- Barbara Copperthwaite
What’s Their Secret? Frances Vick @franvicksays confesses! #HerLastSecret
To celebrate #HerLastSecret going on sale, I’ve asked authors to share their secrets with me… Today it’s BAD LITTLE GIRL author Frances Vick.
The only child of parents who worked at a top security psychiatric hospital, Frances Vick grew up receiving disquieting notes and presents from the inmates. Expelled from school, she spent the next few years on the dole, augmenting her income by providing security and crewing for gigs, and being a medical experiment guinea pig. Later jobs included working in a theatre in Manhattan, teaching English in Japanese Junior High Schools, and being a life model in Italy, before coming back to London and working with young offenders and refugees. Her bestselling novel Bad Little Girl came out in February 2017. A new novel will be out in January 2018.
Secret writing ritual…
I turn off the radio/TV/music and meditate for twenty minutes.
Secret writing snack…
Edamame.
Secret celebration when you finish a WIP…
I listen to a lot of James Brown and drink a lot of fizzy wine
‘Guilty secret’ read…
Nancy Reagan- the Unauthorised Biography by Kitty Kelley
‘Guilty secret’ tv programme…
I watch Judge Judy every day without fail. Love her!
Shared secret…
I climbed Mount Fuji in the dark and got to the summit just as the sun came up.
Secret peek into your new WIP…
It was Saturday. 9 o’clock and not a sound. No-one was getting into their car. There were no breakfast radio shows, no sharp, parental annoyance on the school run, no mutinous mutterings from their children. The woman bent slowly, stiffly, placed Huck on the ground and unfastened the lead from his collar
‘There you go now. Have a run about.’ But the dog seemed dubious, and his breath formed little husky puffs as he sniffed suspiciously at the snow. He looked round at the woman, as if this weather was a personal insult she’d visited on him.
‘Dafty! Go on!’ The woman prodded his backside with one wellington boot. The dog sighed, put up one, hesitant paw, and plunged into the snow.
She smiled, watching his little tail bobbing up and down. Mornings made her happy. The quiet made her happy. She would pay for it later, she knew: the cold wouldn’t do her rheumatism any good, but it was worth it. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply in the frigid air.
Huck barked then. It was his ‘Look at this!’ bark.
His tail stood straight as an exclamation point, and he whimpered and growled at something in the snow. As the woman moved forwards she saw a scrap of pink material fluttering near a bone-white foot; then greying brown hair and one, open eye fixed, the eyelashes weighed with snow. The head was twisted, casting an impossible gaze at her own back, and as the woman stared at the face of her neighbour, a frightened sob escaped her, and hearing this, Huck whimpered, and gave one panicked bark. The world started again
‘Huck! Huck, away! Now!’ Together they backed away from the body and moved as quickly as they could, back to the warm house and the telephone.
On the way back, the snow started falling again. By the time the police came, both dead eyes were filled with it..
Secret Santa…
I’d make Billy Fisher get on the train to London at the end of Billy Liar.
THANKS FOR THOSE GREAT CONFESSIONS, FRANCES!
HER LAST SECRET is out on Friday 13th October. Lucky for you – unlucky for the Thomas family…
To pre-order or find our more, use the links below.
UK
US
There are some secrets you can never tell.
The last thing to go through Dominique Thomas’s head was the image of her teenage daughter’s face and her heart lifted. Then the shot rang out.
They were the perfect family. Successful businessman Ben Thomas and his wife Dominique live an enviable life, along with their beautiful children; teenager Ruby and quirky younger daughter, Mouse.
But on Christmas Day the police are called to their London home, only to discover a horrific scene; the entire family lying lifeless, victims of an unknown assailant.
But when Ruby’s diary is discovered, revealing her rage at the world around her, police are forced to look closer to home for the key to this tragedy.
Each family member harboured their own dark truths – but has keeping their secrets pushed Ruby to the edge of sanity? Or are there darker forces at work?
This dark, gripping psychological thriller will have you holding your breath until the very last page. Fans of Behind Closed Doors, Sometimes I Lie, and The Girl on the Train will be captivated.
See what readers are saying about Barbara Copperthwaite:
‘My heart and guts were gripped and squeezed so tight I had trouble reading!…This broke my heart into so many pieces…I was left speechless by the flawless narration and the harrowing emotions that rushed through me until the very end.’ Chocolate and Waffles
‘A darkly addictive and creepy page turner that had me on the edge of my seat…the last few chapters were breathtakingly shocking with developments I hadn’t been expecting and the final pages were absolutely brilliant, leaving me with goosebumps!’ My Chestnut Reading Tree
‘Compelling, claustrophobic and horribly believable – a great read!’ B.A. Paris, author of Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown
‘It grips you by the throat and doesn’t let go. A tense, edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting ride’Robert Bryndza, author of The Girl in the Ice and Last Breath
‘Vividly written and absolutely gripping. I couldn’t put it down!’ The Genre Reader
‘There are plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing, leading all the way to a jaw-dropping ending that left me spinning.’ Novel Deelights
‘Gripping and shocking. Had me completely enthralled in the action…a story that got under my skin.’ Rachel’s Random Reads
‘A dark, compelling and unforgettable read that had me hooked. The final paragraph haunted me, long after I had finished reading.’ Brew and Books Review
‘Addictive, Thrilling, Captivating! I could not put this book down, it captures your interest from the very first page until the very last.’ Book Reviews by Nicole
‘It really did make for some very emotional reading…There was a twist which totally rocked me.’ By The Letter Book Reviews
‘Plenty of red herrings and twists…If you like psychological thrillers, you’ll love it.’ Consumer reviewer