My friend Louise Marley tagged me to take
part in this blog ramble. She writes romantic suspense, and I love her books.
You can read about her writing process on her own blog here.
So here are the questions I’m supposed to
answer:
What
am I working on?
The answer is always the same, whenever
you ask me! It’s always “the next book” and as I write a series, it’s always
the next Libby Sarjeant book. I don’t mind discussing it with close family and
my editor, but no-one else, and no-one sees it until I send it to Bob (aka Dear
Ed). I hate each book as I’m writing it, and by the end of each one think it’s
the worst one EVAH!
Which
brings me to – why do I write?
Gawd knows! I think it’s in the DNA. Like
most writers I know I started writing my own stories when I was a child and
just carried on. I slipped seamlessly into writing features for the trade press
when I had my children, and could do it from home. One of my poor babies was
dragged in her pushchair to such diverse locations as Simpsons in the Strand
(sports department!) and the Cambridge Science Park. Then, as a vaguely trained
actor, I began writing (and directing and performing in – try and keep me away)
pantomimes, and even a musical, based on old Music Hall songs. The pantomimes are
still being performed all over the
country, I’m happy to say, and pay for the annual hols. Then I fell over the
short story market and finally into novels, my first and last love. And I write
what I first read, starting at the age of nine – mystery novels.
How
does my writing process work?
Oh, lordy, lordy. Um. To tell the truth,
it’s very unromantic. These days, my publishers will ask me for a title for the
“next one”. This will be well before “this one” is finished. So between us
(publisher, editor, me and my eldest son – and occasionally the sales director)
we come up with a new “Murder...” Then I try and find something to fit, and
when I send “this one” to Dear Ed, I have to rush through a first chapter to go
at the end as a taster. Eldest son has lots of ideas for settings and
situations, and for some reason – because he isn’t actually the demographic –
understands the books and the concept. So I’ll take one of his ideas and run –
well, waddle – with it. As I write I’ll jot things down in a notebook which
sits beside the computer, or in a Word document I keep open alongside the book
itself. There is no plan, and I frequently tie myself up in knots, but my
argument is: you can’t plan life, can you? It always throws up the unexpected.
I’m quite likely to change the murderer at the last minute, so don’t believe
anyone who says they spotted it right from the beginning. If they did, they’d
better start writing the books – they know more about it than I do.
How
do my stories differ from others in their genre?
They don’t really. Except that mine are
proper novel length, and these days a lot of so called “Cosy” crime stories are
barely novellas. I still say I write Murder Mysteries, but “Cosy” has become
the accepted designation, which I dislike as much as my friends who write
romantic comedy disliked “Chick-Lit”. My books follow the Golden Age Detective
Authors and their amateur detectives, although it is so much more difficult
these days to be an amateur! Luckily, most of my readers are willing to suspend
their disbelief.
