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279 Kathryn Sharman | Domestic Thriller Author
184 Plays13 hours ago
Domestic and psychological thriller author, Kathryn Sharman is here chatting about the many years it took her to learn and hone her craft before signing with an agent and then securing her book deals!
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Transcript
The Role of Writing in Fixing Plot Holes
00:00:00
Speaker
Ooh, a spicy question. love it. Because the writing is sort everything, right? Like you can fix plot holes, but if the writer... So some readers love that and some readers are like, but I wanted more of this. So it's kind of, it's kind of a gamble.
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:14
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Right and Wrong podcast. On today's episode, I am joined by psychological thriller and domestic suspense author, Catherine Sharman. Hello. Jamie. Hi. Thank you so much for coming on. um thank you for having me. it is my absolute pleasure.
Overview of 'The Second Home'
00:00:31
Speaker
Let's start as we always do by jumping right in with your new book, the second home, which is coming out on the 28th of May. Tell us a little bit about it.
00:00:44
Speaker
Right. Okay. Uh, the second home, is another psychological thriller, domestic suspense as you suggested. And, um, This time I've sort of taken it away from the suburban setting, and which was um where my my debut, and the family number 23, was based. And this time we've sort of gone on holiday. We're down on south coast of England doing a really hot week in August. And it's a sense essentially about two women again at very different ages and stages of their lives dealing with different
Character Introductions and Conflicts
00:01:16
Speaker
issues. But they come together into each other's lives quite briefly during this one week on holiday And so the first character is Lottie. She's a younger mum with a toddler who's sort of saved up all year for this much longed for holiday. And as soon as they arrive to the rental apartment, they realise that it's right next door to a really noisy, dirty, disruptive and actually quite dangerous, as it turns out, renovation project. um And she's not too happy about it. She's quite a hot-tempered, strident personality anyway, the sort of person who likes to stand up for herself and others, who believes in kind of campaigning and protesting for what she believes is right. and So she has some very sort of strong views about this and how it's probably affecting the local community as well.
Mysterious House Fire Investigation
00:02:03
Speaker
And the other character is Olivia, slightly older with sort of teenage children who are growing up and sort of flying the nest. And And she's down on holiday, down from London with her family visiting the progress of their renovation project. And um she's got other issues. She's kind of in a long stifling marriage, feels quite frustrated. She's married to the very bullying, bombastic Tobias. who thinks that he's right about everything. He isn't really interested in, in how his plans are affecting the local community at all. Um, and so obviously you've got this kind of collision between these two families, these two different women and yeah, essentially it's, it's sort of a week in the, in the sun with tempers fraying and temperatures rising. And it culminates on the Saturday night with, um, a local firework display when, ah
00:02:56
Speaker
a house fire breaks out. We don't know which one. Um, so we don't know whose property it is at first and essentially two bodies are pulled from the blaze. And that's when things take a really darker sinister turn because we don't know whether it's an accident or whether foul play has been involved.
00:03:13
Speaker
So that's essentially it.
Moral Landscape and Character Dynamics
00:03:14
Speaker
Okay. Wow. Okay. It sounds great. So, so it's very much focused on these two characters and the kind of the clash that will inevitably happen between them. Yeah, exactly. Um, I quite like playing with that really. I'm, you know, the sort of first book um was a bit of a two-hander too, sort of flipping between these two different points of view of two women who ostensibly seem very different, and with very different outlooks, but they've both got their sort of um issues going on and they start to realise that, you know, not everything is as straightforward and you can't just kind of judge a book by its cover and, you know, it's not as binary and straightforward as, you know, the rich are bad and the poor are always right. And it's a much more kind of um dubious sort of um moral landscape, really, that they're both occupying. um And that's kind of what I like to explore in my novels, really, is what I like to get my teeth into.
00:04:10
Speaker
Although this this book, The Second Home, actually is written from four different points of view, which is a bit of a departure for me. So I decided to do the two women's points of view as well as the two men. you've got Tobias, which is Olivia's husband, and But then also got Marcus, who is an architect who is working on the renovation project as well.
00:04:29
Speaker
And he has a little bit of um a dark past that um comes into play. He has a bit more of a connection to the family than we first realized. So lots of, um yeah, secrets and lies and buried grief and all of those interesting things that i like to get into. Lots to uncover, lots of deceit, lots of intrigue, which is what I love to write about.
Inspiration Behind 'The Second Home'
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this one, the the the first one, Family at Number 23, like you said, that was ah more of a suburban setting. This one, you're you're taking the characters on holiday. is this inspired by a holiday that you had taken or is this just all imagination?
00:05:08
Speaker
No, it is actually. And I have to say, there's always usually a bit of a starting point for me when it has come to certainly the last three books that I've tried to write. Um, just that kind of jumping off point, which has just made me stop and think, oh, that's interesting. So ah with the family at number 23, it was a case of we were in the throes of trying to sell our house, move house, trying to get um one of our kids who needed to get into secondary school, was moving from primary to secondary school. So it was all quite difficult and long drawn out, tricky house sale, worried about catchment areas and all that kind of thing.
00:05:45
Speaker
And then one day I was walking home and came across a house that looked really kind of run down and dilapidated, but obviously someone was still living there. And those two ideas kind of coalesced in my head. And I thought, hmm, what would happen if someone sort of decided to take a property that would help them get their child into the right school?
00:06:03
Speaker
and And similarly with the second home, about five years ago, we were on holiday ourselves. And um we did a similar thing. We kind of ah pitched up to our rental place.
Pitching Challenges and Themes
00:06:14
Speaker
And and everything was fine. It was beautiful. it was great. We were having a lovely holiday. But then about halfway through, we sort of woke up one morning to all of this sort of banging and vibrating and the sound of power tools and everything. And we suddenly realized that there was quite a lot of building work going on next door. Couldn't open any windows, you know, we couldn't really spend much time in the garden because we were right next to a building site. And luckily, you know, it was all fine. we just had a quick word with them next door to find out what what was going on. And, you know, they were really nice and sort of um agreed to try and keep the work to a minimum. And We left a couple of days later and it didn't make any vast difference to our holiday. um But there was this moment where coming back, like having had that conversation who you know with the builders and the owners on site and coming back to our rental, I remember just sort of sitting there thinking,
00:07:05
Speaker
Imagine if it was a different scenario where you were stuck here the whole week and everything just got really feisty and everybody you know was just getting really angry and upset with each other. And it was hot and you know you were worried and anxious and you know you were getting in sleep because you had like a fractious toddler and...
00:07:24
Speaker
you know, next door were just being really horrible and difficult and nasty about it all. And and everyone was just really locking horns. what What would someone be capable of? How could that situation sort of really escalate? And, you know, you just sort of follow that thread as far as you can see it and seeing, you know, what might be possible. And I didn't do anything about that idea for a very long time. I sort of went away and wrote other things, wrote um The Family Number 23, obviously. And then when it came to... um
Challenges with Subsequent Books
00:07:53
Speaker
pitching a second idea to ah my publishers, Hodder, because it was it was a two book deal and they had obviously gone on submission with the first book and and they really liked that, but they wanted to know if I had anything else and any other ideas for what would be the book too and that's when I just thought there's an idea that i was there and i I still keep coming back to it because I knew would be an opportunity to talk about a few quite prevalent issues you know that are still affecting a lot of areas in the country like Devon and Cornwall or even the Lake District where you know local community are being affected by a lot of um house buying and development and how tourism and trade is changing and how local homeowners and businesses are being forced out and
00:08:35
Speaker
you know, i just thought that could be a really meaty issue to get my teeth into. So I just worked it up as a, you know, a bit of more of a kind of idea, and just a brief synopsis, really. And then when it came to writing book two, I just thought, oh, gosh, I hope I can make this one work. But I just, you know, and you kind of picture an idea and then you've actually got to do it. But luckily was it was all there. I just remember like looking through a few of those old holiday snaps from five years ago, just reacquainting myself with that that landscape and that feeling of being on holiday and then just trying to remember what it was like being next to this renovation and the sorts of characters that would, you know, be really good to kind of, um, pit against each other. What sort of people would be particularly adversarial in that scenario. And yeah, just, I have to say a lot of people complain about book two and and say that it's like really hard. Like it it becomes the difficult second album. And I was really worried about that too. so um
00:09:33
Speaker
I sort of got cracking on it as soon as possible. I tried to write a first draft before um my debut came out just to try and get ahead of myself. And this one just really, really flowed. And it just, I hate to say it, just really seemed to kind of,
00:09:49
Speaker
not right itself, but fall into place quite easily. and i have to say book three is not behaving as well. It's turning into the difficult third album. And I really, really wish it was ah it was coming out as smoothly as this second book. But um what can you say? You know, every book I'm learning is different. Every writing process is different. And some of the tricky ones, they say, do ah turn out to be the best one. So I'm really hoping that's going to be case with with this s one.
00:10:14
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it sounds like you, the the trick here was that this idea sort of predated your debut novel. And this is, this kind of idea has just been percolating in the back of your head for for for a long time now. So I guess that, that seems to have really helped with the, as you say, the difficult second novel.
00:10:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. and And you can't always pick and choose it like that, but yet it it had been simmering away for quite a long time and I hadn't really been thinking about it closely or mapping it out, but I suppose it was always there as an idea. And Obviously, it's it's you know not autobiographical in any way. And you know the the events of the story don't don't mimic real events at all. But there was just enough of a kernel of truth there, just enough of a kind of real life experience to build on that gave me that sort of um sure footing to get started. I think if you can just put yourself in that scenario just a little bit and you can imagine you know the landscape and the setting, it doesn't take much to then start building up
00:11:13
Speaker
your characters and your hook and start to think about a few plot points and you're away you know I mean I don't plan and plot everything out I'm very much a kind of discovery writer or pantser as long as I've got that opening idea and an idea of what the main premise could be what the main kind of hook is um I can usually start going from there and that was certainly the case with this one it just all sort of developed and I think it helped that I was writing it through those long, dark autumn, winter months as well. So although it might have been difficult to imagine myself on holiday, it was quite a nice escape to imagine myself being yeah down by the seaside on a really hot August week, you know, just enjoying the sea and the sun. But it was a nice yeah escape at the time.
00:11:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, yeah, sounds sounds good. It sounds like it all worked out for the second one.
From Journalism to Author
00:12:03
Speaker
and Going back to your your debut, I guess we if we could go back a bit further than that. Your debut, The Family at Number 23 came out last year, 2025. Had you been writing long before you wrote The Family Number 23?
00:12:19
Speaker
Yes, it was quite a long convoluted route, i have to say. um So, I mean, I've been journalist, copywriter, done lots of communications, writing has always been the the common theme throughout all of my career. And then i would say not long after I turned 40, so talking about 2017 I think I finally made a decision to do an MA in creative writing which was just something I'd been thinking about for a long time and the timing felt right you know my kids were old enough ah I wasn't quite so um involved with them at you know they all at school I just had a bit more free time to fit around my freelance writing work and It felt like a good opportunity to just, I don't know, you don't need to do an MO in creative writing, as as everyone I'm sure is aware. But for me, it was a bit more of a declaration to myself and my family and other people in my life that, you know, i i am doing this. I'm taking my writing seriously. I'm carving out this time. And I did it part-time over two years, so I could give myself plenty of time to really develop as a writer. And um that was great. um Did develop a...
00:13:27
Speaker
a novel as part as part of my dissertation. and That was something that I sort of tinkered with and kept coming back to as an idea and as a manuscript over a number of years. Did did write a few other things that didn't, you know, managed to get another full length novel out, but didn't really do much with it.
00:13:46
Speaker
and And then we were sort of obviously in the whole COVID lockdown situation. And I kept coming back to this original manuscript, which I really liked and um felt like it had something. And and that's when I decided I ah would do a Curtis Brown creative online course, because again, we're sort of all stuck at home during lockdown. And I felt like I needed something to really just kickstart my creative mojo a little bit again and get me back into writing, but also getting some more feedback. um So I did that for three months and that really helped. um I totally re-edited the manuscript. um
00:14:21
Speaker
And yeah, that, that was the book that I sent out to, um, the Bath Novel Award. And I hadn't really thought about it too much. I mean, I've been aware of that award for a number of years and I knew it had a great um reputation, but I just kind of like fired it off in the closing hours of the last day before the deadline, because at the time I just didn't really think there was much chance. And this is how ridiculous it is because at that novel actually did get long listed and then shortlisted. And, um,
00:14:54
Speaker
it did actually get me introduced to my agent who I eventually signed with, which was great. So obviously that sort of changes everything and you finally got someone sort of on your side helping you. um And we worked together on that novel for the best part of another year, actually, because my agent, um she used to work as an editor in and a lot of the top um publishing houses like Penguin. So she's got real editing chops and she didn't want to send it out until she felt it was really ready.
00:15:24
Speaker
So we sent it out and there was one um editor who really loved it, wanted to take it to acquisitions. And i think you know where this is going.
00:15:34
Speaker
We obviously got quite excited. Well, I did anyway, because you sort of think, oh, great, you know, acquisitions are sort of home and dry now. Yeah. And that was just before Christmas. And then in January, we heard back that unfortunately, while she still really loved it and was really passionate about it as an idea, she couldn't manage to persuade the rest of the team to take it on. So that was really gutting because we'd worked on it for quite a long time. And as I say, it had been originally a book that I'd been tinkering with for years. So it felt like I'd had a lot of time and effort invested in it. And
00:16:06
Speaker
But luckily, um in between times, I had actually come up with the idea for my debut, which was, you know, what turned out to be The Family at Number 23. And it again, it was that thing where I was just walking down the road and I saw this old dilapidated, mysterious house. And it just became this this really inspiring jumping off point. And so I just started writing it almost for myself as a bit of a distraction from the whole um submitting process with the other novel to...
00:16:31
Speaker
just keep writing really. and And the more I wrote it, the more I realized that it was, you know, gathering a pace itself, that I was really enjoying it, that it seemed to be just a bit more pacey.
00:16:43
Speaker
um And I'd i'd so shown my agent, Kate, the first 20,000 words of this saying, look, you know, this is the next project I'm writing on. Let me know what you think. And she loved it. I think she could tell almost immediately that it was much more commercial. it had much more of an obvious hook that she could sell.
00:16:59
Speaker
It was less sort book clubby and more just straight down the line psychological thriller. So it had a very definite niche, very definite market. um And so when we found out that the other book had failed on submission, I just thought, well, I've got nothing else to lose. I'm just going to throw myself into writing this other thing. And I wrote it quite fast. So it had quite a lot of pace and momentum.
00:17:22
Speaker
I realised that I could just sort of, um I suppose, just get out of my own way stop worrying about trying to write the perfect novel and just really enjoy the process and and really kind of get into kind of those twists and turns and writing shorter, more pacier chapters. And yeah, everything just sort of seemed to fall into place with that novel. I think it was maybe just a fruition of a lot of the stuff that I'd learnt along the way, a lot of the mistakes I'd made along the way, and but finally sort of working out you know the right hook with the right idea at the right
Publishing Success Factors
00:17:54
Speaker
time. And yeah, things just fell into place. And when we went on submission with that not long afterwards, it didn't take long at all to kind of get that one edited into shape.
00:18:04
Speaker
And we literally went out on submission the following summer. So probably about six months after the other novel had failed on submission. And it was picked up by Hodder and Stoughton. And yeah, it was great. Finally, that whole process took nearly 10 years. You know, we're talking sort of maybe, what was it, 2017, 18, when I did the MA. Yeah. And so it's been quite a long and winding road. Certainly not like an easy one, that's for sure. But these things take time sometimes, don't they?
00:18:38
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. When, when number 23 did go out on submission, was it, uh, was it like, it sounds like it was a pretty quick time, uh, submission before the editors got in touch and said that they wanted, you know, they were interested in this.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I think it was about six weeks, maybe slightly less than that. um So we weren't waiting too long and it was summer. So sort of trying to be distracted a little bit by stuff going on, going away, going on holiday a little bit, trying not to bite the fingernails too much, but it was still even six weeks is quite, um quite nerve wracking because of the previous experience, sort of being on submission before and then just slowly but surely getting these no's and then this final yes, which seemed to be the one that then also turned into a no. It was like, oh, I don't know if my nerves can cope with it. So I was quite, quite nervous about going on submission again.
00:19:31
Speaker
and I didn't have anything else in the hopper in terms of other projects coming through. It was, it was a kind of now or never situation. It felt like this is the one, this is the book. We both felt really strongly about it, I think, and really, really hopeful. But in the end, you know, it it does only take one editor um who's looking for the right type of thing at the right time. And my editor at Hodder basically said that she'd been waiting all year to get like a very specific sort of property themed, real estate um themed kind of psychological thriller along the lines of the sort of thing that say Louise Candlish would write and a little bit sort of Lisa Jewelish in vibe. that was the sort of thing she was looking for to try and complete her list.
00:20:17
Speaker
And I, you know, I do genuinely think it is a lot to do with luck and timing and, you know, the right manuscript landing on the desk of the right person before they've signed it with someone else, before they've decided to go somewhere else with something else. and You know, it's it's worrying, I know, to think of it like that in terms of um it being so luck oriented. But I suppose it's a case of um if you just keep putting yourself out there long enough and you just keep trying,
00:20:45
Speaker
Eventually, it it isn't about luck. It's just about, you know, creating opportunities for yourself and it will land eventually with the right person at the right
Handling Publishing Setbacks
00:20:52
Speaker
time. so that's it yeah I mean and and you created that opportunity when i mean you went out on this hub six months you said like after the previous one had had died I wonder now that I know that there's a happy ending I wonder if I could ask you what when when that first book died on submission what was the discussion like with Kate when the two of you kind of agreed like we're putting this to one side and we we need to work on something else
00:21:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think that was an interesting one because obviously it was really disappointing. And it was January. It was like the grimmest, longest month. There was nothing much to look forward to. the Yeah, the weather was rubbish. And it was like the worst news of the worst possible time in the the first couple of weeks after Christmas. and i was like, oh, right. I'm really going have to pick myself up. And we'd had a conversation about, you know, whether to go back and do some more edits on it, whether we could change the focus or the angle of it a little bit, um which was a possibility. I mean, Kate wasn't the sort of person to just sort of give up easily. It wasn't like she was just sort of trashing the thing immediately. And at one point, we'd because we we'd already put together, well, Kate had put together an initial list of publishers that we went out on submission to, about maybe six, that were more traditional. And then she said, okay, well,
00:22:09
Speaker
What we could do is go again with um another list of, say, about six or eight slightly smaller, non-traditional, um quirky little publishers who might just be interested in doing something a bit different. um And I was like, OK, yeah, I don't want to give up on this manuscript immediately. It's, you know, I've put so much effort into it, so much time. We've worked on it for so long. I felt really tied to it and really invested in in it, which isn't necessarily the the best thing in order to make the right decisions, because you're looking at it from your heart rather than your head.
00:22:42
Speaker
And Kate went away and said, no worries, I totally understand how you feel. I'll start putting together a list of some other um slightly smaller, more interesting, maybe and independent um publishers that could could be up for this. and And then she came back a week later and she was just really honest and transparent, like, which I love about her very cards on the table. And, you know, it's why I wanted to go with a really experienced editor stroke um agent, because she knows the industry and she knows how it works. And she said, look, I've been procrastinating a little bit about putting together this second list. And the reason I usually procrastinate is because my gut's telling me something. My gut is telling me that this story just isn't right for this, you know, for the time of the market. It's, it's,
00:23:30
Speaker
it's going to be a difficult sell. It doesn't really fit neatly into a particular genre. It's a little bit literary. It's a little bit historical. It's a little bit book club. And the sort of feedback we'd been getting from some of the other editors at publishers um had sort of said the same thing, that they loved the writing. They loved the characterization. There were some really interesting, powerful themes, but they weren't quite sure how to sell it or how it would neatly fit in. um And so Kate said to me,
00:23:55
Speaker
I think we need to be brave and I think we need to just set this to one side or or just admit that it's you know not the right timing for this. And she said, um I really think you need to go with this new manuscript that you've been writing. and This is the one. And it took me about a day or so to sort of get over the grief of that, almost like mourning the loss finally of knowing that that manuscript that I'd worked so long and hard on for so many years was definitely...
00:24:23
Speaker
Dead, dead in the water for now anyway. i don't know whether there were aspects of it that could eventually be, um, brought back to life at some point, it would have to be in a very different way, um, to, to sort of fit into the the kind of writing and the and the sort of genre and market that I'm writing for now.
00:24:41
Speaker
But yeah, I had to really kind of just let it go. and then after about 24 hours of just feeling really sad about it, it felt quite euphoric. Like, you know, when you finally let go of something that that was dragging you down and and worrying you and a problem that you couldn't really figure out how to solve. and And then you finally let it go and you suddenly feel lighter and freer.
00:25:02
Speaker
And it just it was just kind of what I needed really to just throw myself into the other manuscript and enjoy the writing process again and Yeah, I'm just, it was a hard one, but it was the right decision. And I'm really glad Kate was quite honest and tough with me about it, or certainly so gave me the benefit of her advice. Ultimately, the decision was mine. I'm sure she would have um had another round of submissions with it if'd if I'd really pushed for it. But I felt like I needed to trust her, trust her instincts, trust her experiences.
00:25:33
Speaker
And I remember her saying, thank you so much for trusting me because i do think this is the right thing. And lo and behold, you know, she was right. Yeah. Yeah. Because if you'd gone out again and it and it's still not found a home, I think it would have been even more difficult to kind of move on from that.
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And we would have got dispirited and it would have wasted even more time. And sometimes you just have to know when to cut your losses and move on to the next thing. And I think that was one of the most valuable lessons I've learned so far in this whole process is Don't get really um hung up on a project if it isn't working. And don't get too personally tied to things. that You just, you know, they're just manuscripts. They're just books. Just move on to the next project. If you really want to be a long-term writer or have a career as a writer in any way, shape or form, then you will always be expected to come up with new ideas. You will will sometimes have to ditch manuscripts, um radically change them, abandon them, and and then come up with new ideas almost on a,
00:26:32
Speaker
year or two basis, you know, and you're only as good as the next book and the next idea. So you just can't get too bog down on that one thing, you know, you just have to keep looking forward and coming
Favorite Cozy Read
00:26:43
Speaker
up with new ideas. And yeah, that was, that was a good lesson learned. Yes. To, to be able to kill one's darlings, as they say. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Um, we're at the point now where I ask you, Catherine, if you were snowed in at a cozy woodland cabin in the middle of nowhere, which book would you hope to have with you?
00:27:04
Speaker
Okay. Um, well, obviously it's going to be quite a nice sort of cozy atmosphere. Like you say, it's probably snow outside, possibly even wintry. Um, and I love that because it's the perfect environment for just holding up and reading. You don't feel any pressure to be outside doing things. Well, I certainly wouldn't if it was cold and snowy outside. Um, and I don't know, it's a funny old thing. I still really love historical fiction. I did try writing it at one point with disastrous results. Um, but I've always loved reading it.
00:27:35
Speaker
And, um, For some reason, I always turn to more kind of historical fiction when it's cold outside or dark or, you know, winter in some way, and I just want to cozy up. And so I would say one of my all-time favorite writers is Hilary Mantel. And...
00:27:52
Speaker
my favourite of her books is essentially the Wolf Hall trilogy. I don't think I'd be allowed to take all three unless we just sellotape them together, in which case it would be a massive, massive tome. I don't know which one of the three to pick. um Obviously the third one in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, is the heftiest. that would definitely give me the most reading matter to go with. um But, you know, the the first book is amazing, the way it sets up the characters. I just love her writing. i find it,
00:28:20
Speaker
I mean, obviously it's just, you know, the integrity, the historical detail and research that has gone into it all there. So you are completely and utterly immersed in that world, but her characterization is amazing.
00:28:31
Speaker
i love that historical period. i found the whole kind of politics and the machinations of that world endlessly fascinating. I think we are fascinated with characters like Henry VIII.
00:28:44
Speaker
But yeah, I just think it would be, Meaty and hefty enough, but also there's something still really modern about her writing, the way she has written those books in the and in the first person present tense.
00:28:55
Speaker
and Sorry, no, third person present tense is how I write mine, third person present tense. And it makes everything seem so much more immediate. You're there in the moment experiencing it with the characters. And I think reading and enjoying those books, even though they were set in a completely different historical time period, really kind of, um, they would, they were really inspirational for me when it came to kind of, uh, developing my own writing style and my own voice, if you want to call it that. yeah So like I say, I, I started writing third person present tense and that's how I've written all of my stuff since. And
00:29:30
Speaker
I should probably stretch myself and try some other techniques. Actually, it is in this new book I'm trying to write for book three, it is written in the first and present tense from a couple of ah points of view. But then there are some little kind of intervening snippets, which are ah written in a first person. So I am trying new things. I will see how that goes. Maybe that's why it's stalling. I'm just doing stuff I'm not good at. But yeah, any of those three books from the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel, who is, I still can't believe she's gone. I loved her. I do love her. She's brilliant. And her books are just an amazing lasting legacy for anyone who loves historical fiction or is a writer themselves. There's so much to get out of them. So I would i would sit back and cozy up and just immerse myself in that world.
00:30:19
Speaker
yeah yeah Yeah, I mean, yeah. Hilary Mantel was a ah legendary writer um and Wolf Hall is, and I imagine that's her most famous novels that she put out there. And there was a recent adaptation, I think people said it was really good. I haven't seen it with Damien Lewis. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So um they they adapted the first two books, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and they made ah a really good TV adaptation of that. And then obviously there was quite a long gap and not surprisingly, with several years, don't know, was it about seven or eight when she was writing the third book, and The Mirror and the Light, which is the biggest one of all three. It's it's massive. It's about, my gosh, I'm going to guess at like 900 pages or something like that. It's pretty wadgy.
00:31:05
Speaker
And then, yeah, so I finally made that into an an adaptation that sort of finished off that that whole series with the same actors playing those two main parts. um Yeah, it was brilliant. Really well done. I loved it.
00:31:18
Speaker
Okay, good. I'm glad because it's always a worry for fans of books when the the book is adapted and and you know, you never know how it's going to go. never know if it's going to go if you have to go out telling people not to watch it or something. know, I know you do kind of watch with bated breath a little bit don't don't ruin it don't ruin it but the actors and the script and everything about it was just fantastic it was really well done.
00:31:39
Speaker
Yes. um Awesome. Well, we'll for a great addition to the Woodland Cabin Library. Next up, we are going to get a bit more into the writing process and the craft of writing.
Advice for Aspiring Writers
00:31:51
Speaker
That will all be an extended episode at patreon.com forward slash write and roll. Yeah, I think so. I'm i'm proof of that because you know there were plenty of opportunities where I could have given up along the way. You know, it it certainly wasn't an overnight success situation for me. That's for sure.
00:32:09
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. It takes many years to become an overnight success. Exactly. Well, that's a great sentiment and some great advice to end the episode on. Thank you so much, Catherine, for coming on the podcast and chatting with me, telling us all about your your new book, The Second Home, and your your first book and the kind of journey that you've taken through with your writing and and through the
Conclusion and Book Promotion
00:32:29
Speaker
publishing industry. It's been really cool chatting with you.
00:32:32
Speaker
Oh, thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it as well. And for everyone listening, The Second Home is out on the 28th of May in all the usual places. If you want to keep up with what Catherine is doing, you can find her on Instagram at Catherine.Sharman and on her sub stack, This Writing Life. To support this podcast, like, follow and subscribe. Join the Patreon for ad-free extended episodes and check out my other podcast, The Chosen Ones and Other Tropes. Thanks again, Catherine. And thanks to everyone listening. We will catch you on the next episode.