Today, I am delighted to welcome back to my blog, the talented author, Lynda Stacey. Her second novel, Tell Me No Secrets, was published by Choc Lit at the beginning of April and I wanted to find out a little more about her writing life and her new thriller.
So let's begin.
You’ve met
me in the elevator. Can you convince me to buy Tell Me No Secrets before we
reach the ground floor?
Tell Me No Secrets is a story of lies and deceit. Nothing is as it seems and you soon
realise that the people closest to you are not always those you can trust. Nothing is as it seems, and in Kate Duggan’s
case, the man she loves is the person she really should fear the most.
Tell Me No
Secrets is your second novel. Did you find it easier or harder to write than
your first?
Ha..ha…
that’s a great question. But Tell Me No Secrets was actually the first novel I
wrote. It had had a working title of Broken Jigsaw and in 2013 had been
shortlisted for the Festival of Romance New Talent Award. It didn’t win, but
being shortlisted gave me the confidence to keep going, to do all the
re-writes, and the plot changes.
How long
did it take you to write?
All in
all, it took around two years. As I said earlier, this was the first thing I’d
ever written and if I’m perfectly honest it started out as a very different
book, the original book was about child smuggling and Kate Duggan was the
detective looking into it. However, it quickly became apparent that Kate Duggan
as a character stood out and that it should be her story…. and so the re-writes
began and the new plot emerged.
When you
write a character do you have an image of a real-life person in your head?
Oh
absolutely. I could literally go and knock on their doors and fully expect them
to answer.
What was
the hardest scene to write?
The most
difficult scene for me was where Rob attacked her. As a young 20-year-old, I’d
personally suffered from domestic abuse, my first husband put me in hospital on
more than one occasion and while writing the scene, I distinctly remember
holding my breath and having to force myself to take on air.
Can you
describe a typical writing day?
Sporadic…
this is the only word that fits. I work full time as a Sales Director for a
stationery and office supplies company. This means that my hours are long and
can be stressful. It therefore depends on my frame of mind in the evenings as
to whether I write or not. I tend to get the laptop on my knee and tap away
while the hubby is watching television, much to his delight because that means
he can slip the footy on while I’m not concentrating.
How much
research did you have to do for the novel?
I spent
time with a private investigator and with ex-drugs squad police officer and
author, Michael Fowler. He gave me a lot of tips on how the vans would be used,
what would be in them and what drugs would be bought and sold in this way. I
also spent some time in Bedale, Whitby and at Richmond Castle, all of these
places are scenes within the book.
Of course
at each of these locations I took my research seriously and had ‘fish and
chips’ and a boat ride in Whitby, ‘Cream tea’ in Bedale and I tried the local
‘mead’ at Richmond castle.
All in the
name of research… of course!!
Are you a
planner or a pantster?
Most
definitely a pantster, my characters develop naturally, which means that I
haven’t got a clue what they might do next.
I know where I want my novel to begin, where it should end and who
should fall in love with who, but other than that, I just work my way through
it, scene by scene.
I don’t
plan anything, unless it’s a holiday of course and then I have a spread sheet
for everything.
What’s next
for Lynda Stacey?
Thank you so much for visiting again, Lynda and I wish you lots of success with Tell Me No Secrets.
Lynda grew up
in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire,
Her own
chaotic life story, along with varied career choices helps Lynda to create
stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with
(as in all romances) very happy endings.
Lynda joined
the Romantic Novelist Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers
Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secrets won the Choc Lit
& Whole Story Audiobooks Search for a Star competition.
She lives in
a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her husband, Haydn, to whom she’s
been happily married for over 20 years.
Here's how you can get in touch with Lynda:
@Lyndastacey
Lovely interview, ladies. It's interesting how a book can develop and change over time, isn't it - as Lynda has shown in her comments about how Broken Jigsaw changed and grew into Tell Me No Secrets. People generally assume that your first published novel is the first book you have written, but I wonder how often this is actually the case.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if most debuts were not the first books written by the author.
DeleteI love the way we get to know our characters as we write them - even if that does mean learning they won't do exactly what we'd originally planned to have them do.
ReplyDeleteMy own characters end up very wilful, Patsy.
DeleteA lovely interview, Wendy. My novel also started out very different due to the development of my main character. Writing is such a fascinating art. Aren't we lucky? :)
ReplyDeleteWe certainly are, Nicola. Thanks for popping over.
DeleteLynda, I've very impressed that you work full-time in a stressful job and still manage to write novels. Tell me your secret...!
ReplyDelete