Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "secrets"

One of my favourite authors, Darcia Helle, has released a new novel this week!! I'm very excited about this book because I've already read it. In fact, I was one of the first people to read it... Okay, I'm showing off now! Anyway, my point is, Darcia's new novel, Secrets is a page turner, or maybe in this age of e-books, it's a thumb-clicker... it's finger clickin' good! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself).









Just take a look at the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous:




I know you shouldn't really judge a book by its cover, but I think in the indie publishing world, you probably should, because I think if an author takes time to make sure that the cover of the book is outstanding, then more than likely, the content will also be outstanding. This is definitely the case with Secrets.

This is a book that really gets into the mind of the characters, and takes you on a suspenseful adventure. It has some dark content, and some distressing content, but it is told with sensitivity and skill. Darcia Helle is a seasoned writer having already written numerous other books, and she has a talent for writing suspense that I have rarely seen equalled by other authors.

My message to you: buy this book. You'll love it!

But wait... you could be lucky enough to win a copy. Darcia has offered to give away 2 e-book copies to readers of my blog. To enter, please comment below or simply 'like' this post. Lucky winners will be chosen on 16th September 2012.

Earlier this month, I interviewed Darcia about her latest release. Here's what she had to say:

Secrets, I understand, was the first novel you ever wrote and you recently found the manuscript at home. What was it like reading through a novel that you'd written so many years ago? Had you forgotten some parts of it? Did you remember how it ended? I find sometimes that if I read something I wrote a while ago, it's often hard to remember I wrote it.

I think I finished this book in early 1992. It had been sitting in a manuscript box since then; moved from one place to another, but never looked at. Reading through it the first time was a unique experience. While I remembered the basics, I'd long forgotten most of the intricacies of the story. I'd get to a twist or a new aspect of the plot and I'd be totally surprised. This was a gift, really, as we authors rarely get to experience our own work this way.


What kind of shape was the draft you found? I know, from my own experience that our writing evolves over time. Did it require a lot of editing? And did you notice any definite ways that your writing has changed over the years, for example, was there something you did then that you don't do anymore when you write?

Oh, editing! Is there ever a time when something we write doesn't require editing? I could pick up every one of my already published books and edit them to death!

All things considered, this manuscript wasn't in bad shape. Some parts required a lot of revisions, while other parts remain almost as they were originally.
I definitely noticed changes in my writing style. The biggest difference, I think, comes in my characters. Early on, I had more of a black and white sense of people and their behavior. At their core, people, and by reflection my characters, were either good or bad. There weren't a lot of gray shades.

Now that I'm older and wiser, I know this is rarely true. And I find those gray shades infinitely more interesting than the black and white. My writing these days is about finding that little bit of darkness in an otherwise good person. I like to pull on the loose threads and see what unravels.

Can you remember how long it took you to write the first draft of Secrets?

My best guess would be in the vicinity of six months. As I was writing this one, I had the idea for what became Enemies and Playmates, so I was often writing both books at the same time. I had two small children and a full-time job. I'd stay up until the wee hours of the morning writing, then try to make it through the day on three or four hours sleep. This proves that writing is not a choice for most of us. There's a hidden force that drives us to tell these stories. Or we're just crazy. :)








I know you did a lot of research into the psychology of secrets as I read a blog post you recently wrote on the subject. What, if anything, surprised you most from your research?

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the research matched up with Samantha's character. At the time I wrote this book, there wasn't a lot of research to be found on how keeping secrets effects us. There also was no such thing as Google back then! When I started to research the issue, I was a bit worried that Samantha's behavior would seem ridiculous against the science. That, thankfully, was not the case at all.


What's the biggest secret you've ever kept from anyone?

If I told you, it would no longer be a secret!

The biggest secret I ever kept is now actually public knowledge, so I can share the story. *Drum Roll* My secret is? My husband and I were married for about two months before we told anyone. I'd gone through a difficult divorce from my sons' father a few years before. The short version of the story is that Michael, my current husband, and I had been pen pals from around the time my ex and I first split up. Michael was in the Middle East during the first Gulf War. We met when he got out of the military and we've been together ever since. We didn't tell anyone because we wanted the ceremony to be private. If I'd told my parents they first would have tried to talk me out of it, then would have insisted on being present. My friends would have made a fuss and wanted a party. We didn't want any of that. We wanted it to be about just the two of us. We were married on July 4th, 2000, at the beautiful home of a local Justice of the Peace. We spent our wedding afternoon at World's End National Park with my younger son.

Can you remember what your inspiration or motivation was when you began writing Secrets? I know it was over 20 years ago, so you may have forgotten.

I don't remember any specific trigger that set the story off in my mind. I do know the broader backdrop of inspiration. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, repressed memories were making headlines all over the U.S. This was a particularly hot topic in the New England area where I lived. Sadly, all the hype led to a lot of false accusations and put quite a few innocent people in prison. But that fallout didn't come until years later. At the time this story was born, we were hearing a lot about woman who'd been abused as children and had repressed that memory into adulthood. Various psychological problems brought them into therapy, where psychologists discovered their repressed memories.

This isn't exactly how Samantha's story goes, but the roots are in these news stories.

Given that Secrets was set back in a time when most people didn't have mobiles and Internet, how hard was it for you to edit the story and avoid having a character pick up his or her mobile? I recently had to edit part of my upcoming novel, Haunted, because I'd inadvertently had a character chat to someone on his mobile back in 1991...

Actually, I didn't have a problem with this at all. Because I'd written the original story back then, all the pieces fit just the way they were. I don't want to give away details, but to bring modern technology into the story would have required massive editing. Therefore, it was easy for me to remain 'back in time'.

Are there any other hidden manuscripts in your house that we can expect to see published soon? (I hope so!)

I wish I had another one complete! I do have a novel that is about half done. I'd started writing it in the late '90s. Then I made a major move and had a lot of health complications to deal with. Life got in the way, and I wound up putting that one aside. I'm not sure why I never picked it back up. But it's on my list of things to do!


I love the cover for Secrets. Having read the novel, I really think it's perfect. How did you go about choosing the photo?

As you know, cover art is of huge importance and can be a complicated process. I started out with the idea of placing a chain around the center of the cover, with a padlock holding it together. The padlock would have the title written on it. I played with this idea and decided I hated it. Then my husband had the idea of making it look like a journal, with a lock, where Samantha kept her secrets. That idea didn't work out, either.

I spent many hours searching through photo sites, where authors can purchase the rights to use various photos. The problem with these sites is the content is endless. You need to narrow things down with search words. I'd tried the obvious, such as 'secrets', 'lies', 'abuse', etc. I looked at hundreds, perhaps thousands, of photos. But nothing was clicking.

Finally, I thought about Samantha's character. Who was she? What was she like? I came up with the thought that she wears a mask for the world, keeping her true self hidden. I typed 'mask' and 'woman' into the search box. Two dozen or so photos popped up. The moment I saw the one you now see on the cover, I knew it was what I wanted.

You have a book trailer for Secrets. Did you make that yourself?

I do, and I did! Like cover design, this is a major creative endeavor. You need the right photos to go with whatever your captions are. Then you need music that captures the feel of the book. I spent one entire afternoon listening to thirty-second music clips!

The captions I used for this trailer are from the back cover. I thought the blurb/description worked well for the trailer. The photos are all from Morguefile.com and the music is from FreePlayMusic.net.

You can see the trailer on YouTube

Or on the trailer page of my website


Have you read any outstanding novels recently?

Too many to list them all! I've read somewhere around 80 books so far this year, and probably half of those were outstanding.

A few of those novels are:

The Book of Sylvia by Michael Scott Miller
Senseless Confidential by Martin Bannon
Hide and Seek by Jenny Hilborne
Gone by Julie Elizabeth Powell

And, of course, your revised edition of Coincidences!

Thank you!! :)

Do you have any other novels or projects in the pipeline?

I'm working on book #3 in my Michael Sykora series. This one is long overdue. I nudged it aside several times because a different character with a different story took up residence in my head. Now Michael's tired of waiting and has his story all mapped out for me. I just need to listen and follow along.

Thank you, Darcia, for being a fabulous guest, as always!


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Remember to leave a comment below or 'like' this post if you want a chance to win a copy of Secrets!! Good luck!

My new story, "Masquerade", will be released on 24 June 2022 and is now available to pre-order on Kindle worldwide.



Masquerade is a tale of everyday deception.

We are all hiding secrets behind the masks we wear.



Pre-order links:

Amazon UK
Amazon US

My latest short story, "Masquerade" is available to download on Kindle for just $1/£1.

It's one of my longer short stories, at around 7500 words.

Masquerade is a tale of everyday deception.

We are all hiding secrets behind the masks we wear.



Get your copy:

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B2M162GC/r

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2M162GC/r

My latest short story, "The Man in the Photograph", is now available to pre-order on Kindle for just $1/£1. At almost 9,000 words, it's one of the longest short stories I've ever written.



Blurb:

Can a box of court documents help Evie piece together her past, or is it too late?

A tragic tale of regret, loss, love, and secrets.

Order your copy now:

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BKN57413/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKN57413/

(Available on Amazon worldwide).



"The Man in the Photograph" will be released on 23 November 2022.