Guest Interview With Sam Carrington
Today, I’m delighted to be
chatting to my on-line friend and author, Sam Carrington. Sam’s debut novel, ‘Saving Sophie', was published by Avon
Books, a division of Harper Collins Publishers on Friday 12th August
and I’m very pleased to welcome her onto the blog to talk about the book.
Welcome, Sam. We haven’t met in person but I feel I
‘know’ you from your support on Twitter, Facebook and, of course, this blog.
I’ve followed your writing journey with interest and now it’s happened. Your
debut novel is out there - huge congratulations! Perhaps you’d like to introduce yourself and
tell us a little about your writing.
Hello, Jan – thanks for
having me on your blog!
I was pretty late to the
writing game really – I was 38 when I began writing short stories, and I had
some success with a few of them being published in women’s magazines and
anthologies. But it was always novels that I really wanted to write, so at the
end of 2013 I’d made up my mind to start! I began my first novel (which is now
‘in a drawer’ as they say) in January 2014. By the end of that year, I was
thinking about the next. The early version of this second novel was long listed
in the 2015 CWA Debut Dagger award, and became 'Saving Sophie'.
Can you tell us what inspired you to write ‘Saving Sophie’?
Well, I had various ideas
before settling on the topic and main themes for 'Saving Sophie' - having worked in a prison I’m not short of those,
but everything was in note-form. Then inspiration came unexpectedly, from a
source close to home! A particular ‘incident’ left me with many ‘what if?’
questions, and so I used these to form the basis of 'Saving Sophie’s plot. I believe, as a parent, some fears are
universal and I wanted to explore the mother-daughter relationship when it’s
put under pressure, as well as think about how teenagers can often hide an
awful lot from their parents!
Before I read a word of the book, the cover drew me
in. The image of a solitary girl behind the mesh of metal fencing set my mind
racing with so many possibilities about her situation. How much say did you
have in the cover design?
I was sent a few mock-ups of
the cover by the publisher and asked my thoughts. It’s a very strange feeling
to see how your story, the themes and characters are translated into pictures
or art work. I was thrilled with the cover, although I had one reservation.
This was discussed, and the picture tweaked. So I was involved a bit, which was
lovely, and unexpected actually – I hadn’t thought I would have any say in the
finished cover. I loved the colours – which again underwent a few changes – and
I think the overall look they’ve gone with is very striking. The e-book and paperback
editions are slightly different – the font colour for e-book is a bright pink,
whereas the font on the paperback will be a hot coral pantone. I’m very excited
to see how that looks.
‘Saving Sophie’ is both disturbing and gripping,
staying with me long after I’d finished reading it.
That’s
lovely to hear, Jan! What more could an author ask for?
When the story opens with a murder and later when a
body is found, did you know then how each of the characters would react or were
they developed as you got further into the writing of the novel?
I had vague ideas of how I
thought each character would respond to the devastation that unfolded. But,
having said that, as I was writing – and particularly with the emotional scenes
– I did kind of ‘go with the flow’ a number of times. I’m hoping that the
reactions, the character’s inner turmoil and their interactions with each
other, therefore, come across more naturally.
The reason I ask that is that you seem to get right
inside the heads of your characters, especially Karen and her daughter, Sophie.
How has your study of psychology and your work in prison enabled you to explore
their inner thoughts and emotions?
Firstly, as a mum, I think
that the worries, fears and reactions Karen experienced were easier to bring to
life – after all, I share many of those fears! But I believe that through my
work, firstly as a nurse, then as an offending behaviour programme facilitator
in the prison, I have come across many emotional and challenging situations and
I have been privy to a lot of people’s most vulnerable moments. So I have a
wide range of experience dealing with the fallout of illness, death, crime and
of managing the many emotions which surround these. All of this, I believe, supports
my writing.
Because it’s a crime novel, the role of the police,
DI Lindsay Wade and DS Mack, is there throughout the book, obviously, but it
seems to be secondary to the relationship of Karen and Sophie who are the first
to solve the crime. Is there a reason for this?
I didn’t ever want 'Saving Sophie' to be a police procedural
novel, so the decision that they should take a back-seat was there from the
outset. I felt it was important to have this ordinary-seeming family central to
the story and have the police there as support characters, rather than main
ones. I do use DI Lindsay Wade as one of the main viewpoints; she has some of
her own chapters, but again, this is really to give a taste of who she is as
the police investigation obviously plays an integral role in the overall story.
The most important relationship I wanted to get across was the mother-daughter
one.
I believe you’re writing a second novel, Sam. Can you
tell us what it’s about? How much planning has it involved so far?
The next novel introduces
forensic psychologist, Connie Summers. There is more from DI Wade and DS Mack
in this novel, although again, the focus is more on Connie and her client,
Steph, who is under the protected persons scheme. Old family secrets, guilt and
revenge are the key themes in this novel. Ultimately, though, it’s about how
one action or behaviour can have far reaching implications for others – like
the butterfly effect, and about seeking justice for those who’ve been wronged.
Although I have a clear
vision, detailed plans and have been working ‘behind-the-scenes’ on character
biographies and sub-plots for some months, the actual writing of book two has
slowed. The publishing of 'Saving Sophie'
came much sooner than I’d anticipated, so it rather took a back seat! I’m
looking forward to getting back into writing though, and
am hoping to hit the deadline…!
Finally, what is the biggest compliment you could
have for writing ‘Saving Sophie’?
The best compliment would be
hearing that someone has read and enjoyed the novel and taken something away
from it. And hopefully that it will be remembered!
Thank you so much for taking
the time out to chat to me, Sam. I wish you loads of good luck with your book,
both as an e-book and again when it’s published as a paperback in December.
Here are the links to buying the book and finding out more about Sam:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Saving-Sophie-gripping-psychological-brilliant-ebook/dp/B01DT37C1O
Blog: http://samcarrington.blogspot.co.uk/
Sam Carrington Writer Facebook page: //www.facebook.com/samcarringtonauthor/
MY THOUGHTS AFTER READING ‘Saving
Sophie’
Rating: 5*
This novel had me gripped
from the moment I read the disturbing prologue through to the shocking
conclusion. I couldn’t put it down and kept thinking about it long after I’d
finished it. A teenage girl arrives home drunk and is unable to remember
anything about the evening out she’s just had with friends. We soon learn that
another girl has gone missing and from then on, the twists and turns of the
story make it compelling reading. Sam has
a wonderful knack of delving deep into the psyche of the main characters and the relationship between Karen Finch, who has
agoraphobia, and her daughter, Sophie, is particularly well done. By telling
the story from both their viewpoints, more relationships and subplots are
explored to keep the reader turning the pages to find out their secrets. The
use of social media plays an integral part in the novel and its possibilities
for both good and, most definitely, for evil are played out to perfection.
‘Saving Sophie’ is fast paced, well written with an excellent twist at the end
and I can’t recommend it highly enough. An exciting debut!
Last Thursday, along with my writing buddy, Helen, I attended a library event to celebrate the re-opening of Ystrad Mynach Library after recent refurbishment. It was presented by three Choc Lit authors, Chris Stovell, Evonne Wareham and Christina Courtenay who also writes her YA fiction as Pia Fenton. They introduced themselves and talked about their novels.
Interesting discussion was interspersed with questions and answers and covered various topics - irresistible Choc Lit heroes, what makes a good heroine and that vital ingredient in a Choc Lit novel, a satisfying and happy ending. We learned whether the writers were 'pantsters' or 'plotters'. As a lover of time-slip novels, I was particularly interested in the way Pia talked about colour-coding her characters' points of view. She was able to to check that she'd achieved the right balance and whether each story carried equal weight. 
Although Evonne couldn't bring props in the forms of weapons and guns to the talk (!!), she told us how she researches the crimes in her novels by visiting exhibitions, art galleries and museums to get her details right. She has also attended folk lore, forensic and crime courses.
Pia lived in Japan at one time and had brought along a selection of props for us to see. By knowing what it felt like to wear the beautiful red and gold silk wedding kimono and shoes, use the fan and parasol gave added credibility to the heroines in her Japanese trilogy. One of the librarians modelled the kimono and confirmed that it was very heavy.
We were given the opportunity to browse the wide range of the authors' books on display.
Baskerville Hall is one of those listed. The building is set in 130 acres of Welsh countryside overlooking the Wye valley on the edge of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountain National Park. It is reputed to have inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his classic Sherlock Holmes story 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and is known for its ghostly goings on. 
Some of my ghost stories appear on Alfie Dog Fiction and if you would like to download them, please click HERE. They are 'The Journey Home', 'Unfinished Business' and 'Rock-a-Bye Baby'. 'Rock-a-Bye Baby' also appears in the Alfie Dog anthology, 'The Day Death Wore Books'.
One of my fellow 'critters', Catherine, introduced me to 'Ready. Set. Novel!' This is a writer's workbook written the organisers of NaNoWriMo and is designed to help writers through the plotting and planning of a novel prior to writing it. It is full of helpful lists, question and answers for character interviews, brainstorming through character setting and story development. I particularly like the 'what-if?' page. Thinking up scenarios and exploring the stories that may unfold from them has been a great help when thinking up interesting and intriguing hooks in my plot. I most likely won't use all of them but it has fired my imagination. The page on plotting problems has also proved useful. The journey to the climax in the novel, say the writers, will be filled with mini-conflicts. On this page of the journal, we have to list problems that the main character will need to solve before the major conflict or climax. 
Another helpful reply came from Beatrice Charles. She recommended looking at '84 Charing Cross Road'. The book is a true story of the love affair between Miss Helene Hanff of New York and Messrs. marks and Co. sellers of rare and secondhand books at 84, Charing Cross Road, London. It is told in a series of letters and then in diary form in the second part 'The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street'.
On Saturday, I went to one of my favourite towns for Tenby Book Fair. This year I was accompanied by my writing buddy, Helen. It was lovely to have company, not least for all the calories we consumed over the day! We got there early and had coffee and tea cakes before going in. We slipped out when there was a break in between the talks to have a delicious lunch and finally topped the day off with another coffee and more cakes before the journey home. :-)
When we got to the hall, it was good to see lots of people already browsing at the authors' tables and chatting about their books. Please click HERE for a full list of the authors who were present. It was good to meet up with authors I already knew and to meet new writers, too. 
This week we returned from a wonderful two week holiday in Crete. It's the first time we've ever returned to the same resort, never mind the same hotel, and everything was just as good. When I was there two years ago, I was introduced to the writing of Victoria Hislop and read 'The Island' which she set in Crete and I mentioned it in my blog when I returned. The story is set both in the present day and in the 1930s and is about the leper colony on the island of Spinalonga where all Greek lepers were housed until it closed in 1957. It's a tragic tale of four generations of Petrakis women whose lives are affected by leprosy. I can remember how the book came alive as I was actually on the island when I was reading it. The landscape, the food and drink in the tavernas and observing the local people all added to my experience when reading it. 
This time, we visited Spinalonga and learned more about the leper community that lived there. The first view we had of the island with its Venetian fort was from the boat after leaving Elounda. Its pale stone walls stood in stark contrast to the vivid turquoise of the sea. 
What occurred to me was how close it seemed to the village of Plaka where the Petrakis family lived in Victoria Hislop's novel. As we walked up from the jetty, I was struck by the solemnity of the place as we entered the tunnel described in 'The Island'. 'Just about head height...it was a tiny opening in the pale expanse of stonework...the way into a long tunnel which curved away to block the view of what lay ahead at its far end.' 
The scene confronting us when we came out the other side was just how Hislop had described the now semi-derelict streets and buildings, once typical of any Cretan village. As we walked around Spinalonga, it was as if we were re-reading the pages of the novel. 
As I read about the strong resistance movement in Crete, I was reminded of Leah Fleming's excellent book, 'The Girl Under the Olive Tree'. Although a work of fiction, she has captured so well Crete in 1941, its landscape and why the Cretans fought for their land the way they did. We travelled to the museum through stunning scenery and I was conscious of how those hills hold so much history. The Cretan people would rather have hidden in freezing caves and risk death by cold and starvation than surrender. When Penelope, the main character, returns to the island for the sixtieth anniversary of the battle, she knows she will have to face her past and the extraordinary life she led on the island during that time.
Today, I’m delighted to be
chatting to my on-line friend and author, Sam Carrington. Sam’s debut novel, ‘Saving Sophie', was published by Avon
Books, a division of Harper Collins Publishers on Friday 12th August
and I’m very pleased to welcome her onto the blog to talk about the book.
I was sent a few mock-ups of
the cover by the publisher and asked my thoughts. It’s a very strange feeling
to see how your story, the themes and characters are translated into pictures
or art work. I was thrilled with the cover, although I had one reservation.
This was discussed, and the picture tweaked. So I was involved a bit, which was
lovely, and unexpected actually – I hadn’t thought I would have any say in the
finished cover. I loved the colours – which again underwent a few changes – and
I think the overall look they’ve gone with is very striking. The e-book and paperback
editions are slightly different – the font colour for e-book is a bright pink,
whereas the font on the paperback will be a hot coral pantone. I’m very excited
to see how that looks.
I didn’t ever want 'Saving Sophie' to be a police procedural
novel, so the decision that they should take a back-seat was there from the
outset. I felt it was important to have this ordinary-seeming family central to
the story and have the police there as support characters, rather than main
ones. I do use DI Lindsay Wade as one of the main viewpoints; she has some of
her own chapters, but again, this is really to give a taste of who she is as
the police investigation obviously plays an integral role in the overall story.
The most important relationship I wanted to get across was the mother-daughter
one. 