Brady nodded and then walked out into the black, empty night after Conrad. He knew for her sake the best thing to do was not call her back. Let it go and pretend it had never happened.
He could see nothing but blackness as he reached the path at the end of his long, front garden. But he could hear the thunderous crashing of the heavy waves as they beat against Brown’s Bay below. He lived on Southcliff, an imposing and exclusive row of Victorian houses that lined the cliff, facing out towards the North Sea. Nestled on a tight bend between Cullercoats and Whitley Bay, Brady had never been sure whether the row of houses fell in the sought-after fishing village of Cullercoats or whether it marked the very edge of the shabby seaside resort of Whitley Bay.
Claudia had fallen in love with the place as soon as she had seen the bending cliff with its dramatic plunge to the waiting rocks below. On a good day the view from the first-floor living room and second-floor study were breathtaking; dazzling azure waters lay perfectly still as far as the eye could see. White sailing boats and small, brightly coloured fishing boats would serenely blend in against the backdrop of stunning blue. But when the sea mirrored the grey, blackening skies overhead, the brooding waves would thrash against one another as they threw themselves against the cliff, violent and furious. At times the waves would be so high they would crash against the path lining the cliff, covering the large windows of the house in a thick, salty sea spray. If one of the local fishing boats was unfortunate enough to be out collecting lobster nets during a storm, Brady would watch through the murky windows mesmerised, while the tiny boat would be mercilessly tossed from one black wave to another.
‘Bugger me! It’s cold!’ he said as turned up his jacket collar against the cold, bitter air coming off the North Sea.
Conrad didn’t reply as he made his way along the walkway towards his car parked on the tight bending road at the edge of the jutting cliff.
Brady knew Conrad wasn’t impressed with what he’d seen. And Brady couldn’t help but agree with him.
• Firstly, you will need determination, self belief and to be prepared for a tremendous amount of hard work. Competition is high (especially in the crime genre) and only a few manuscripts ever reach an agent or editor’s desk. But don’t give up. Keep motiviated by believing in your work and reminding yourself how badly you want to be a writer.
• Character, plot and location are the key ingredients to a successful novel. BUT you must know your genre first and then apply the above three key ingredients. How do you get to know your genre? Read … read and then read some more. The more you read, the better the writer you will become.
• Write about what you know. If you’re interested in writing crime then follow everything crime related. Absorb yourself in it. Same applies to location – know your setting. Live it, feel it – walk it. For that crucial characterisation – people watch. Interview professionals in the related area you want to write in, if at all possible. This will give you ideas about who your main character and how they operate. Understand the procedures they follow. And then, know your character inside out – what they think, feel and how they would act in any given situation. In other words, bring them to life!
• You’ve researched your genre, you have a plot, a character and you’ve found that ideal location to set it in, now all you need to do is start writing. The key to staying on track is writing everyday for an hour an half to three hours maximum – regardless. Writing everyday means that you will not get tied up in knots and loose the thread of your plot.
• Finally, be patient. Writing is a slow process. Very few writers publish their first draft – or even their first novel. So be prepared to re-write again and again. And don’t be precious – be prepared to take well-meaning advice and criticism from someone you trust. And remember that ‘those brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something’. (Randy Pausch, ‘The Last Lecture’ 2007.)
I would first like to thank all my family and friends. Especially Francesca, Charlotte, Gabriel and Ruby, who are without a doubt my inspiration. I extend the same gratitude to Jordan, Nathan and Lily Turnbull – thank you for being there. Thanks to Elaine and Pete Wilson for their constant encouragement and kindness – I am indebted to you. Thanks also to Dr Lynne Johnston and David Kenny for their invaluable advice. Thanks to Paul and Jacqui Treweek, and Suzanne Forsten for their endless support. And to Keith and Michelle Murphy for keeping me sane.
I am eternally grateful, and always will be, to my literary agent, Jenny Brown. Thank you for believing and still believing in me.
Thanks also, to all at Avon, Harper Collins, for being such a fantastic team, and in particular to Keshini and Helen. Finally, so much credit and heartfelt thanks go to my editor Caroline Hogg for all her patience and hard work in bringing this book about – thank you for persisting with me and for being such a visionary.
About the Author
Danielle Ramsay is a proud Scot living in a small seaside town in the North East of England. Always a storyteller, it was only after initially following an academic career lecturing in literature that she found her place in life and began to write creatively full time. After much hard graft her work was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in 2009. Always on the go, always passionate in what she is doing, Danielle fills her days with horse-riding, running and murder by proxy.
By the same author
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © Danielle Ramsay 2012
Danielle Ramsay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
EPub Edition © April 2012 ISBN: 978 0 00 747839 2
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