Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a wife and mother to two incredible teenagers and live in the beautiful East of England. In my life B.C. (before children!) I practised as a solicitor, specialising in litigation. My career satisfied my passion for words, for medical matters minus the gore and for winning arguments!
In 2020, after a long illness which I’ve never quite got over fully, I took the plunge and wrote a first draft novel as part of National Novel Writing month (NaNoWriMo).
I drew inspiration from my legal background, and traditional mystery writers such as Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to pen a fast-paced murder mystery, The Death of Knowledge.
This is the first of what I hope is many books to come!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Death of Knowledge grew from the fact that theatres and the arts were closed down by the pandemic. I wondered what it would be like to live in a society where the creative arts were considered dangerous and thus rendered illegal.
From that spark of an idea it wasn’t hard to imagine how the citizens of that society might react to that scenario and the consequences were murderous!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write by dictating into my phone. I see the scene in my head as if I were looking down on the action from above.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
SO many amazing authors and books to choose from! C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, Margaret Attwood, Bernard Cornwell, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens… the list is endless.
Books are the one constant in my life!
What are you working on now?
I’m deep into the first draft of the next in the mystery series, The Death of Light, Book 2.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Your own mailing list is the no. 1 promotional tool and I love connecting with readers that way too.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’m new myself so I’m not sure I’m qualified to give any?!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘It takes 10 years to make an overnight success’. Can’t remember who said it, but writing and publishing is a long game, so chip away every day at your goals and never give up.
What are you reading now?
J.D. Robb, ‘Naked In Death’. I love the fact that this is a crime thriller but set in the future. A brilliant genre twist, not dissimilar from The Death of Knowledge, which is a mystery that takes place in a fictional setting.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing every day! Finish The Death of Light and then I have another project I’ve started which is a more traditional cozy, set near to where I live in the East of England.
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?
Tess of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
The Northern Lights Trilogy, Philip Pullman (is that cheating?)
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
Author Websites and Profiles
Lou Collins Website
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