It is my absolute pleasure to share with you my interview with Rachel Abbott Author of the highly reviewed Only The Innocent.
Well that’s interesting, because the way that I describe myself doesn’t translate AT ALL into the way I work. I’d just never thought about that before! I am basically a messy person. I surround myself with piles of paper, chocolate wrappers, empty wine glasses. My husband, however, is his mother’s son (I’m just like my mother too!) and he tidies up around me. Thank goodness. I am also somebody who gets weepy at the slightest emotional thing (a good soppy movie can never fail).
How would you describe yourself and how does your description translate into the way you work?
Well that’s interesting, because the way that I describe myself doesn’t translate AT ALL into the way I work. I’d just never thought about that before! I am basically a messy person. I surround myself with piles of paper, chocolate wrappers, empty wine glasses. My husband, however, is his mother’s son (I’m just like my mother too!) and he tidies up around me. Thank goodness. I am also somebody who gets weepy at the slightest emotional thing (a good soppy movie can never fail).
But when it comes to writing, it’s a whole different thing. I am obsessively organized, and plan everything to the nth degree. I have individual pages (with photos) for each character that include every detail I might need, and charts that show the relationship between each and every one of them. I don’t mean brother, husband, etc - I mean “despises”, “is afraid of”, “has an illicit relationship with” - that sort of thing. And then I basically have a flowchart for the whole plot with two timelines. The first is a timeline of what happens when, the second is a timeline of when information is hinted at - and when it is revealed.
And as for the emotional bit - I write thrillers. I kill people. I make people do horrible things to each other.
So in answer to your question, there is no correlation at all between the two!
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I’m not sure it’s a quirk, but I am very interested in relationships and motivation. I find that a lot of books concentrate solely on who has done something, and how they did it. Both are important, but for me it also has to be the why? I struggle with books where a protagonist does something, but it doesn’t appear to be based on any rationale at all.
This does make it difficult for me to work out the plots to my stories though, because everybody’s motivation has to be credible. For example, I have my next book pretty much mapped out. But early on in the story, something happens to a young girl who is out very late at night. There needed to be a link between this girl and one of my main characters - but it took me a long time to come up with a link which I believed was credible, bearing in mind the personality of the character concerned. I came up with several options, all of which would probably have worked, but not for me. There was a slight misfit between the character and her actions that I couldn’t live with.
What type of research did you do for Only The Innocent?
We were actually waiting for a knock on the door from the police, to be honest. If anybody was monitoring my Google searches, I think I would have been in trouble.
I had to research ways of killing somebody without poison or blood involved, the growth in eastern European prostitution, the first use of Rohypnol in the UK - that was some of the dodgy stuff. Then there is the usual material such as travel times between places, times of trains, flights etc. I am a stickler for accuracy, and everything had to be credible.
What process do you go through to define your characters?
I think first about what characters are essential to make the plot work. So in Only the Innocent, I started with the premise that a man was going to be killed, and he was going to be killed by a woman. But I didn’t want the woman to be a mad axe-woman. I wanted her to be normal. So then I had to pose the question “what would a man have to do to make a normal, rational woman commit murder?” Then I had to ask “what set of circumstances would make murder the only option?”
From that, I created the bare outline of the victim and the murderer. But of course, there have to be other suspects, so what else has the victim done that has had an impact on the lives of other women? What sort of woman would this be?
The first level of definition is thinking about their motivation. And then I fill in the rest - down to the smallest detail. I even have a visual notion of how they look in my mind, and I find photographs - usually of film or television stars that approximate the look that I am going for. For example, in my next book one character is a builder. More of a property developer, really - but he is very much Sean Bean. So I attach a photo of him, together with date of birth, job, motivation, personality - all that material is invaluable as I continue to write.
What do you hope readers will experience while reading your books?
I hope that in places my books will make them shiver! Not all the time, but maybe just once in the book. I hope they can’t wait to turn the next page.
And then I hope that it will raise questions in their minds about the actions of the people involved. Each character has their own story, and each has made decisions that have affected the outcome of that story. I want readers to question those decisions. Would they have done the same thing? What would they have done differently? Do they agree with the outcome? I don’t want things to be so cut and dried that it’s just another crime with the criminal caught and that’s it.
Where do you find your inspiration for writing?
From people. From the way that they behave, and the way they interact with each other. An endlessly fascinating subject, and I really wish I’d studied psychology. I take facets of people’s personalities and try to push them to the limits. In my next book, I ‘like’ all but two of the characters. But I don’t necessarily like or condone their behavior.
I may be watching the news and see something that makes me wonder “what on earth made that person behave in that way” - and it could be the beginning of a story. I have met enough people in my own life who have surprised me with their behavior too!
What advice would you give to a first time author?
Two things - start thinking about your sales platform, ie the people that might buy your book, well before you publish. I didn’t do this. I had friends and family lined up, but that was all. I had just 9 followers on Twitter, and it takes time to build. I am lucky - I sold my business a few years ago and now writing is my ‘job’, so I have all day to work at making an impact. That isn’t true for most people. So start to get people interested in what you’re doing as early as you can.
The second thing I would say is take your time with your writing. I have read about people who aim to write six novels a year, because then they will get a decent income - in theory at least. In some genres and with a lot of experience, this might be possible. I know I couldn’t do it. It takes me a long time to plan. If it’s your first book, read up on tips for novel writing and follow them. Everything from correct use of punctuation to establishing a point of view for a chapter or scene. I know I’ve still got a lot to learn, and I will continue to read these books and articles because it’s definitely a learning process.
What advice did you receive that was most beneficial to you?
I mentioned the point of view issue in the previous question. I had never realized that it is essential to write a chapter or section of a chapter from a single person’s perspective. Two people’s thoughts should not coincide within a chapter, unless the change is marked by a gap in the paragraphs - not necessarily an entirely new chapter. In the past I had always read professionally edited books - so it had literally never occurred to me because all instances of this in the original writing would have been eradicated.
I sent my book to be “read” by an author. Not edited - just read and commented on. She pointed out the number of occasions in which I had switched from one person’s thoughts to another. She called it “head jumping” . And now I see it all the time in unedited books - and it stands out a mile. I am a very visual reader and I picture every scene. So if I am person A and I’m observing (and commenting) on person B - then it’s suddenly person B’s thoughts that I am in, it’s very confusing. But it is so easy to fall into the trap.
So the advice I was given was to write “POV Person A (or B, C etc)” at the start of each chapter, immediately after the Chapter heading (obviously remembering to remove this at the end!). Then as I am writing it forces me to think, and amend what I am saying so that it works as a scene. It’s so much easier than editing it all later, and it saves a lot of time.
Are you currently working on another book?
Yes and it’s another thriller, but with a completely different background. Only the Innocent takes place in a world of the very rich, with stunning locations such as Venice, Positano, Le Marche, London and Oxford. I’ve done a “virtual tour” with photos of the locations for my readers which seems to be going down well. It’s http://www.rachel-abbott.com/London.html
for anybody that’s interested. The next book - provisionally entitled The Catalyst - is about people who are better off than the average, but certainly not seriously wealthy. And at the moment, most of the action takes place in Cheshire. Nice enough, but without the glamour.
Due to a very disturbed childhood, the ‘catalyst’ character has a lack of belief in “happy ever after” and when she meets with a group of her half-sister’s friends who seem to be demonstrating all the external signs of marital bliss, she sets out to reveal what is really going on in their lives, on the basis that there are undoubtedly hidden depths to each of these relationships. Unfortunately, in more than one case she discovers rather more than she had bargained for.
What do hope to accomplish as an author?
I don’t expect either fame or fortune as an indie author. I know that some have achieved it, but it’s the exception rather than the rule. So what I would really like is to give my readers a sense of satisfaction when they finish reading one of my books, but also I would love them to question the decisions of the main characters. If the book has absorbed them sufficiently, then it should leave them pondering on some of the issues - even if only for five minutes after they have finished reading.
Ultimately I would see success as people actively discussing my books - either online or in book clubs - because they raise enough questions to create a topic of conversation.
Where to buy Only the Innocent
Other book formats
Enjoyed this interview, Marilou and Rachel. Best wishes to you both, MG
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