I’m delighted today to welcome the lovely Della Galton to my blog today to talk about her new book “One in a Million”. A beautifully written book, in which Della explores the very personal journey of her protagonist as she deals with alcoholism and her relationships with family and friends who all have issues of their own.
Della is the bestselling author of many romantic comedies set around the Dorset beaches and the beautiful New Forest. Her stories feature strong female friendship, quirky characters and very often the animals she loves.
When she is not writing she enjoys meeting friends and walking her dogs around the beautiful Dorset countryside.
Della, a great book, beautifully written. I have so many questions, but before we start, can I interest you in a peach lemonade and a chocolate orange cookie – I’m experimenting.
Thank you for having me, and oh yes please to a cookie, sounds amazing.
Can you tell us about One in a Million?
One woman’s journey to wrestle with her past and find happiness
It’s the story of a woman who has something of a dysfunctional family, although this isn’t that apparent until you dig a little beneath the surface. Her marriage is also not quite the idyllic happy place she’d like it to be and she finds herself drinking too much as a way to cope.
One in a Million is a step away from your usual romances, about alcoholism, but you handle it beautifully and with your usual light touch of humour and of course it has a dog in it? Tell me, something about Ash.
Ash is partly based on a greyhound cross I used to have called Abel, who was incredibly laid back. I’ve also fostered a few greyhounds and they are such gorgeous dogs. I’d like to point out that Ash’s trials and tribulations in the novel have nothing to do with reality.
I hope it’s not a spoiler alert to say that the story begins with your protagonist, Sarah Jane (SJ), in a hospital bed. From there, it weaves through various stages of her life, from her protective teenage years to her romantic relationships, slowly unpicking the events that led to her crisis. Why did you choose this structure to tell her story rather than a straight chronological one?
That’s a brilliant question and I don’t know the answer. This novel just came out like that and it’s not my usual structure at all. I’m usually much more chronological. It just seemed to work out that way. I’m not much of a plotter and so I tend to go along with the book’s flow.
This book is a masterclass in pacing. Would you describe yourself as a plotter or a “pantser”?
I’m definitely a panster. Or maybe latterly a planster.
How did you approach writing from the perspective of an unreliable narrator, while still making them empathetic to the reader?
I think it’s because I just loved writing SJ. She made me laugh and I think humour is hugely important in drama, especially when there are serious issues at the heart of a novel. Humour lightens everything.
How did you set about balancing such a heavy subject with your usual light touch?
Eek, I seem to be answering your questions with my previous answers. It’s because I love humour. Books/films and series that are too intense with no humour to balance the darkness don’t work for me. So I always have humour if I can. This isn’t plotted out at all. My close friends say I’m naturally funny. (I’m never quite sure how to take that – but latterly I’ve realised it’s a compliment.)
Do you feel fiction is an effective way to challenge misconceptions about difficult topics such as alcoholism?
Absolutely. Yes.
The book deals with the problems that often accompany personal battles. How do you use fiction as a tool to explore these quieter, more internal human struggles that people often hide in real life?
Um. Well. I think that fiction is where I make sense of my life. It always has been so from the year dot and I’d go as far as to say that it’s why I write. To make sense of my life. But it’s much more fun to explore it in fiction. There’s always plenty of truth in my stories and there’s always a great deal of fiction and even the people who know me best find it hard to know which bit is which. (PS. I know. Just in case you were wondering!)
I know you’re a great fiction tutor too, I’ve been on a number of your courses, over the years, and always come away with something new, but if you had to give budding writers one piece of advice, then what would it be?
Thank you, Anni. That’s lovely of you to say so. My advice would be this:
If you want your writing to be a priority. Then you need to give it priority in your life. Don’t dream about one day writing a novel. Write it. Edit it. Then send it out to publishers or publish it yourself.
And you’ve recently become a columnist on the Writing Magazine. Congratulations! How do you fit any writing at all into your day?
I’m very disciplined. When I’m writing a novel I write 2000 words a day. It’s the first thing I do in the day and I don’t stop until it’s done.
And something another writer asked me last year, was what was on my vision board for 2026? So I thought it would be fun to ask all my guests this year if they would share one item on their vision board for 2026 – I might come back to you to later in the year and ask whether you achieved it! So what would be one item on yours?
If I had a vision board, which I don’t, one thing that would certainly be on it, is to get more life/work balance, which I’m slowly achieving.
So what’s next from the Della Galton stable?
I have another novel in my Duck Pond series coming out in August, and there may well be a sequel to One in a Million on the way too. Watch this space!
Thank you, Della, for taking time out of what I know is an incredibly busy schedule to talk to me today and good luck with your book. Anni x
Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a real pleasure.
Book links: https://mybook.to/Milliondigital
Social media links:
https://www.facebook.com/DailyDella
https://www.instagram.com/dellagalton
https://twitter.com/DellaGalton
Anni Rose’s six uplifting and heartfelt romantic comedies are now available from Amazon in one box set:
