A BRIEF INTRODUCTION WITH CLAIRE McCAULEY

A brief intro to yourself.

I’m so excited to be able to get to know Joffe’s enthusiastic readership. I grew up in a big family in Bath, where I spent my childhood rearranging my large collection of battered paperbacks. I worked in theatres all over the world before settling in Oxford, where I live beside the river with my Irish husband, five children and a wire-haired Vizla who has six middle names as everyone wanted to choose one.

What kind of rom-coms do you love?

I love rom-coms that embrace inventiveness, so the predictable elements are delivered in a fresh way, or with a twist. And while comedy is subjective, I can tell when I’m reading if an author is having fun, which is always infectious. But most of all, it comes down to character, and all my favourite rom-coms feature a protagonist I can root for, and who has –— or who learns to have — goals and relationships beyond just their love life. I always leap on Mhairi McFarlane’s releases, which deliver it all.

What is your favourite romance film?

I’m a big fan of Regency romances. My protagonist in The Wedding Hitch is a fashion historian, so loves the 2020 version of Emma for the sumptuous — and fairly accurate — costumes, but Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility is probably my favourite.

Where do you get your motivation to write?

I’m very much motivated by having a quiet few hours every day when I escape from my hordes of children to indulge in imaginary scenarios where all the humans do exactly as I tell them!