Lucy V. Hay's Blog, page 40

5 Questions for Paula Daly (THE MISTAKE I MADE)

This Q&A originally appeared on our Crime, Ink Facebook page.

1) What drew you to this particular genre and if you were forced to write in another genre what would it be, and what genre would you least like to write in?

When people ask Stephen King why he writes horror, he says, “What makes you think I have a choice?” I agree with him. I think the genre chooses you. I started writing and this is what came out (psycho thriller).

That said, I do find myself leaning towards tragicomedy more these days and I would love to write that. I’d least like to write – Fantasy. It just doesn’t do it for me. I’m in awe of screenwriters who shift genre with every film as it isn’t something that novelists seem able to do. I watched an interview with Nick Hornby recently and he said that’s why he only adapts other people’s work for screenplay as he gets sick of his own work being samey.

2) What’s your favourite way to hide clues in plain sight?

Goodness, that’s a tricky question. I don’t know how I do this. I think I try to divert the reader by placing the emphasis of the scene on one or more other things at the same time and slipping in the clue as a by-the-way. I don’t know if I’m successful. Also, I find revealing a clue in a funny way is useful as again, the reader is unsuspecting.

3) Do you feel any pressure to include ‘zeitgeist’ issues in your work?

No pressure at all. Zeitgeisty issues creep into my work because I get bothered by stuff. Not necessarily the same stuff as everyone else. For instance my next novel is about a pushy, tiger mother. This came about because my kids were watching that dreadful programme, “child genius”. They weren’t, as I expected, championing particular kids, but instead talking about which parents they hated the most. My daughter looked at me and said, “Thanks for being so normal.” That’s when I realised I had my next book.

4) What’s your writing process and do you have any other methods or tips to share with us?

I have SO many tips. I’ve read just about every book on writing and screenwriting there is to read and gained at least one piece of useful information from each of them. I start the process of writing a novel with the theme. What’s bothering me? What’s interesting me at the moment? And then I try to come up with a catchy premise from there.

Then I spend 2/3 months thinking and plotting. I try to imagine every bad thing that could happen to the main character arising from the premise and pick the stuff that I think will make the best story.

Then I write a brief outline, before writing around 800 hundred words a day until it’s done. One good tip for writer’s block: think of 3 things that MUST go into the next scene to move the story along and go from there.

5) If you were a killer, what would be your choice of murder weapon?

Anything that could look like self defense. Frying pan, large pair of scissors… I carry a small screwdriver with me when I’m walking the dog (you never know), so I’d probably end up using that. I can’t imagine I’d ever plan a murder beforehand, but never say never.

This Q&A originally appeared on our Crime, Ink Facebook page.

So, #Twisted50 is OUT NOW!

So, TWISTED50 is published!

‘Twisted’ is a collection of 50 tales of wickedness, evil and the paranormal … A deliciously dark slice of contemporary horror literature. You can buy it, HERE and shelve it on Goodreads, HERE.

To celebrate, you can now view the full-length red band trailer and meet the 50 disturbed minds (of which I am one!!) that will haunt your nightmares!

I’m delighted my story, The Retribution of Elsie Buckle, was picked for this anthology. When I uploaded it to www.create50.com, it was only 500 words long and had been a short I’d been carrying around for years. It was just an experiment, to see if anyone liked it, tbh.

I thought it was finished! But no – over another three drafts on the Create50 website and with the brilliant help and feedback of the community on there, it grew to almost quadruple its original size … It took even ME to places I never knew it would go, including a whole new character, plus a new title, location and ENDING! Wow!

Check out the full-length trailer and get a flavour of the book:

Amazingly, this has happened ALREADY:

Not sure who that Stephen King guy is at number 1!

CRIMINALLY GOOD: Interview With Author James Carol

1) So, who are you & what have you written?

 My name is James Carol, and I’m the creator of the Jefferson Winter novels. Winter is a former FBI profiler who now spends his days travelling the world hunting serial killers. The twist here is that his father was a serial killer, something that gives him a unique perspective when it comes to his work. Three full-length novels have already been published: BROKEN DOLLS, WATCH ME and PREY. The good news is that because each one is basically a standalone, you don’t need to read them in order. In addition, there is a series of novellas covering Winter’s FBI career.  OPEN YOUR EYES, the third instalment, came out at the start of October.

I also write standalone thrillers under the name J.S. Carol. THE KILLING GAME, the first of these, kicks off with a bomber bursting into an exclusive Hollywood restaurant and taking everyone hostage. Over the next three and a half hours the hostages are forced into a nightmare situation where the only thing that matters is staying alive. The initial reviews have been absolutely amazing, and I can’t wait for readers to get their hands on this one.

If you want to know more about my books, check out my website www.james-carol.com.

2) Why do you write crime fiction?

I would have loved to have been a horror writer. Unfortunately, unless you’re Stephen King, it’s difficult to pull that one off these days. As far as I’m concerned writing psychological thrillers is the next best thing. You have your monsters, and you have your hero working to ward off the forces of darkness. The difference is that you need to ground the whole thing in the real world, which actually works to my advantage since it makes for a much scarier story. I guess when you get down to it, I’m just looking for new and imaginative ways to terrorise my readers. 

3) What informs your crime writing?  

All my books start with a ‘what if…?’. The fun part for me is chasing that down to its ultimate conclusion. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle. In that respect I’m similar to Winter. Basically, he treats his cases like puzzles, chasing the clues until he hits the solution. I’m also fascinated by the psychology behind serial murders. What makes people do these horrendous acts? Again, that’s something I have in common with Winter.

4) What’s your usual writing routine?

I start at about eight and edit my previous day’s work while I’m having breakfast and helping to get the kids ready for school. Between nine and one is when I get the actual writing done. I’m aiming for 1,500 words, but most days I hit 2,000. After lunch, I break free from the computer and go do life stuff. That said, I’m still thinking about the book; working through plot problems, that sort of thing. For some reason, most of the lightning bolt moments happen at two in the morning, which really plays havoc with my sleep!

5) Which crime book do you wish YOU’D written, and why?

That’s got to be Silence Of The Lambs. Thomas Harris writes so beautifully – I only wish that he’d write more. With Silence Of The Lambs everything  just came together. It’s a fantastic story, and in Hannibal Lecter you have one of the most incredible characters ever created. Doing something new in crime is tough, but not only did he do that, with this book he single-handedly defined a new genre. Every psychological thriller written since owes a huge debt of gratitude to Thomas Harris.

BEST OF 3: Alan Devey, Writer

Many thanks to Alan Devey who’s been in touch with his ‘Best of 3’ today … I haven’t read ANY of these – or even heard of them (I know, so many books, so little time!!!) – so will be looking out for them, now. Thanks Alan! Want to send in your own ‘Best of 3’ crime fiction recommendations? CLICK HERE.

1) Black Money by Ross MacDonald

WHY I LIKE IT: For my money, the greatest writer in the crime genre, Ross MacDonald’s California-set Lew Archer mysteries are perfectly plotted, vividly written and full of surprises. Black Money is a twisty, enthralling exploration of secrets and revelations that features a host of memorably-drawn characters on its way to a satisfying conclusion.

 2) The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow

WHY I LIKE IT: Winslow’s work can be hit-and-miss, but in this fast-paced crime thriller he creates the perfect blend of suspense and action. Antihero Frankie, a retired hitman turned surf bum, is exactly the kind of sympathetic yet flawed figure we end up rooting for as he tries and fails to put a violent past behind him.

3) The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

WHY I LIKE IT: Washington DC writer Pelecanos shows why he was recruited to script greatest-TV-series-ever-made The Wire with this alternately bleak and warm (but always gripping) masterpiece. The Night Gardener is a masterly police procedural-slash-serial killer yarn set in 1985 and twenty years later, a time when past crimes return to blight a divided city and offer redemption for a pair of troubled homicide officers.

BIO: Alan Devey is a writer of fiction, comedy & scripts. Keeping it diverse. Check out his website HERE and follow him on Twitter as @alandevey.

12 Questions For Ruth Dugdall (HUMBER BOY B)

This Q&A originally took place on our Crime, Ink Facebook page.

1) Is Cate based on anyone? She’s such a GREAT character.

As you know, Cate is a petite (short!) probation officer with red hair…so far, so autobiographical. And of course I was able to use my working knowledge, and my fears, and put them in Cate’s head. When I wrote Nowhere Girl she became my voice; all of my fears about living in a foreign land became her fears … so I do feel close to her.

2) Who is your own favourite author and what is your favourite series to follow?

My favourite crime author is Gillian Glynn. Her best book is Sharp Objects. I don’t really follow a series of crime books … though I like Sophie Hannah’s books, and they feature the same characters.I do tend to prefer stand-alones. I’m a big fan of Alex Marwood, and I love all of her novels.

3) You went the self publishing route to start with, but was your Cate Austin series rejected many times before it was taken on by Legend Press?

My first Cate book is The Woman Before Me, which won the Debut Dagger in 2005. I was signed by an agent and courted by publishers…so I gave up the day job and the book was submitted. Disaster! What a crazy idea, to think it would be that easy. Of course, it was rejected by everyone. So I made changes and the same thing happened. It wasn’t until 2009 that I won the Luke Bitmead Bursary, so my book was published, by the wonderful Legend Press in 2010. That’s 5 years of rejections for a book that had won a prestigious award. And it hasn’t got any easier over the years. It’s a tough game, as everyone (wiser than me) knows. So I shouldn’t have given up the day job.

4) How much did real-life cases affect your writing of Humber Boy B and how much research did you do? 

I always knew I’d write about children who had killed. I worked in a prison for such kids for two years, back in 2000-2002. So it took me many years to actually finish the book, though the idea was bubbling away. I think I needed to be in the right place, and any sooner would have been wrong for me.

5) Have you ever thought a book should be one way for it to have written itself in a completely different direction?

All the time, but this is the sheer joy of novel writing. That moment when it takes you somewhere unexpected. I don’t plan; it would kill something for me.

6) Have you ever listened to any of your audio books and how did you feel hearing your words narrated back to you?

A dangerous question! Because the same actress reads all of my books, and she reads them beautifully. But I read my work aloud a lot (when I give talks) so it is very hard to hear them read a different way. I can’t listen to them – sorry, Penny. It’s nothing personal.

7) Do you start with the ending first and then work back from there?

Never! I start from the beginning and follow where the characters and plot take me. The ending is as much a surprise to me as to anyone else.

8) When you write do you have the finished book in mind or does it grow of itself once pen encounters paper (or finger hits key)?

Yes, it grows. It always comes, and when it does I have a real physical reaction, like I’m hanging onto something…my spine tingles and I know it’s right. I live for those magic moments, which contrast to the daily edits and writing – and when I re-read my books I can tell when they happened.

9) Who are your favourite fictional criminals?

I’m rather fond of Dexter! I like my criminals smart; I also like the murderous gang in Donna Tartt’s Secret History. And the paedophile in Lolita is another great criminal character, Humbert Humbert.

10) How would you expect Humber Boy B to change if it were brought to the screen and if a writer other than yourself were to adapt it and make changes, how would you react to that?

I would be delighted to see it on TV and I would respect the screenwriters changes. It’s a different skill to novel writing, one I don’t have, and I believe in respecting editorial changes. I’m the same with changes to my novels – I always listen and try to improve. I’m not precious.

11) Is there a crime writer in particular, or a book or character that made you want to be a crime writer yourself?

I think reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier was the first time it clicked for me that crime writing included books like that – fine literature. This was important for me, because I’d studied English Lit at Warwick and the course was a bit stuffy and po-faced about what was `good` literature. I had to re-learn my own definition.

12) What if (in some crazy world) you were banned from writing the crime genre. Would you continue writing and, if so, what other genre/s do you think you would write?

Well, on a serious note for a mo, women who write have historically been seen as threatening and labelled hysterical and mentally ill…all that about the pen being mightier than the sword. Metaphorical penis and all that …I actually do write in other genres. I do light fiction for Woman’s Weekly (imagine!) and I’m also working on a dystopia right now. And my first novel, The James Version, is historical (based on the murder of Maria Marten in the Red Barn in the 1800s).

This Q&A originally took place on our Crime, Ink Facebook page.

Talking Point: Are Serial Killers Born Evil?

If you’re a crime fiction fan like me, then no doubt you often find yourself reading about serial killers. Popular culture is obsessed with these enigmatic creatures, who are more often than not white males in their thirties and forties in novels,  movies and TV AS WELL AS reality.

But what drives these men to kill? Are they monsters, born ‘evil’ or just insane? This interesting article on ‘How Stuff Works’ is a good intro into the subject, focusing on infamous serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, JohnWayne Gacy and David Berkowitz.

To read the whole article, CLICK HERE or on the pic above.

Previously on this site about Serial Killers:

Best of 3: Bad Guy Leads

Best of 3: True Crime Books

America’s First Documented Serial Killer 

The Brain Of A Serial Killer

Serial Killers Through The Decades

Terrifying Twisted50 Trailer is out now!

Make sure you add Twisted50 on Goodreads!

I’m at the Killer Women festival today – can’t wait!!

If you’re there, make sure you come and say hi! Tweet me as @LucyVHayAuthor if you can’t find me and let’s meet up.

To celebrate, I want to draw your attention to the book trailer for Twisted50 Vol 1, an anthology of fifty TERRIFYING tales out this Halloween!

My short story, The Retribution of Elsie Buckle was picked for this fab collection of short stories.

It’s gory and dripping with blood, with my own personal brand of crime and feminism gone awry!! Intrigued?? YOU SHOULD BE!

So, without further ado – here’s the trailer for Twisted50 … Enjoy!!!

Make sure you add Twisted50 on Goodreads!

CRIMINALLY GOOD: Interview with Author Louise Beech

1) So, who are you & what have you written?

I’ve been a writer all my life, but only in 2015 did I get that elusive book deal for my novel, How to be Brave, which was a kind of emotional thriller (as my publisher called it). Before then I’d won a few prizes with my short fiction, been a newspaper columnist, had a play produced. But writing books has always been my dream.

My new novel, The Mountain in my Shoe, is a psychological thriller. It has the traditional missing things (a book, a boy and a husband) but really it’s about things that are absent on a deeper level – our identity, who we are, where we belong.

I’m working on my third, Maria in the Moon, which I’m not sure how to categorise, though a crime has certainly been committed and forms the heart of the story.

There’s plenty more about me on my website and feel free to follow me on Twitter @LouiseWriter.

2) Why do you write crime fiction?

I’ve wandered into crime fiction quite by accident! Really, I think I write life fiction. By that I mean that I write about very real (to me anyway!) people going through very real things, and often those things involve a mystery or trauma. I really love to explore how people cope. How they respond to tragedy. Naturally, writing such stories has taken me into quite dark territory, but I believe utterly in hope, and there’s always that uplifting element to my novels.

3) What informs your crime writing?

My background does in some ways. I witnessed unpleasant things during my childhood. I experienced unpleasant things too. My mum was taken away from us for a year after an attempted suicide attempt when I was nine, so this affected me deeply. I’ve been involved in voluntary work with the Samaritans and with children in the care system, so these things naturally expose you to crime and to the difficult aspects of life. But I’m hopeful, happy and a survivor.

4) What’s your usual writing routine?

I’m a harsh disciplinarian. When I sit down to write (usually early as I’m a lark not an owl) it’s no TV, no internet, no getting up until I’ve met my own target. This is usually an amount of words or a time (writing for, let’s say, four hours). I work in a theatre evenings and weekends so I write as much as is possible during the day.

5) Which crime book do you wish YOU’D written, and why?

I absolutely loved In the Cut by Susanna Moore. It was gruesome, dark and beautifully written. She helped cement my desire to be a novelist. I also thoroughly enjoyed Cruel and Unusual by Sophie Hannah, and wish I could come up with her ingenious twists. Amanda Jennings is a gorgeous writer too, one who I’d give anything to be half as good as … I wish I’d come up with In Her Wake!

BEST OF 3 – Nordic Noir

1) BLOOD ON SNOW by Jo Nesbo

I’d heard lots of good things about Jo Nesbo, but just never got around to reading any of his stuff … Then I found this in a bargain bin for 50p at a charity shop! It’s so short, a novella really, plus I love a good hitman story. I wasn’t disappointed. Olav is so morally ambiguous, yet freakily you kind of get where he’s coming from … His warped logic makes sense! Plus we have the whole gorgeous Scandinavian backdrop. Perfect dark noir, with a fabulous sting-in-the-tale ending. Recommended. Nesbo has found a fan for life in me, now! Read my full review, HERE.

2) THE ICE BENEATH HER by Camilla Grebe

I got this in my goody bag at Harrogate. As everyone knows, I love a good unreliable narrator and/or enigmatic lead and this book has THREE! I was blown away by the characters here — you’re never entirely sure what’s going on or who’s telling the truth, it’s like you’re being pulled into a bad dream. Like so much Nordic Noir, the backdrop really helps inform the story and that twist, WOW! Read my full review, HERE.

3) THE BIRD TRIBUNAL by Agnes Ravatn 

Again, another VERY short book – but if you’re a fan of literary fiction, this is *just right*. A two-hander for the most part, this is the tale of a deeply dysfunctional, obsessive relationship. I saw shades of Daphne Du Maurier’s REBECCA and Gillian Flynn’s SHARP OBJECTS, not to mention some allusions towards Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. Gorgeously visual, a nightmarescape of longing and mistaken and frustrated desire, this unusual book is well worth a read. Read my full review, HERE.

BEST OF 3 – Tess Makovesky, Author

1) Someone Else’s Skin by Sarah Hilary

WHY I LIKE IT: A dark, gripping thriller about domestic violence which cleverly turns the usual conventions on their head.

2)  Bad Samaritan by Michael J Malone

WHY I LIKE IT: Another gripping page-turner with dark themes, good psychology and some brave choices when it comes to character development.

3)  The Black House by Peter May

WHY I LIKE IT: An unusual detective novel set on the Isle of Lewis featuring fascinating glimpses into the area’s past as well as an intriguing plot.

BIO: Liverpool lass Tess Makovesky is now settled in the far north of England where she roams the fells with a brolly, dreaming up new stories and startling the occasional sheep. Tess writes a distinctive brand of British comédie noir and her short stories have darkened the pages of various anthologies and magazines. Her debut novella Raise the Blade, a psychological noir tale involving a serial killer in Birmingham and a lot of Pink Floyd references, is available from Caffeine Nights Publishing now.