“Why did you introduce me as your current wife?”

The opening line of Dianne Blacklock’s The Secret Ingredient certainly packs a punch.

Right away we know that we’re looking at a relationship on the rocks, a common theme in fiction aimed at this audience.

In fact, it’s familiar enough that I can’t help but wonder whether the ending of a relationship and the subsequent renaissance of a protagonist the adult equivalent of the moving schools trope that is so often used as a catalysing force in young adult fiction.

When I ask Blacklock for her thoughts on this, her response is thoughtful.

“Women’s fiction is largely about relationships, so it’s little wonder that break-ups are a universal theme. Women too often lose themselves in relationships, whether as a spouse, or a mother, a daughter, even as a friend.”

She adds, “So when there is a loss of that relationship, or at least a significant shift, it opens the way for a woman to change, to reinvent herself, to do it differently next time.”

It’s something that’s happened to her, as well as to others around her, and Blacklock finds it fascinating source material. Of course, the breaking up, or breakdown, of a significant relationship is also an excellent source of conflict.

Change and growth

“I like to begin my novels right on the precipice of a calamitous event that will take the character out of her, and sometimes his, comfort zone and set them on a new path.” This then becomes their character arc, and often guides the entire novel.

“I think what’s interesting about a break-up is that the other person is usually still around, but things are different, and the terrain has to be navigated from a new perspective,” says Blacklock.

After all, when a significant relationship comes to an end, a number of changes need to be addressed: work, lifestyle, finances and more. Together these elements provide substantial scope for creating both interesting drama and an exploration of character.

Though they loom large on the narrative horizon, it’s not just romantic relationships that offer grist for the mill: Blacklock acknowledges the key role of family and friend relationships in her work, something she believes is essential in a genre that hinges so strongly on relationships. “I just can’t build a character in isolation from all those influences, the way you may be able to in more single-minded genres, such as romance and perhaps adventure or thrillers.”

The inclusion of these relationships helps to round out the characters in a book and provide a range of perspectives, she adds. These can be vital in giving the reader additional insight into the character, and when various viewpoints can be drawn upon, allow the reader to see something of a character about which she may not be aware of herself.

On craft and cooking in novels

Certain external elements, of course, can be used to do the same thing: very often characters begin to find affirmation in back-to-basics activities such as gardening, craft, and perhaps most common of late, cooking. In The Secret Ingredient Andie undergoes considerable growth as a result of rekindling her love affair with the culinary arts.

“There is much theorising out there that the further we move away from doing the basics for ourselves, such as growing our own food or making our own clothes, the more fascination these tasks hold, the inherent drudgery forgotten in a haze of nostalgia.”

But despite the rosy view taken of such activities, Blacklock acknowledges that many are essentially creative in nature, making them excellent tools for self-exploration. “In this novel, food and cooking connect Andie to happy memories of her grandmother, but at the same time bringing up some less than happy memories of her mother.” Andie is forced to examine why the significant people in her life keep her from fulfilling her dreams–and why she is allowing this to happen.

On covers and reader expectations

Though food plays an important role in the novel, the cover seems to suggest that the audience may be in for a novel less about hatted restaurants and up-market delis and more about rustic, slow-food approaches.

“I wasn’t particularly enamoured when I was first shown the cover of The Secret Ingredient,” admits Blacklock. Though she loved the styling and the vivid colour of the design, she didn’t like the inclusion of someone who is ostensibly Andie, believing that readers should be able instead to form their own picture of characters in their head. “One of the lovely things about reading is that it’s such a personal experience,” she says.

But in the end, a cover has to appeal to an audience, and faces on books tend to translate into sales. “I have to accept there are people who know better than me about what will make someone pick up a book. And ultimately I want as many people as possible to pick up the book!”

And her publisher is working hard to ensure that this is the case: Blacklock’s covers have been through three incarnations since her debut. The first three, published around ten years ago, were very much in the vein of the Marian Keyes covers at the time. “I saw this very much as a brand identification process. I was a new author, so it was a way of telling the reading public what kind of books they could expect of me.”

…and on changing expectations

When Blacklock’s fifth book was published, it was given an elegant photographic cover, and her entire backlist was reissued in a similar style. “I loved those covers. I had a lot of input into the choice of images, and for the most part, I’ve felt they’ve been a reasonable reflection of the content, giving potential readers an idea of what to expect.”

There was one misstep with Three’s a Crowd, but Blacklock admits fault here. “My publisher showed me the image of a man and a woman walking along the shore and because it immediately reminded me of a scene in the novel I leapt at it.” But when the book hit the shelves, she realised that the cover made the book appear very much to be a straight romance–which it wasn’t. “The book was about a group of friends, and the impact that the loss of one has on them all.”

And what of blurbs, which are designed to beguile and entice–but not give too much away? Blacklock admits that they can pose as much of a problem as covers in their own way. “Blurb are notoriously difficult to write. Obviously you don’t want to say too much about the book, so the language ends up becoming a strange hybrid of hints and suggestions, posed questions, slogans and cliches.” The issue isn’t limited to women’s fiction, of course, but applies across a variety of print and even digital media.

Even now, Blacklock still wonders on occasion whether her covers and jacket copy may be alienating readers who may not be interested in reading romance novels. “I wonder whether some readers may believe that’s what all my novels are about. It’s a dilemma. I’m not sure how you can market to all individual tastes.” The increasing prominence of ebooks may help solve the issue, though: with ebooks, it may be possible to offer a variety of different covers for a single book, allowing the publisher to appeal to a broader demographic range.

Of course, there are limits: ”I realise there’s very little chance that a man would pick up one of my books! I can probably live with that, given that women are the biggest book purchasers by far, and most of the men I know who read my books will read their partner’s copies anyway.”

On remaining fresh and relevant

From this it’s clear that Blacklock has a very clear sense of audience. But as an established career author, how does she balance coming up with something fresh and new while ensuring that the needs of her existing readers–who expect a certain type of book–are met?

As it turns out, this very issue was one that she struggled with when developing the cast and backstory for The Secret Ingredient. “I was very wary of repeating myself. But I ended up tying myself in knots and it wasn’t any good for me or the book. The truth is, in real life people are more alike than they are different,” she says.

And given that there are famously only seven prototypical stories in the world, some degree of repetition is inevitable. “It’s bringing your own voice to those stories that makes them unique.”

Fortunately, the consensus is that Blacklock is skilled at doing so. “I have been assured on many occasions that my novels are all very different, my readers say they don’t know what to expect from me next. There is so much to explore in human interaction that I can’t imagine ever running out of material.” Murders, explosions and zombies are off the agenda, too, “as much as my dad would love that!”

Having readers who trust her as an author is also an immense help. “I feel that I can take them with me wherever I go next,” she says. For example, though her current work-in-progress will touch on some controversial themes, the readers she has consulted have been supportive.

“My focus is always on character, the rest is merely a backdrop. The Secret Ingredient isn’t about food and cooking, but about relationships. The main characters just happen to work around food.”

See my review of The Secret Ingredient Australian Women Online Rating:

Giveaway: I have a copy of Dianne’s excellent The Secret Ingredient to give away to one lucky Australian reader. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and provide a valid email address. The winner will be drawn on the 30th of November.

Edit: the winner of the giveaway is Marianne!

Find Dianne Online

Visit Dianne’s website, her blog, or her Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Dianne is published in Australia by Pan Macmillan Australia.

Other books by Dianne Blacklock