Interview with Author and Cellist Katy Cox

Katy Cox is a classically trained cellist, blogger and author who has performed with some of the music industry’s biggest names including Michael Bublé, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, and Take That. After having her first child, her touring life was put on hold, and she started blogging as an alternative creative outlet. Her illustrated comedy blog Carry on Katy was born and was shortlisted for a BritMums Brilliance in Blogging award for two consecutive years.

Katy’s debut novel ‘M is for Mummy’—a heartwarming comedy about motherhood, showbiz and autism—is based on her own experience as a mother of autistic children. It was published in hardback last May by Atlantic books and it is now available on paperback, eBook and audio too.

Katy’s next novel ‘The Motherload’ will be released on June 1st.

I’m honoured to be quoted on the back of Katy’s debut, it was so good I read it during the newborn months, at a time I had no time. That’s how unputdownable it is!

In the words of Katy, it really is LUSH to welcome her to the blog!

 

Describe a typical day for you?

As a musician, no two days are ever the same, and I love the thrill of never knowing what each week might bring. Last week, I was performing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales live on Radio 3, and the next day, I cleaned my bathroom, took my pug to the vet for a check-up and then spent the rest of the day working on the first draft of my next book.

I recently started home-schooling our thirteen-year-old son as he was really struggling in mainstream school. Whether I’m playing the cello or writing, I now have to make time to sit down and learn about fractions and covalent bonds with him (and yes, I have no idea what I’m doing). We are also leaning Spanish together which is really fun—so far, we know how to book a hotel room, order a cheese sandwich and buy a train ticket to Barcelona! And if I’m being totally honest, I do waste a large amount of my time watching TikTok videos of cute animals, or people having their ears syringed (yes, it’s disgusting but I find it weirdly therapeutic).

 

What do you feel are your greatest achievements?

Aside from giving birth to my lush boys, I’d have to say playing with Elton John at Radio City Hall. My first ever record was ‘Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’ and I used to listen to it on loop when I was eleven (before I’d even started learning the cello). Ten years later, I was sitting on stage with the man himself playing the very same song. It was surreal, and totally amazing!

 

What’s in your handbag/ satchel?

A pink Tangle Tease hair brush. My sister and I recently shaved our heads to support our best friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer—we had a little ‘Screw You Cancer!’ party and we all went nuts with the clippers and donated our locks to The Princess Trust. I now own a dozen or so cheap wigs which I bought from Shein (they’re excellent quality and only cost between £10 and £15 each…top tip!) The only downside is that they tangle easily, so the Tangle Teaser is in my hand fifty times a day.

I also have my lipstick—Rimmel’s Heather Shimmer—which I have been wearing solidly since 1993. It’s on my lips 24/7 (even when I was in labour!).

Other than that, I have tweezers (to keep my sprouting whiskers under control), tubs of McDonald’s curry sauce, my wallet, phone, keys, poo bags and a few treats for my pug who is incessantly hungry.

 

What are your ambitions in life?

This might be a tad ambitious but my ultimate dream is to write a screenplay. Hugh Jackman will star in it (obviously) and we will rake in millions of dollars following its international success. I’d then move to Australia, shack up with him in a mansion filled with pugs (and my kids), and I’d live out my remaining years gawping at his beautiful face in the sunshine. More realistically, I’d like go to Mauritius, to learn how to make an authentic curry, to make the Sunday Times Bestseller list, and most of all, I’d love to watch my children get married one day.

 

What do you wish you’d known at the start of your career you now know?

This is a tricky one, but I wish I’d known that in any creative industry, there is never a point where you can honestly say ‘I’ve made it.’ No matter what I have achieved, I’ve never been able to sit back and say, ‘Yes, I’m here, at the top and there’s nowhere else to go.’ Being a writer and a musician is all about the journey, not the destination…Cheesy as that might sound. It’s exhausting, and the road to success can be perilous, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Probably in the exact place I am now… Standing in my bathroom with a cloth and a bottle of disinfectant in hand, yelling at my sons for weeing all over the floor. The only difference is that they’ll have moustaches or beards by then. Sigh.

 

What advice would you give a budding novelist?

Just sit down and write. For so long, I talked about writing a book. I blathered on and on about it but I never wrote a single word. I thought that I needed a better laptop, to read books about how to write a book, to improve my vocabulary first etc. All I needed to do was to just sit down and do it. Books don’t write themselves! Oh, and it’s vital to have a beta reader who you can really trust. My sister and my friend Jess read all of my work, and their criticisms can often be brutal. But I trust them implicitly, and without them, I’m certain I would never have secured a book deal.

 

What advice would you give to a new parent?

Relish those delicious newborn hugs because they don’t last forever.

 

Finally, happiness is…

Saturday nights at home with my husband, kids and our pug, Molly, wearing our jammies, eating Domino’s pizza and watching The Simpsons. Cosy, safe and content. That, for me, is happiness.

‘M is for Mummy’ is published by Atlantic and is out in paperback on February 16th. It is available from all good bookshops. The sequel, ‘The Motherload’ will be released on June 1st.

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