C.L. Taylor's Blog, page 10
March 24, 2015
The Lie: Research into brainwashing and mind control
When I was in my twenties I went on a meditation retreat with a friend of mine. We were stressed and, whilst not particularly spiritual, we thought that a long weekend away from the hustle and bustle of Brighton life might help clear our minds and chill us out. The reality was an experience that was exhausting, intense and somewhat bewildering.
We were woken at 5am every day and marched off to the meditation building. Breakfast, eaten in silence and with meagre portions, was next. There were...
March 19, 2015
My top ten sociopaths in film and literature
It’s no co-incidence that some of my favourite characters in fiction and film are sociopaths. Whether you call them psychopaths or sociopaths (and the debate continues about whether there’s a difference) the fact is they make for hugely memorable characters. There’s something about sociopaths that intrigues and captivates the reader. They’re charming yet cruel, grandiose, callous, fearless and manipulative. They’re fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Here are my top ten sociopaths in...
March 18, 2015
The Lie: Research into cult leaders and psychopaths
The Anna Purna range, Nepal. Photo published under Flickr’s Creative Commons licence.
When I began plotting THE LIE my plan was to put four female friends into a setting that would cause the cracks in their relationships to deepen, and force the women to turn against each other. I considered several different options, including a cottage in rural Wales but it didn’t take long for me to realise that:
a) the setting had to be really remote – no internet, no mobile phones, no access to public tr...
March 9, 2015
The Lie: Research into toxic friendships between women…
The Lie by CL Taylor. She trusted her friends with her life…
In my previous blog post I explained that THE LIE, my new psychological thriller, was inspired by my fascination with the mechanics of female friendships, particularly female friendships that aren’t as stable as they appear – friendships where there’s underlying resentment, competitiveness and resentment that no one will confront for fear of rocking the boat. I wanted to put four friends in a dangerous crucible-like situation and see...
March 2, 2015
The Lie: what inspired the book (CL Taylor video) and a very creepy mailer campaign…
Here’s a short video about what inspired me to write my second psychological thriller THE LIE. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be blogging about some of the research I did before writing the novel, including: toxic friendships, cult leaders and psychopaths, mind control and brianwashing and what makes women kill….
The mailers for The Lie were sent out last week. Last year’s campaign for The Accident made a fantastic splash on Twitter and we were hoping that this year’s mailer would be simil...
February 23, 2015
The Lie: the lead up to publication (CL Taylor reading the 1st chapter)
It’s exactly two months today until THE LIE, my second psychological thriller comes out and it’s all getting a bit exciting. The paperback is going to press this week (which means my author copies will be here soon, hooray!) and the marketing and PR side of things are about to kick off (including review copies to bloggers who I know have been waiting very patiently. Sorry bloggers!).
Earlier this year I sent some proofs of THE LIE to a dozen or so authors in the hope they’d read it and give me...
January 21, 2015
Writing Process
I’ve been tagged by Clare Mackintosh, ex police officer and fellow psychological thriller author (‘I Let You Go’ is out now and it’s a fabulous read) to complete this writing process meme so here we go…
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?
I’ve just finished reading aloud the proofs of my second psychological thriller THE LIE to check for typos, clunky sentences and repetition, and have made my final, final tweaks to the prose. Now I need to turn my attention to some marketing/PR bits to support publicatio...
December 18, 2014
What a month!
December 2014 has been an extraordinary month.
Not only did I finish the copy-edits for my second psychological thriller THE LIE (not that extraordinary in itself but definitely a reason to be cheerful) and receive the proofs (which I adore)…
…but Home for Christmas, the romantic comedy I wrote back in 2010, was made into a film and screened in Brighton, London, Swansea, Bristol and Liverpool (you can read about it here). I was part of several Q&A sessions with the cast, and introduced the fil...
November 20, 2014
All change (new title for Last Girl Standing)
It seems I was little premature announcing the title and cover of my second psychological thriller – it’s been changed!
Last Girl Standing (Keep your enemies close…)
has become
The Lie (She trusted her friends with her life…)
The Lie – the second psychological thriller by CL Taylor
I really liked the title ‘Last Girl Standing’ but I think the new title is even better. It’s arresting, it’s intriguing and it reflects the fact that, in this book, you have no idea who to trust – everyone’s lying about...
October 29, 2014
Last Girl Standing cover reveal!
I’ve been keeping this to myself for ages but now I can finally reveal the cover of my next novel. I love it! It sits perfectly with the cover design of The Accident, don’t you think?
Last Girl Standing
Keep your enemies close…
Emma, Daisy, Leanne and Al have been best friends since the first day of university. They’ve been there for each other through thick and thin and now they’re about to go away on the trip of a lifetime together.
When the group returns home, only two of them are left alive....
