Today I have Lynda Stacey on my blog. Â With two successful books under her belt, I invited her along to chat about her pathway to publication, her writing and what we can expect from her next…
Hi Lynda and welcome. Can I begin by asking you what made you want to become a writer?
Wow… what a good question. I don’t know really. As a child I spent a lot of time reading and getting lost in the written word. Then, when I was around 12 years old, I got a typewriter one Christmas and I use sit for hours making up little stories. At 14, my English teacher used to praise my stories and it gave me a real boost. He advised me to write for a living… it only took me another 30 years to take his advice.
I guess things could have turned out differently if I’d been bought a chemistry set instead of a typewriter…!
You joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme. Did it help your writing and would you recommend it as a route for budding novelists?
Absolutely. The Romantic Novelists’ Association is amazing. I love the people. It’s like being part of a huge family where you immediately inherit around 200 sisters and a few brothers. Each and every person in the association, without exception has been welcoming, and full of advice. I doubt that I’d be published without them.
The moment you got the call to say you had won Choc Lit’s Search for a Star what was your reaction?
I was still at work, and I wanted tell my husband first. So, I had to wait until I got home to break the news. Of course we opened bubbly and if I’m honest I think I went into ‘happy dancing’ mode for at least a month after.
What inspired you to write Tell Me No Secrets?
This novel was actually the very first book I ever wrote. It started out as a very different book and initially it was about a stolen child, inspired by the Madeleine McCann story. However, everyone who read the initial pages all loved the private detective, Kate Duggan and it soon became very apparent that it should be her story. The whole plot was changed and although I’d already given her the scar on her face, I then needed the back story as to how she’d got it. Needless to say, this novel is nothing like the original one,
Who is your favourite author and have they had any influence on your writing?
Ohhhh that’s a really hard question, I have a lot of author friends and I love them all.
So for me, it’s like asking me to choose a favourite child.
If Tell Me No Secrets were to be made into a movie who would you like to play Kate and Ben? Also have you also anyone in mind for Kate’s mother?
Kate would be someone like Michelle Keegan, she’s normal, down to earth and real.
Ben would most probably be someone like Bradley Cooper, he’s lush.
Kate’s mum is a hard one. I love Kelly Bishop who played Emily Gilmour in the Gilmour Girls. She’d be perfect.
What is next for you? Have you begun writing book 3 yet? If so can you tell us a little about it?
I’m currently writing a sequel to House of Secrets, which is difficult. I’d never intended to write one, so I’ve had to take a slightly different angle on it. I am however enjoying visiting the old characters and bringing them back to life.
Can a secret be worse than a lie?
Every time Kate Duggan looks in a mirror she is confronted by her guilt; a long, red scar reminding her that she was ‘the one to walk away’ from the car accident. Not everyone was so lucky …
On the surface her fiancé Rob is supportive – but the reality is different. He’s controlling, manipulative and, if the phone call Kate overhears is anything to go by, he has a secret. But just how dangerous is that secret?
When Kate begins work at a firm of private investigators, she meets Ben Parker. His strong and silent persona is intriguing but it’s also a cover – because something devastating happened to Ben, something he can’t get over.
As Kate and Ben begin their first assignment, they become close. But, what they don’t realise is how close to home the investigation will bring them, or who will be hurt in the process …
BUY LINKS:
Amazon.co.uk http://amzn.eu/iYKsqDv
Amazon.com http://a.co/gxFX11b
JO LAMBERT 