There’s a space on your bookshelf, and it’s just perfect for Jo Watson’s latest novel, What Happens on Vacation. Here’s the international bestselling author’s last word on writing.
Jo Watson remembers the first time she thought there may, possibly, be a writer lurking inside her. “Our high school teacher had asked us to write a movie review, no doubt expecting a glowing report that included the many lessons we had learnt from the film. I had hated it, though, so the piece I handed in was absolutely scathing.” Rather than take her to task for her contrary view, Jo’s teacher praised her satirical style, suggesting that if she work at the craft she may one day become a wordsmith.
And that’s exactly what she did. By 2013, when she penned her first book, Burning Moon, she had experimented (successfully) with just about every other form of writing, from TV soaps to radio dramas, scripts, plays and ads.
The book took her by surprise, however. “I hadn’t actually planned to write a book, let alone a romance – a genre I don’t often read,” she confesses. Her first step to becoming an international bestselling author (she has written 14 books in total, translated into seven languages with sales topping well over 600 000) started with frustration: Frustration at unreasonable client demands on her ‘pen for hire’ business, and frustration at the fact that many South African books seem to be based on heavy themes. “I wanted to write something that was funny for funny’s sake,” she explains – so, in a move that she claims betrays her naiveté around the publishing industry and the writing process itself, she Googled, “How to be an international writer”. One of the results that came up showed a competition for romance writers hosted on Wattpad, which Jo describes as “a social media platform for writers”.
Undeterred by the deadline (just three weeks away), or the fact that she had never written a book before, Jo started fleshing out her story about a girl who had been jilted at the altar but decided to take her honeymoon, alone. “Actually, I think that my complete lack of experience was an advantage,” she muses. “I had no expectations. I was writing this book simply to write it, so I didn’t get too technical and I didn’t overthink things like plot and characters – which I probably would have if this wasn’t my first attempt.”
The first chapter she posted on Wattpad gained 22 views – a number which both surprised and delighted her. Imagine, then, how stunned she was when that figure had climbed to more than 200 000 just a few weeks later. By the end of the year, Jo’s readership had climbed into the millions – and she was named winner of the competition.
“It was weird!” she laughs. But, since her first foray had proved so successful, she decided to continue on the trajectory. “Everyone was talking about how important it was to get an agent. I didn’t even know what an agent did, but I Googled “best agents”, sent off a few mails, and had an agent just a few days later.”
Jo’s “snowball” ride has recently culminated in signing a four-book deal with Headline Eternal; the first of which, What Happens on Vacation, was recently released. It’s an effervescent romcom that’s vintage Jo Watson, with her signature laughs, dramatic buildup and careful attention to crafting sentences that make readers go “I know exactly how that feels!”
Jo admits that, as a writer, this is very important to her. “I love the English language. I love writing sentences over and over until they sound exactly as I want them to. Just because this is a book written to help people escape and give them a bit of enjoyment doesn’t mean it can’t be beautifully written.” As for the highs and lows, the sighs and sentiment – Jo says that although her bookshelf doesn’t include all that many romance books, the genre comes easily to her: “After writing for soapies, I have a handle on the yearning, the wishing; the relationships that hover on the brink of ‘will they, won’t they’.”
She’s very conscious of how her characters’ follies affect her readers. “This genre has been so maligned, but although it’s not literary fiction, there is definitely a space for it – there’s space for anything that makes people happy.” This was proved to her when, during the Covid-19 pandemic, she received floods of letters from people telling her how her books had given them a light during a particularly dark time.
While her fans wait for her next book (which is currently in the final editing stages), Jo is about to get going on another novel. Don’t picture her moodily staring into space, waiting for inspiration to strike, though: She has a very precise, almost mathematical approach to writing. “I work out how many words I need to write each day, according to the length of the book. Then, I walk outside to my office (which is a disgusting mess, strewn with everything from energy drink bottles to crusty plates) and I just get on with it.”
Not that she’d have it any other way. “Even if I didn’t have a book to deliver, I’d still look for something to write. I get anxious when I’m not writing. It’s something I have to do to make sense of this world.”
What Jo’s reading
South Africa’s queen of romcoms has a quiet obsession with literature. “There are so many truly amazing books in this world and I want to read them all,” she says. Her tastes are decidedly eclectic, although they share in common interesting characters and beautiful writing – all of which trump plot when Jo chooses a read. Here are some of her top picks: Any Man by Amber Tamblyn • My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell • The Book of Longing by Sue Monk-Kidd • Milk Fed by Melissa Broder • Ghosts by Dolly Alderton • Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors “which I stayed up allllll night reading.”
An office quiz night with an all-expenses-paid trip to Zanzibar up for grabs. Two colleagues who share a desk but drive each other to distraction. A prize that needs to be shared. Not ideal … but maybe the holiday from hell could turn out to be the vacation dreams are made of. What Happens On Vacation by Jo Watson … light, romantic, hugely enjoyable. Headline
Text: Lisa Witepski • Photo: MEGAN BRETT.
