CRIME AUTHORS SPILL THEIR GUTS ABOUT WRITING. Every Thursday top-notch authors of psychological thrillers and crime fiction share their writing secrets – and the secrets to their success – with you and me.
“Books don’t just flow from authors’ minds; even the most talented, successful writers work incredibly hard”
This week: SUSANNA BEARD author of Dare To Remember
Tell us about yourself…
I’m an introvert with the odd unexpected flash of the extrovert – happy in my own company but only because I know it’s not going to last too long. I’m quite private, sometimes, and pretty sociable, usually.
After a long career in PR, writing to order, I decided to become a novelist and write about whatever I want. I have a vivid imagination and love deep dark stories from Victorian Gothic to contemporary Nordic noir-style tales. After learning the art of creative writing I wrote my first novel, Dare to Remember (published by Legend Press, 1st February, 2017). My goals are to write at least ten more novels – each better than the one before – and not to get old.
I live in Marlow with one of my two sons and my two dogs, who both keep me sane and ensure I don’t become a lounge lizard. I’m proud to have swum with whalesharks and trekked in Nepal, and I believe travel really does open the mind.
How do you pick character names? Do any have special meaning to you?
I try to pick names which sound normal, and are easy to pronounce; I’ve too often heard readers say they skim over names (as in long Russian classics) and so can never remember them. They usually don’t have any special meaning to me, though they become more meaningful as the story unfolds (in other words, the name takes on the character for me in real life!)…TO READ IN FULL, CLICK HERE
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