Behind the Closed Doors of a Thriller Writer - Guest Post Sadie Ryan

This week, I welcome online friend and thriller writer, Sadie Ryan, to my blog. She's the author of Behind Closed Doors and When He Finds You. I've been asking her about her novels and writing process. I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did.

You’ve written two thrillers. Have you ever been tempted to write in a different genre?

I’m now writing crime thrillers/police procedurals. Before I was published I used to write romance and rom/com. Then I had a break of five years with my writing and when I came back to it, I kind of lost my mojo for romance. After going through a divorce, moving house five times in five years, I guess I became a little cynical about romance.  I have wondered about going back to it now, but when I do have a go they end up too dark! LOL. What does that say about me! 

 

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the idea for your latest novel came to you?

The idea for When He Finds You came two me a couple of years ago, when Steve and I were out with friends for dinner and I overheard a conversation on the table behind me.

Can you describe it in one sentence?  

You never know how far you will fall until you're pushed.

 

Are you a plotter or a pantster and how long does it take you to write your thrillers?

I’m definitely not a plotter.  If I’m left alone and didn’t have to work, I could write them in six weeks. Once I get going it’s full on. Sadly, I have a day job so I write in the evenings and weekends, sometimes into the early hours when it’s all flowing. So they usually take me three months.

 

Could you describe your typical writing day?

When I get back from work after dinner and a little R&R on the sofa, I go to my office around 9.30 and start writing. That can be flowing or gridlocked. I find a little chocolate and a G&T often helps nudge it along.

 

I’m sure my readers would love to hear about your road to publication. Was it long and winding or did you take a short cut?

God no, not so much as winding but meandering and certainly long. Ten years or so. When I started writing it was all by post. When I think about it now it was laborious, printing out the right demands for submissions, going to the post office and handing over a small fortune only to have it thump back on the door mat weeks later with a NO. Email submissions are so much easier on us and the trees. Two years ago, Ruby fiction took me on. I must admit, I was losing the faith by then.

 

Do you ever struggle to find inspiration?

I do, yes. But I don’t like to force it. I know it will come. Sometimes my books start in one direction then take a very different road of which I’m powerless to change. So have to go back to the beginning and make the right amendments to make it all fit. That’s the beauty of writing on a computer. The ease with which one can flick back and forth.

 

What aspects of the writing process do you find easiest and hardest?

I really enjoy the editing part the best. And the endings. I find the beginning the hardest to get right. I can’t move on until I’m happy with the beginning.

 

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Walking. I love walking with my dog, Willow, although she’s not as keen as I am. She’s a little lazy. I enjoy gardening and find it relaxing tending my garden. Reading and listening to books is my other thing. I’ve always got an audio book on the go, in the car, when I’m cooking or cleaning and when I’m walking. Just plug my ear pods in and off I go. I just love books. I’ve loved them since I go into The Famous Five books at school.

 

What next for Sadie Ryan?

Book three with Ruby will be coming out in 2021 that’s a domestic noir, with a twist on strangers on a train by Patricia Highsmith.

Sadie Ryan is an author who loves animals and lives in leafy Cheshire in the North West of England. She has completed two psychological suspense/domestic noir novels. Her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors, was snapped up by publishers and published May 2019.   

Sadie's second novel WHEN HE FINDS YOU, came out in March 2020Book 3 will be out in 2021

You can buy Sadie's books here:

AMAZON      KOBO     NOOK     GOOGLE PLAY

Contact Sadie here:

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

The Perfect Romance - Guest Post Mandy Baggot

It's always lovely to welcome guests onto my blog who I've met in real life as well as on social media. This week it's author Mandy Baggot's turn to take the hot seat and she'll be talking about her writing process and her new novel, A Perfect Paris Christmas which is out today!

 

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY, MANDY!

A Perfect Paris Christmas has just been published. How hard is it to write a Christmas book when the sun is shining and the birds are singing?

It is so so hard! I find it much harder to write Christmas in the nice weather than I do to write summer books in the autumn/winter. My deadlines have moved around a little bit recently though so I have been able to write slightly more in line with the seasons!

Could you describe your novel in a sentence?

Can two broken hearts heal in Paris at Christmas time?

Have you always wanted to write in the romantic comedy genre?

I have always written some form of romance since I was a child. All my stories have been based around that first flash of a connection and how that grows and develops. Comedy is part of who I am and so that has naturally come into my romance writing. I always think life is a perfect mix of love, life and laughs and that’s what I want my stories to reflect.

Are you a plotter or a pantster and how long did it take you to write A Perfect Paris Christmas?

I am a total pantster. When I submit the premise of my book to my publisher it’s quite vague because I really don’t exactly know what’s going to happen yet. My characters really do take me on the journey and I think if I planned everything out in the finest detail I would be bored writing it. The getting to know the characters as I write is the bit that I enjoy the most.

It takes me about 3-4 months to write a book. It was a challenge writing A Perfect Paris Christmas in lockdown with children being home schooled and a husband also working from home…

Are any of your characters ever based on real people?

No. You can never truly base characters on real people. But you can take traits you notice or things that happen in real life and weave them into stories. Actually though, Bo-Bo in A Perfect Paris Christmas was based on a dog in my little Greek village…

Most of your novels are set abroad. How has that come about?

I get asked this a lot. I write two books a year at the moment. One is a summer book usually set in Greece and the other a Christmas book usually set in either London, New York or Paris. I feel really comfortable writing about Greece as I have a house there and spend as much time in Corfu as I can. I provide the foreign escape people are craving, particularly during 2020 when travel was very difficult or non-existent for most people. I like exploring abroad and readers have come to expect me to take them on a trip somewhere that either they’ve been to and love or somewhere they’d like to go one day. My love stories are almost as much about the locations as they are about the characters.

Did you always want to be a writer?

I’ve always written. I never thought I would make it a full-time job. It seemed to be an elite profession that ‘normal’ people would never be able to achieve. But now it is more accessible as a career than ever before. Starting out self-publishing definitely shaped my career in the best of ways. Success had to be achieved on my own – there was no editor, no proof-reader, just me - and I am really proud of how things have developed since those humble beginnings. Were those first books perfect? Of course not! But readers are still loving and enjoying them now. Growing on the job, thrusting my work out onto Amazon and trusting my instincts that the stories would be enjoyed has been the best thing for me. I truly appreciate every stage of publishing now.

Could you describe your typical writing day?

Every day starts with a school run and usually some exercise and then I get down to social media first. Real writing of words starts around 11am until 3pm with answering emails in between and doing the mum stuff of washing and housework too. The pick-up school run starts about 3.15pm and I don’t usually write again unless I am on a tight deadline or need to edit or answer more emails. I try and have the weekends off but that depends on deadlines or if I have a book promotion that needs shouting about. It’s a really full on job but I love it!

What is the best piece of advice would you give to an aspiring romantic fiction writer?

Always trust your own writing voice and never try to emulate anyone else. Seek inspiration be reading and reading some more but remember your own style and stick to it. Don’t be put off by negative feedback, take the positives from every criticism, because there will be positives there. Enjoy your writing, because if you’re not enjoying it then what’s the point?

What next for Mandy Baggot?

Well, I am deep into my next book (my 22^nd novel!) for summer 2021. I can’t tell you what it’s called yet, but it is set in Greece…

Mandy Baggot is an international bestselling and award-winning romance writer represented by Tanera Simons of The Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency.


Mandy is best-known for her laugh-out-loud romantic comedies featuring strong heroines, gorgeous heroes and always that happy-ever-after!

The winner of the Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK's Festival of Romance, her novel, One Wish in Manhattan, was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award in 2016. Mandy's books have so far been translated into German, Italian, Czech and Hungarian.

Mandy loves the Greek island of Corfu, wine, cheese, Netflix, country music and handbags. Also a singer, she has taken part in ITV1's Who Dares Sings and The X-Factor.


Mandy is a member of the Society of Authors and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband and two daughters.

Visit Mandy's website at www.mandybaggot.com or follow her on Twitter @mandybaggot, Instagram @mandybaggot and Facebook @mandybaggotauthor.

 

Buy A Perfect Paris Christmas:- https://amzn.to/2Ygmf9R

Confessions of a Debut Author - Guest Post Nikki Smith

I met today's guest, Nikki Smith, at a lunch for psychological thriller writers in London last year. We hit it off straight away and I was happy to hear that her debut thriller, 'ALL IN HER HEAD', would be coming out this year. That time has come and I'm delighted to welcome Nikki onto Wendy's Writing Now to answer a few questions.

Here are her answers.

Describe your latest novel in one sentence.

ALL IN HER HEAD is a timely psychological suspense novel that explores the darkest corners of a mother’s mind.

I’m sure my readers would love to hear about your road to publication. Was it long and winding or did you take a short cut?

I did an English degree & wrote a novel after leaving University, but it wasn’t very good & unsurprisingly wasn’t picked up by an agent. So, I gave up trying to write a book and went on to have a career in finance – it wasn’t really what I wanted to do, but it paid the bills. I still wrote, but just things for me. Then a couple of years ago, someone I was at school with contacted me on Facebook to ask if I’d ever done anything with my writing as she still remembered the stories I used to read out in class. It was a now or never moment, and I signed up for a Curtis Brown creative writing course, which I absolutely loved, and started writing All In Her Head. I subsequently won a competition that another author, Amanda Reynolds, was running and she became my mentor. After I’d worked on the first few chapters of my novel with her for a while, I sent it off to the amazing agent Sophie Lambert who had read my cover letter on the Curtis Brown course, and who I really, really hoped would like it. She agreed to represent me, and a few months later we submitted the manuscript to publishers where Orion offered me a two-book deal.

Are you a plotter or a pantster and how long does it take you to write your thrillers?

I’m a plotter. It might be down to my background in finance but I love a spreadsheet and plan my books on one – dividing it into chapters that I colour code so I can easily see what’s going on. For me, it’s a bit like working with post-it notes, but easier not to lose! I can write a first draft quite quickly – in around 2-3 months, but it takes at least a further 6 months to edit it.

Could you describe your typical writing day?

I’m more productive in the morning, so my ideal writing day would involve dropping my children at school and then writing until about 2-3pm. If I’m on a deadline I may then write more in the evening or at the weekends. I was working full-time when I wrote All In Her Head so I had to get up very early and work late. However, from Monday, I’ll be starting home schooling with my daughters, so I have no idea what my schedule is going to look like!

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

When I’m not writing I like to read, watch films and box sets, cook and travel. I love seeing new places and meeting new people. It is one of the things that I am going to miss most over the next few months.

When did you first realise you were going to be a writer?

I have always enjoyed making up stories since I was really young. Creative writing was by far my favourite lesson at school, and I loved reading anything I could get my hands on. So, from that point of view, I would say that from very young I knew I wanted to be a writer. But it was only when I got my agent, Sophie Lambert, that I realised I had a real chance of getting a book published, and when my editor, Harriet Bourton, bought my book I knew I was going to become an author.

What does your family think of your writing?

My parents were on holiday in Australia when I told them I had a book deal and I’m not sure they actually believed me! All my family have been so supportive of my writing – my two daughters are my biggest cheerleaders – I dedicated my novel to them as I couldn’t have written it without them and I am so grateful for all their encouragement.

How important is social media to an author?

I think it is becoming ever more so. For two reasons – firstly because I think we can all see that in the current situation, the power of social media comes into its own. My physical book launch event, and all other publicity events (as with everyone else who is published at the moment) have been cancelled. I’ve found that online people have been wonderful at offering support – I have joined in Facebook Live virtual book launch parties and will be attending online events and festivals. Secondly, even before this horrendous situation arose, I found the writing community to be so willing to share their advice and expertise. I have made friends online through Twitter and Instagram who I have gone on to meet in person, and have set up WhatsApp groups with other authors who are a wonderful source of daily support in what can be quite a lonely business.

What next for Nikki Smith?

I’m working on my second book which will be published in 2021 – I can’t tell you much about it, except that it’s a psychological suspense novel which involves families and secrets!

About Nikki

Nikki Smith studied English Literature at Birmingham University, before pursuing a career in finance. Following a ‘now or never’ moment, she applied for a Curtis Brown Creative course where she started writing this book. She lives near Guildford with her husband, two daughters and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. All In Her Head is her first novel.


You can buy ALL IN HER HEAD HERE

You can discover more about Nikki on social media

Twitter 

Instagram 

Website

Facebook 

Life as a Debut Author - Guest Post Emma Jackson

I love inviting author friends onto my blog. Today, the lovely Emma Jackson, a fellow member of the RNA, is going to talk about her life as a debut author.

Over to you, Emma.

Life as a Debut Author

Your dream has come true – now what?

When your goal is to become a published author, it’s likely to be a long, hard slog and that moment of signing the contract or getting ‘the call’ shines like a pot of gold at the end of your sludgy rainbow. You battle through the slush pile and a publisher finally, finally, wants your manuscript (and maybe a second or third). It’s amazing and all your dreams have come true…

But.

Where is the instruction manual?

If you have an agent, maybe this part isn’t so mind-boggling but these days more and more authors within commercial fiction don’t. I’ve heard it said that it’s easier to get published than to get an agent and we know how hard that is! So, if you don’t have an agent, you’re in new territory without someone dedicated to explaining everything to you and advising you accordingly on how to make the best start of your career. You probably expect there to be an editing stage or two but other than that, the reality of how your life is about to change will only become clear as time passes, and new challenges are revealed. I thought it might be helpful to lay out a few of the milestones I came across here:

Congratulations - now you are running a business!

Hold on, you might think, it’s all about the creativity for me. Well, I’m afraid I must burst that bubble. Of course, if you write, you do it because you love it. (Goodness knows you’d have to be majorly deluded to get into it for the money.) But, once you’ve committed to a contract with a publisher, you have obligations, deadlines, legal clauses to try to wrap your head around, tax to pay, and lots and lots of emails to deal with. Perhaps you imagined being an author under contract would mean you could finally find the time to drink tea and gaze out the window, waiting for inspiration because your talent has been validated and people would respect your creative needs? Hmm. Not so much. Instead, it’s more likely you will be hunched over your phone or laptop, agonising over how to word each email with your editor, whether it be about your account details for their financial department or organising the best time for your cover reveal on social media, which leads me nicely into…

Effective marketing or unicorns – which do you believe in more?

You have a hard-won deal to shout about and a cover and pre-order link to show off, so you are likely to take to social media and share it with everyone on the internet. Your publisher may or may not have a specific amount of marketing they want you to do – whether it means being present on as many social media platforms as you can stomach or simply making yourself available for a few days when your book launches. However, one thing is inescapable, unless you have signed a five-figure deal, the marketing will be left largely to you. Tread carefully. On the one hand, the internet and our smart technical gadgets make it a lot easier to market ourselves and our books. On the other hand, this means there is now a new, never-ending list of ‘to-do’s’ and the social media office never closes. If you’re not careful you can burn yourself out trying to promote your book. This may be a job but there should be a balance, because your career as an author has to fit alongside your normal life, just the same way your day job does (which you are likely to still have) and your responsibilities to family and friends and, of course, yourself still exist. Take a break, go for a walk, speak to people in the real world and put the phone down occasionally!  

Reviews – the Schrödinger’s cat best left in the box?

On a last note about keeping a healthy work life balance, I would just like to talk about the minefield of reviews. You want to know what people think of your book when it is finally out there in the public domain. After the creative expression of writing it, the thought of sharing it with readers was the point. Perhaps you imagined someone would read that really clever line you wrote in Chapter Sixteen and be moved to tears or laughter by it and how else will you find out unless you read reviews? But beware…where there are five starred reviews there will also, in all probability, be one-star reviews (particularly on the hellscape that is Goodreads). It’s a known phenomenon of our psychology that it takes five positive comments to repair the damage of one negative. Bad reviews can really knock you off you’re stride if you are a sensitive soul. And there is literally nothing you can do about them. Your book is out there and it’s scary because it’s going to get judged but you did your best so you may as well move on to the next story, or piece of cake, whatever makes you happy.

Finally, remind yourself at regular intervals that you achieved something amazing – it can be easy to forget as you get busier and busier. Be kind to yourself


Author Biography

Author of the Best Selling A MISTLETOE MIRACLE, published in 2019 by Orion Dash, Emma has been a devoted bookworm and secret-story-scribbler since she was 6 years old. When she’s not running around after her two daughters and trying to complete her current work-in-progress, Emma loves to read, bake, catch up on binge-watching TV programmes with her partner and plan lots of craft projects that will inevitably end up unfinished. Her next romantic comedy, SUMMER IN THE CITY, is due for release in June 2020.

Emma also writes historical and speculative romantic fiction as Emma S Jackson. THE DEVIL'S BRIDE was published by DarkStroke in February 2020.

You can find out news about Emma via her website www.esjackson.co.uk or on:
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram 

The Darker Side of Crime - Guest Post Lorraine Mace

I first 'met' this week's guest, Lorraine Mace, when I was lucky enough to win the Flash500 Novel Opening and Synopsis competition which she runs. That win helped me to secure my publishing deal with Bookouture and, since that day, Lorraine has been nothing but supportive of my work. Lorraine is a columnist for Writing Magazine and Writers' Forum and is head judge for Writers' Forum's monthly fiction competitions. She writes a series of crime novels featuring D.I. Stirling and I couldn't wait to ask her some questions.

Here are her answers.

You write crime. Have you always written in this genre?

No, my first completed novel was written for children in the 8-12 age range. I thought that was where I wanted to be as a writer, but I used to (still do) read a lot of crime and psychological thrillers and wondered if I could create something others would love to read: the D.I. Sterling series was born. The series is definitely on the darker end of the crime spectrum.

Which writers in your genre inspire you?

I enjoy a few American authors for the way they bring their characters to life on the page, such as Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane and John Lescroat. British favourites include Val McDermid, Sheila Bugler and Chris Curran.

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the idea for your latest novel came to you?

Rage and Retribution came about because I saw a programme covering how few rapes are reported, compared to rapes committed. I wondered what would happen if a vigilante type person had incontrovertible knowledge of rapes committed but never reported and that person decided to carry out a programme of retribution.

Are you a plotter or a pantster and how long does it take you to write your thrillers?

I think I must being a plotting panster! I always know the crime, the villain and how the novel will end. I try to plot each chapter, but all too often characters and subplots appear as I’m writing, which means I have to incorporate issues I hadn’t even considered when I started out.

I can get a first draft down in a few months, but then the real work starts – edit, rewrite, edit, rewrite, edit … and so on.

Could you describe your typical writing day?

I try to write between 9 and 11 each morning, but am not always able to stick to it. I am involved in so many different fields of the writing industry that sometimes deadlines for articles or critiques have to take precedence.

I’m sure my readers would love to hear about your road to publication. Was it long and winding or did you take a short cut?

When I moved to France in 1999, I needed something to do and foolishly believed getting short fiction accepted would be easy. After more rejections than I care to think about, I was lucky enough to hit the right note and was paid the grand sum of £300.

I used the money to fund a Writers Bureau course and discovered I had a knack for writing humour pieces. This led to being offered a column in Living France Magazine. I subsequently moved to Spain and wrote a similar humour column for Spanish Magazine. For the last ten years I’ve been the humour columnist for Writing Magazine.

Writing novels came much later. The children’s book, Vlad the Inhaler- Hero in the Making, was written in 2005 and my first crime novel was completed in 2012.

Do you ever struggle to find inspiration?

No! If anything, I struggle to turn off the inspiration gene. I have more ideas in my head (and languishing on my hard drive) than I will ever have time to write.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I live in a small village in Spain and enjoy trying out my appalling Spanish on the locals in tapas bars. My partner and I are both keen joggers and try to run at least five times a week. Apart from that, I spend as much time as I can with my family. I am doing my best to enjoy life, as who knows what is around the corner?

What suggestions do you have to help a writer write better?

Join a good writing group and be open to criticism. You don’t have to follow all the advice you are given, but you should take each piece seriously and ask yourself if there is any merit in what has been said.

What next for Lorraine Mace?

The fifth in the D.I. Sterling series has already been accepted by Headline Accent, so there will be editing and rewrites for that, I’m sure. I am currently writing number six. After that, I have the outline for a standalone psychological thriller.

Born and raised in South East London, Lorraine lived and worked in South Africa, on the Island of Gozo and in France before settling on the Costa del Sol in Spain. She lives with her partner in a traditional Spanish village inland from the coast and enjoys sampling the regional dishes and ever-changing tapas in the local bars. Her knowledge of Spanish is expanding. To stop her waistline from doing the same, she runs five times a week.

When not working on her D.I. Sterling series of crime novels, Lorraine is engaged in many writing-related activities. She is a columnist for both Writing Magazine and Writers' Forum and is head judge for Writers’ Forum monthly fiction competitions. A tutor for Writers Bureau, she also runs her own private critique and author mentoring service.

Find her at:

Website: www.lorrainemace.com

Blog: http://thewritersabcchecklist.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lomace

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorraine.mace.52

You can buy Lorraine's books here:

 https://amzn.to/33wkbLI

5 Tips for Writing a Psychological Thriller - Guest Post Jenny Quintana

Ever wondered what it would be like to write a psychological thriller? Today, as part of my 'Psychological Thriller Author' series, author Jenny Quintana gives us her five tips to ensure you do it right. Jenny's second thriller 'Our Dark Secret' was published in February by Mantle. Can't wait to read it!

Five Tips For Writing A Psychological Thriller

Characters

One of the most important things to consider when writing any novel is your characters, and it is most definitely true when writing a psychological thriller. This is because a lot of the suspense takes place inside the character’s head, so it is crucial to understand their emotions. It is also important that the reader cares about the characters. If they don’t engage with them they won’t be bothered about their plight and they won’t be interested in their story.

Pace

Knowing when to speed things up and slow things down is an important skill. There are a few rules that can help with this. For example, avoid giving the reader too much backstory right at the beginning of the novel as this can become boring. A line or two is sufficient. The rest can be drip fed through the story. Description is important, but don’t clog the action up with paragraphs and paragraphs of beautiful, flowery writing. A few lines and then the reader wants to know what is going on. Make sure you don’t repeat information either. Readers like to work things out for themselves or flick back through the book to check things.

Language and Style

Vary your style. Use short, punchy sentences when something speedy is happening and then longer sentences to step back from the action. Use different sentence constructions and a variety of verbs. Spend a long time editing, getting rid of superfluous words that slow things down. Do a search on words like very, pretty, such and so and get rid of them where possible. Watch out for repeated words – we all have our favourites.

Conflict

Put your characters into difficult situations. This doesn’t mean they have to be embroiled in fights or dangerous events all the time. Conflict can occur because of all kinds of situation, from getting lost in a strange place, to arguing with or misunderstanding another character, to a feeling of being watched or followed. Make sure your characters suffer. If the reader truly identifies with them (see above!) they will suffer and sympathise along with them. 

Foreshadowing

Some writers plan their novels meticulously. I’m not one of those people. I start with my characters and I get to know them before I consider what their story is. I usually know the beginning and the end. Then I fill in the gaps as I go. When I finish a draft, I go back over the book time and again, planting subtle clues. It’s important that when a reader finishes a book that they are able to recall these clues. If they want to reread and pinpoint these moments, then the writer has done their job!

Jenny Quintana is the author of the psychological mystery The Missing Girl which was chosen as a Waterstones thriller of the month in 2018. Her second novel Our Dark Secret was published in February 2020. She has taught in London, Seville and Athens and now lives in Berkshire with her husband, three children and two dogs.

You can buy Our Dark Secret here:

https://amzn.to/37tJIap

You can buy The Missing Girl here:

https://amzn.to/2LBniLU


Follow Jenny here: Twitter: @jennyquintana95

The Rise of the Audiobook - Guest Post Diane Jeffrey

I'm so lucky to have had such great guests on my blog recently. Today it's the turn of psychological thriller author, Diane Jeffrey. Diane lives in France but will be coming over to England for the 'Killer Women' festival in London next month so I'm hoping we'll be able to meet in real life. Both Diane and I have been lucky enough to have had our novels made into audiobooks, a format that is becoming increasingly popular, and I asked her to share with us her thoughts on the new kid on the block.

Over to you, Diane.

Listen Up!

The Rise of the Audiobook.

Audiobooks are increasingly popular and look set to continue to expand even as sales of physical books are dropping. Publishers are more and more creative and ambitious with their production of audiobooks. So, what makes a good audiobook and why are more and more people drawn to this format?

THE ADVANTAGES OF AUDIOBOOKS

Surely the first advantage of audiobooks is that we can listen while we're doing something else. With our ever-busier lifestyles, there just aren't enough hours in the day to read all the books on our to-be-read piles. But we can listen to books in the car on a commute, while we work out or do the housework. They make the journey go faster or the ironing less tedious and they keep us company.

Furthermore, for many of us, our working day involves sitting for hours in front of a computer screen. When we get home, listening can be more relaxing than reading, especially from a tablet or an electronic reader.

Secondly, while audiobooks might provide an alternative format for many readers, they also are attracting new audiences: children and adults with dyslexia, for example, or the visually impaired. According to Nielsen Book statistics, there has been a huge increase in downloads of audiobooks by males aged 25-45, who weren't big on buying books until now. Although many men in this age group aren't keen on reading books, they seem to enjoy listening to them being read.

Finally, studies have shown that listening to stories stimulates the parts of the brain that are associated with attention, memory, language and mood. Audiobooks are also an efficient way to learn a foreign language. I teach English at a secondary school in Lyon, France, and one of the set books this year is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. My pupils are reading and listening to the book at the same time and it helps them with both comprehension and pronunciation.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD AUDIOBOOK?

The first audiobooks I listened to were David Walliams's children's stories. My kids and I used to listen to them every day in the car on the way to and from swimming training – an hour's round trip. They're brilliantly narrated – by David Walliams himself – complete with sound effects. We all preferred that to music, which we could never agree on!

             

Then an author friend of mine gifted me her book in audio format. I started listening to it while I was walking the dog. The narrator had a voice that I found both grating and soporific. I couldn't get into the book at all, so instead I bought the ebook and devoured it.

These two experiences highlighted for me the importance of having a good voice actor. At the end of last year, my third psychological thriller, The Guilty Mother, was selected as one of the Daily Mirror's Top Ten audiobooks of 2019, largely thanks, I believe, to the narrators, Charlie Sanderson and Philip Stevens. Charlie read the chapters written from the perspective of Melissa, a woman convicted of killing one of her children, and Philip read the chapters written by Jon, a journalist investigating this possible miscarriage of justice. Both Charlie and Philip affected slight Bristolian accents as the story is set in Bristol and they both did a fantastic job.

It's no secret that voice is vital. People leave reviews specifically for audio versions of books and sometimes even select an audiobook because they have become fans of a particular narrator rather than the author. Celebrities are attracting listeners to the audiobooks they have narrated just as they attract viewers to films that they have starred in. I've listened to Becoming by Michelle Obama, which she recorded herself, and The Handmaid's Tale read by Elisabeth Moss. I would highly recommend anything that Stephen Fry has narrated.

It's a relatively new format and yet it echoes an old custom – stories were passed down orally from generation to generation, long before the written word. And in our own lifetimes, our parents used to read us bedtime stories. Perhaps that has something to do with why we like audiobooks. There have always been stories – throughout our lives and throughout history. In a strange way, new technology has come full circle and recreated this oral tradition.

Diane Jeffrey has published three psychological thrillers with HQ / HarperCollins all of which have been Kindle bestsellers in the UK, the USA, Australia and Canada. THE GUILTY MOTHER, Diane's third book, was published in 2019 and was a USA Today bestseller.

Diane grew up in North Devon, in the United Kingdom. She now lives in Lyon, France, with her husband and their three children, Labrador and cat. Diane is an English teacher. When she's not working or writing, she likes swimming, running and reading. She loves chocolate, beer and holidays.
Above all, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Author website: https://www.dianejeffrey.com
Readers can also follow Diane on Twitter @dianefjeffrey
or on Facebook.com/dianejeffreyauthor

Confessions of a Suspense Author - Guest Post Zoe Lea

Continuing my 'psychological thriller author' series, I'd like to welcome the lovely Zoe Lea to my blog. Zoe is an author who first came to my attention on Instagram due to the wonderful photographs she posts, all set in the beautiful Lake District where she lives and writes. Loving this part of the country myself, I couldn't wait to ask Zoe some questions.

You’ve written two psychological thrillers. Have you always written in this genre?

The first time I tried to write a book it was for young adults and it was bad, really bad. I wrote several of these that were unsuccessful until an agent said that the book I was writing would be better suited to an adult audience. I gave that a go and it kind of went from there.

Could you describe ‘If He Wakes’ in three words?

Twisty. Page-turning. Shocking.

You live in the beautiful Lake District where my own thriller is set. How important do you think setting is to a novel?

Hugely. And it was something that I overlooked for such a long time, but I think setting is almost like another character in the novel. It sets the tone and atmosphere of the book; it gives the reader indications as to how everything builds. Without a good setting, I think a novel can become two dimensional.

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the idea for your latest novel came to you?

Not so much with The Secretary, I’d had an idea batting about for a while about a woman who does little acts of revenge on people she feels have wronged her. I think it was actually whilst on a school run that I thought a primary school would make an excellent setting!

Are you a plotter or a pantster and how long does it take you to write your thrillers?

I used to be a pantster and I love that way of writing, but it doesn’t work for me in the long run. I keep forgetting this and start giddily writing each novel as soon as I get a spark of an idea, but I need to have a good plan. I need to think about the plot and so, I usually get half way through a novel and then have to start planning which is not ideal at all. Because of this, it takes me a stupidly long time to write a thriller, but I’m working on it!

Could you describe your typical writing day?

As well as being an author, I also run a business so I don’t really have a typical writing day. But usually, my writing will happen either early morning or late afternoon, or on my lunch-break depending how the book is going, so it can vary from day to day.

I’m sure my readers would love to hear about your road to publication. Was it long and winding or did you take a short cut?

Oh it was a long road! I’ve been writing for years, but mostly short stories. I didn’t have the confidence to write a book for the longest time. Then it was YA books and then, with my first stab at an adult book I went on a Curtis Brown online course. That was invaluable, not only because of the advice and support I got, but because it made my attitude shift towards myself as a writer. I began to think I could actually do it. I got an agent from the novel that I started on the course and after several rewrites, got my deal with Canelo and now I’m working with Piatkus

.

You post great pictures on Instagram. How important do you think social media is to an author?

Hmmm, that’s a tricky one. I think it can be a really useful tool to building up an audience and community who know you and this can be wonderful for when you have a new book out or a deal that you want to announce. However, it takes a lot of time and can suck the life out of you if you’re not careful. I do Instagram because I adore it, it’s a hobby for me, a way of connecting with my readers and sharing my life as well as getting a peak into the lives of others, but I have to be careful it doesn’t take time away from my writing. If you’re an author, the main job is writing books, not spending ages on social media, and I think it’s important to remember that at all times!

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love being outdoors. I try to get a hike in every weekend if I can with the family. I’m also starting to really enjoy cooking, which is a novelty for me as I’ve hated it in the past, but recently I’ve found a new love for it.

What does your family think of your writing?

They are immensely proud. My teenage son showing off my book to his mates was a joy to witness, and my husband, who is my writing rock, is delighted. He shares my every high and low and I absolutely would not be able to do it without his unwavering support.

But something quite pivotal happened when I got my proofs of The Secretary. I took a copy to my parents, who have been my biggest cheerleaders and supporters since I was a kid. Having a tangible book I could give them was a momentous thing in my head as I’d dreamed of handing a finished book to my parents for so long.

At the time I was going through a really rocky patch, I was full of self-doubt and as I handed the book to my dad, I said, ‘Finally, I did it. After all that time.’ And he hugged me and said, ‘love, we’re not suddenly proud just because of this book, we’ve always been proud of you.’
And it changed my perception of the whole process.

I think, when you’ve been chasing a dream for a long time, it can become an insurmountable goal that becomes more than it actually is. My dad’s comment that day taught me not to put so much pressure on the outcome, it reminded me that I write because I love it, and that’s so important to keep hold off as you go through the publishing process. So, my family are forever the wisest, best and most brilliant council I could ask for.

What next for Zoe Lea?

I’m just in the process of completing my next novel, The Influencer. It’s about a social media queen who gets involved in the case of a missing teenager. After that, more writing, more novels but I have no idea as yet as to what they’ll be!

Zoe Lea lives in the Lake District, UK with her husband, two children, dogs and peregrine falcons. As well as writing, she helps manage an animal tracking company used for raptors and other wildlife. She's previously worked as a teacher, photographer and in the television industry, but writing has always been her passion. She is currently working on her next novel.

Website:   https://zoelea.com/ 

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/zoeleawriter

Amazon author page:   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoe-Lea/e/B07BDGGRQK  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/zoeleawriter/