“Even though I’d had the end in mind since the beginning, it actually changed when I came to write it.”
CRIME AUTHORS SPILL THEIR GUTS ABOUT WRITING. Every Thursday topnotch authors of psychological thrillers and crime fiction share their writing secrets – and the secrets to their success – with you and me.
This week: SAM CARRINGTON
Tell us about yourself…
I’m a newbie author and my debut novel, SAVING SOPHIE is published by Avon/HarperCollins – the ebook is available on 12th August and the paperback will follow on 15th December.
I live in a lovely Devon village where I have been all my life. I’m not sure if it’ll ever let me go! I spent the majority of my pre-writing years working at a local hospital as an Auxiliary Nurse before I undertook my registered Nurse training, then I left to join the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator. I started writing short stories as a hobby in 2010, but it wasn’t until I left the prison service at the end of 2013 that I began writing more seriously and decided to write a novel. My first attempt gained the attention of my agent, but it was my second – which became Saving Sophie and was longlisted for the 2015 CWA Debut Dagger award – that swung it for her, and she signed me!
How do you pick character names? Do any have special meaning to you?
I find choosing character names quite difficult. I try to avoid using names of people I know well, and those of my children’s friends. I did manage to avoid such names in the early drafts, but when the novel was completed and it came to choosing titles, it ended up that I renamed some characters – and Sophie does happen to be a name of several people I know! To come up with names I search baby names lists on the internet, and I also walk through the churchyard – and certain names on headstones might… TO READ IN FULL, PLEASE CLICK HERE
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