Ruth Leigh is the acclaimed author behind Isabella M Smugge, one of the UK’s most beloved feel-good book series. Following the release of her latest book, A Great Deal Of Ingenuity, What We Reading sat down with Ruth to talk about everything from Isabella’s success, the impact of Jane Austen on her writing to the challenges of standing out as an indie author!
Thanks for speaking with us, Ruth! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.
I learned to read aged four and produced my first work of fiction (two sentences written in crayon and a picture of a lady) aged six. Books and the world of literature have been my escape, my refuge and my joy for as long as I can remember. I always wanted to be a writer, but life didn’t work out that way for me.
I became a freelance writer in 2008 which has been great, but I didn’t begin to write fiction until 2020 which is where my Isabella M Smugge series began. I’ve had an interesting career, doing lots of different jobs, and these days I live in rural Suffolk with my husband and three teenagers. I write in the Palace of Creativity, my cabin in the garden, a mixture of freelance and fiction.
Talk to us about your Isabella M Smugge series. It’s been so well received, what does the future hold for it?
Thank you! I love Isabella, and it seems I’m not alone. From the minute I made her up as a two-dimensional joke character for a blog in April 2020, people have clamoured to know more about her. Issy Smugge is the woman Gorgeous Home magazine called “the UK’s premier mumfluencer.”
Everything her perfectly manicured hand touches turns to gold, it seems, but her move to the Suffolk countryside from London sparks a series of far-reaching changes. Each of the books in the series covers a year in her life and we get to see well-known characters change and mature, while others stay exactly where they are. There are no neat endings or loose ends being tied up in my writing universe.
Book four, which will be published next year, will reveal yet more of what’s going on in Smuggeworld. Not least of which is a meeting at a smart cocktail bar with her arch nemesis the trashy journo Lavinia Harcourt. I can’t wait to start writing it.
“From the minute I made her up as a two-dimensional joke character for a blog in April 2020, people have clamoured to know more about her.”
And you have a new release for 2023, A Great Deal Of Ingenuity, right? How does it differ from what people might expect from you?
It’s completely different from the contemporary humorous fiction I’ve been writing up to now. I drafted it before I made Issy up, but then shelved it as she took off. It is Jane Austen fan fiction, a series of short stories on minor characters in the novel, such as Mrs Annesley the companion to Georgiana Darcy, Nicholls the cook, Mrs Philips (Mrs Bennet’s sister) and so on. It’s funny, touching and carefully researched and I plan to write a similar book for each of the six major Austen novels. Many of my readers have made the leap and bought it which has made me very happy, and I’m getting a whole new readership of Austen fans who I hope will also enjoy Issy’s adventures.
What is the number one goal you want your books to have with readers?
Great question! I simply want people to say, “I can’t put this book down.”
What do you think makes you stand out as an author? Are you someone who throws themselves into the stories they write?
With my Jane Austen fan fiction, it’s my research. I am meticulous about that, and I immersed myself in fiction of the time and scholarly work around Austen to ensure I wrote in the correct voice. Eighteenth-century sentence structure and spelling were different to ours, and I wanted to make sure I got that absolutely right.
As far as Issy Smugge goes, I think the humour mixed with pathos makes me stand out. People often tell me that they’re laughing helplessly one minute and then wiping tears away. I like that. I certainly do throw myself into all my stories 100%. I don’t think any author worth their salt could answer this question any differently.
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
I don’t even have to think about that! Pride and Prejudice for sure. I love it so much and to have the joy of reading each word for the first time, laughing at poor Mr Collins’ awful proposal, gasping at Mr Darcy’s first one, being shocked by Wickham and Lydia’s elopement and sighing with joy at the two happy marriages at the end would be an absolute treat.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing independent and aspiring authors these days?
Getting your book out to the people who will read it. It’s a crowded market, there are lots of publishers with hefty budgets who will spend a great deal of time and money publicising their authors and it’s easy for the indie and aspiring author to sink beneath the waves.
Also, while I have nothing against people who have succeeded in other fields writing books, they do have an unfair advantage over the rest of us and it can be a little galling to see them soar to the top of the bestseller lists while we languish in the shadows. Not that I intend to do any languishing myself!
If you could go back in time and give your younger self one tip, what would it be?
Do what you want to do. The world won’t stop spinning.
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
Glittering premieres? An endless roll of red carpet? A plethora of book awards? I would just love my books to reach a wider audience who will enjoy them. I’ve got so many ideas for new ones and not enough hours in the day. If I could see my books going all over the world and my readers’ lives being improved and uplifted by them, I would be quite happy.
Check out Ruth and all her work at her website or follow her on Twitter
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
