C.L. Taylor's Blog, page 5

A behind the scenes peek into my research process for Her Last Holiday

One of the questions I’m frequently asked is how much research I do before I write my novels. My answer, normally, is ‘it depends’. Some books require huge amounts of research, others require little more than my imagination

Many of my books are set in places I know well (Bristol, Brighton, London) but, for Her Last Holiday, I travelled abroad to Gozo to research the setting for the story’s past thread – a wellness retreat that ends in tragedy.

I could have watched YouTube videos of Gozo and re...

The Island just got darker!

I’m thrilled to share the new cover for The Island, my young adult thriller – published on 21st January 2021.

I loved the first cover my publisher came up with: an island, the sea and a neon pink font for the title. My publisher loved it too but we all agreed that, while it said, ‘this is a CL Taylor book’ it didn’t say, ‘this is a young adult thriller’.

The art department set to work reinventing the cover to make it look more YA and this is the stunning new cover! It’s darker than the...

Popular plot tropes in psychological thrillers and suspense

So many books, so many psychological thriller plot tropes!

I’m currently part way through the line edits for my eighth psychological thriller (Her Last Holiday) and, naturally, I am thinking ‘What’s next?’

Some (possibly a lot) of authors get an idea for their next book part way through the first draft of the book they’re writing. Some are inundated with ideas.

I am NOT one of those writers.

I don’t have the headspace to come up with a new idea until after my book has been sent ...

Popular plot elements in psychological thrillers

So many books, so many psychological thriller plot elements!

I’m currently part way through the line edits for my eighth psychological thriller (Her Last Holiday) and, naturally, I am thinking ‘What’s next?’

Some (possibly a lot) of authors get an idea for their next book part way through the first draft of the book they’re writing. Some are inundated with ideas.

I am NOT one of those writers.

I don’t have the headspace to come up with a new idea until after my book has been sen...

Lockdown, writing and cotton wool brain

I wrote an article for The Bookseller about my experience of writing and promoting my books over lockdown. You can read it here:

https://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/covid-diaries-bestselling-author-1219450

Whilst my brain is less cotton wool like and my son is back at school I am still as busy as ever. The line edits for my eighth psychological thriller Her Last Holiday have arrived and the ARCs for my second young adult thriller The Island are due to arrive any day. We are also ge...

Should YOU fear The Island?

It’s been a long time coming but I’m pleased to be able to share my new young adult thriller, The Island which will be published on 21st January 2021.

I really loved writing this book. It’s packed with tension, fear and paranoia but I explore grief, guilt and mental health too, and the ending makes me cry each time I read it. You don’t have to be a young adult to read The Island, you just need to enjoy a good story.

Here’s the blurb:

Lost meets The Hunger Games in the thrilling new young adul...

The bookshops are shut and I have a book out…

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Well, theres a title I never thought Id write. If Im honest I do still feel a bit like Im living in a dream or Im in an episode of the Truman Show where the whole world has convinced me not to leave my house or terrible danger will befall me. But yeah, its true, horribly, scarily true and were all trying to adapt to a new way of living  whilst trying not to fixate on how long this will last or how bad itll get.

And today I have a book out. A book I spent the best part of a year writing and...

It took ten years…

This year marks ten years since my first book was published and it’s been five years since my first crime novel was published. When I was first looking for an agent back in 2007 Darley Anderson told me that it takes ten years to establish an author’s career (he represents Lee Child and Martina Cole so he knows his stuff).

At the time I remember thinking, ‘ten books? TEN!’ It felt like an unachievable number and I secretly hoped that he was wrong – that my first book would be a smash hit and I...

TV news, festivals (real and virtual) and Sleep for 99p

I’ve got a lot of news to share so thought it was time for a blog post. Since I last posted I’ve taken part in a crime festival, a library event and a virtual festival. I also have some exciting TV news and Sleep has been shortlisted for two awards…

First up, CrimeFest back in May. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve take part in Bristol’s very own crime festival but it’s always good fun and great to catch up with my fellow crime authors (there may have been karaoke…)

I took part in a...

A year of firsts…

[image error]First sighting of Sleep on the shelves.

This year marks ten years since my first book was published. Ten years! I can’t quite believe it. Sleep is my ninth published book which isn’t bad going considering I didn’t have a book published in 2010 (second book syndrome meant I had to rewrite Home for Christmas three times), 2012 or 2013 (out of contract).

Despite being a published author for an entire decade 2019 is turning out to be a year of firsts – first hardback, first UK book shop tour, f...