📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Claire Dyer

 

Hi Claire and welcome back to Jaffareadstoo. Congratulations on your new novel and Happy Publication Day!

Thank you! It’s great to be back!

Without giving too much away what can you tell us about What We Thought We Knew?

The novel is about the three families at numbers two, four and six Penwood Heights. These families are connected by work, friendship and a terrible tragedy. Also, whilst each character thinks they know all there is to know about the others, they don’t. Whilst told via ten points of view, it is the central character, Faith, whose story is narrated in the first person and allows the reader to know that not only is she keeping her own secret, but unknown to everyone else, she’s also keeping another’s. It is when this other person’s secret is discovered that what the families thought they knew about one another is blown to pieces.

When planning a novel what usually comes first the plot or the people?

It varies. Sometimes inspiration can strike via an object or place, and sometimes a central idea or a situation. With this novel, it was after I’d hosted a dinner party with friends that I got to wondering what secrets we might be keeping from one another, and the story grew from there. I visited the town where I wanted to set the novel and drove around Penwood Heights (which is a real place) so I could visualise for myself where the families might live. I must add that a lot of artistic licence was used in my portrayal of the road, houses and town! And, once I’d got the setting nailed, I set about peopling it. Telling the story from ten points of view was a mad decision but one I don’t regret now it's done! I felt it important that each person should have their own voice and story arc.

Whilst researching the novel did you discover anything which surprised you?

I actually first researched and wrote the novel about twelve years ago, rewriting it during lockdown and my parents’ last illnesses, so I guess the thing that surprised me most was how ‘real’ everything still seemed to me: both the people and the places of the novel came back in full technicolour. However, I think the thing I enjoyed researching most was Faith and Lizzie’s coffee shop. The very lovely people in my local Costa spent time talking to me about their process and especially how their Lisa 3 Coffee Machine worked! It was huge fun and really interesting!

Your style of writing is very much ‘from the heart’. Does this take its toll on you emotionally and if so how do you overcome it?

You’re right, I do feel very connected to my characters and the ups and downs of their lives can take their toll on me, but I guess the thing that helps is remembering that I’m working towards an ending where (hopefully) there will be a resolution of sorts for each of them – even if it’s not a fairytale ending, it’s an ending and that’s what keeps me going!

When do you find the time to write, and do you have a favourite place to do your writing?

When I’m writing I try to schedule specific times in my diary around my teaching and editing commitments, and have found that I write best in the morning at my desk at home, in silence, with a cat or two by my side. However, my absolute favourite place and time to write is when I’m on holiday in my beloved Kalkan in Turkey. Getting up early, making coffee and sitting looking out at the bay as the sun rises over the mountain behind the villa as I write, is a real treat!

What do you hope readers will take away from reading What We Thought We Knew?

I hope they will take two things away from reading the novel. Firstly, I hope they will be able to forgive my characters for what they do wrong and, secondly, understand that sometimes we can all do the wrong things for the right reasons.

Thank you, Claire for being our Author in the Spotlight today.

Thank you for having me!

Pegasus
25 January 2024

The families at numbers two, four and six Penwood Heights are connected by work, friendship, the loss of a child and a secret truth which has sat in the bedrock of their lives for years. In the centre of this tight-knit group is Faith, who believes her job is to act as a paperweight, keeping them all safe. And she does this until someone from her past reappears and threatens to sabotage everything. And, as the pieces fall, these families, these friends, realise that what they thought they knew about one another was nothing more than make-believe. They also discover that trust is illusory and for Faith, at least, that keeping other people’s secrets can be more dangerous than keeping her own.

More about Claire

Claire Dyer’s poetry collections are published by Two Rivers Press, her novels by Quercus, The Dome Press, Matador and Pegasus. Her latest novel is ‘What We Thought We Knew’, and a further collection, ‘The Adjustments’, is forthcoming with Two Rivers Press in April 2024. She teaches creative writing and runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service. She is Poetry Consultant to the Council of the SWWJ, has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and is represented by Broo Doherty at DHH Literary Agency.

X/Twitter @clairedyer1

Website Facebook Instagram

Amazon UK

📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Rachel Brimble

 

Today on the blog I am delighted to welcome author

Rachel Brimble

 Welcome to Jaffareadstoo, Rachel. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started as an author.

Hi Jo! Thanks so much for having me here today 😊

I got started as an author after years of having a passion to be published one day but doing very little about it! Once my youngest daughter started school full-time, I had a ‘now or never’ moment and started writing short stories before finishing my first novel a year or so later. That novel was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2007 and since then I have had at least one novel published each year. The trick to success in my view is tenacity and sticking to a daily word count – 500 words a day will soon add up to an 80,000 word novel!

When I’m not writing (which isn’t often!), I love to read, knit, watch far too much TV and go on long dog walks with family or friends – hopefully stopping off at a country pub for lunch ...

Tell us three tantalising things about your latest novel.

My latest novel is Victoria & Violet – an historical romance set in the court of a young Queen Victoria. Three tantalising things about the book are:

1) A romance between a servant and a member of the aristocracy

2) Set in beautiful Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace

3) Filled with high drama, intrigue and intense romance

Where do you get your inspiration for your novels, and, as one book ends, do you already have the idea in place for a new story?

A lot of my inspiration for my historical novels comes from buildings/places I’ve visited and fell in love with – setting tends to come first, followed by a nugget of a plot idea and then the characters tell me the rest!

Yes, as soon as I finish one book, I am onto the next – I have a whole file full of ideas as well as the ones in my head that keep pushing and prodding to be told.

Do you write the type of books you like to read and which authors influence you?

I read across the genres (except for sci-fi and horror), but romance is definitely my favourite, closely followed by crime. For contemporary romance, I love Nora Roberts whose writing and work ethic are a huge inspiration for me. For historical romance, I love Julia London and Julia Quinn – I am in awe of their work.

Tell us about your writing day - are you disciplined, strictly 9 till 5, or are you more of a have a cup of coffee and think about it sort of writer?

I am ultra-disciplined! I feel so blessed that I am lucky enough to be able to write full-time that I honour that by working 8.30am-5.30pm during the week (with a lunch break in between) as well as a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday.

Are you your worst critic and why?

I’m actually not too hard on myself, because writing is a compulsion for me now and as I know I will never stop, there is no point in beating myself up over a piece of work. I finish it to the best of my ability and then send it out into the world with the hope it gives lots of people hours of happy escapism.

Have you another novel planned and if so what can you tell us about it?

I am working on two books at the moment, which is very unusual for me, but it is the way things have worked out with publishers this year – one is a contemporary romance, the other an historical, but both books I hope will be the firsts in ongoing series. Watch this space!

And finally for fun! 😊

At which event in history would you like to be a fly on the wall and why?

I would love to have seen the early courtship between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII play out…

If you could invite three people from history to your dinner table, who would you choose and why?

Anne Boleyn (see above!)

Emmeline Pankhurst

Anyone who survived the Titanic sinking

Rachel, where can we follow you on social media?

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter  @RachelBrimble

More about Rachel

Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of 29 novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin). Her latest novel, Victoria & Violet was released 17th October 2022.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association as well as the Society of Authors and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.

To sign up for her newsletter (a guaranteed giveaway every month!), click here

Huge thanks to Rachel Brimble for being my guest today

📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Philippa Hawley

 

Today on the blog I am delighted to welcome author

Philippa Hawley

Welcome to Jaffareadstoo, Philippa. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started as an author.

My name is Philippa Hawley and I am an NHS doctor who retired from General Practice in 2011 (perhaps a little earlier than planned, due to circumstances). I am now a writer as well as being a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a gardener.

My husband retired the year before me and enjoyed exercising his brain with various Natural Science modules with the Open Universary. As my retirement approached, he spotted a module called Start Writing Fiction and recommended it to me. This proved to be a wonderful transition project to wean me away from medicine and into a new and more creative world. It gave me the confidence to join a local writing course at the wonderful Wivenhoe Bookshop and join two active local writing groups.

How To Be Frank Is your latest novel, without giving too much away, what can you tell us about the story?

To Be Frank is my fourth novel and although it is a stand-alone, contemporary story, some of the characters (but not Frank) have already appeared in novel number three, Lawn House Blues, published in 2018. Both these books are set not far from home in Suffolk.

Frank is a 62 year old recovering alcoholic who enjoys working at Felixstowe docks. Despite having a roof over his head and food in his belly, he knows something is missing in his life – friends and a family he can call his own.  A solicitor’s letter and an unexpected inheritance bring about change, giving him increased confidence and an improved social life. He finds love but also people who can help him solve the mystery of his parentage. He becomes reconciled with his birth mother but finding his father might prove to be more of a challenge.

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them when the book is finished? Are they who you expected them to be?

When I am writing my characters become very real to me and I generally grow to love them. I keep the central characters with me for a long time after the writing is finished but probably let go of the nasty or annoying ones. I often think about where my main protagonists might go next and if a reader asks if I’m going to write a follow up story, I do get tempted.

Where do you get your inspiration for your novels, and, as one book ends, do you already have the idea in place for a new story?

My writing is often inspired by my travels and places I have visited, as well as the people I have met along the way. I avoid using ex-patients as templates however. My first novel, There’s No Sea in Salford (2013) was based in Sri Lanka and refers to the 2004 tsunami. How They Met Themselves (2014) was based in California where I took a road trip with some girlfriends just after retirement. Lawn House Blues (2018) and To Be Frank (2022) are both set in Suffolk, not far from my home in NE Essex, in places we often visit.

Do you write the type of novels you like to read and which authors have influenced you?

 I tend to write quite domestic, contemporary stories about families, relationships and friendship. I often sneek a bit of illness in but try to avoid writing too much in the way of medical topics.

I like to read about realistic people and their relationships. I love Marion Keyes, Maggie O’Farrell, Sally Rooney and Graham Norton; these Irish writers do such great story telling.

I have a broad list of books I have read. I’ll try anything from humour to psychological mystery, crime and feminism. Recently I’ve read a number of American novels addressing both feminism and heritage eg Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche as well as books by Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou.

Tell us about your writing day - are you disciplined, strictly 9 till 5, or are you more of a have a cup of coffee and think about it sort of writer?

My writing day rarely starts before the afternoon. In the morning I do my chores, run errands, check emails and attend to some volunteering I’m signed up for. I often do my thinking when pottering in the garden, then settle down to a couple of hours writing after lunch. I write on the desk top computer in my study, with a lovely view over our garden and the woods behind. I usually have a notebook in my bag if I’m travelling or sometimes jot notes and ideas in the back of my diary if I’m just out and about.

Can you tell us if you have another novel planned?

Since the publication of To Be Frank in April 2022, I have been concentrating on short stories with my writing group and having a rest from novel writing. I have played with a couple of new ideas but am unsure whether to proceed and which to focus on. Should it be a novel set in the 1900s in Yorkshire where my parents grew up or a more experimental novel set in 2031, ten years after the Covid pandemic?

Finally for fun 😊

Tell us four essential things every writer needs!

Four things a writer needs: Ideas, a computer, resilience and an editor P.S. an agent would also be nice!

If your life was a book, what would be its title?

Title of my life in a book; ‘Healing hands’ subtitled, ‘once an doctor always a doctor’.

What books are on your bedside table

Bedside table books at present:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E Grant

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.

Philippa, where can we follow you on social media?

Philippa Hawley is on Twitter @philippa_hawley, also Instagram and Facebook.

More information can be found on her website 

More about Philippa

Philippa Hawley is a writer, living in NE Essex with her husband and several tortoises. The couple have two grown-up children and a busy young grandchild. Having worked in the NHS for over 30 years, mostly as a family doctor, Philippa has been privileged to observe human behaviour and relationships in close proximity and this comes across in her writing. When not writing or helping look after the grandchild, Philippa likes watching films and reading. She spends time in her garden maintaining a wildlife area which backs onto the local woods, attracting wonderful birds, butterflies and dragonflies.

 Huge thanks to Philippa Hawley for being my Author in the Spotlight today.

           

 

 

📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Teuta Metra

 

I'm delighted to welcome author, Teuta Metra to Jaffareadstoo

Welcome to Jaffareadstoo, Teuta. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started as an author.

As a child, I remember burying my head in books, and would often fantasize about writing my own stories. I had my own heroines and I could create a world that was only mine. I remember I had two notebooks full of stories. I used to keep them in my grandmother's attic, as I knew nobody would go there and read them. Unfortunately, one day, it rained heavily, and water started leaking through the roof, destroying everything. That didn’t discourage me though. When people saw me reading books while other children were playing outside I heard them say: she will be a teacher one day. But I didn't want to be a teacher. All I wanted was to read books and write my own stories. When I told them I would be a writer or a journalist, they would smile at me, pat my head, and say, "Oh, you poor little dreamer!"

As it turned out, I pursued both of these passions. While living and working in Albania, I worked as a journalist, and I absolutely loved my job. I still miss radio, especially when I'm feeling nostalgic. However, my life took a turn when I fell in love with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. He lived in the Netherlands, so I had to make a choice. I decided to move to the Netherlands and start a new chapter of my life, which is when I turned to fiction writing.

For readers who aren’t familiar with your writing, what can they expect from your novels?

As a person with one foot in Eastern Europe and the other in the West, I write about the blending of cultures between East and West. I cover topics such as politics, women's issues, humanity, and friendship. My first novel was published in Albanian, but I felt trapped within borders. For 50 years, Albania's borders were closed, and people were trapped in a cage. If I wrote only in Albanian, I would feel trapped again, and my stories would remain within borders. I yearned to explore the world, so I decided to try writing in English. It has not been easy, as English is not my first language. Now, I'm not sure if it's my second, third, or fourth language, but I did it. My latest novel, On the Other Side, was published in March. The story follows a young woman who enters the UK illegally in search of her missing boyfriend. But just as she thinks she can start a new life, someone pushes her under a train in London, and she finds herself in a coma. The feedback I have received has been positive, and that means I should start working on my next book.

Do you write the type of books you like to read and which authors have influenced you?

Through my books, I strive to advocate for women's rights in my home country and beyond, as I firmly believe in the transformative power of words. In other words, I write books that I hope will raise awareness about this issues. One of the authors that I admire is Elif Shafak. I think I’ve read all her books.

Where do your ideas for your stories come from, and as one book finishes do you already know where the next book will take you?

I pay attention to what I read in the news, but I'm also a careful listener, so ideas often pop up in my head. The challenge is finding a way to link something that happens in Albania with the outside world. My aim is to write stories that will provoke the interest of the Western reader while remaining true to the heart of the Albanian experience.

Tell us about your writing day - are you disciplined, strictly 9 till 5, or are you more of a have a cup of coffee and think about it sort of writer?

As a mother of two young children and a librarian by day, finding time to write can be challenging. When my friends ask me how I do it, I say: "I invent time" ;) When they were younger, I used the notepad on my phone to write down things that would pop up in my head while they were playing in the sandpit. Now, I wake up at 5 a.m. and write before the kids go to school. Of course, there are days when I can't write and I feel bad about it, but I try to compensate on the weekends when the kids sleep in a bit longer or when my husband takes them to the swimming pool or weekend training.

Can you tell us if you have another novel planned?

Yes, the first draft of my next novel is ready. Now that On the Other Side is in the hands of the readers, I’ll start the editing process of the new novel, which mostly involves deleting what I have already written.

And finally for fun! 😊

Tell us four essential things every writer needs!

Write every single day and at the end of the month you’ll have 30 pages done.

Don’t let your one-star rating bring you down.

Talk to other writers.

Believe in your work.

If your life was a book, what would be its title?

A love story across borders  😊

About the Author

Teuta Metra is an Albanian/Dutch writer living in Rotterdam. She holds a degree in Literature and Linguistics from the University of Tirana and has a background in journalism. Through her fiction books, Teuta advocates for women's rights in her home country. Her latest novel, On the Other Side, was released in March and earned a five-star seal from Readers’ Favorite. She is a firm believer in the transformative power of words and literature. By day, Teuta works as a librarian in Rotterdam and by night, she dedicates herself to writing and weaving stories that inspire and empower.

Teuta, where can we follow you on social media?

Twitter: @Teuta_Metra

Instagram teutametra

Facebook: Teuta Metra - Author

Website: www.teutametra.com

Amazon

Thank you so much Teuta for taking part in this author spotlight

It's been great fun!

📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Mollie Walton, Romantic Novelists' Association Finalist

 

I'm delighted to welcome author Mollie Walton back to Jaffareadstoo

Photo credit: Hudson and Rose Photography

Firstly, congratulations on being one of the finalists in the RNA Romantic Saga Category for your novel A Mother’s War.

Thank you so much! I’m so delighted to have been shortlisted. I have tremendous respect for the RNA and they do so much to help writers and represent our genre positively to the world. I’m over the moon to be a finalist and really don’t mind who wins! I’m just thrilled to be in the final five!

A Mother’s War is the first in a trilogy of historical sagas, where did you get the first flash of inspiration?

In the summer of 2020, I took my daughter on holiday to Raven Hall Hotel in Ravenscar, not far from Scarborough and Whitby. We needed to escape from the house after the lockdown, so the cliff-top location of the hotel looked ideal to feel that sense of space we’d been missing.

Raven Hall

Around that time, I was working on ideas for a new WW2 saga, yet hadn’t decided on a location yet. When I arrived at the hotel and saw the incredible view of Robin Hood’s Bay and the farm and moorland tumbling down to the cliffs, it took my breath away. And it almost instantly came to me: this is where I want my WW2 story to be set, in Raven Hall itself.

Robin Hoods Bay

Without giving too much away what can you tell us about A Mother’s War?

Welbeck
2022

It’s the story of Rosina, a mother of five daughters, who is a widow and has raised her children more or less single-handedly in Raven Hall. We meet them all at the very beginning of WW2, when she gathers her daughters by the radio to listen to Chamberlain’s speech in September 1939. From there, each novel in the series follows one daughter and also Rosina, through their wartime experiences. A Mother’s War is the first book in the series and we have the eldest daughter Grace’s story, as she becomes a Wren and is trained to be a wireless telegraphist, listening in to U-boats.

When you started writing did you always intend this to be a trilogy of novels? And if so, do you now know where the journey will end?

Yes absolutely – it was a three-book deal, so I knew I was going to tell the first three daughters’ stories. The second book is out next month and I’m writing the third book at the moment. We shall see if some more books are coming in this series...I certainly have an arc worked out for all the characters. I’m an obsessive planner as a novelist, so I always have a lot planned out in advance, although this often changes during the writing itself.

In your research for A Mother’s War did you discover anything which surprised you about the people or the area?

I was delighted to discover more about North Yorkshire, as I’ve been a fan of that area for many years, having visited Whitby a few times when I was younger. It’s a gorgeous landscape with a great sense of history. I was particularly fascinated to discover there had been a secret listening station on the moors just above Scarborough and that’s where Grace’s story came from. There, they listened into communications from U-boats and other German navy vessels and these messages were then sent immediately down to Station X i.e. Bletchley Park. Many now know about Bletchley and the codebreakers, but this was an essential part of the story I felt was far less known about. It inspired me to have my character become a secret listener.

A Mother’s War features strong female characters; do you have a favourite character and why?

Ah, that’s such a difficult question, like choosing a favourite child! (I only have one child, so I never have to think about that though!) I identify with all of them in different ways: I understand some of Rosina’s dilemmas as a lone parent; I also feel that Grace’s somewhat introverted ways mirror some of my own interior preoccupations at that age. Then there’s Nancy, the maid who becomes a Wren and a wireless telegraphist – her self-confidence and ambition is quite different from myself at her age, so I admire her hugely! So, I’m equally fond of them all, to be honest.

Your writing is always very authentic, have you always had an interest in history?

Thank you so much for saying that. That’s certainly what I always try to do. Whether I’m writing as Rebecca Mascull or Mollie Walton, it’s always been really important to me to get my facts straight. My aim has always been to create fictional characters, yet to place them within realistic historical settings. Sometimes I’ve had real people come and go from the stories, yet the main set of characters are always fictional for me. Even if the events of my stories may sometimes seem unusual (or even unlikely), my goal is always to ensure that my research backs up my plots i.e. even if it didn’t happen, it very well could have happened. I love reading about history and visiting places where historical events have happened; I sometimes get ‘history shivers’ when I think about certain events or visit such places, where the past suddenly feels very real and present. I love that feeling and that’s what I’m always trying to aim towards when I’m writing, so that the reader is transported and yet feels it’s as real as today’s world.

As a tantaliser, what can you tell us about the next book in the series?

Welbeck
2 March 2023

Ooh, well, readers don’t have long to wait, as it’s out in less than a month! A Daughter’s Gift, the second book in the Raven Hall Saga, follows the second daughter Evvy, as well as Rosina’s life at the hall. Evvy goes to London and joins the Auxiliary Fire Service just before the Blitz begins in earnest, while Rosina has to contend with the army requisitioning the hall. We catch up with the other sisters too, while we follow Evvy and Rosina through their own trials. I can’t wait to share it with readers – it’s out in hardback and ebook on March 2nd, with the paperback coming in August. The third daughter, Connie, is having her story written right now! And her book will be out in March next year. I’m loving this family and these five girls and I hope readers enjoy their stories as much as I do. 

Mollie, thanks so much for being a great guest, its always such fun to have you on the blog. 

Thanks so much for featuring me on your wonderful blog, Josie. Great questions, as ever. 😊

You can find Mollie Walton on social media:

https://rebeccamascull.co.uk/

https://molliewalton.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/rebeccamascull

https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaMascull

https://www.facebook.com/MollieWaltonbooks/

https://uk.pinterest.com/rebeccamascull/

https://www.instagram.com/beccamascull/

ABOUT THE ROMANTIC NOVELISTS’ ASSOCIATION

The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is a professional body primarily for writers of romantic fiction. Founded in 1960 to provide a voice for romance authors and to be a network for writers, it continues to raise the prestige of romantic fiction and encourage romantic authorship. Their 1000+ membership includes writers across the spectrum of commercial and women's fiction, along with publishing industry professionals, booksellers, and book reviewers. In addition to organising annual publishing awards, they also host arange of workshops, talks, networking events, a three-day annual conference, and provide support to unpublished authors through their New Writers' Scheme.

For more information about the Romantic Novelists’ Association, please visit their website:

https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org

Author in the Spotlight ~ Liza Perrat

 

I am delighted to have author, Liza Perrat in the spotlight today

Welcome back to Jaffareadstoo, Liza. Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for Lake of Echoes?

There was no real flash of inspiration, but after writing a French historical trilogy (The Bone Angel), each of which can all be read as a standalone, then three Australian-set drama novels, I hankered to return to a backdrop of rural France, where I live. I’ve always loved history and given that I write about strong female characters, the late 1960s seemed like an ideal era.

Without giving too much away – what can you tell us about the plot, place and people?

Lake of Echoes –– the first in the new Sainte-Marie-du-Lac series –– is set in late 60s France, a time of great social unrest, change and feminism. Also a time of fear of communism and the Cold War. I wanted to “echo” (excuse the pun!) these themes through the characters and setting.

As for the plot, I have always been (a bit morbidly) fascinated by psychopaths, but I’m not a crime writer (others do it far better than me!). I’ve also been fascinated, and horrified, for much of my life, by the disappearance of the Beaumont children, three Australian siblings, from Glenelg Beach in South Australia, in 1966. The children, aged 9, 7 and 4, like many other children of that time, were allowed to catch the bus to the beach and spend time there alone. That would never happen these days. Lake of Echoes explores both of these themes.

Are you a plotter, or a start writing and see where it takes you, sort of writer?

I like to have a general idea of the story before starting, just vague notions that will develop, and change, as the story is written. The novel often comes out as a completely different story from the initial idea though!

Your writing is always atmospheric – how do you ‘set the scene’ in your novels and how much research did you do in order to bring Lake of Echoes to life?

I live in rural France, so the atmosphere of these novels is very much created from my day-to-day environment. I always need to visualise a scene before writing it, which, I think, helps.

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them when the book is finished? Are they the people you expected them to be?

By the time a book is published, I have written, edited and tweaked at least 10 versions of it, so I’m usually sick of it at that stage, and keen to move on to the next story. Sometimes characters surprise me, so I generally let them do what they want, if possible. I am though, thinking about carrying some of the Lake of Echoes characters over into book 2 of this series.

Your style of writing is very much ‘from the heart’. Does this take its toll on you emotionally, and if so, how do you overcome it?

It can do, for especially emotional scenes. Though once I’m away from my writing desk, I usually forget about it. I was a nurse in a previous life, and tended to take home my emotions with me then but that was ‘real life’!

Tell us about your writing day- are you disciplined, strictly 9 til 5, or are you more of a have a cup of coffee and think about it sort of writer?

I would love to be retired, but I’m not yet, so I write on my days off (I work part-time) and weekends. When my children were young and spare time was as precious as gold, I was very disciplined and made the most of every free second. Now they’re grown up, I’m not very disciplined, and mostly write when I feel like it.

What do you hope readers will take away from Lake of Echoes?

Well, mostly I hope they’ll be entertained, and I hope they’ll enjoy the story.

A vanished daughter. A failing marriage. A mother’s life in ruins.

1969. As France seethes in the wake of social unrest, eight-year-old Juliette is caught up in the turmoil of her parents’ fragmenting marriage.

Unable to bear another argument, she flees her home.

Neighbours joining the search for Juliette are stunned that such a harrowing thing could happen in their tranquil lakeside village.

But this is nothing compared to her mother, Lea’s torment, imagining what has befallen her daughter.

Léa, though, must remain strong to run her auberge and as the seasons pass with no news from the gendarmes, she is forced to accept she may never know her daughter’s fate.

Despite the villagers’ scepticism, Léa’s only hope remains with a clairvoyant who believes Juliette is alive.

But will mother and daughter ever be reunited?

Steeped in centuries-old tradition, against an enchanting French countryside backdrop, Lake of Echoes will delight your senses and captivate your heart.

Emotionally gripping historical women’s fiction for Kelly Rimmer and Kristin Hannah fans.

"A testament to female resilience, depth and strength, this is a universal story set in a changing world." JJ Marsh, author of The Beatrice Stubbs Series.

About Liza Perrat

Liza grew up in Australia where she worked as a general nurse and a midwife. When she met her French husband on a Bangkok bus, she moved to France, where she has been living with her family for twenty-nine years, working as a medical translator and a novelist.

Several of her short stories have won awards, and been published in anthologies and small press magazines. Her articles on French culture are published in international magazines such as France Magazine, France Today and The Good Life France.

Sign up for Liza’s occasional newsletter about new book releases and receive a FREE copy of Friends & Other Strangers, her award-winning collection of Australian short stories.

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Universal Retail book link: mybook.to/LakeofEchoesEbook 

Huge thanks to Liza for being my Author in the Spotlight today

📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Harry Fisher

 

I am delighted to welcome author, Harry Fisher, to the spotlight today

Welcome to Jaffareadstoo, Harry. Tell us a little about yourself. 

I’m a native of Edinburgh but I live in Aberdeen with my wife, Shiona, and our Hungarian Vizsla. He’s bonkers, as anyone who knows the breed will readily testify. I’m retired - from business, my writing keeps me busy – but I’m very active: tennis, walking the dog, cycling, and bits and bobs of DIY and gardening.

Where did you get the first flash of inspiration for your crime series?

My first book Way Beyond A Lie is about a woman who disappears while supermarket shopping with her husband. Blokes who are reading this might empathise, but my wife can disappear from sight in the supermarket in the blink of an eye. Now, usually I find her in the next aisle or even the one after that, but one day I got to thinking – what if I couldn’t find her? What if she’d completely vanished? If she wasn’t in the store, or the café, or the toilets, or the car park – what would I do? So I started the story with that premise, and it all worked out nicely.

Without giving too much away – what can you tell us about your latest novel - Yes, I Killed Her?

Over the years I’ve become fascinated with the concept of the perfect murder. A few Christmases ago, we were watching Murder on the Orient Express. In that period, Poirot had to rely mainly on his intelligence and powers of observation to solve the murder. But in modern times, CCTV is omnipresent. Forensic science, both biological and digital, has come on leaps and bounds, and we all leave electronic footprints a blind man could follow in a fog.

In Yes, I Killed Her Edwin Fuller has decided to murder his wife. He’s devised a detailed plan not only to kill her but to guarantee he gets away with it. (I’m not giving away any spoilers here – we find that out in the first couple of pages.) But it’s not just a question of loading her body in the back of a car and dumping it somewhere – he’d almost certainly be caught. No, it’s far more complicated than that.

This is the second book in the DI Melissa Cooper series (#1 was Be Sure Your Sins) so Mel and her team are on the case. But all the evidence points away from Edwin Fuller – exactly as he had planned. But then he makes his big mistake.

Incidentally, a few weeks before the book was published in May 2022 my publisher, Rebecca, told me the story was a howdunnit as opposed to the more obvious whodunnit. But told me that on April 1st, so I thought she was winding me up. Turns out she wasn’t, howdunnit is a legitimate sub-genre. Who knew?

Are you a plotter...or ...a start writing and see where it takes you, sort of writer?

I don’t write to a plan. Speaking personally, I can’t see how that would work for me because while I’m writing, plot ideas and changes of direction occur to me all the time so any plan wouldn’t last long.

But when I start a book, I do have an outline concept of where the story is heading and then I let it evolve. Yes, I Killed Her is my third book so I’m quite relaxed about this writing by evolution – which I find very strange because during my career I was an extremely process-driven operator and the idea of just letting things flow would have been anathema.

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them when the book is finished? Are they what you expected them to be?

I’ll answer the second question first. I guess, just like the story, my characters also evolve. Thinking back to my first book Way Beyond A Lie there is a character called Jarek. He’s Czech, and an assassin. Now, Jarek takes great pride in his work but he’s not a psychopath. He’s principled and he has a good heart. But this is not how I set out to write him. He turned into that.

Similarly in Yes, I Killed Her the murderer’s personality changed as the story moved on. But I don’t suppose that’s a surprise, really. How many of us would be the same person after killing someone?

When it comes down to my regular characters, they change over time as more of their pasts and their personalities are revealed. To me as well as to the readers.

Going back to the question about how I feel about my characters when a book is finished, it’s vital I feel the same as I want my readers to feel. For every character you have to feel something; you either love them or loathe them. Even minor characters – they have to make some form of impression, otherwise I haven’t done my job properly.

Do you write the type of books you like to read and which authors influence you?

Yes, almost exclusively I read thrillers. In recent times I’ve been positively influenced by TM Logan, Harry Bingham and MW Craven – they all write terrific books.

But if I read a book that I don’t like, and there’s a particular reason, then I can take something from that too. A couple of years back I read one of a series by a multi-million seller – no names, naturally. There was a technical hole in the plot that an ocean liner could have sailed through. It involved a suicide where, at 30% through the story, the senior forensic pathologist stated the victim had shot himself in the head with a rifle. He was found slumped on the floor with his back to a wall. But the pathologist didn’t calculate the trajectory of the bullet or analyse the blood spatter or even prove the victim’s arms were long enough to reach the trigger. I remember thinking, oh come on! Seriously?

Sure enough, at about 70%, the pathologist discovered his “mistake” and that the victim had actually been shot by someone standing in front of him with the angle of the rifle pointing down. Utter twaddle, lazy writing, and showed precious little respect for the readers’ intelligence. I’m particularly anal about plot holes like that, which is why one of my beta-readers has the specific task of making sure I don’t make the same type of mistake. Because if I had, I’d want to be told.

How do you manage to balance writing with your everyday life?

Way Beyond A Lie was life-consuming across the four years plus that it took from concept to self-publication. My wife was an absolute star about how much time I spent on it, and I was incredibly grateful. So when I started on Be Sure Your Sins I resolved to be more disciplined about it. And even more so with Yes, I Killed Her.

Real life has to go on – going shopping, DIY, the garden, walking the hound, going out for lunch – all that good stuff. So I tend to write after morning coffee (like now) or late afternoon. I’ve found that works perfectly well at the writing stage, and to a lesser extent while I’m editing. But there’s no doubt the closer I get to publication date, my involvement ramps up and that’s when it’s tricky to keep a lid on it.

Harry, how can readers discover more about you and your work?

Twitter @HFwritesCrime

Facebook

Website

​Amazon Author Page

Purchase Page

More about Harry Fisher 

Harry Fisher is a native of Leith (the port for Edinburgh) so that’s where his crime thrillers are set. Write about what you know, and all that. He lives in Aberdeen with his wife, Shiona, and their Hungarian Vizsla.

Prior to self-publishing his debut, Harry had never written a word of fiction. So he just launched in – cold turkey for authors. And now he’s written three books:

Way Beyond A Lie has bang up to date themes: identity theft and cybercrime. During two free book promotions in 2020, it was downloaded 2,700 times over five days.

Be Sure Your Sins is #1 in the DI Mel Cooper series. (She takes no crap, not even from the bad guys). The story concerns “six events that happen to six people that destroy six lives”. Both thrillers were published by www.hobeck.net in Autumn 2021.

Hobeck Books
2022

Yes, I Killed Her (published May 2022) is Harry Fisher's audacious follow-up crime thriller, also starring DI Mel Cooper. “In the 21st century, is the perfect murder remotely possible? Edwin Fuller is convinced it is. He’s cunning, calculating, and chilling. He makes a plan. He carries it out. And he kills his wife.

Fuller’s plan has worked; he’s got away with murder. Case closed.

Until he makes a big mistake.”

Currently, all Harry’s books have Amazon ratings of 4.5 stars from around 650 reviews, and he’s immensely proud of that. But the icing on the cake is Yes, I Killed Her has been endorsed by James Oswald, best-selling Scottish crime author of the Inspector Tony McLean mysteries. He said, “I would recommend this to anyone”.

Things Harry’s into apart from walking the hound every day: travel, outdoor stuff, wine and food, and if all four can be combined then so much the better.

 

Huge thanks to Harry for being my guest in the spotlight today.