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****Gytha Lodge’s She Lies In
Wait is the fortieth in a never-ending series called INSIDE
THE EMOTION OF FICTION where the Chris
Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction
genre and how that fiction writer wrote that specific excerpt. All INSIDE
THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are at the end of this piece.
Name of fiction work?
And were there other names you considered that you would like to share with us?
My debut crime novel is called She Lies in Wait. I wrote
it under the working title 1983, but that was clearly
confusing. It sounds like the year before George Orwell's sci-fi classic, so it
was never going to end up being called that in the end. I had a great
brainstorm with my agent, and She Lies in Wait was the result!
Fiction genre? Ex science fiction, short story, fantasy
novella, romance, drama, crime, plays, flash fiction, historical, comedy, movie
script, screenplay, etc. And how many
pages long? The book is crime, and specifically it's a police
procedural with a literary element to it. It's 391 pages long in the fully
printed edition I have
Has this been published?
And it is totally fine if the answer is no.
If yes, what publisher and what publication date? This
is published on 8th January in the US by Random House, and on March 21st in the
UK by Penguin's Michael Joseph imprint. It's also coming out in 10 other
languages and countries across 2019.
https://www.penguin
randomhouse.com
/authors/2186176/gytha-lodge/
https://www.penguin
randomhouse.com
/authors/2186176/gytha-lodge/
https://www.penguin
.co.uk/authors/
136839/gytha-
lodge.html
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I began writing in March of 2015, had a bit of a gap when I took on a more-than-full-time job, and finished it in May of 2018 (the final draft!)
Where did you do most of
your writing for this fiction work? And
please describe in detail. And can you
please include a photo? I write a lot in cafes, and I have a
few particular favourites around Cambridge. The first is the very cool and
hipster Stir coffee shop, which I've attached a photo of. The second is the
cafe in the city's Waterstones. The third, where I go when I want to spend a
long time and only drink one cup of tea (ha!) is Starbucks. They never mind if
I occupy a chair all afternoon. I have a favourite one down a passage near to
Christ's Pieces in Cambridge.
What were your writing
habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to
music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? For
a long time, writing has been a job that I love, so I approached writing this
book the way you'd approach any great job. I'd start early in the morning at a
coffee shop (usually after the school run) and have a good long stint, though
unlike with an office job, I was free to move around, so I did. I'd switch
venues, and sometimes write a little at home. It got a lot harder once the
crazy over-full-time-job started. Fitting writing in around that and single
parenting was tough, and my lovely agent ended up having to say "Right, I
need this book NOW." That forced me to take holiday and finished it, most
of which I did in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. (Above Right) I'd cycle from my parents'
isolated house to the tiny and lovely town of Brecon and work in the Coffee
Number One that had newly opened there, then cycle home. Fresh air, exercise
and great coffee are a winning combo.
What is the summary of
this specific fiction work? She Lies in Wait is
the story of a girl who went missing 30 years ago. Back in 1983, a group of
teenagers went camping in the beautiful New Forest on a hot summer's night.
They drank, they danced, some of them took drugs and coupled off. In the
morning, Aurora, the younger sister of popular Topaz who had tagged along, was
gone. Thirty years later, her body is found in a place only those teenagers
knew about, and DCI Jonah Sheens has to unpick all the lies they told to find
out what really happened. Along the way, he has to navigate a lot of his own
memories of that group, who were a few years below him at school, and some
uncomfortable events that he doesn't want his team to know about.
Can you give the reader
just enough information for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt?
This excerpt comes from early in the book, when Jonah, who
is now a DCI, is first told that a body has been found. He knows, from its
location, that it is Aurora Jackson, found at long last. The girl he never
really stopped looking for is dead, as he had long suspected, and it is an
intensely emotional moment for him.
Please include the
excerpt and include page numbers as reference.
The excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. Friday,
July 22, 1983, 11:30 P.M. Aurora It was somehow the loneliest she had ever
felt, despite the music and the laughter and the occasional cajoling. They
wanted her to dance, to drink, to enjoy herself. She knew why. She was a
constant irritation. A nagging sense of non-fun. But the more they pressed, the
more she could feel herself retreating inward. The more she became rigid and
isolated. She'd rarely had anyone to talk to at school parties, either. Her
closest friend, Becky, was never allowed to go to any of them. Her mother, who
looked after her alone and generally seemed to confuse love with feeding up,
wanted her home safely as soon as school was done, in spite of Becky's
desperation to join in. Earlier in the year, it had seemed like her loneliness
had been solved. Kind, lovable Zofia had arrived like a ray of sunshine into
Aurora's life. She'd come with Aurora whenever she was going to be dumped
somewhere with Topaz, and she'd chattered away to her in her strange English
and made her feel like she was liked. And then Zofia had been snatched away
again. All because of one stupid night. The thought of all that was still too
fresh and too painful. She closed her eyes against it briefly, and against
finding herself alone again, and feeling like she was separated from these
friends of Topaz's by hundreds of miles. When she opened them again, it was all
still the same. She was still here. She found herself watching Jojo after that,
reassured by the difference between her and the other girls. Jojo chose to
dance on her own, and to lose herself in the rhythm without ever worrying how
she looked. Once or twice, Aurora found herself envying her. She wondered if
she could be like her if she tried: capable, and wild. Aurora thought Jojo was
quite beautiful in her wildness. Perhaps that was the only way to be, when she
could never be like her sister and her hip-grinding sexuality. Even Benners was
dancing: head back, bouncing on his heels, one hand tucked into his chest so
that he could hold his hip flask. He'd stopped looking like the Benners she
knew. But it was Benners who eventually tired of the movement and came to sit
with her. He dropped down next to her heavily and then had to use a hand to
steady himself. He laughed, and swigged from the hip flask. Aurora could smell
the alcohol on him. She wondered if she smelled of the lemonade she was making
her way through. "I've felt like that before," he said with a grin.
"Like what?" "Like I wasn't part of anything. Like I was totally
alone and unnoticed, and the more I thought about it, the more alone I became.
Actually, it happens to me quite often." He nodded at her obvious
surprise. "Too much thinking. If you think and think and think, then it
becomes like a barrier between you and everything else. You can't enjoy
anything, and all you're focused on is how wrong it all feels. How much you
wish you were somewhere else." "I suppose so." Aurora nodded.
"But I'll tell you something," Benners went on, leaning toward her to
speak earnestly. Puffing fumes into her face. "And it's important, Aurora.
Because you're this smart person and you've got a lot to give. A lot more than
most of these." He paused, waiting, and Aurora dutifully asked,
"What?" "You should never wish you were somewhere else," he
said, picking up her hand and squeezing it for emphasis. "Never. No matter
what you're doing, embrace it. Being away in your world and your head is
important sometimes, but so is living. You need to let real life into your
experiences. You need to feel all this and let yourself get caught up in it.
And that's about making a decision. A decision to enjoy it." Aurora shook
her head slightly. "It's just not really my thing." "That's not
what you should be saying," he said, for a moment almost aggressive.
"You should never say that. You haven't tried it. How the fuck do you know
if it's your thing? You need to tell yourself that everything is your thing.
And if you want to get joy out of your life, you should launch yourself into
everything that happens. Because once you've done that, and . . . committed to
it, and embraced it, it will be your thing. There's nothing out there that
isn't for you. You just need to give the world a chance." She studied his
fierce expression. She had a strange sensation of being poised on the edge of
something. She wondered whether he was right, and she had a choice. Whether she
could be more things than she believed. Whether she was losing out on some part
of herself. Benners swigged again from his polished silver hip flask, and then
paused. He looked at it, and then held it out toward her. "It's your
choice," he said with a level gaze. And then Aurora took a breath in and
held out her disposable plastic cup. She let him fill up her cup with whatever
it was he was drinking. It went into the lemonade like oil into water. Benners
smiled at her. A real, warm smile. He held up the hip flask. "To giving
everything a chance," he said, and she drank as he did, almost
appreciating the burning tang in her drink after so much sickly sweetness.
Why is this excerpt so
emotional for you? And can you describe
your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? Like
every writer, I live a lot in my characters' minds whilst I'm writing, so I
felt this along with Jonah. But there's more to it, too. As a parent, it's
impossible not to feel a sense of horror and heartache over a kid's death,
whether they're a teenager or a toddler. Aurora represents a lot of things to
me, too. She is quite like me in some ways, the younger sister of a much cooler
older sibling. She's also a little like the younger sister I then had nine
years later, who I helped to bring up. It's hard to untangle all the threads in
this, but it was unquestionably an emotional work throughout.
Were there any deletions
from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a
photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt. I
think this section remained much as it first was! Which is unusual. Perhaps
these brief, key moments tend to be easier to write.
Other works you have
published? She Lies in Wait is
my debut novel, but I have long been a committed Wattpad writer. I have the
first book of two different series on there, one a 9-12 fantasy title, and the
other a YA fantasy romance. I read kids' and YA titles a lot, too, so it feels
extremely natural to write in both. I would strongly recommend Wattpad as a
platform, not only for exposure (it's HUGE) but also because it was key to
keeping my writing confidence while I was going through the lengthy process of
finding a publisher. At a point when my very first submitted book didn't sell,
Wattpad really saved me. I've now had over 6 million reads on the site in
total, and have loved the feedback and support.
Anything you would like
to add? I know a lot of writers out there who have struggled or are
struggling to get to the next stage. Publication itself can be super tough and
is only the beginning. I think it's worth knowing that overnight success
stories are rare, and mine certainly isn't one. I've been working towards this
for 20 years, and my first book that my agents put out to publishers didn't
sell to any of them. I thought my career was over, but it turns out that this
is a common occurrence amongst writers. I wish I'd known that back then. So
whatever you do, don't stop. Don't lose heart. Keep writing, and keep taking
every opportunity you can until it pays off.
I was born in Aldershot,
but grew up in and around Cambridge and Ely (all in the UK). Having written a
first, truly terrible novel at fourteen (Left at age 15 in 1999), I became fixed on the idea of being an
author.
Whilst at Cambridge University, I started writing for the stage, and I learned a huge amount from the feedback at every stage. Some four years later, I became a full time writer, writing and touring plays (Right in 2008) and adding extra funds by writing content for businesses. During this time, I became a much more established playwright, winning several national awards, including a Fringe award for Best New Play.
In 2013 (Left With Son Rufus), with a young child, I went to UEA to take the renowned Creative Writing Course, and midway through I signed with Curtis Brown for my very first novel, which was shortlisted for the Yeovil Literary Prize. (Gytha below in 2014)
In the interval between then and achieving a contract for She Lies in Wait and the next two books in the series, I joined a large international translation firm to write their content, and ended up setting up a whole copywriting department within it. I still work 10 hours each week there, and love the human interaction and getting to write video games. (Above Right Gytha in May of 2019 at a book reading for She Lies In Wait)
Whilst at Cambridge University, I started writing for the stage, and I learned a huge amount from the feedback at every stage. Some four years later, I became a full time writer, writing and touring plays (Right in 2008) and adding extra funds by writing content for businesses. During this time, I became a much more established playwright, winning several national awards, including a Fringe award for Best New Play.
In 2013 (Left With Son Rufus), with a young child, I went to UEA to take the renowned Creative Writing Course, and midway through I signed with Curtis Brown for my very first novel, which was shortlisted for the Yeovil Literary Prize. (Gytha below in 2014)
In the interval between then and achieving a contract for She Lies in Wait and the next two books in the series, I joined a large international translation firm to write their content, and ended up setting up a whole copywriting department within it. I still work 10 hours each week there, and love the human interaction and getting to write video games. (Above Right Gytha in May of 2019 at a book reading for She Lies In Wait)
INSIDE THE EMOTION OF
FICTION links
001 11 15 2018 Nathaniel
Kaine’s
Thriller Novel
John
Hunter – The Veteran
002 11 18 2018 Ed
Protzzel’s
Futuristic/Mystery/Thriller
The
Antiquities Dealer
003 11 23 2018 Janice
Seagraves’s
Science
Fiction Romance
Exodus
Arcon
004 11 29 2018
Christian Fennell’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
The Fiddler
in the Night
005 12 02 2018 Jessica
Mathews’s
Adult
Paranormal Romance
Death
Adjacent
006 12 04 2018 Robin Jansen’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
Ruby the
Indomitable
007 12 12 2018 Adair Valerez’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
Scrim
008 12 17 218
Kit Frazier’s
Mystery Novel
Dead Copy
009 12 21 2019 Robert Craven’s
Noir/Spy Novel
The Road
of a Thousand Tigers
010 01 13 2019 Kristine Goodfellow’s
Contemporary
Romantic Fiction
The Other
Twin
011 01 17 2019 Nancy J Cohen’s
Cozy Mystery
Trimmed To
Death
012 01 20 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
Crime Novel
Second
Story Man
013 01 23 2019 Alexis Fancher’s
Flash Fiction
His Full
Attention
014 01 27 2019 Brian L Tucker’s
Young Adult/Historical
POKEWEED: AN ILLUSTRATED NOVELLA
015 01 31 2019 Robin Tidwell’s
Dystopian
Reduced
016 02 07 2019 J.D. Trafford’s
Legal
Fiction/Mystery
Little Boy
Lost
017 02 08 2019 Paula Shene’s
Young Adult
ScieFi/Fantasy/Romance/Adventure
My Quest
Begins
018 02 13 2019 Talia Carner’s
Mainstream
Fiction/ Suspense/ Historical
Hotel
Moscow
019 02 15 2019 Rick Robinson’s
Multidimensional
Fiction
Alligator
Alley
020 02 21 2019 LaVerne Thompson’s
Urban Fantasy
The Soul
Collectors
021 02 27 2019 Marlon L Fick’s
Post-Colonialist
Novel
The
Nowhere Man
022 03 02 2019 Carol Johnson’s
Mainstream
Novel
Silk And
Ashes
023 03 06 2019 Samuel Snoek-Brown’s
Short Story
Collection
There Is
No Other Way to Worship Them
024 03 08 2019 Marlin Barton’s
Short Story
Collection
Pasture
Art
025 03 18 2019 Laura Hunter’s
Historical
Fiction
Beloved
Mother
026 03 21 2019 Maggie Rivers’s
Romance
Magical
Mistletoe
027 03 25 2019 Faith
Gibson’s
Paranormal
Romance
Rafael
028 03 27 2019 Valerie Nieman’s
Tall Tale
To The
Bones
029 04 04 2019 Betty Bolte’s
Paranormal
Romance
Veiled
Visions of Love
030 04 05 2019 Marianne
Maili’s
Tragicomedy
Lucy, go
see
031 04 10 2019 Gregory Erich Phillips’s
Mainstream
Fiction
The Exile
032 04 15 2019 Jason Ament’s
Speculative
Fiction
Rabid Dogs
033 04 24 2019 Stephen P. Keirnan’s
Historical
Novel
The
Baker’s Secret
034 05 01 2019 George Kramer’s
Fantasy
Arcadis:
Prophecy Book
035 05 05 2019 Erika Sams’s
Adventure/Fantasy/Romance
Rose of Dance
036 05 07 2019 Mark Wisniewski’s
Literary
Fiction
Watch Me
Go
037 05 08 2019 Marci Baun’s
Science
Fiction/Horror
The
Whispering House
038 05 10 2019 Suzanne M. Wolfe’s
Historical
Fiction
Murder By
Any Name
039 05 12 2019 Edward DeVito’s
Historical/Fantasy
The
Woodstock Paradox
040 05 14 2019 Gytha Lodge’s
Literary/Crime