Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m proud to be a native of North-east Scotland, whose diverse natural beauty and rich history provide the backdrop to my debut novel. In a previous life, I was a magazine editor, journalist and business writer, but now I have the good fortune to be able to focus on writing fiction and exploring the great outdoors in a motor home with my husband and terrier.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
And I Am You is an atmospheric psychological thriller set in Aberdeen and along Bram Stoker’s much-loved Buchan coast, and tells the sinister story of what happens when a lonely academic and a ruthless investigative journalist volunteer for an illicit body-swap experiment pioneered by an eminent Edinburgh neurosurgeon.
It might sound far-fetched, but the idea that a person’s consciousness could somehow be implanted into another person’s body is as old as humankind and it has fascinated me ever since I took a short course in personal identity while studying Philosophy and English at the University of Aberdeen during the early 1980s. The book is not so much about the philosophical arguments – I’ll leave those to the academics! – but about what happens when ordinary people become caught up in a discovery with such earth-shattering implications. Of course, their own, all-too-human agendas get in the way and that’s where the thriller element comes in…
The story was heavily influenced by my love of the North-east Scottish coastline and our many enjoyable dog-walking excursions around Old Aberdeen, Cruden Bay, Slains Castle, and the Bullers of Buchan – dramatic locations which feature in the novel.
Also inspirational was my time as editor of Aberdeen International Airport’s consumer magazine, which gave me a fantastic opportunity to explore and write about the North-east’s rich heritage and culture for the tourism market. Our region is beautiful, diverse – and sometimes a complete revelation to those visitors who have resisted the temptation to bypass it, as, sadly, so many do while visiting Scotland. My job was to help inspire tourists to stick around and experience, for example, the wealth of castles, golf courses, beaches, woodland and whisky-trail attractions available here.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so… With my background in freelance journalism and editing, I’ve had to be very disciplined in how I work, so I tend to write during the day, rather than in the middle of the night, and I like to write at home, in familiar surroundings, rather than sitting in cafes or unusual locations. Boring, I know, but that’s what suits me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many! I’ve always been drawn to novels evoking a strong sense of place. The Bronte Sisters, Thomas Hardy, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Daphne du Maurier and Lewis Grassic Gibbon are among my favourite classic authors; all were masters at using weather and setting to create atmosphere. Dean Koontz is another, contemporary, favourite of mine – his lyrical descriptions of storms are to die for 😉
What are you working on now?
The fact that And I Am You is attracting five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads is encouraging me to continue the story I began three years ago, and I’m now planning the sequel. My three main characters have many more adventures ahead and I can’t wait to find out what they are!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m only just learning the art of book promotion and time will tell whether my early efforts to have my first novel promoted on the very many excellent sites out there are going to be worthwhile. Of course, Awesome Gang offers a fantastic opportunity, with its Author Interviews spot!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stop talking about it and just write.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be true to yourself. My father – a print and television journalist, historian and author – gave me that advice at the outset of my career, and I’ve lived by it ever since.
What are you reading now?
I’ve just started Scott Turow’s Identical – the ninth in a series of excellent ‘courtroom dramas’ that are so very much more than that. At the same time, I’ve just started an audiobook version of Anatomy of a Scandal, by Sarah Vaughan, which is shaping up to be a great listen.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m looking forward to improving my skills by writing as regularly as possible, and hopefully getting out there to meet more of those lovely people who have taken the time to read and enjoy my first novel.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Don’t make me choose!! Oh, all right, here goes: Tess of the d’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy; I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith; To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. But there are so many more… Can’t I take my Kindle?
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