Marmite gore

The protagonist of my first novel is a Dutch girl in London. That POV was so easy to pull off, it’s almost cheating. But I swear that’s where the similarities end.

How come I ended up writing a book about someone who yanks her own teeth out with pliers?

When I presented my first outline for a novel – a tweenage runaway tale – to Fay Weldon and Matt Thorne, they said it was fine. “Go ahead, write it.”

Which wasn’t good enough for me. I didn’t want to be bread and butter, I wanted to be Marmite.

My central theme was pretty obvious: leaving home. So I asked myself: what is it really like to leave your roots behind? And the answer was: it’s like pulling out your own teeth.

Fay laughed until tears appeared when I told her I’d write a convincing story about that instead, and she gave me the nickname Talking Teeth.

For me, being creative is high-risk gambling. That’s why it’s so addictive.

Why I went to London

While working on a story inspired by "Camp Hulen - Eating Gifted Children", I'm also writing reports for all the different sponsors that made it possible for me to go to London for a year and do the MA Creative Writing.

For the next couple of days, I´ll be posting bits and tips from these reports, because they might be interesting or even useful.


So... why I went to London...
From the moment I could read, I felt a strong desire to produce the thing that gave me greatest pleasure, a good book. Ever since, I have been writing stories, articles, poems and diaries.
I decided to study Philosophy at Leiden University, with a view to place my stories in a context of truthfulness. Moreover, I aspired to attain profound knowledge and proficiency in contemplating human existence, in order to introduce multiple layers of meaning, and thus enhance the significance of my narratives.
In addition to Philosophy, I took several courses in Literature Studies. Also, I completed the minor programme in Journalism & New Media, to further practice my writing.
I wrote a large number of articles on various themes for Thauma, the periodical published by the Faculty of Philosophy, and in 2003, I was chosen as the editor-in-chief. Thanks to my internship at the editorial department of literary publishing house Prometheus/Bert Bakker, I got well acquainted with the Dutch publishing industry.
My wish to become a writer has been a leading theme throughout my life, and I was absolutely thrilled when I found out that I could do a master in Creative Writing in addition to my master Philosophy of a Specific Discipline.

There are many universities in the UK that offer different masters in Creative Writing. Before applying, I made a list of things that I thought of as important, such as famous teachers, fees and a substantial amount of contact hours. After extensive research, I decided to apply to The University of Manchester, Newcastle University and Brunel University of West London. I got a place offered at all three of them and chose Brunel because I’m a fan of Fay Weldon, one of their staff members.

Shut Up and Eat!

Hurah! I've finished my novella! I handed it in yesterday and had champagne with Fay Weldon afterwards (oh how I love name dropping!).

Leave a comment or send me an email if you want a little preview of Shut Up And Eat.

Thanks everyone!