Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance. First, I'm delighted to be joined by author Anna Carey, who's here to talk about her brand new book, Love Scene. Anna, you're very welcome to the programme.
Thank you for having me.
When you came in there, I was explaining to you that normally when an author is here, I have your book in my hands, but I forgot it because I'm actually reading it and it was beside my bed at home. In fact, I've been sneaking off to bed early, truth be told, to read it. I love it.
Oh, thank you. That is the best praise you can get, that somebody's going to bed early to read your book.
Chapter 2: What is Anna Carey's new book 'Love Scene' about?
That's like the mark of quality. Is this a little bit about your life, the professional side? Well, it's about a TV scriptwriter called Annie who moves back to Dublin to take on what she thinks is her dream job, which is writing for an iconic Irish soap opera called
And when she gets there, she finds she has to share an office with her old college nemesis, I suppose you could call him, Art Sullivan, who the last time she saw him, he was literally laughing at her face for wanting to write for soap. So he went off to be a sort of indie film golden boy and write for Prestige TV. And now he's working for a soap opera in Dublin. So they clash.
And then they have to work together when they realize somebody is kind of sabotaging the show. So none of that has ever happened to me. And also, obviously, you know, it's a romantic comedy. So they do, they more than clash as it goes on. But I am a former...
TV soap writer but sadly the reality of the job involves a lot more hard work and a lot less drama Not quite as exciting No, it's a lot of people working very hard at home so there's no opportunities for any of this sort of shenanigans but I did want to sort of write a bit of a love letter to soap operas and TV and popular TV, you know, that doesn't always get the love it deserves.
Annie in the book is so passionate about the role that soap operas play in her life and the lives of other people she knows. So are you a champion for that?
Yeah, I really am. Like, and I always... have been. I've always been very defensive of this sort of popular culture that gets dismissed a lot. And I was really happy recently to see people like Ryan Gosling and Rose Byrne, you know, recently nominated for an Oscar, not only defending soap writing and acting, but, you know, really paying homage to it.
Like Ryan Gosling saying his acting heroes growing up were soap actors and just pointing out how hard they have to work, how they have to learn all these lines and deliver a you know, strong performances with very little preparation time and how, you know, there's lots of great stuff in these shows and it doesn't always get the credit it deserves.
And do you feel sad that maybe their popularity is declining a bit now? I mean, Coronation Street was the sort of backdrop to my youth.
Yeah.
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Chapter 3: How does Anna Carey incorporate her life experiences into her writing?
And then it was Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Yeah. Always there, you know, constant presence at half seven. It's not so much that anymore. Is it changing?
Yeah, and the way people watch TV has changed. You know, people watch on streaming. They watch, you know, they don't have the whole family sitting around the TV in the same way anymore. Apart from, you know, there's some shows like Traitors that get that sort of reaction. It's rare though. It's really rare.
And I think that's why, you know, I wanted to highlight how these shows are so important both for actors and writers and for, you know, especially a country like Ireland. Just to see a semblance of ordinary Irish life
ongoing on tv is is really important um so yeah i think like tv watching on every form of has of broadcasting has changed but um yeah soaps are a bit beleaguered and i guess i wanted to you know remind people that they're still there and they can do what they do very well
Now, the last book, our song, was huge. It just became such a massive hit, didn't it?
Well, people seem to like it. Don't be modest now.
It did really well.
It did better than I could have hoped. But yeah, which was amazing because, you know, it was my eighth book, but my first for adults because my previous books have been like YA and... I really loved writing it I was one of those things where it was like oh this is what I meant to be writing.
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Chapter 4: What themes does Anna explore in 'Love Scene' related to soap operas?
Like, you can read it if you haven't read our song. It's just, it's got the Easter eggs, as you say. And I started writing Love Scene like literally two days after I finished the first draft of our song. And it was because I was enjoying writing our song so much that I was like, oh, God, if I stop now, I mightn't be able to, you know, this flow might leave me forever.
So I had Annie in mind as a character. She was there. She was there. And, you know, when I was working on the second draft of our song, at the same time, I was working on the first draft of Love Scene so I could sort of give Annie a little bit more in our song to sort of establish her as a character. And that really helped.
And yeah, like the book I'm writing at the moment is about Annie's best friend from Love Scene. Oh, Rue? Yes. Oh, I love it. The sexy witch. Yes, exactly.
So she gets her own starring role in the next one.
Yeah, hopefully, if it all works out.
And tell me, have you had any TV execs, big TV companies pulling up to your door now with a big truckload of cash?
Not with a big truckload of cash.
But they're there, aren't they?
There have been conversations. That's exciting, isn't it? It is. But I think both my brother-in-law, David Frayn, and my sister, Rachel Carey, are both TV and film directors. And so I know that so many things get talked about and don't get made.
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