Ask the Author: C.J. Tudor
Answered Questions (20)
C.J. Tudor
Thank you! I am a huge Stephen King fan and constant reader. I haven't met him but he did read The Chalk Man and very graciously posted a lovely tweet about it. That was pretty much the best moment of my life! I think if I did ever meet him I would probably embarrass myself completely in a very uncool fangirl type way! x
C.J. Tudor
Thank you! Hmmm - well, I think it helps to have grown up being scared of absolutely everything!! As a child I would have terrible night terrors. I saw monsters and ghosts everywhere. And that has stayed with me as an adult. I think you have to be able to embrace all those fears and reflect them in your writing. If anyone ever says, 'What's the worst that can happen?' I can immediately tell them, in great detail. It's always looking for the worst case scenario, imagining an innocent situation turning very dark! x
C.J. Tudor
I talked about this in a podcast recently and my answer was that all people can do terrible things regardless of race, religion or sexuality and I try to reflect that in my books. I don't discriminate when I write my characters - they're all capable of good and bad. The church Lena and Demi attend is based upon one I knew in Nottingham so I also wanted to explore Jack's position as a white vicar and have her question herself whether she is being subconsciously racist. It's a fine line to tread as a white writer but I feel that if authors can't ever portray a BAME, trans, gay or disabled character as anything other than entirely 'good' then it would be terribly patronising. And if you've read any of my other books, you'll know that I have plenty of straight, white characters doing plenty of appalling things. In fact, I very rarely write *any* characters that are entirely good! I hope that answers your question. x
C.J. Tudor
Thank you! And I'm a Sagittarius. x
C.J. Tudor
Thanks for the question - and sorry for the delay in answering! Yes, it's a nod to Mr King. I'm a massive fan and constant reader. But I certainly see what you mean about his influence. x
C.J. Tudor
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C.J. Tudor
Yes! But only in the first print run of the hardback! Unfortunately, writers, copy-editors and proof readers are all human and sometimes mistakes slip through. Happy to hear you're enjoying it!
C.J. Tudor
Hi Jonny - and thank you! I'm not a planner. Definitely not. If I tried to plan everything out, I'd be bored before I started! I like to get everything down in a first 'vomit draft' and then I spend A LOT of time editing. Probably the most drastic change in The Chalk Man was that the eventual 'killer' was not the original killer! However, the ending and all the other major plot points remained pretty much the same from first draft!
C.J. Tudor
Thank you so much! No sequels planned at present. I have too many new ideas to write!! xx
C.J. Tudor
Again, sorry for the late reply! Thank you - so happy you enjoyed The Other People. The Burning Girls will be out Jan 2021! xx
C.J. Tudor
Sorry I missed this question. Bit late but - no, not at all. Stand alone books. Hope you enjoyed The Chalk Man if you read it! xx
C.J. Tudor
I was driving home one night, stuck in slow-moving traffic on the motorway. I'd been sat behind this same car for miles; a beaten-up old car with lots of faded stickers around the rear window. I started thinking, what would happen if a face appeared in that window? Perhaps someone in distress, being kidnapped? Then I thought, what if it was someone I knew? Then my mind went to the darkest place - what if it was my own little girl, being driven away in a strange car when she should be at home in bed? That was the starter.
C.J. Tudor
Haha! Thank you! x
C.J. Tudor
Yes. Book 3 - The Other People - is out now! x
C.J. Tudor
You're welcome! x
C.J. Tudor
Caroline Jane. Sorry for the late reply! x
C.J. Tudor
I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I went to school in a mining village in Notts in the 80s and years later, I used to walk dogs (I worked as a dog-walker) over one of the old, reclaimed pit sites. I always found something about the area very bleak and I would often think about what lay beneath the ground: the abandoned mines and tunnels. That was really the starting point! x
C.J. Tudor
Hiya - and thank you! My US publishers preferred The Hiding Place. I think they felt it would work better for their market. x
C.J. Tudor
Actually, I keep it all in my head! I'm not a planner at all. I tend to get everything down on the page and then go back and edit, edit, edit to make sure it all fits. Occasionally, I'll jot down the odd note but mostly I do it all on the fly! xx
C.J. Tudor
Hi Peter, thanks for the question! I am (obviously) a huge King fan. The Shining is my favourite King novel - it's incredibly atmospheric and the tension builds beautifully. After that, probably Pet Sematary because it is so dark and also because it was inspired by my favourite piece of short fiction, The Monkey's Paw. I haven't re-read the latter for several years, but I re-read The Shining almost every winter! x
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