- Barbara Copperthwaite
‘Every time a book comes back to me for edits, I want to rewrite the entire thing’ Best-
Every Thursday a best-selling writer of crime/psychological thriller shares their secrets and top tips. This week it’s Carol Wyer.
I love… love… love writing from the perspective of the killer and especially those who are turmoiled.
Tell us about yourself…
I’ve started this section ten times and still I don’t know what to say! Why is this so hard? Okay, 11th time lucky… I’m best known for writing crime fiction but I was originally a linguist, teaching languages and translating for companies, and dabbled in writing with a series of educational stories for children aged 3-5, that taught French. I only began writing for the adult market in 2010, when I decided I wanted to create light-hearted reads aimed at the more mature market. My first six novels and three non-fiction books were all comedies, that laughed at life, getting older and all that it entails, and I even moved into stand -up comedy for a while. I toured the Midlands and headlined book festivals with my routine, Smile While You Still have Teeth. In 2017, I tried my hand at crime fiction with Little Girl Lost and after the success of what I expected be a one-off, I never looked back. Since then, I’ve written 14 crime fiction novels all set in Staffordshire, a county that has been my home for over thirty years.
How do you pick character names? Do any have special meaning to you?
I usually have a notebook with me and if I over hear a name I like the sound of or haven’t used before, I jot it down in my book. The same goes for surnames. When I have a character in my head, I go through my lists and see which names best suit that individual. It’s almost like naming a baby!
How long does your first draft take you?
It really depends on where I am on my ‘production line’. I invariably have one book going through… TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK HERE