When nineteen-year-old Naomi Stone is snatched from her husband at knifepoint on the night of their wedding and taken to a deserted cemetery, she knows her life is finished. Drugged and disorientated, she loses consciousness as she lies in an open grave with a gun to her head.
But the following day, she mysteriously
awakes to find herself unharmed and secured to a bed. She's in a beautiful
bedroom in a secluded cottage in open countryside. Only one person knows she’s
there – the man in the balaclava who’s holding her, feeding her, revealing
nothing. Naomi senses the unfolding of a plan. She should be on honeymoon in the
Caribbean. Instead, she’s trapped with an emotionless psycho with no hope of
escape . . . And his voice is chillingly familiar. Who is he? What does he want? What's happened to her husband? Where is she? Will anyone find her before it's too late?
- If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
That’s
a tricky question. My favourite authors are those who are
particularly gifted with words. Ian McEwan and Sebastian Faulks
spring to mind, though there are many others. Working with them would
be awesome because I’d learn so much. On the other hand, I’d feel
very small and inferior, so maybe I’m best working alone.
- What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
There
is no typical working day for me really. I teach piano for a living,
so I generally teach a couple of lessons first thing, then I set
about the housework (doing the bare minimum as it really doesn’t
excite me) and try to create some space for my writing before my
teaching resumes late afternoon. The days are very short. A chunk of
time goes into promoting and social networking, so precious little
remains for actual writing which can be frustrating sometimes. I have
to carve out some time for writing which often involves late nights.
I don’t know how people write in cafés or even with background
music. I met one author at a festival who does his writing on the bus
on the way to work. That wouldn’t work for me. I need absolute
silence and solitude, hence the late nights. My thoughts need to be
still; my house (ideally) empty. When I do write, I find a
comfortable sofa, (choice of 4 in my house. We don’t do chairs) put
my feet up and sit with my laptop on my knee and attempt to press on.
My eyes can roll and I can drift sometimes. Did I mention my sofas
were very comfy?
- What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
Well
the beginning is difficult. The middle can be excruciatingly
challenging, and the least said about the agonies of the ending the
better. It’s all difficult. Authors give birth to their books.
There’s the conception of an idea, then the struggle through a long
period of development which is a labour of love essentially, and
culminates in the birth of a creative piece of literature. It’s all
worth it in the end. You forget about the pain and dwell on it not at
all because you have a little bundle of love in which you have so
much hope, having invested a great deal of love and time. That’s
how authors see their books. But – not to dodge the question – if
I had to pinpoint the most difficult part, I suppose it is the
plotting and planning. For me, I can only get so far with that before
a) I get bored (I’m not the world’s greatest organiser. I’m
quite impulsive and more likely to dive into the creative process
prematurely) and b) I’ve gone as far as I can go with the planning
part. The plot always changes once I start writing. I know
instinctively if something is not working, and also, many great ideas
occur to me once I’ve started the writing process that never would
come to me with all the planning in the world. I have to get inside
the heads of my characters by writing scenes. THEN I know what they
would do in those circumstances and, sometimes, not before.
- When and why did you first start writing?
I
started writing six and a half years ago. Why? It was the right time
in my life. I’ve had four children. Parenting began at age 18 for
me. I never regret my lost youth because I gained my children, which
means that I didn’t lose anything. My children have been my life. I
adore them. I stayed at home with them and taught piano for a few
hours a week, increasing my lessons only as my children got older.
The youngest one is fifteen now, so my life is more my own these
days. I’m a creative sort of person I suppose. Music is a language
and a creative form of expression. My abilities lend themselves to
creative language. Words come as naturally to me as music-making, so
writing was the one thing I had a desire to do. In their 40s, some
women take up keep fit (I’d rather be trapped in a lift with an
angry wasp than go to the gym – and that’s saying something) or
gardening or cross-stitch. I took up writing and got completely
hooked. To escape into a world of one’s own creation and spend time
there every day, manipulating events, is a special kind of magic.
- How did you come up with the idea for your book?
I
came up with the plot for Either Side of Midnight in ten minutes.
Literally. Without giving away spoilers, I thought, What if a bride
is abducted on the best day of her life. And what if . . . and then
what if . . . ooo and then what if it ends up like . . . That would
be fun to write. And Either Side of Midnight was conceived. It turned
out to be a fairly complex plot in the end. I had only the sketch of
an idea in the beginning, and with that, I plunged right in as I did
in those days when I didn’t have a readership and had no one to
please but myself. But the interesting part is that my own feelings
at that time mirrored the feelings of my protagonist. It’s taken
hindsight for me to realise this; it wasn’t conscious. My first
book at that time (ESoM is the second book I wrote) was in the hands
of literary agents in London. 3 separate agencies read my book in
full, one after the other (agencies demand exclusivity if they’re
willing to go to the trouble of reading your entire manuscript). The
total waiting time for me was 9 months. My future was in the hands of
other people – faceless people I didn’t know. I felt unsettled
and nervous and powerless. During this time of waiting, my
subconscious mind threw up a plot where a girl is abducted and held
by a masked man. She doesn’t know who he is, what he wants and what
the future will bring. And so I wrote ESoM while I waited. You have
to see the parallels.
- Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
I
would be a big reader if I had the time. As things are, I’m a
binge-reader. If I go on holiday (I went on 3 short-ish breaks last
year), I do nothing but read. My husband tries to talk to me. Just
rude; he really should know better!! I can get through 4 books in a
week on holiday. I love reading, but – I hate reading poor books
and I give up without any guilt at all if I’m not enjoying a story.
Life’s too short. My favourite book of last year was Me Before You
by Jojo Moyes. Fabulous. It did what all good books should do: reel
you in on a large hook and not let go until the very last line. I
wasn’t even on holiday when I made the mistake of thinking: I’ll
just see what the beginning is like. Sucked right in. Finished in 24
hours when – between sniffs and snivels – I became aware of a
messy house, starving children and a mountain of washing. The last
book I read last month was called The Light Between Oceans by M L
Stedman. Another great book. Five richly-deserved stars.
- Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
Attend
classes. Learn how to write from a technical point of view. You can’t
guess how it’s done. Don’t write for money. Generally, for
self-published authors, it isn’t lucrative. Be honest about your
ability. Do you have a talent for writing and a way with words? Is
this something that can be developed? In my experience, the most
important thing a person can develop is their own unique writing
voice. It took a long time for me to find my ‘voice’ – MY way
of putting things. Don’t write well-used phrases. Don’t try to
copy the style of others. Stay well away from clichés. Add humour to
your writing, but with subtlety. No one wants to see a gag coming
from four miles away. Surprise your reader. Get in a scene late and
leave it early. Get readers turning the pages.
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