We chat with Zoë Foster Blake about her new novel Things Will Calm Down Soon.
A&U: Hey Zoë! Thanks so much for chatting with us. First up, can you tell us a little about your new novel, Things Will Calm Down Soon?
ZFB: I’d love to! This is a story about Kit, a woman at the top of her game, who backs herself and takes a professional and financial risk to make her own product. This leads to a brand and eventually a successful company, which she must figure out how to competently front, run, and eventually sell. It’s about building something, many things. A brand and a business, yes, but also a family, a team, a home, and ultimately, an imperfect but genuine kind of self-belief.
A&U: What was the inspiration behind writing Things Will Calm Down Soon?
ZFB: A book that speaks to founders, about founders, by a founder felt timely. People are fascinated and inspired by the rise, fall, success, and failure of people who start companies, and the crazy amounts they’re bought and sold for. Also, and maybe this is just my algorithm, but it feels a bit like everyone is a founder. Everyone owns a business! Low barrier to entry and an outsourced workforce and manufacturing means anyone can make, market and move products (or services.) I wanted to illustrate how it moves from a concept to the realities and practicalities of running a business, and then the circus that is mergers and acquisitions. In my experience the founder trajectory requires wildly different skill sets, and very few came naturally to me. I think the fish out of water, baptism of fire, insider-but-outsider dynamic is both interesting and universal.
A&U: This is your first dive back into adult novel writing in over 10 years. What was it like getting back into writing this type of novel after so long?
ZFB: Thrilling. I love writing fiction so much, and a realistic, modern depiction of a female founder in fiction form (rather than a business book) felt really innovative to me; I haven’t seen that story before. Given the cult like status of founders right now, and the fact I was living the same beats as my protagonist I felt really compelled to get it down.
A&U: We absolutely love Kit and her chaotic, glamorous life. How much of Kit would you say resembles you and your own story as a founder?
ZFB: It would be untrue to suggest there is no lived experience in there, but this is a work of fiction. I didn’t want to write my story, I wanted to create a parable of a founder that could offer some thinking points for other founders, or at the very least, help them feel seen and heard. I have been the lucky benefactor of so much kindness, help and wisdom in my business journey, and I wanted to pay that forward.
A&U: What was the most challenging part of writing Things Will Calm Down Soon for you?
ZFB: Being in a deal, while writing about a fictional deal. One deal is too many for my brain, two put me dangerously close to combustion.
A&U: Can you give us any teasers of what book-based projects might be coming up next for you? Maybe a, Things Will Calm Down Soon 2?
ZFB: Funnily, this is the first novel of mine I felt I could feasibly write a sequel, (I generally want nothing more to do with my characters after the 8th copy edit) because Kit is only just getting started, but I think I have moved onto a new idea now.
A&U: And finally, what advice would you give someone who would love to write great novels just like you do someday?
ZFB: Do it! We want to read your story! Lots of people tell me they want to write a book. Some have already started, or have a genuinely fantastic idea. I always say, great! Send me the synopsis and the first 3-4 chapters; I’d love to take a look. I’d say 1 in 20 actually do, but I think some people (me!) need a little deadline to get going, so I like to gently issue one. It’s easy to say you want to write a novel, but sitting down to actually start let alone finish one requires discipline, commitment and creative risk.
Things Will Calm Down Soon
by Zoë Foster Blake
Welcome to the hectic world of beauty and business in this highly relatable novel following a talented hair stylist turned entrepreneur.
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