Tag Archives: Bookouture

ANGELA PETCH ON THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY OF RESEARCH

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I felt a weight of responsibility to get my research right for The Girl who Escaped. A main male protagonist is based on my Italian grandfather-in-law and I wanted to respect Luigi’s courage, as well as accurately represent the plight of Jews in Italy.

The first book I consulted was: It happened in Italy, written by an Italo-American lady. Elizabeth Bettina wrote of an internment camp for Jews near her grandparents’ village of Campagna. They’d been treated with kindness and respect. This was a revelation. I had only come across stories of gruesome concentration camps. Did camps like Campagna exist in Tuscany?

I found a camp called Villa Oliveto where archives for internment camps were stored. Brilliant! The hunt was on! I found accounts and photos of this place in the 1940s.

We travelled to the picturesque location set in olive groves near Civitella in Val di Chiana, but the villa, a former orphanage, was closed and archives no longer stored there.

All was not lost, however. I wandered around the building, taking photographs and notes. Then, I came across a puzzling, fading plaque, which told me the villa had once housed British Jews. Extremely puzzled, I asked a local woman who was walking past. But she had no idea. I speak fluent Italian and this helps when researching.

I enjoy a research puzzle and when I discovered the explanation later, it inspired a new character. Bear with me…

A young woman called Shira is a Cyreneican Jew from eastern Libya. (A former Italian colony). After Italy joined the Germans in 1940, many Libyan Jews were sent to concentration camps where they were treated abominably.  Jews lost trust in the Italian government, and began to support the British. The British had first conquered Cyrenaica in December 1940 and abolished Mussolini’s racial laws. Many Jewish men joined the British army and were granted British citizenship. Here was the link I needed.

On April 3rd 1941, Italian and German forces pushed British forces from Benghazi. Jews were arrested by the Italians, especially those who had allied themselves with the enemy, and were sent to the notorious Giado camp. Some Libyan Jews, however, were sent back to Italian camps. I’ve never found the exact reason, but have allowed myself artistic license through detective work. In a brilliant Italian book covering the persecution of Jews in Italy I found possible explanations of why Shira and other Libyan Jews might have landed in Italy, instead of elsewhere.

The Italian government knew about extermination of Jews already by the second half of 1942 – when they’d heard of massacres of Jews in Russia, from word sent home by Italian officers operating on the Eastern front. And foreign Jews who had arrived in Italy, including Hersz Kawa from Siedlce, Poland, had also talked of atrocious treatment too. He and two others had managed to escape in an empty wagon of a train bound for Italy. They spoke to Italian guards who made sure they were sent to an Italian camp, rather than German.  Similar events happened in Vichy France, when French Jews escaped to Italy because they felt they would be better treated.

I’m hoping that the same thing might have happened to those British Libyan Jews mentioned on the plaque. Saved by Italian soldiers acting with conscience.

 

The Girl Who Escaped:  https://geni.us/B0BYC1V9NHcover

 

 

 

 

JANE CABLE INTRODUCES ANGELA PETCH AND THE IDEAS BEHIND THE TUSCAN HOUSE

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I have known Angela since we were both indie authors in Chichester, so the success of her gripping World War Two novels with Bookouture has delighted me more than most.

Every summer she moves to Tuscany for six months where she and her husband own a renovated watermill which they let out to friends and family. When not exploring their unspoilt corner of the Apennines, she disappears to her writing desk at the top of a converted stable. In her Italian handbag or hiking rucksack she always makes sure to store notebook and pen to jot down ideas.

The winter months are spent in Sussex where most of her family live. When Angela’s not helping out with grandchildren, she catches up with writer friends. Obviously we haven’t been able to do so this year, but I am still hoping.

Now, over to Angela.

It’s interesting how new ideas for novels germinate. I love that moment when I am grabbed by an event or a person and the desire to write a story is born. It can come from a newspaper article, an obituary, a photo or from somebody’s memories.

A few years ago, I cut out a magazine article with the title Swatched at birth. When babies were left at the Foundling Hospital in the 18th century, the only things identifying them were tiny scraps of fabric. The details on these swatches spoke to me: “A girl, about one day old, admitted 4 March 1759”. A piece of fabric pinned to her dress with a pattern of blue and burgundy flowers was the only link with this child’s past.

I’ve had this article for more than six years, but it gave rise to a detail in my new novel, to be published April 7th by Bookouture: The Tuscan House.

Similarly, on a shopping trip in Tuscany to our nearest town, I came across a simple exhibition of one family’s possessions. There were several outfits on mannequins and a wide-skirted 1950s dress was perfect for one of my characters. Click, click went my phone. And then I caught sight of a pair of slightly grubby booties. Click, click.  My characters come alive for me through such props and I hope to transmit the same through my words.

Maurice and I were persuaded in September 2013 to take a parish coach trip down to the Maremmana Tuscan coast. Most of the passengers were elderly and this annual Sunday had become a kind of pilgrimage to the past. Up until the 1950s, the men and boys of their families trekked down from our mountains to the sea to find better pastures for their sheep and cattle. I had never heard of the transumanza before (transhumance) and found myself scribbling down their stories. How could families bear to be separated for five long months every year? How did the women cope? What did the men get up to? My imagination went into overdrive. This led to my husband and I planning our own twenty-seven mile walk along part of the route and then another book was written. Originally, I self-published, but Bookouture acquired the rights. A Tuscan Memory  is a bit niche but a book I felt compelled to write.

We have to be in love with the stories we write and hope that our readers love them too.

 

Find out more about Angela and her writing on her blog: https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Writing Process KL SLATER

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After years of unsuccessfully trying to get my stories noticed from the slush pile, I went back to university to study for an MA in Creative Writing at the age of 40. Before graduation I’d secured both a literary agent and a book deal. I’m now a full-time writer and live in Nottingham. Sounds quick but it took a long time, if you count the ten long years of prior rejections.

What you have written, past and present.
I wrote four Young Adult books between 2014-2018, published by Macmillan Children’s Books. Then in 2016 I moved back to writing my first love: adult psychological crime fiction and that’s what I write exclusively today for Hachette’s Bookouture, a digital-first publisher. Audible publish my audiobooks and I’ve also written two Audible Originals exclusively for them. I’ve just written my fifteenth adult thriller.

What you are promoting now.
THE EVIDENCE, a psychological thriller I’ve written exclusively for Audible published 11th February 2021.

A bit about your process of writing.
I work best during the morning. This discipline is a throwback to working a full-time day job and writing between 6-8 am before I went out to work. Sometimes I write in bed immediately after waking and, on a good day, I can get a couple of thousand words down before I get up. But usually, after reading and surfing online for a while, I go downstairs to my office and start work between 8 and 9 am. In pre-lockdown days we’d go out somewhere in the afternoons. Remember that?

Do you plan or just write?
I used to just write a short blurb and that was the extent of my natural urge to plan. But writing commercial thrillers and a few a year, means I now have to plan the book more thoroughly … thoroughly for me, anyway. I’ll do a long outline which I agree with my editor and then add to it as I start writing. I don’t know a lot about the story at the beginning of the process, I just have my initial idea and a sense of how I want it to feel. It doesn’t mean the plot can’t differ from the outline – it nearly always does – but in order to provide the twists and turns the modern reader expects, there has to be some element of planning.

What about word count?
I write a few books a year so it’s essential I’m disciplined about achieving minimum daily word counts when I begin a first draft. I try and get a basic draft down in no more than a couple of months so I’m looking at 1-2k a day. I often add substantial word count during structural and line edits. Sometimes I like to use an app on my phone called Focus Keeper. The ticking timer drives some people crazy but it keeps me … well, focused.

How do you do your structure?
I tend to draft out my initial outline in the form of five acts to start writing to a recognisable shape. But I’m not a slave to a turning point at 10%, another at 25%, that kind of thing. I just find it a useful template to get me started.

What do you find hard about writing?
Stopping. I find it so hard to break off or have a whole day off so I have to force myself as there’s a real world out there and real people I care about and want to spend time with. I’ve found getting out of the house is key to breaking the spell. I’m constantly striving to achieve that illusive but tempting cliché: work-life balance.

What do you love about writing?
I love how the world and characters I’m writing seem so real. I love that I’m earning a great living doing something I would do – and for many years did do – for free. And I love writing digital-first; it’s incredible that 6-8 months after having a new idea, the book can be out there.

Advice for other writers.
Write. Sounds obvious but most writers I know, myself included, have a precarious state of mind that is prone to self-sabotage and procrastination. So many new writers – I used to be one of them – spend too much time striving for perfection instead of getting the book down and then using editing as a powerful tool to refine the story. It’s really hard to get something good the first time around. I like to think of the writing process as a kind of sculpting: starting with a lump of clay and through many stages and revisions, finally ending up with something good.

The Evidence by K.L. Slater is available exclusively on Audible now.

SISTER SCRIBES: JANE CABLE CATCHES UP WITH TAKE FOUR WRITERS’ LUCY AND ANGELA

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Carrying on with our catch up with last year’s Take Four Writers, today it’s the turn of Lucy Coleman and Angela Petch.

Lucy:

This year has flown by and I can’t believe it’s August already – eight months since the last of Jane Cable’s series: ‘Take Four Writers’. As we all catch up, I suspect the main theme running through our updates will be that there are never enough hours in the day. But a writer’s life is never dull, and we are blessed!

Writing as Lucy Coleman, by the end of 2019 I will have had two new books out this year with Aria Fiction, the second of which is ‘Magic Under the Mistletoe’ due out on 5 September. Set in the hamlet of Porthkerry, near Cardiff, it begins in a snowstorm. It was inspired by the heavy snowfall in December 2017, which turned much of the UK into a winter wonderland.

A new publishing contract with Boldwood Books will see the first of six novels published over the next two years, beginning with the release of ‘A Springtime to Remember’ in December 2019. The story is set in Versailles, a place that is very dear to my heart.

I’ve also recently returned to blogging and my monthly feature ‘The Happiness Factor’ covers tips on motivation and generally surviving the ups and downs of a busy life. Also fun things – interior design tips, home spa pampering, the aesthetics of your workspace if you work from home, and my best buys. A treat doesn’t need to break the bank, but it can lift the spirits.

I don’t ‘endorse’ products, but share things I’ve purchased which make me smile, or have helped me. One of my best buys recently was a back brace I wear when typing, which has taken away my spells of backache!

If you get a moment, do drop by my website https://linnbhalton.co.uk/the-happiness-factor-blog/ and check it out.

Angela:

The Tuscan Secret was published by Bookouture on June 26th, after rigorous editing. At first I panicked at the structural changes suggested. I had written this book originally in 2012 and had to reacquaint myself with the story. But then I settled and began to enjoy the challenge. Today my editor told me it has sold just shy of 10,000. I could never have imagined that figure as a self-published author. (There’s also been a knock-on sales increase of my other books).

This week I sent my first draft to my editor of the second commissioned Tuscan novel, and the editorial roundabout will again whir into action. Hopefully, what I learned from the first round will ease the process.

Downsides:

  • I’m at least half a stone heavier from spending many hours sitting in front of my laptop.
  • I am developing bad posture.
  • My hubby says my head’s in another world half the time. (It is!)

Positives:

  • I’m loving what I’m doing. There was never enough time to concentrate on my writing before. It’s fun to live in a “what-if” world.
  • I have made great new friends in the writing community.
  • I’m gaining self-belief.
  • Far from being escapist, I firmly believe that writing helps me connect more with the world.

We all know that very few authors make a mint. It would be great to have more pennies and pounds in my bank account… but money is not the only measure of happiness. Connecting with readers (even with those who give less than shining reviews) makes all those hours of being hunched over my writing; all those hours of my head feeling it’s going to burst, my eyes squinty and itching — all worth it. Hand on heart.

 

BUSINESS OF BOOKS: TAKE FOUR WRITERS – DIVIDING, EDITING, DREAMING AND TOURING

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CLAIRE DYER: DIVIDING

This month I’d like to talk about my ‘other’ life. I see myself as both a poet and a novelist and people often ask which I prefer being. My answer is always that I like them both the same. However, there are big differences in the way poetry and fiction are published and so this does inevitably alter things.

For a start a poem is a constantly changing thing. Even when it’s been in print, a poet can change elements of his/her poem when it’s republished or collated in a collection. Secondly, putting together a collection takes YEARS! Novelists think it takes an age to get a book published, but collections of poetry can take mini-lifetimes. My last one, ‘Interference Effects’ kindly published by the very wonderful Two Rivers Press took five years from being a spark in my eye to a book in my hand.

The collection I’m working on at the moment contains poems first written in 2014, the manuscript is due to be delivered to the very wonderful Two Rivers Press in June 2020 and it will be a further year or so before possible publication. And this is fine because it takes patience, love and a whole heap of courage to be a poet. However, all this fades to nothing when a line comes that sets your hairline fizzing or you stand in front of an audience and read something that makes them laugh, gasp or (even better) weep.

Poetry books may be slim, time-consuming, delicate and easily lost in the noise of mass paperback sales, but they are things of beauty nonetheless.

 

LUCY COLEMAN: COUNTING

Finally welcoming in the good news this month, as a loved one is out of intensive care. It feels like a dark shadow has been lifted and the sun can shine again. Miracles can happen!

I’ve hardly moved from my desk with line edits and a cover reveal for A Greek Affair, in preparation for its release on the 28 December 2018 by Harper Impulse. And copy edits for The Writing Retreat on the Italian Lake, due for release on 5 February 2018 by Aria Fiction.

And my first audio book, for The French Adventure, is due out on 29 November 2018.

The good news keeps on coming and there’s even more, but authors get used to sitting on things for a while. So, my lips are sealed. But after the darkest of Octobers, I feel that Christmas has come early and I’m truly counting my blessings!

 

ANGELA PETCH: DREAMING

What about a monthly report starting with:  I’ve been dozing in my hammock on the island of Zanzibar, wondering what to do next. Ha ha! More like – I’ve been wondering how on earth to tackle my to-do list.

“Mavis and Dot” are on a blog tour and I’m relieved my two ladies/babies are appealing to readers. When you read comments from complete strangers like: “I could really see this gem of a book as a fantastic movie…”; “A must read…”; “This book was a total joy from beginning to end…” your heart has to sing. It justifies hours of sitting hunched over a pc. This month has been a mine-field of formatting issues but lovely authors have helped.

But I’m a hybrid and have just come off the phone from a chat with my editor at Bookouture. No peace for the wicked: I have major edits to carry out on my re-write of “Tuscan Roots”.

Where’s that hammock?

 

JACKIE BALDWIN: TOURING

November has been fairly busy as I have been on a Deadly Intent tour around some of the many libraries in Dumfries and Galloway with my partner in crime, Lucy Cameron. It’s been a lot of fun getting out and about to meet readers and some of the libraries have totally spoiled us. In Wigtown, for example, we were all treated to freshly baked scones with jam and cream!

As part of Book Week Scotland, we’re reading along with some other authors at a gin/rum night at The Selkirk Arms in Kirkcudbright, which, coincidentally, is where my second novel, Perfect Dead, is set.

On 29th November, I’ll be on a wee jaunt to Edinburgh for Noir at the Bar which is always a fun night and a chance to discover some great new crime authors.

Finally, I’m pleased to report that my third novel is firmly back on track after all the thrashing about with it last month. I’ve now nailed down the plot which nearly got the better of me and I’m pushing on through the first draft.

See you next month!

 

 

 

BUSINESS OF BOOKS: TAKE FOUR WRITERS – CONNECTING, SIGNING, RETREATING

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LUCY COLEMAN… CONNECTING

My second novel writing as Lucy Coleman for Aria Fiction is now staring back at me from my bookshelf. And I will admit that it’s still a huge thrill for me, even though it’s my thirteenth.

Snowflakes Over Holly Cove begins and ends at Christmas, but the year in between is an emotional rollercoaster.

The first reviews are in and one reviewer said it brought tears to her eyes. Why? Because of the mention of eggnog in one emotional scene.

In real life it’s the little memories that often attach themselves to the silliest of things. In this story, for the character Tia, it reminds her of her mother… and the sentiment and connection touched that reviewer’s heart, too.

An author can’t ask for any more than that. I’m feeling truly blessed and reminded why I write. And that is reader power. Reviews touch authors’ hearts, too!

 

ANGELA PETCH… SIGNING

Whoops! It’s been quite a month and I almost missed my Frost deadline. (Visions of ed, visor pulled down to cover glower, tapping fingers on her desk…sorry!)

I’m now officially a hybrid author. I can’t explain how happy I feel to have signed a two-book deal with the Bookouture “family”, as they describe their publishing team. My first novel is to be edited and reissued June 2019 and a new Tuscan novel, released April 2020. They have been understanding about deadlines. How lucky am I?

I’m exchanging ideas with my cover designer for “Mavis and Dot”, but as soon as I self-publish and launch on December 1st, then it is action stations with Bookouture. I’m so excited.

Other news: a successful first “Write Away in Tuscany” ended five days ago – exhausting but exhilarating. Eight writers travelled to our corner of Tuscany and we shared scrumptious Italian food and writing sessions. We are running it next year with modified content. Bring on 2019…

 

CLAIRE DYER… RETREATING

Last month I went on a writing retreat at Tŷ Newydd in North Wales (http://www.literaturewales.org/our-projects/ty-newydd/). It was the sixth time I’d spent time there, having previously attended both poetry and prose tutored workshops. This one was slightly different in that there was no formal element to the week. Our facilitator, Julia Forester, gently guided us, provided the chance to have one-on-one chats with her and ran a couple of sessions on submitting work and managing our time. The rest of the week was spent blissfully either working on our current projects, walking the footpath down to the beach, visiting local places of interest, chatting to one another over cups of tea or swimming in the sea. The food and company were both delicious.

My aim in going was to work on some poems I hope will form the basis of a new collection. The subject matter was hard and painful. In addition, my home life, rather than retreating to a safe distance and leaving me alone, intruded when both of my children had issues they wanted mum-input on and, seeing that being a mum is my main job and being a writer is my second job, I had to respond.

And what did this prove? We may go on retreat but we take our real lives with us. The writer’s life means we have to fit our writing in around other stuff and that this other stuff informs our writing. An ivory tower might sound a nice idea, but I think one would be both impractical and uninspiring!

 

JACKIE BALDWIN… DRAFTING

Hello again! Another busy month. I’ve been getting on with the first draft of book 3 in my DI Frank Farrell series. It always takes me a while to get into the rhythm of writing a new book but I’ve settled into it now and at the exciting stage where I don’t yet quite know what’s going to happen!

On 5th September, I was up in Edinburgh to read an extract from my work at’ Noir at the Bar.’ It was a criminally good night with a great variety of crime writers both published and unpublished.

This weekend I was at ‘Bloody Scotland’ in Stirling. It provides a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make some new ones in the crime writing and crime reading fraternities. A particular highlight was the Pitch Perfect Session where eight writers have exactly three minutes to convince a panel of agents and publishers that they must read their book.

See you next month!

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS: TELLING THE WORLD – Jane Cable meets Bookouture publicist Kim Nash

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What is your book related job?

I work as Publicity and Social Media Manager at Bookouture (www.bookouture.com). It’s my job to let the world know about our books and authors whether this be through traditional media such as magazines and newspapers or in the online arena so in online magazines or via our social media channels.   I spend tons of time on social media too, sharing all our fabulous news and books and reviews.

When I was a little girl my dream was to work at a book publisher because I thought you got to sit and read books all day long and that’s what a book publisher did. Now most of my friends and family think that I actually do that, but I can assure everyone that any reading I do is in my own time as my job is packed all day long with promotional work. I’m very lucky to be working in my dream job though, which I absolutely adore. I thank my lucky stars every single day!

 

What is the most rewarding part of it?

There are SO many rewarding parts of my job. To see a book get a high profile ranking in the charts and the excitement that causes. Seeing authors give up their jobs to write full time, and knowing that we’ve been an integral part of them achieving their dreams. Helping an author to release their stories into the world and get readers reading them. Knowing that we’ve produced books that our readers love and introducing new authors to our readers.

What do you consider to be your major successes?

My personal success was to win Media Star of the Year at last year’s RNA awards.   It was an absolute honour to be even nominated for such a prestigious award let alone win it. And made even more special that Bookouture won Publisher of the Year on the same evening! A double whammy!

 

Have you always loved books, and what are you reading at the moment?

Yes, I’ve absolutely always loved books from reading Enid Blyton books as a child and wanting to be part of the Famous Five and wanting to fly away on that Wishing Chair and travel to the Magic Faraway Tree, to growing up and reading (and crying) to many Danielle Steele novels and being reprimanded by my mom for reading well into the night.

Last night I finished a novella by Miranda Dickinson called Christmas in St Ives which was wonderful and the prequel to Miranda’s book which is out next summer which I now cannot wait to get my hands on. Before that I read a Bookouture book called Last Cry by Anna-lou Weatherley, which was phenomenal. It’s a new crime series featuring Detective Dan Riley (who I think I fell a tiny bit in love with) and is a diversion for Anna-lou with this new series, but she’s done it so brilliantly. I’m so lucky to work for a company who publish the most talented authors and I love to read as many of the Bookouture books as I can, and certainly the ones that I’m working on, so that I can genuinely share the book love.

Being a book blogger in my spare time (of which there’s not an awful lot) and also being part of a book podcast, and running a book club too, I do try to alternate between Bookouture books and also other novels that are written published by other incredible authors and publishers.

 

Mom to ten year old Ollie, publicity and social media manager at Bookouture, Kim Nash lives in Staffordshire. Kim also co-runs a local book club, co-hosts a book podcast and also

Business of Books: Jane Cable talks to Barbara Copperthwaite, Bookouture’s latest best-selling author

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Business of Books: Planning for successJane Cable talks to Barbara Copperthwaite, Bookouture’s latest best-selling author

How much of your working life does the business of books take up?

It’s almost a 50/50 split. A huge part of the business of books is social media activity. Networking with fellow authors and bloggers, and interacting with readers is so important. It builds relationships, and ultimately I believe that the business of books is about people. Marketing takes up a huge chunk of time, be it generating original content for your own website and blog (I have both, as I find they service slightly different purposes and appeal to different people) or writing guest posts for others to use. Of course, the rest of the time is spend actually writing the books!

 

What’s your business model to earn a living from writing?

I always remember my dad telling me that a new business takes an average of two years to make a profit. I went into self-publishing my books with that in the back of my mind, and very much thinking of it as an entrepreneurial venture. I ensured I had enough money behind me to survive for two years without making any profit at all. It’s been tough, but I had a three-year plan in mind – self-publish for two years, make a name for myself, make contacts, then get a publishing deal.

I was stupidly naïve though. I’d never had a Twitter or Facebook account, and no clue that book reviewers even existed online, let alone had such huge influence. Despite that, my first book, Invisible, became a genre bestseller on Amazon. Flowers For The Dead, my second novel, built on that success, becoming not just a genre bestseller but a bestseller, proper – largely because I had by then built up a small but genuine following on social media. Incidentally, for those who dismiss social media as unimportant, you are missing its point. It is not about shouting continually about how great your book is and why people must buy it. It’s about genuinely engaging with people.

All of this begs the question: if I was doing so well, why did I want a publishing deal? Because I know enough about business to realise I am not a natural business person. I have the knowledge and drive to get me so far, but I’m not capable of pushing myself to the next level. The most successful self-published authors I know are not just brilliant writers, but brilliant business people, too. They are great with numbers, marketing, and all manner of other things. I’m not – I’m a writer. Of all the publishers, the one that appealed most to me was Bookouture, a digital only publisher that is growing quickly, has a reputation for picking winners, and is really making waves in the industry (so much so that they were recently acquired by Hachette). I was lucky enough to be taken on by them after submitting my third novel, The Darkest Lies.

I have to add that the fact everything in my three-year plan has actually happened has taken me hugely by surprise, as I honestly thought it was probably a pipe dream.

 

What do you write and what do you consider to be your major successes?

 

I write psychological thrillers with a dark edge. I like to explore how ordinary people cope when they find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, what can push someone to kill, how a person can be manipulated without them realizing it. I always say that I write ‘whydunits’ rather than ‘whodunits’.

 

My major successes don’t necessarily have anything to do with selling a lot of books. It might sound cheesy, but every single time someone tells me they’ve enjoyed one of my books, is a success. Becoming a bestseller for the first time was absolutely incredible, as was being signed by my agent, and being offered my book deal (there was a lot of shouting and jumping up and down in excitement when I got that email!). Beating Lee Child to be chosen as the Sunday Mirror’s Choice Read was definitely a feather in my cap – little old indie author me, beating a multi-million selling, global author. Being contacted by a number of women who have told me how realistic my portrayal of an emotionally abusive relationship is in Invisible. All those things mean the world to me. They are the sort of thing I used to day dream about, and hoped might happen, but never dared believe they would. In which case, fact that my dreams are coming true has to be my biggest success.

Tell me about your latest project.

The Darkest Lies has just been published. When teenager Beth Oak is found beaten almost to the point of death, her mother, Melanie is determined to find the attacker. Someone in the village must have seen something. Why won’t they talk?

I’ve just finished writing a psychological thriller set within a seemingly normal family in the run up to Christmas. As the festive day draws closer, tension grows towards an explosive ending where nothing is as it seems. That will be out in September.

And, because I like to keep busy, I’ve just started a novel featuring a journalist who finds herself drawn reluctantly into investigating a serial killer who seems to be linked to her.

 

Barbara Copperthwaite is the best-selling author of psychological thrillers Invisible, Flowers For The Dead, and The Darkest Lies. Her first two novels were self-published, and she has now signed with Bookouture, an imprint of Hachette. When not writing, she likes to hide behind a camera and photograph wildlife.