Journalist and TV producer Suzan has woven her love for music and The Beatles into a hilarious story that also draws on her own dating disasters – before she met her musician husband – former Slade frontman Noddy Holder!
By Ian Woolley
Author Suzan Holder
Speaking with Suzan Holder, it’s clear that this independently strong woman has carved her own way in a male-dominated world of music. Long before she ever met the Slade frontman of one of Glam rock’s most successful bands, her life experience was worth being put into print. Signing a two-book publishing deal with One More Chapter, Harper Collins, her debut novel is set in (where else) – Liverpool.
Her latest novel is set in Liverpool and features a Beatles-obsessed fifty-something mother of three who gets into trouble when she goes looking for love on a dating website. Can ‘Beatles Bev’ ever find a man to love as much as she loves Paul McCartney? It’s not looking good when her antics become a talking point on a daytime TV talk show!
I asked Suzan what is Shake It Up Beverley all about.
“Unusually in the ‘rom-com’ world, it has quite a strong musical thread running through it. A strong Beatles backbeat because it’s about a woman called Beverley who is in her 50s and tries internet dating with some surprising results. Being such a big Beatles fan that she is also a Beatles memorabilia collector and she tries to find a man to love as much as she’s always loved, Paul McCartney”, says Suzan.
And how much does that mirror the author’s own life?
Noddy & Suzan with Shake It Up Beverley
“Not at all” (Suzan laughs). “I am married to a rock star and I am married to Noddy Holder but I didn’t find him on the internet. He was not on any internet dating websites and as fas I know he’s not on them now. Perhaps I’d better check that!” (more laughter). We’ve been together now for 33 years and internet dating wasn’t a thing when we got together. As a writer, you always draw on your own experiences and the only bit that mirrors the part of my life I suppose is my love of music.”
“Also what I’ve observed over the years of being with ‘Nod’ and involved in the music industry is how important music is to people and how important being a fan is. There’s a whole world out there of fans that link with each other and understand each other. It might not be about the Beatles or whatever but there are these communities that come up and a sense of belonging and I think I’ve tapped into that as well. Also, it’s about a woman who later in life shakes that up, and as a woman in my life in her 50s definitely shook that up when I started writing books and got a deal with Harper Collins and became an established author. So there’s all sort of crossovers like that.”
Was she a Beatles fan when she was younger I asked her.
“Yes, I was but I have to say my icon of choice was always Elvis Presley. I was always a huge Elvis fan and when we talk later about my second book that draws very heavily on Elvis. Just rewatching the Get Back documentary that came out just last year before my first book came out, you just fall in love all over again. They’ll never be surpassed and I don’t trust people who say they don’t like the Beatles. I find that an odd statement to make because there is something there for everybody. You might not like everything but you’ll always like something in the body of work they’ve done and that will stand the test of time I believe” says Suzan.
Suzan adapted the book from her original stage play which was scheduled for a UK theatre tour pre-pandemic.
Suzan says finally “I love that my books celebrate music and have been inspired by my own life experience of living in a slightly crazy, rock ‘n’ roll, rom-com world…some of the weirdest and funniest stories in the books really have happened to me!”
Originally from the West Midlands, Suzan now lives with Noddy in Cheshire, and they’ve been together for 32 years.
Read the full interview in our May issue of the Beat. Suzan talks about life with Noddy and how they first met. Order your copy today via our website.
Shake it Up, Beverley (published by One More Chapter, HarperCollins) is available now from all good book stores.