The Write Stuff with... Vivien Brown

Today it's my pleasure to hand the reins of the blog over to Vivien Brown, author of Five Unforgivable Things which was published on Thursday.

There is something very powerful about numbers… and not just for those interested in maths. Numbers can make a real impact in the world of the written word too, especially when they appear in a title. Who couldn’t help but be intrigued by a magazine article called ‘The Ten Sexiest Men on TV’, ‘The Five Most Popular Ice Cream Flavours’ or ‘The 100 Richest People in the World’? I don’t know about you, but titles like that make me want to read on, and I immediately start wondering who or what has been included in the list, and (certainly in the case of the first two) whether I agree! 

It works with books too. Fifty Shades of Grey… The Five People You Meet in Heaven… The Hundred Secret Senses… Five Red Herrings… The Thirteen Problems… The Fifth Letter… Thirteen Reasons Why.  The list goes on, but each of these titles raises questions which help to draw the reader in as his/her curiosity kicks in. It’s like that old question: If you could invite five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would you choose? I play around with names in my head, juggling my own dad or a long-lost boyfriend against some of my heroes from the world of the rich and famous, and constantly changing my mind. Leonard Cohen, Kevin Costner, Jane Austen, Victoria Wood… And who would others choose? Nobody’s list is ever likely to be the same, but we can’t help being curious, can we? It’s that numbers thing again. If you can only have five, then picking the right five becomes particularly important.