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 buy ALL IN HER HEAD HERE
You can discover more about Nikki on social media