Debut author Claire Moss talks to Viv Hardwick about life, love and a Northern take on romance.

Darlington-BORN Claire Moss always intended to write a thriller but instead came up with a newly-released contemporary romance, Northern Soul Revival, which she admits her husband, Andrew, hasn’t even read yet.

“He’s yet to read it and express an opinion because he said he wanted to wait until it was published. So I have to wait and see what his verdict is. I think it is astonishing, but it’s nice he’s left me to it,” says Moss, who has recently moved to Thirsk.

It took her five years to put together the novel before having it published by Snowbooks.

“I started writing it because I needed to write and I felt I had to get it finished before I could write another book.

And I’m writing another romance book now because I enjoyed it so much.

“This book just seemed to pop fully-formed in my mind and it’s wonderful to have the actual book in my hand. It’s amazing,” says the 32-yearold of the novel which was written while she travelled the world, lived in six towns, got married, had a baby and is expecting another.

The plot, set in a fictional Northern town called Seeley, involves Joss sleeping with old schoolfriend Carl because he’s off to Tasmania and she’s discovered her boyfriend is a love cheat.

The complication is that she becomes pregnant and opts not to tell Carl, even though she tells nearly everyone that he knows.

“My natural style is lighthearted and humorous,” says Moss, who chose to tell the story alternating between the voices of Joss and Carl. “To tell a serious story like this in quite a dark way is quite a British thing to do.”

Interestingly, she is writing for a generation which doesn’t consider having children outside wedlock as anything out of the ordinary, but she still manages to secure an air of scandal about Joss’ behaviour.

“I think it comes from the idea that although most people aren’t married, they are in a relationship when they have children. The thought of having a child with someone you’ve never had a relationship with is something unusual.

It would be nice to say that it was based on someone I know but really it’s not, I’m afraid.

“This thing about going into denial about being pregnant is something I do know about,” she says, and has created a climatic wedding speech moment where a drunken Carl rants at heavilypregnant Joss upon learning he’s to become a father.

Discussing the locations she chose, Moss says that Tasmanian scenes are based on her own experiences there in 2005 demonstrate the contrasts between Australia and the North-East.

Northallerton is mentioned, but she says that Seeley is actually an amalgamation of Thirsk, Yarm and other North Yorkshire market towns.

Moss grew up in Hurworth Place and went to school in Hurworth and at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington before studying at Sheffield, where she began her working career.

She’s busy at work on her second book and knows that contemporary romance is harder to write about when young people are increasingly cynical about commitment.

“It has to be believable and I think that people have to have worked through every problem before they can live together. I think the way my husband and got together is a very dull story – I don’t think anyone would publish it.

“We met in the first term of university and have been together ever since. Maybe that’s why I have to write these books,” says Moss, who has a two-year-old son called Kieran and is expecting her second child in March.

“What I really wanted to do was write novels for young women who didn’t live in London and work in the media with maxed-out credit cards and buy their shoes from Prada.

“I wanted to write for women that I could relate to.”

● Northern Soul Revival is published by Snowbooks