Author Q&A: Holly Seddon author of Don't Close Your Eyes tells all about her perfect writing place, her writing routines and the fictional hero she's just dying to meet!
It is with great pleasure that I
welcome Holly Seddon
author of
Don't Close Your Eyes
to be warped on
The Crime Warp today!
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| Available on Amazon Click here |
Liz: Tell us a bit about your current book release
Holly: Don’t Close Your Eyes tells the story of twin sisters,
Robin and Sarah. Once close, their childhood experiences and different
personalities split them apart but now, in danger of losing everything, they
need each other. At least, they think they do…
Liz: Oooh deliciously
enigmatic!
If any of your books were ever to be televised or made
into a film who would you like
to play
your main character and why?
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| Available on Amazon Click here |
Holly: If Try Not to Breathe, was televised I
think Jessica Raine would be amazing as Alex Dale, my troubled journalist.
Jessica played Georgia Trotman in Line of Duty and as soon as she came on the
screen, I was like “Oh, that’s Alex!”
Robin Marshall from Don’t Close Your Eyes, in my head,
looks a lot like a rock n’roll version of Rizzo from Grease. Which isn’t
exactly a real person and I’m pretty sure Stockard Channing wouldn’t be up for
it!
Liz: Is there a subsidiary character you have created and are particularly fond of
and why?
Holly: Callum Granger from Don’t Close Your Eyes. He’s really
the third pillar, even though he doesn’t get chapters from his own point of
view. At times, he was really fun to write and at others he broke me heart to
the point where I had to stop writing for a bit.
Liz; Where is your favourite place to write and why?
Hollu: I have a little office at home, but I share it with the washing machine and tumble dryer so I tend to write at the dining table or
on the sofa. My household is ridiculously noisy – four kids and a dog – so I
crave silence and solitude. The place I’ve been most happy writing in – and
this is very
specific – was a hotel called L’Ermitage in LA. Way beyond my own
budget, I hasten to add, but I joined my husband on a work trip when I was six
months pregnant and while he had meetings, I sat next to the pool on the
rooftop, pinching myself and writing the book that is going to be book three…
I’d love to click my heels together and revisit that moment quite often.
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| L'Ermitage Hotel LA |
Liz: Do you have a particular writing routine you follow?
Holly: It’s a hodge podge that’s very dependent on childcare.
It’s the summer holidays currently and my youngest son’s day care is closed
this week so I’ve had to accept I’m not going to write anything of my work in
progress. It feels like some kind of hell!
Ordinarily I write when my son is in part time day
care and, if my husband is away, in the evenings too. I used to write in my
little one’s naptime but he decided to stop napping just before the summer
holidays. Argh!
Liz: If you weren’t a writer what would you like to do?
Holly: I hate being stuck in an office, and I love the outdoors and being by myself. Maybe a park ranger? Except I also
really dislike
having a boss (I presume park rangers have a chain of command) so maybe I’d
have my own smallholding instead. Either way, I’d have muddy hands, I suspect.
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| Holly the Park Keeper? |
Liz: Which author are you cosying up with tonight?
Holly: I’ve just finished Sirens by Joseph Knox, which was
wonderful, so vivid and compelling. At night I always read Jack Reacher books
by Lee Child. Literally, every night, like a bedtime story. I read them very
slowly, two or three pages at a time and then nod off. I recently met Lee Child
after plucking up the courage to go over to him at Harrogate Crime Writing
Festival. I lost the ability to speak sense and certainly didn’t tell him any
of that.
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| Available on Amazon Click here |
Liz: Which fictional hero or anti-hero would you like to
meet and why?
Holly: Well, I’d be pretty intrigued to meet Jack Reacher considering how much time I spend with him! And he would be his full size,
unlike in the films…
Liz: Could you describe the book you are
working on at the moment using only 5
words?
Holly: The title hasn’t been made public yet but book three
is about: Childhood friendship, life changing promises.
Liz: Do you linger in your research period or do you rush
your research to get stuck
into the writing?
Holly: I love doing research. I come from a journalistic
background but I’m also a frustrated historian who probably should have done a
modern history degree. I do a lot of background research while I’m planning out
a novel but I also research alongside writing, and check finer points during
editing too. Maybe that’s what I’d do if I wasn’t a writer actually, a
historical researcher… but outside!
Liz: It's been lovely to meet you Holly. Maybe we can spend some time stalking (I mean chatting too) Lee Child at next years Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.
If you want to connect with Holly here's how you can:
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