Interview With Author Lucy Lyons
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I started writing when I was 15 and completed my first book on an electric typewriter and carbon paper! Since then, I have written fantasy novels, and contemporary novels with a touch of magic.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I’m often asked where I came up with my idea for The Finding Machine. I get a great deal of inspiration from film and TV. The idea for my book started percolating while I was watching ‘Superman’ (for the umpteenth time). I started thinking what superhero power I’d have, if I could have anything. The ability to fly? Healing people? I couldn’t come up with anything that felt right for a novel. Co-incidentally, the next night, I watched the excellent Mackenzie Crook in ‘Dectectorists’ and that’s when it hit me. Finding things. And not necessarily treasure.
My friend’s cat had just gone missing, and despite putting up posters and searching the neighbourhood, she never saw him again and was completely devastated. What she was feeling was bad enough, but I couldn’t help thinking – what if she hadn’t lost a cat, but a child or family member? That’s when the germ of an idea grew into a novel. But I didn’t want my main character Alex to be superpowered. I wanted her to be a regular girl. In fact, I wanted her to be a bit of a loser. The machine is the incentive she needs to get out there and make something of herself.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t say I do.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read so broadly, I could fill pages and pages. Some stand out authors for me are Peter James, Bill Bryson, John Grisham and J P Delaney.
What are you working on now?
The follow-up to The Finding Machine, where my amateur sleuth, Alex, works alongside Hertfordshire Police to solve a series of missing person cases.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
You can sign up for my newsletter at my website and I will keep in touch with you. And you get my free book, too!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Network and ask each other questions. Chill out. It’s a long game and no matter how slow things seem, just keep writing.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Listen to your inner voice when it comes to choosing what you want to write. Not what is popular, or what doesn’t sing to you.
What are you reading now?
Just Got Real by Jane Fallon.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Who knows? That’s what’s so exciting about it!
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?
Neither Here nor There by Bill Bryson, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and any Peter James novel.
Author Websites and Profiles
Lucy Lyons’s Social Media Links