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Lauren is a novelist and screenwriter who published 3 novels under the name LAUREN MCCROSSAN – Water Wings, Angel On Air and Serve Cool – before writing as LAUREN DAVIES the multi-award winning documentary Waveriders and most recently Cloud 9 about the 9-times world surfing champion, Kelly Slater. Lauren began writing for magazines while working as a lawyer after graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge. She then chose to pursue her dream career full-time when her first novel was published by Time Warner paperbacks in 2001. Lauren is currently writing a film adaptation of Water Wings as well as a new romantic comedy novel and a television series. We bugged that talented writer to tell us more …
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How and when did you get started as a novelist?
I think my talent for writing was there from the moment my mum taught me to read and write and books were always my escapism. I used to hide under the covers in bed as a child and read with a torch. I dreamed of writing a novel but I thought Law would be a more secure career, so I did a Law degree and a Masters at Cambridge, then Law School before becoming a corporate lawyer in London. I learned important skills, which I have carried with me into my writing career, but I hated the job. My husband, Gabe Davies, encouraged me to begin my novel and I then took the plunge and left Law to try and find a publisher. After two years of working in quirky jobs to make ends meet, I sent my book direct to Time Warner. Within a week, I had my first two-book deal. That was a life-changing moment.
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How did you go from novel writing to movies, documentaries and TV show writing?
I was in Ireland writing my novel ‘Water Wings’ and met the Irish Director, Joel Conroy. We started talking about a film idea and I helped him write the first treatment. ‘Waveriders’ became a passion project and took 7 years to complete. We then won the Dublin Film Festival and many other awards, so we knew we had done something right! The highlight for me was winning the Surfer Poll in America as we were the first Europeans to do so. I then met Nicolas Dazet in Hossegor and we talked about a film project, which became ‘Cloud 9’. I’m now writing for a film company in London and I was approached in LA to write scripts. Really it has been about forging relationships with people I enjoy working with. Filmmaking can be stressful at times so we have to have fun as a team along the way.
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Describe a typical day in the life of a screenwriter?
I have breakfast, walk my dog, then settle at my desk with a coffee and get to work. I do have quirks. I can only concentrate when my office is tidy and I can only listen to Coldplay, Jack Johnson and Ben Howard. Their lyrics inspire my mood for writing. Often I surf in the afternoon and then work into the evening. When I am travelling, I love to write in cafés where I observe people and write longhand. Sometimes I have two different jobs to do in a day, so I may write book chapters in the morning and then film scenes in the afternoon. The fun part of the work comes when I get to leave my office and glam up in a Quiksilver Women dress for the film premiere!
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What is the difference between being a novelist and being a screenwriter?
As a novelist, I am working alone with my imagination, so it can sometimes be a lonely existence. You do have to be disciplined and passionate about the book and its characters. Screenwriting also involves the long hours in front of a computer but I work in conjunction with a Director and sometimes a whole team. Respecting each other’s opinion and sharing a vision is important. Screenwriting is a different art form, as one has to be much more succinct with the language. I did a screenwriting course and I study films and read scripts constantly. I love the fact that I can buy books and watch movies in the name of research!
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Is it harder to succeed as a screenwriter or a novelist?
I’m not entirely sure as I have thankfully had relative success in both but the book world has become tougher. There are fewer bookstores and so much rides on marketing and hype. It can be a disillusioning world at times. Writing books is a long process and it’s tough to have written 100,000 words that end up on the scrap heap! With my second book, I had a new editor who kept asking me to make changes until the book no longer felt like mine. Eventually, I threw the whole book in the bin and started ‘Angel On Air’. I think by that point I had written half a million words. I believe every new piece of work should be better than the last, so I am always trying to improve my art. As my agent, once said to me, ‘Just write something exceptional and it will all be fine’. I’m still aiming for that!
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Where do you find the ideas behind your novels? What about your documentaries?
I dreamed all my novels. Often, as soon as my head hits the pillow and the mundane worries of the day start to dissipate, I get ideas. I always get up and write them down in case I forget them by morning. I people watch and I write observational comedy. My latest novel began with the title, which my brother’s girlfriend came up with and then grew from there. With ‘Waveriders’, I brainstormed with Joel then I worked on the story, weaving in the cast and the poetry I chose to add throughout. With ‘Cloud 9’, I was passionate from the outset because it was about Kelly Slater who is a great friend of mine. He has such an interesting character and of course has achieved an awe-inspiring amount in his life, so I wanted to do him justice. Nicolas Dazet and I instantly gelled as a team and inspired each other. Basically, you have to keep your eyes and ears open to inspiration as it can hit you when you least expect it.

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Surf seems to be your main inspiration. It’s a theme we find as much in your novels as in your documentaries. Why?
My first and second novels had nothing to do with surfing but after marrying a pro surfer, I based my third book on an actress learning to surf. Writers often write about what they know. I also wrote for surf magazines and I suppose along the way I proved I could write about surfing whether it be from a comedic or a technical viewpoint. However, variety keeps the work interesting and I have other passions including football and cycling, which are the subject matter of more recent work. My latest book is completely different again, being a romantic comedy based in the North of England about the economic downturn.
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How do you make the link between your passion for surfing and your job?
After meeting Gabe, I started to travel and surf and I began to understand why it becomes a passion. As well as being a subject I love writing about, surfing is a great form of escapism. When I am in the ocean, I forget about life’s niggling worries. With the cobwebs washed away, my mind is clear to write. I have to be careful to prioritise work over surfing, though, as perfect waves can be a terrible distraction. When I have a deadline and the sun is shining on clean surf, I have to shut myself in my office and force myself to concentrate!
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What advice would you give to aspiring novelists or screenwriters?
Don’t be afraid to dream! If you have always wanted to write then do it. Find the place you are happiest writing, find time and mind space and then go for it. Starting is the hardest thing and I am always full of self-doubt at the beginning of every new project. I never show my work to anyone until I am happy with it, because I feel as soon as someone makes a comment, it breaks the magic for me. We all want to read fantastic novels and watch life-changing films, so if you feel you have one in your head, don’t deny the world; get it out there!

To tie in with the release of Waveriders in the USA, I was invited as the film’s writer, along with Gabe (who stars in the movie) and the Director, Joel to attend surf night at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, where Waveriders was the headline movie. Two weeks in the California sunshine, a green carpet premiere, meetings in Hollywood and many occasions to dress up in my new Quiksilver Women outfits - how could I say no….?!

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Gabe and I flew out a week early to LA to make the most of the occasion. We spent a few days with our great friend Pat O’Connell in Laguna, surfing Trestles daily with a very friendly pod of dolphins and a fun day with Jaws at Universal Studios (in the name of movie research of course!)

We then travelled north to reach San Luis Obispo, which is in the heart of the Californian wine region, in perfect time for the St Patrick’s Day party and wine tasting. Our film is set largely in Ireland so we were the party’s special guests. I wore this season’s stunning Emmanuelle dress in platinum, teaming it with the tuxedo style jacket from the winter collection. The vertical ivory piping on the centre back of the jacket matches the black piping on the back of the dress, which I thought was a very clever detail tying the two collections together.

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St Patrick’s Day is a huge occasion in the USA. So much so that drinking in San Luis began at 6am. We joined in late in the day with the wine tasting but we let the Irish side down when it came to achieving complete intoxication! The local wines were great but we had to be sensible as we had work to do.

The following day we had a live radio interview about the festival and lunch with the festival organisers, sponsors and Dana Cummings who runs Ampsurf. This is an inspirational organisation encouraging amputees to take up surfing through their surf clinics. Ampsurf were sharing our premiere night and, after meeting Dana who is himself an amputee, and watching their emotional film depicting what they achieve at their clinics, I was delighted part of the proceeds of the Waveriders evening were being donated to Ampsurf. I hoped the promotion would further help their cause that literally changes lives.

I was as nervous for surf night as I was for the first ever screening of Waveriders. Every audience is different in their reaction and one never knows how many people will turn up. The festival is a great event, however and the passionate organisers Wendy and Tim Eidson assured us the night would be a great success. I chose the Quiksilver Women maxi dress, the style of which matched the colours of the interior of the 1940s Fremont Theatre where the film was being shown. Because I am only 5’3”, I wore some very high heels and prayed I wouldn’t trip up when I had to go on stage for the Q&A session!

We were picked up in a vintage woody surf car, which really befitted the occasion and a very Irish green carpet greeted us at the door of the theatre, as did (thankfully) a queue of cinemagoers stretching down the street and around the corner! Peter Mel and Kalani Robb joined us as special guests with Peter acting as MC for the Q&A. He was a fantastic host and knew all the questions to ask Gabe about big wave surfing, being a big wave legend himself. We ate popcorn, we watched the film, we held our breaths at the end, the crowd erupted and I didn’t fall over as we took to the stage! It was a fantastic evening and one I hope to repeat with future films.

 

Last weekend, Newquay in Cornwall played host to the surf and music festival the Relentless Boardmasters and I was there to premiere the new Kelly Slater film CLOUD 9.  Rather unusually for the UK, sun split the clouds on the day of the screening and thousands of people flocked to the beach to enjoy the surfing, the entertainment and of course the beer tents!

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On the morning of the premiere, Gabe and I decided to double-check the technical aspects of the screening in advance of hundreds of people turning up at 5pm.  It was just as well we did, as the first problem we encountered was a distinct lack of a DVD player to play the film on!  Having tracked one down, we then faced the issue of the screen being too light for a daytime screening.  With the premiere hour fast approaching, it looked very likely that fans would either be watching a faint outline of Kelly or that I would have to read the script aloud and act the film out myself!

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However, despite the pressure of the clock ticking, with the technical team on side and with Gabe running between autograph signings and the venue, we all pulled the event together with minutes to spare.  I had a few minutes to change into my Quiksilver Women T-shirt dress (Ian) in a shimmering gold beige that was perfect for the night.  The crowd poured in, I gathered my breath and I jumped on the stage to present the film.  Action!  The projector whirred and there on the screen was the film I have been working on with Director Nicolas Dazet for the past year.  To the public, it was a seamless premiere.  It just goes to show one never knows the chaos going on behind the scenes.

 

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I was happy to hear a huge cheer as the final credits rolled and it was then time for Ben Howard to play us into the night.  His music was fantastic as ever, the crowd sang along and he brought a tear to my eye by dedicating the film’s title track CLOUD 9 to me.  After he had played, Ben, Gabe, Ben’s manager Owain and I could finally relax and enjoy the party. 

 

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Two days later, I dressed in a Quiksilver Women rock graphic T (East Village) with a denim mini to attend the final day of the music festival.  There really is an outfit for every occasion in the collection.  Joined by beautiful British actress, Emma Pierson, who has just joined the Quiksilver Women team we watched Ben, his drummer Fabian and cellist India, play to thousands from the giant stage in Watergate, prior to jetting off to tour America with Jason Mraz.  For me, it’s back to work on a new book and a new script.   

 

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CLOUD 9 continues to tour and will be shown on TV before long.  Stay tuned to quiksilver-europe.com for details.

 

 

This week I went back to my roots; rather muddy, grassy roots at the Grass Roots Music Festival on the island of Jersey. As with most British music festivals, the success of the event is inevitably weather-dependent and, of course, having enjoyed a week of sunshine, the Jersey festival-goers awoke to torrential rain and rivers of mud. However, we were determined to enjoy ourselves after travelling an entire day from France and, with Quiksilver musicians Ben Howard and Charlotte O’Connor on the Bill, along with one of my favourite singers, mellow chart-topper, Newton Faulkner, we were promised a fantastic day of entertainment.

So I wrapped up warm in my new Quiksilver Women Fall 09 sweater dress (These Days), leggings and quilted Wellie boots and my dog, Coco even donned her yellow raincoat (she is waiting for the day Quiksilver make her a wardrobe!) We trooped through the mud along with the two thousand other Wellie-booted festival goers.

I had stopped in Jersey en route to the premiere of my new Quiksilver-produced film KELLY SLATER – CLOUD 9 (written by me and directed by Nicolas Dazet).

The film premieres in Newquay, Cornwall at the Boardmasters on Thursday at 5pm. The first British audience will be treated to 52 minutes of spectacular (of course!) action footage of the world’s best surfer along with revealing interviews with Kelly, Tony Hawk, Mick Fanning, Dane Reynolds and others. While writing the film, I asked Ben Howard if he would write a title track, hoping he would not feel pressured to be suddenly inspired. Within a short space of time, Ben returned with a beautiful song that perfectly compliments the film. He is a talented singer, guitarist and songwriter and watching him on the big stage at Grass Roots, I could see how far he has come in the last year. He wowed the audience in his Quiksilver T-shirt, jeans and Wellies, as did sassy Charlotte. Delightfully muddy, we then all danced along to Newton Faulkner, Coco included. Not even torrential rain could dampen our spirits.

Next stop, Newquay for the CLOUD 9 premiere and a beach session with Ben Howard.

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CLOUD 9 premieres in the UK at the Fistral Beach Bar, NEWQUAY this THURSDAY 6^th AUGUST 5pm. For details go to www.quiksilver-europe.com

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Lauren Davies

 

Well I am back to Dublin having completed a whistlestop tour of Ireland to promote WAVERIDERS, which is released in cinemas today - Friday 3rd April - in cinemas in the UK and Ireland.  I am currently sitting in our distributor’s office as they keep an eye on the cinema figures to see how we are selling so it is a nervous moment.  Mind you, we have had fantastic reviews in every newspaper and magazine so the mood is buoyant.  Plus, it is starting to rain, which is good news as people go to the cinema!

 

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Gabe Davies surfs the biggest waves ever surfed in Ireland for the final scene of the movie and Kelly has a lovely section in the film.  He surfs what he calls a ‘cold paradise‘ for the first time, gets the best barrel of the day (obviously) and then shares the scene with my dog Coco (who incidentally receives a huge ‘aaah’ from every cinema crowd).  As the writer of the film, I joined Gabe and his tow partner Richie on the road for the tour alongside our Director Joel Conroy.  We started in Dublin where Gabe was on a primetime TV show while I joined X Factor judge Louis Walsh in the green room.  He thought Gabe should be in a boy band, which made us laugh.  He didn’t ask him to sing, thankfully!  We moved on to Cork, Sligo and Galway where we had sell out showings, with Q and A sessions after each one as well as TV, radio and shop signings everywhere we went.  When a gentleman in Sligo said, ‘I have to tell you that as a team you have created an epic, thank you,’ I had to hold back the tears!

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Today we were in the Quiksilver shop in Dublin where we signed posters for the film before its release tonight and we were joined by Irish Rugby player, Gordon Darcy who just won the grand slam but this week is planning to take time out to watch our film.  I hope he takes all his friends!  It’s been a hectic week jumping from one event to the next so I have been thankful for a gorgeous range of Quiksilver Women dresses and tops that have taken me from day to night and back to day!  The blue and white stripe dress (La Luz) was a particular favourite.

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Gabe and I will be attending the screening in Regents Street on April 17th at the Apollo so come and join us there.  

Check out the film website www.waveridersthefilm.com

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Right, cinema numbers are just coming in so I have to run…..! xx Lauren

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Check out the trailer !