9:55am Thursday 4th March 2010
THE morning after my final university exam, I was nursing a rather heinous hangover. In stark contrast, the morning after Adam Shaw’s final examination he began writing what would become his debut novel, So, Your Girlfriend’s A Vegetarian?. The fact that we are both the same age and both studied English at The University of Nottingham only rubs salt into the wounds that I am still that most grave of all aspiring novelists, ‘unpublished’.
Remembering back to that day, the 27-year-old author recalls: “The day after I finished my finals I sat down and started writing this scene. Two days and 30,000 words later I had up to the wedding scene. It was like these characters were already in my head and I just pressed play.”
So, Your Girlfriend’s A Vegetarian? is an addictive tale about a twenty-something-year-old bachelor and his tragically comic life in London, as he struggles with romance, work and friendships.
Unlike other coming-of-age novels of the Dave Gorman/Danny Wallace model, this book also features more than 100 original “kick ass recipes”.
Speaking about this unique fusion of ideas, the instantly affable writer, who grew up in Pinner, Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, says: “I have always been into cooking and I had the idea to write a cook book for fussy eaters a couple of years ago when my girlfriend, at the time, was coming over for dinner and she didn’t eat mushrooms.”
Adam, who studied at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Elstree, continues: “While I never got round to writing that book, I knew I wanted to weave food into my novel. So much of life revolves around food and so many good times and decisions involve food. Food elevates the senses and it gives an insight into the characters. So when one of the characters gets dumped, he eats chicken soup, and when J wants to impress a girl, he prepares a three course meal. I want people to read the book and then put it in the kitchen afterwards.”
I wonder how much of J is Adam, who, like his protagonist, works in event management.
“At first I just wrote what I knew, so the first half is kind of based on me, but as I grew in confidence as a writer, the second half becomes more J and less me.”
He adds: “I have tried to be as honest as I can in giving an insight into the mind of a twenty-something guy; beer, life, work, and sex. It was a bit weird showing the love scenes to my mother and some of my friends have to skip those bits because they think of me, but that’s all part of a twenty-something life.”
Not naive enough to quit the day job, just yet, Adam is about to embark on a new life in Geneva working for the Economist, but he hasn’t abandoned his commitments to his characters, with a sequel, So, Your Girlfriend Wants To Go Travelling?, due soon.
“The scariest thing is I got so attached to all six characters. When we were at the book launch, I had this Shakespearian, King Lear experience, when I looked up and saw them hovering above me. It was almost like they were saying, ‘you have created us, now you have a responsibility to keep us alive’,” Adam laughs.
So, Your Girlfriend’s A Vegetarian? is published by Latern Towers and out now.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/trade_directory/