Hard to believe my interview series featuring #Bookouture authors is winding down – as my initial batch of conversations are drawing to a close! I am hopeful I can continue to converse with the lovely authors of this Indie Publisher in the UK, as each conversation I have been sharing (and will be!) has been such an enjoyable feast of words and a wealth of sharing our writerly lives with one another – whilst giving little hints about what each story now releasing will involve. It’s become a welcome glow on my blog, as prior to assembling these interviews, I had never heard of Bookouture and I have Ms Driscoll to thank for this lovely rendezvous and joyfulness!
Each time I set to mind which stories I wanted to highlight during this interview series, I wanted to seek out stories which would touch my heart but also, might challenge me a bit emotionally. Women’s Fiction is full of heart-centred dramatic story-lines – where you get to step directly into the shoes of a woman whose own life is not just different from your own, but it’s set to a higher pitch of a dramatic background. I love reading about lives full of adversity and strife, whilst seeing how each character in turn picks up the pieces of their lives and carries forward renewed and strengthened despite the obstacles which befell them. These are the type of stories whose truism to our own contemporary lives give us a portrait of how we might live through similar circumstances – hopefully for the better for having learnt of the character’s journey but if not, perhaps a renewed strength from having read their story.
I love finding fictional stories whose evocation of a lived life is so honestly realistic, the person on the page could quite literally walk out of the ink and folds of paper to alight in reality. When I first read the premise behind ‘After the Lie’ I was curious from the sociological and psychological juxtapositions how this family might surmount the secrets which are starting to percolate to the surface. It’s definitely an interesting proposition for a story to funnel out as the novel unfolds, and thus, I was quite inspired by what to ask the author on it’s behalf!
I hope you enjoy our conversation and perhaps, I might have inspired you to pick up a copy of ‘After the Lie’ or any of the other lovely Bookouture titles I’ve been featuring! If I have, kindly let me know in the comment threads below this post or on each individual interview, too. I am blessed by your visit and happy to find my readers are enjoying this interview series, too! In other words, these guest features have been some of the most popular recently read posts on Jorie Loves A Story! Rock on, dear hearts!
To gain a bit of a back-story on how I came to host Bookouture authors,
please visit my first conversation I featured with this publisher with Teresa Driscoll!
One little lie can make one big difference …
Lydia has the ‘right’ kind of friends, her children are at the ‘right’ kind of school and she’s married to the ‘right’ sort of man – kind, steady, reliable Mark. Her wedding business is flourishing and even though she is at loggerheads with her mother, she couldn’t ask for anything more from life.
But the truth is that Lydia has been lucky. She has been living a lie for years and Mark has no idea who he is really married to. But nothing lasts forever and the past has a funny way of catching up with the present. When the person who knows all of Lydia’s dark little secrets turns up at the school gates, his presence threatens to blow Lydia’s life apart.
What is Lydia’s terrible truth? Once the secret is out, you can’t put it back …
Your opening greeting to readers on your website is that you write stories about ordinary life, everyday humour and family life. It might sound quite ordinary but to turn everyday life into a compelling read takes charisma. How do you approach your writings to make them realistic but also refreshingly unique where each woman who reads the story can find it resonating with them?
Fisher responds: When I am thinking of ideas for the next novel, I go onto forums such as Mumsnet to see what ‘ordinary’ women are discussing and asking advice about. I listen to my friends and their stories, (or people bellowing their problems into their mobile phones on trains and in cafés) and then I try to think of the most extreme – but credible – version and add in as many complications and conflicts as possible. Read More