobackwards and then I sort of
(11:13):
found myself kicking around andthinking you know, I would
really love to read a funny,smart, entertaining rom-com that
featured a woman, not who was,you know, 20, 30 years younger
than me, but actually my age,which, you know, late 40s who's
going through all the thingsthat I was going through at the
(11:35):
time perimenopause, raisingteenagers.
Lisa, who is the main characterin it's Getting Hot In here.
She's twice divorced, so Ihadn't been divorced twice, but
I have been once, you know, so Iknow what it's like to be a
single mom.
She's got this massive juggleon her hands of you know she's
(11:56):
working, she's got all thisstuff going on with the kids,
she's trying to do her bit forthe PTA, all of that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Oh, yeah, relatable Check, check, check yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
A to-do list that is five miles long and that I just
thought you know I need to.
I'm the one to write this book.
You know I've written all theserom-coms but now I've hit this
age and you know I want to writea rom-com.
That is for me and I think, ofall the books I've ever written,
this was.
You know we talked about someof them being really difficult.
(12:30):
This was just an absolute joy towrite, from beginning to end.
It was so interesting, just somuch material in being, you know
, in your late forties, it wasso much fun and yeah, and the
result is it's getting hot inhere, which is about, like I say
, 47 year old, mom of two, she'stwice divorced, she's got this
(12:52):
messy past, she's juggling allthese and basically she has.
When we meet her at the startof the book, she's she's
supporting her best friendthrough breast cancer treatment
and into her best friend's jobat work.
This guy called Zach Russo hasswept in and basically caused
(13:15):
some long forgotten stirringsthat she she assumed were she
was well past and was more thanhappy to see the back off.
Um, but it just opens up thiswhole new chapter in her life
and uh, yeah it was enormous funto write yeah, that's so.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I could see it being a.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Oh well, that would be nice, Wouldn't that be?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
fabulous Yep, yep, and I bet everybody that picks
up a copy will have a link towhere to order it.
I just, I love it, you know, andI think there's so many stories
out there for women.
You know, I always say you holdthe pen to your autobiography
and you know what.
You can edit it often, butwrite your story.
It doesn't have to be abestseller.
(13:58):
It doesn't have to be abestseller.
It doesn't have to be a book,it can just be.
Write down your stories,because we are really
storytellers.
I think women are wonderfulstorytellers and I love that.
This book brought you joy.
You know to create and so whenyou wrote that last paragraph of
that last chapter and finishedthe last page, take me to that.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Don't read the end.
Don't read the end, but whenyou do, you know.
The final line was verysatisfying.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Put it that way.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
That's all I'll say for anybody who hasn't read it
yet no spoilers, I love it.
The final line very, very, verysatisfying on lots of levels.
So exciting.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So, jane, for people that are listening or watching
today and are aspiring authors,you know, they maybe put it off,
they put it on the back burnerThey've been raising the kids,
or if there's somebody out therethat's saying I'll do it next
year, you know, you know thosefamous words I'll do it next
year when I'm 10 pounds slimmer,or when I've got more money, or
when I've got more time.
And that never happens, right?
I mean, I've been trying tolose 10 pounds for I don't know
40 years.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh yeah, we all have, I think we all have, but we do
that.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So if there's somebody listening today that
heard your voice and is going toread your book, or have read
your past books and said youknow what I think I want to do
this author thing, I think Iwant to try it, can you give me
two things that they could dotoday, tangible takeaways for
them, how they could start that,that creative process?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Oh, I could give you about 20 things, but I'll try
and keep it to two.
First one, the first andfundamental one you need to
think of your big idea, rightthat and that you don't have to
sit down at a computer oranything, just do it.
When you're doing I don't know,on the school run or whatever,
or when you're I don't knowwalking the dog, you think of
(15:50):
your big idea and it all stemsfrom there.
If you've hit on somethingthat's original, that speaks to
you, that you think, actuallythis is a subject I really want
to write on, you're reallyhalfway there.
You've got to have the idea inthe first place.
The next thing that I did beforeI, you know, before I actually
(16:12):
wrote my first one and thiseveryone does this differently.
Other authors will tell yousomething completely different.
Everyone does this differently.
Other authors will tell yousomething completely different.
We've all got our own way, butI plotted out you know, my rough
skeleton of what was going tohappen, so that when writer's
block was threatening to hit,actually I thought, right, well,
I'm just going to push throughand I've got a.
(16:34):
You know, I know roughly whereI'm going and I just need to
force myself through it and itis an exercise in sticking with
it.
It's like it's a marathon, nota sprint, you know.
So, yeah, it's one step infront of the other and
eventually, if you do that longenough, you know one word in
front of the other, you'lleventually have enough.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I think that's so important because it is and it's
a commitment.
You know you make a commitmentto start something and finish it
, and some days might not be thebest days, but you know what,
you still try and you commit toit.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
And it's a job.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
It truly is.
So that's great advice.
I love that and I hope that itsparks some interest, because I
know there's a lot of aspiringauthors out there with wonderful
stories to tell and sometimesthey just get stuck in fear or
procrastination or perfectionism.
So throw that all aside becausewe're all too old for that.
Anyway, but I love that advice,thank you, and before we leave
(17:24):
today, now I'll be linking howto get the book.
I'll also link, you know, Idon't exactly know what date
this will be dropping, but Iwill put in there your tour,
especially in the US, becauseyou're touring all over the
place and I am not far fromTampa right now, so I just think
we might need to connect.
I'm going to have to figurethat one out.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Absolutely.
That would be amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
And it should be warm in Tampa.
But I mean, I this is kind ofmy, I'm hoping so.
Yeah, I'm Northeast, Northeastgirl and Midwest girl and in
Florida for my second.
You know winter and wow, it'scold today.
Like it's cold and I'm a girlthat's very used to cold, but
I'm like, wow, this is notFlorida weather, so I hope by
(18:03):
the time you get to Tampa it'snice and warm and sunny.
Before we leave today, I wantto ask you the question I ask on
every episode and I'm alwaysexcited to hear what people will
say.
So, Jane, if you were sittingon the couch and you look over
and there you see Jane at 30,what advice would you give her?
Speaker 2 (18:22):
over and there you see Jane at 30.
What advice would you give her?
Oh, that's so good.
Yeah, relax a bit more.
Try and relax a bit more andstop worrying so much.
You know it was yeah, it wasyeah.
I would say things are going towork out okay.
Yes, isn't that true?
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Things are going to work out okay.
Yes, Isn't that true?
Things are going toeverything's figureable.
Good advice, jane, I love it.
Thank you for your time today,your flexibility and your
patience behind the mic.
You never know what happenswith tech stuff?
You know, we roll with it.
We roll with it Absolutely.
We got there.
We got there.
Thanks so much.
Safe travels to you andcongratulations on it's Getting
(19:00):
Hot in here.
Everybody check it out.
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