INSIDE STORY: Making us sob, sin or melt...

INSIDE STORY Prolific romance novelist ALISON HIGSON chats to the Celt’s KEVIN MACDERMOTT about writing under a pen name, the self publishing and the risque genre that has attracted tens of thousands of fans.

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The marmalade cat, was taking more than a passing interest in my recorder as Alison Higson and I sat chatting outside the novelist’s Virginia home. I didn’t quite realise at the time that the same cat is possibly one of the best known Irish cats on the internet. Alison is an author, and quite a successful one at that, however her loyal fan base wouldn’t know her as Alison; to them she is ‘Lexi Buchanan’ and her cat features prominently on her Amazon.com profile: ‘Lexi Buchanan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance. When not writing stories that’ll make you sob, sin, or melt... you’ll find her sitting in the sunshine or yelling at the cat to put the hamster down!’

A mother of four, Alison is originally from Bolton in Lancashire and she only began writing her books when she moved with her family to County Cavan.
“I spent 20 years working in admin in University of Bolton, moved to Ireland seven or eight years ago, hubby and kids and animals. Basically I was here, without a job because the husband was working, I was looking after the kids and school runs and all this lot, so I decided one day I was going to try and write, and it just kicked off.”
In conversation, Alison portrays the stereotypical directness of Lancashire, coupled with a mother’s sense of self deprecation - it is a pleasant blend, and it’s a style that clearly works with her readers.
Writing was never something that figured in her formative years, she admits that she didn’t spend hours in school dreaming of being a bestselling author, but she has always liked reading and she has her mother to thank for her current success.
“I’ve read since I was about 14 or 15. My mum used to give me her books that she’d read, thrillers and things. I just love books.”
She admits she had tried writing before coming to Ireland, but to no avail.
“I’ve tried in the past but nothing was there, nothing at all. Then all of a sudden I was just writing, it just sort of came to me.”
Starting out Alison decided to go down the route of self publishing on Kindle. It’s a path she still follows today. Although all her books are available as downloads they now also feature in print. Alison is happy with the self publishing side of the business as it gives her more freedom, and more control over her career.
Writing in the romance genre, Alison says Lexi Buchanan’s books fit into three sub categories: contemporary romance, erotic romance and romantic suspense. The erotic romance category is a highly competitive field and the recent popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey series has brought the risqué genre to a worldwide audience.
One of Lexi’s first books knocked ‘Fifty Shades’ off the top spot on the Kindle download section. Alison laughs when asked how she came to write erotic stories - it’s not a case of art imitating life, she assures.
“I’ve read a lot of books so it’s basically from them and it’s all put together. It’s my imagination as well and it’s just sort of how the story flows.”
 

Anonymity

Alison can maintain a certain distance from her racy fiction thanks to her pseudonym, but her anonymity is not total. Her eldest daughter has some pals who know Lexi Buchanan’s true identity.
“I think she’s kind of embarrassed when they say to her, ‘oh I’ve read your mom’s book’.
In Virginia, Alison is not widely known as Lexi Buchanan. “I think there’s a few people who I talk to daily who know about the books, but that’s only the people I’ve told.”
Asked if the local school had invited her in to talk to the pupils, Alison laughingly replies: “Oh gosh no, I wouldn’t want to do that.”
 

Indie authors

Although only writing professionally for the past six years, prolific Alison has already amassed quite a back catalogue of books, sometimes even she has difficulty remembering exact numbers. She has published 30 books so far, an average of four to five books a year. She explains that is normal for independent publishers.
“A lot of indie authors can do that. I know some who don’t - they might do one big book a year, but mine are shorter. They’ll write 150,000 [words] where my books are 50,000 or 60,000. I have a couple of 80 or 90,000.”
Self publishing involves a certain amount of focus group testing to see if the book will sell.
“I send it out to readers, I have a group of ‘beta readers’ and ask them for opinions, then I get ‘oh yeah that was good’, or ‘take this bit out’.”
Once the book is penned, then comes the self publicising. Although she has only recently returned from a book signing in Las Vegas, Alison is now trying to limit her international signing engagements a year.
“When I first started I was signing up to everything and then I realised this is stupid, I can’t be going to the States every week, so now I try to stick to two or three.”
Even that level of commitment requires support and Alison is very grateful to have her family’s backing.
“When I have to go away the husband and the eldest daughter look after the younger three, they are really supportive - they support me fully. I couldn’t do it without them.”
 

Fans

Lexi has a loyal fan base. One website shows in excess of 21,000 reviews for her books, with more than 54,000 people accessing the books on that site alone. Alison believes her fans come from more than one specific demographic.
“I don’t really think I have typical readers, they range from late teens to late seventies,” she says. She concedes that the majority of her fans are female, but not exclusively.One of her books Cherished is described as a male/male romance and that has certainly been read by a male readership. Whatever about not having a typical set of fans, there is little doubt about their loyalty. On the recent trip to Las Vegas, Lexi Buchanan was delighted to meet Phyllis, a Boston native in her early seventies who had made the trip to Las Vegas just to meet her. Alison is chuffed to have inspired that kind of devotion.  
“It made me feel wonderful, and I’m hoping I’ll meet her again when I go to Boston,” she said.
Although most signings are in the US, Alison is looking forward to bringing Lexi to Belfast next March.
The name Lexi Buchanan can be traced back to a book Alison read years ago.
“I read a book, called White and one of the characters in it was Finch Buchanan, so I thought I would use that name for my young adult books when I write them - so Buchanan came from there and I thought well Finch doesn’t really fit the genre I write in, so then Lexi just popped into my head.”
After 30 books has Alison forged a settled writing routine?
“I try and do that but there is a huge amount of distractions. I try and get a few jobs done and then write. No sign goes up, I just go on the computer and they will leave me alone. I do have my office but I can’t write there, I need to be around and watch what the kids and animals are doing. Sometimes I’ll put earphones in, then the family just know I’m writing.”
So does Alison’s life ever cross into Lexi’s writing? Alison is not so sure but definitely real life has provided some inspiration.
“One of my first ideas was a book Rose and Jacob - that is still one of my favourite books. That was basically my father-in-law, who was the fisherman in the book, he had just passed away.
“When I was a young girl we used to stay in this place in Cornwall called Rose Cottage, so then the story just came around that.”
Her children too can provide inspiration - her youngest son Flynn features in Rose and Jacob and not just as a character.
“Some of things he has said are included in the book,” she says.
Alison had no qualms about making the move to County Cavan from Bolton, as she has family connections with Ireland.
A great grandmother from Delgany in Wicklow and grandparents from Enniskillen made Cavan seem like the ideal location to settle between to two locations.
She loves Virginia, but so far the town hasn’t featured in her work.
“Cavan hasn’t featured yet, but it will in the future, when I’m writing about a small town,” she vows.
As I get up to leave the famous cat, has one last stroll across my recorder, seeking more attention while the family dog barks defensively, peeking around the back door. I can’t help wondering how these surroundings have helped produce 30 romantic novels in six years.