Authors often get questions about their books and the characters and settings of their stories. I’ve had a few lately so I thought it might be fun if I listed them here with my responses.
Here we go.
When did you start writing and why?
I started writing at the age of nine. I woke my mother up early one morning. She wanted to sleep in so told me to go back to bed and read my books. I told her I had read them all even my new poetry book. She said go back to bed, let me sleep, go write a poem but let me sleep. So, I wrote a poem. I have been writing ever since.
Why do you write mysteries?
Simple – I love mysteries. Especially ones that have historical roots to them. I grew up in Great Britain until I was eight and spent a lot of time in old houses, both spooky ones and friendly ones, and heard people talk about old legends and ghost stories. I was an early reader and loved all the series including, of course, Nancy Drew.
Is Lamb’s Bay based on a real town? Can one go there?
Sorry, Lamb’s Bay is an agglomeration of all I love about towns by the sea and what I would like my dream town to be like. The homes, the characters and particularly the setting are all fiction. But I’m glad I have made them real for my readers.
Are you Hilly? I see bits of you in her characters.
All writers of fiction end up putting a bit of themselves in their books. We write what we know or what we learn through research. No, I am not Hilly but yes, she does have some of my characteristics and opinions.
You talk a lot about Hilly’s dog, Heidi. Do you have a dog?
I used to have dogs but not anymore since I live in a small condo now. But dogs are special to me. I love cats too, but their fur causes respiratory issues for me – as do some breeds of dogs. So, I admire felines from afar. Luckily my family has a lot of big dogs, so I get my dog fix regularly.
Hilly keeps her chocolate chip cookies in the freezer so she won’t binge on them. Is that something you do?
Oh yes that part of Hilly comes from my life. I am a cookie fanatic. I love chocolate chip cookies. Leave a bag around and I will get into it. So, keeping them in the freezer means defrosting the cookies before I can eat them. That tends to remind me that cookie binging is not healthy.
Have you got any questions about Lamb’s Bay and its characters? Feel free to leave a question in the comments space below.
Lamb’ Bay would be a much appreciated haven to run to in these difficult times. One can always dream…