When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I know it's a cliché, but I'm not
sure I ever had that realization, it was just always there. As soon as I
could write, I wrote all the time. When I was very young, I wrote
stories or I would do 'animal research' in little books and try to sell
them to my family. I knew that I wanted to be a novelist but it seemed
out of reach to a normal girl from rural England, so I focused on
becoming a journalist, a similar job in many ways, and one that I was
passionate about. The desire to write a novel never left me though, and
I'm very glad about that!
What are some of your favorite books?
This question gets harder to answer
every time I'm answering it! There are those books that meant a huge
amount to me growing up, that helped me work out who I was (or who I
wanted to be) but I don't read those now... I tell you what I'm loving
at the moment though, classic British crime books. Finely tuned
mysteries set in the twenties and thirties. I also got an amazing
Sherlock Holmes collection for Christmas and I'm working my way through
that!
What inspires you to write?
Writing is how I make sense of the
world, so everything feeds it. Good, bad, weird. There's a line in Try
Not to Breathe about my character Alex Dale but actually it's entirely
true of me. Her mother dies and she writes a newspaper column about it.
"[Alex] didn't cry until she read her column that Sunday, and finally
knew how she was supposed to feel." I sometimes understand things only
when I'm looking at them at a slight remove, when I'm writing. So I
realize I sound like an oddball, but maybe it's less about inspiration
and more about a coping mechanism!
Where is your favorite place to write?
Realistically- my bed. Ideally- by a pool in St. Lucia.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I could try to think up something
really cool and/or chic but the truth is that I'm happiest wearing my
comfies, lying on the sofa with a glass of wine, watching Netflix with
my husband. My characters are way cooler than me, I live vicariously
through them while in reality I'm wearing a bath robe.
What is your newest book about?
Don't Close Your Eyes is a thriller
that follows the story of Robin and Sarah twins who were torn apart as
kids through a cruel twist of fate. Now in their thirties, Robin lives
alone in Manchester, obsessively watching the neighbors- until one day
she sees something the shouldn't. Meanwhile, Sarah has been accused of
something so terrible that only Robin can help her. Tracking Robin down
unleashes a whole can of worms though and I'm really excited to see what
readers think of the ending!
Are you currently working on anything new?
Yes. I've actually written book three
already and that's ready to be edited but I'm grappling with the early
days of book four. I love the idea, I love the opening lines, I love the
structure... actually writing the thing is HARD! It's always this way
though, it starts with a big, lumpy, holey, messy, terrifying draft and
then gets- hopefully- crafted into shape!
Now let's get down to business....
You're stranded on a deserted island, you get to pick one book to take with you. What do you choose and why?
I think I would take that complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories I mentioned- maybe then I'd actually finish it!
You have been given a week vacation to visit ANY fictional town, where would you go?
Oh man, that's a great question. I
think I would say London. Not the real London that I've previously lived
in and that smells of bus fumes, but the London that only exists in the
golden age crime books, where everyone wears a suit or gown and every
weekend dinner party is a right old caper.
Quick! You have a date with your favorite fictional character, who are you meeting tonight?!
Oh gawd! This is SO hard. A lot of
the characters in my favourite books are kind of a*sholes! I've been
mulling this over for a ridiculously long amount of time, standing in
front of my bookcase trying to choose. I've decided that I'm going to go
for Jack Reacher. I read Lee Child books every bedtime, pretty much
without fail. So if nothing else, Jack could talk me through the exact
workings of a very specific type of gun until I nod off. Not much of a
fun date for him....
So guys you've met Holly, now check out her social media!!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hollyseddon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyseddonauthor/
Try Not to Breathe, Don't Close Your Eyes, and Love Will Tear Us Apart can be purchased at www.hollyseddon.com and online at all major book stores!
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