Introducing a debut thriller that will knock your socks off
Blossom Spring Publishing recently added a new Book Smuggler’s Den favorite to their portfolio. Second Hand Rose by author Deborah Fox is for mature audiences who love a good crime thriller. If you’ve ever been interested in writing a murder scene, keep reading what it took Deborah to invent one that holds a reader’s attention.
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What inspired you to write a book?
The passing of my dog Jake a few years ago, which was a very difficult period for me and to help with the grieving process I decided to write this book Second Hand Rose and include Jake as one of the main characters. It did really help me and now I try to pass on this message to others where I can as an inspiration to anyone that may be dealing with similar situations with their own mental health.
At first, I only wanted to write the story as a surprise gift for my mum for Christmas and it wasn’t until a few years later that I decided to contact a publisher to get a professional opinion and to my surprise and delight they not only liked it but offered me one their publishing contracts.
Was there a book or author that you admired that played a role when developing your book?
When I was writing my first killing/murder scene, I consulted my partner who is a big Stephen King fan to get his views. My initial attempts in his view were not detailed and graphic enough and he gave me some examples from Stephen’s work to really get the message across as to how to portray how evil the monster in my book is. It did take a few re-writes but once he was happy, I followed suit for the rest of the book, and hopefully, the readers are not disappointed with the end results.
It is often said that in order to write something, you must believe in what you are writing. Do you agree with that?
Not fully but it helps as I am a big horror, suspense, and thriller fan and so naturally I was drawn into that genre and was able to take my experiences over the years to ensure I could make the story as good as possible. I do love the works of M Night Shyamalan and the hidden twists he is well known for. I did add a few twists of my own and based on the reviews so far no one has guessed yet so I must have learned well from the master.
Do you have a set schedule for writing, or are you one of those who write only when they feel inspired?
No set schedule just fitting in the odd hour and two in between my full-time job and social life. I did want to finish the initial draft in time for Christmas 2019 for the present I mentioned in Question 1.
Tell us about your writing style, how is it different from other writers?
For this my first book I already had the ending in my head at the very start of the writing process and so had to build the plot and characters around this. I’m not sure if this is common with other authors but I am halfway through my second book now and again the ending came to me first, so something that works for me. My style is quite simple without complicated vocabulary as I haven’t had any previous writing experience or much past education in this subject, so I just tell the story in my own way and the reason this became a novella rather than a full blow novel. I have already evolved my writing into the 2nd book taking on board the comments and recommendations from reviews and connecting with other authors about providing more detailed descriptions.
What, according to you, is the hardest thing about writing? What would you say is the easiest aspect of writing?
I didn’t enjoy the editing part when my book was going through the publishing stage as when the first draft came back with all the red corrections, my heart sank. I fully appreciate the work that goes into the editing side especially when the first hard copy of Second hand Rose landed on the doorstep and I saw the finished article.
Have you ever experienced “Writer’s Block”? How long do they usually last? Any tips you would like to share to overcome it?
I didn’t experience any of this in my first book, as this just seemed to flow once I started writing so I was quite lucky. I am experiencing this a little in my current book with one chapter that I cannot get quite right in my head. Rather than dwell too much on this, I have been writing other chapters ahead so at least my book is still progressing until I find a satisfactory conclusion.
Any advice you would like to give to aspiring writers?
From my experience, I would say if you were lucky enough to get published or self-published then don’t think this is the end, and sales and reviews will simply come flooding in. The reality for first-time authors is tough in this very competitive market, so use and abuse all social media platforms to get your story out there. I didn’t have Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc before my book got published but now I am building a growing portfolio of book-related followers on all platforms who have helped me build sales and reviews in the last few months. I have also found great sites like Book Smugglers which offer interviews and podcasts to help promote my material. I have even done book readings and Q&A’s at local libraries for their book groups which was nerve-racking at first, but have been great experiences. I am enjoying the promotion now as much as the writing even though it is quite a juggling act with a full-time job.
Are you working on something new at the moment?
Yes, I don’t want to say too much but the new book is a story I had partly down on paper a little after I wrote Second Hand Rose and with the confidence that came from getting published meant I decided to pick this up again and at the time of writing already onto Chapter 22. All I will say is it is a completely different genre.
About Deborah Fox
Deborah Fox, 50 years old, and live in the north of England in a town called Doncaster with my partner Paul. I work full-time in the returns department for a large electrical distributor. When I am not writing I enjoy dancing, gardening, walking, cinema/theatre, traveling, and dogs.
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If you’d like to be interviewed here in the Den, please email contact@booksmugglersden.com, and we’ll get back to you within 7 – 10 days. Visit our author interview page to see more interviews and get to know your fellow authors!
