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Q&A with the Author

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell us a little about your book.

 

The Good Daughter is a psychological suspense or mystery rather than a thriller.  Edith, the damaged 17-year-old main narrator, starts to encounter problems in her everyday life that become worse as the story progresses, some of which may or may not exist and some which are real.  This causes her to confuse fantasy and reality, but there’s usually a good reason for it when it happens.

 

 

Do you have a favourite character and why?

 

Henrietta’s probably my favourite because she’s so aloof and sarcastic – ‘baddies’ are always more interesting and fun to write.  The devil has all the best tunes.

 

 

How did you create your characters?

 

They’re completely made up and just sort of evolved as I wrote the story.  There are few small influences, like Karl’s East Midlands accent, which is my neck of the woods.

 

 

Who is your favourite author and why?

 

My favourite writer of all time is probably the late, great Iain Banks, who wrote mainstream and science fiction (or SF, if you prefer).  Obviously, the biggest influence on me is his mainstream books.  The reason I love them so much is because when you read them it’s like talking to an old friend and the fact so many of them are in the first person helps this.  If I could achieve anything with my writing it would be to speak to the reader in this intimate way, so it becomes a kind of two-way conversation between two friends.

 

 

What one person has impacted your life the most?

 

My mum, who we lost in 2013, and to whom this book is dedicated.  Mum always encouraged me to follow my dreams, whether it was music – my first love – or writing.  But more important than anything, she taught me love and kindness are the two most important things in this world.

 

 

Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?

 

God, there are so many!  Iain Banks, obviously, Cormac McCarthy, Martin Amis, JG Ballard, John le Carré, Robert Harris, Nicci French (esp. early), Samantha Hayes, Sharon Bolton, Sophie Hannah, Gillian Flynn, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson, Camus, Sartre, Dostoyevsky – the list is endless.

 

 

For your own reading, do you prefer e-books or traditional paper/hard back books?

 

I love both, but there’s nothing like opening a pristine, brand-new paperback.  Plus, old books can smell great.

 

 

What book/s are you reading at present?

 

I’m reading Night Film by Marisha Pessl and Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke – and have been for some time!  Both are brilliant in very different ways.

 

 

What drives you to write?

 

I could make up a fancy reason here about wanting to say something about society or the human condition but the truth is I’ve no idea.  Sometimes I think it’s just some kind of therapy, as many therapists get their patients to write things down.  It’s like an itch you have to scratch and it’s elusive.

 

 

What has your journey as a writer been like?

 

A long one!  I’ve been writing for about sixteen years on and off and only now have I got to the point where I think I’m OK.  I’ve made lots of mistakes, too, but if you have this need to do it, you’ll carry on regardless of how difficult it is.

 

 

What was the process you used to write your manuscript?

 

I don’t use writer’s software, though it might be a good idea to get more organized, as maybe it saves time and writing is time consuming.  I type straight on to a laptop but it’s hard to structure a novel that way sometimes.  A good idea is to print it out or have chapters/scenes on cards and physically move the chapters/scenes around, so you can see the effect reordering the story has on the overall shape of it.  Reordering the events of a book can have an amazingly rejuvenating effect.

 

 

Did you format your own book?

 

Yes, I did, and it was difficult for me, as I’d never done it before.  But I didn’t have the right software and also, I charged in without methodically applying the stages step-by-step as it tells you to in the free guide Building your book for Kindle.  If you work your way through the book page by page and in the right order, it’s a lot easier.  It seems daunting doing it yourself at first, and it will take you couple of weeks or so, depending on your experience.  But it’s totally doable and I would encourage everyone who wants to try.  I still don’t fully understand how I’ve published this book but you don’t have to: the only thing that matters is it works. And it does.

 

 

What time of day do you write best?

 

I like evenings and nights, when it’s quieter – there are a lot more distractions during the day.  But there’s no set time.  You should write as much as you can and not only whenever the urge takes you.

 

 

How do you juggle life around your writing?

 

I didn’t start writing seriously until I had a serious back injury which lasted several years and I still suffer from now, so that gave me the time I needed to get better at writing and finish several books.  If I was working full time, I’d probably still be struggling with the first book, writing ideas on bits of paper on the bus home, but I’d still be doing it.  I don’t have a family or anything but writing’s time consuming, especially when you start out, but it gets easier and quicker the more you do it.  Sometimes, you just have to lock yourself away for a while and get it done.

 

 

What struggles have you overcome as a writer?

 

For me, probably just physical injury: sitting in the same spot hunched over a keyboard for hours at a time is painful for me but I work better in prolonged periods instead of short bursts.  Also, spending a lot of time alone and not seeing friends as much as you’d like.  But it’s not like I was put in prison for it or anything!

 

 

What criticisms have helped you grow as a writer?

 

I haven’t had much so far as I’m just starting out, but my first ever review on Amazon was only one star, which shook me a bit.  But they did read it through to the end, so I took that as a small victory!

 

 

Who edited your book and how did you select him/her?

 

I edit my own stuff and it is hard and the least enjoyable part of the process, that’s for sure.  But if you want to be a writer, the more you know about language and grammar and how it works, the better your writing will be.  Think of it as a valuable learning experience.  Or, if you can afford it, you could hire someone from the internet.

 

 

Tell us about the cover and how it came about. Who designed your book cover?

 

I googled a few copyright-free images and fiddled about with them and cleaned them up using Windows Live Photo Gallery, putting colour filters on them, etc.  Luckily, an artist/graphic designer friend of mine – Barry Bulsara – offered to help me and he picked one of the images and put the text on the cover for me and helped me with resizing and other things.  So, I have Barry to thank for the cover, as there’s no way I could have done it by myself.  But you can now hire people quite cheaply on the Internet to help you.

 

 

Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?

 

The cover is incredibly important, more than it should be, as lots of bad books have great covers – it’s pretty misleading.  But it’s the first thing readers see and if your cover’s professional-looking and eye-catching, people will check out your book.  If you write a brilliant book but the cover’s awful, you’re making it hard – if not impossible – to attract readers.

 

 

How are you publishing this book and why? (*e.g. Indie, traditional or both)

 

I am an indie publisher of e-books and hopefully soon paperbacks, too, via Amazon CreateSpace.  In the past, I’ve sent out manuscripts to publishers and agents with no success and some were returned having not even been read.  So, when I finally finished a manuscript I was happy with, I decided to try something different.  I also had a business advisor as part of a government scheme who helped me to get the ball rolling and encouraged me sooner was better than later.

 

 

Why did you choose to self-publish?

 

Previous lack of success from years ago was one factor.  But another was an online book club chat with the brilliant detective turned crime writer, Luke Delaney, author of the Sean Corrigan books.  His confidence e-books are the future of publishing finally convinced me to go the self-publishing route.

 

 

What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around?

 

In my limited experience so far, the main advantage is also the main drawback, in that you have complete control over what you want to write.  But this is a double-edged sword, especially for a new writer, as it’s helpful to have a bit of advice with editing, etc., especially when you’re starting out.  Ideally, I think I’d rather be with a publisher and spend more time writing and less on the publishing side, but that’s just me.

 

 

Would you do it again?

 

I’ve just finished a new standalone psychological thriller which should be out in the near future and I’m also two-thirds of the way through book number three, another standalone, about – among other things – a corrupt cop. 

 

 

Where can we find your book?

 

At the moment, it’s only on sale on Amazon, but I’m looking to expand that soon.

 

 

In what formats is your book available?

 

At the moment, it’s only available as an e-book, but hopefully soon as a paperback.

 

 

How much does it cost?

 

The Good Daughter is 99p to buy in the UK, 99c in the US and free to read if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

 

 

How do you plan to promote your book?

 

I use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, etc. and also plan to run adverts on Amazon, as I’m enrolled in their KDP Select program, which offers extra promotional opportunities in return for three months of exclusivity.  I also have my own blog, where I review crime fiction at: http://wb2010x.wix.com/author-blog.

 

 

Do you have any upcoming projects? How can readers discover more about you and you work?

 

The next book is about a teacher who gets targeted by a highly proficient and seemingly unstoppable serial killer.  You can read about upcoming projects on my blog or go to my Facebook page.

 

 

Please share some advice to help future authors.

 

The best advice I can think of is to just never give up. If you want to write and publish books, you now can thanks to these new opportunities on the Internet.  It seems daunting at first but persevere and you’ll succeed.  And if you write great books and promote them, people will buy them.  In the end, it’s the same as the regular publishing world: It’s word of mouth that ultimately sells book and cream always rises to the top.

 

 

Questions by James Gent.