Dead Ringer

Dead Ringer wins fiction prize at Lakeland Book of the Year Awards

Dead Ringer wins fiction prize at Lakeland Book of the Year Awards

ByNicola

I bumbled up to Penrith last month for the 2021 Lakeland Book of the Year Awards, the very picture of “I’m just glad to be nominated”. After all, there was no way my debut thriller, Dead Ringer, with its doppelganger vs. doppelganger showdown on the sinking sands of Walney Island in Cumbria, was going to…

Dead Ringer longlisted for Lakeland Book of the Year

Dead Ringer longlisted for Lakeland Book of the Year

ByNicola

I’m delighted that my debut novel, Dead Ringer, has been recognised in the 2021 Lakeland Book of the Year longlist. This award, sponsored by Cumbria Tourism, showcases literary talent inspired by the landscapes, history and culture of the Lake District, Cumbria. Cumbria was always at the (dark) heart of Dead Ringer, from the first moment…

Write the story from the sidekick’s perspective, too – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Write the story from the sidekick’s perspective, too – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

During one particular rewrite of Dead Ringer, I felt like I’d tied myself up in knots. My protagonist was breaking up with her boyfriend, but he seemed to be taking it too well. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking or feeling during the scene. So I decided to write the entire novel from…

Let your readers hear your protagonist’s thoughts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Let your readers hear your protagonist’s thoughts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

Dead Ringer started life as a third-person novel, until my agent suggested I make it first-person. This was a big change, but it made the protagonists’ voices much clearer. The reader gets to sit in their heads, hear their thoughts. This, I think, is the superpower of novels (versus TV or movies). You get to…

Make your protagonist the type of person who jumps into the fray – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Make your protagonist the type of person who jumps into the fray – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

In life, I’m a risk-averse person. I always weigh up my options and try to act prudently. In novels, I’ve found that prudent characters make for boring protagonists. Dead Ringer got immeasurably better when I added in a second narrator, Jem. She’s reckless and rebellious and will always throw herself into the fray. For this…

Don’t give ’em a reason to stop reading – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Don’t give ’em a reason to stop reading – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

One of my favourite pieces of feedback I’ve got on Dead Ringer is: “I stayed up past my bedtime reading it.” During one of my later re-drafts of the book, I did something bold. I re-cut all the chapters. I made them shorter and I changed the places where the chapters ended. My purpose (and…

Embrace the idea of multiple drafts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

Embrace the idea of multiple drafts – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

I’ve spent a lot of my writing life harbouring under the delusion that my first draft needed to be perfect. Or close enough, anyway. If my first draft was a disaster, I was a failure. I still struggle with this perfectionism, but it’s good to remind myself that my first draft of Dead Ringer was…

You’ll have to rearrange your life in order to write a novel – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer
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You’ll have to rearrange your life in order to write a novel – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

If there’s one myth about writing that I hate, it’s the myth that great novels were written in snatched 5-minute bursts. “Get up earlier and write while drinking your morning coffee! Write in your lunch break! If you’re not writing while simultaneously making a risotto and changing a duvet cover, you obviously don’t want it…

To Newcastle in a flash: my experience of reading at Virtual Noir at the Bar
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To Newcastle in a flash: my experience of reading at Virtual Noir at the Bar

ByNicola

One unexpected upside of a global pandemic is that it makes “travel” much easier. Virtual travel, to book events, anyway. Attending Newcastle’s Noir at the Bar, a boozy evening with crime writers, would have been difficult for me two months ago, what with the expense and travel time. Now that all our social gatherings are…

Joining a writing group will save your soul – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer
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Joining a writing group will save your soul – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer

ByNicola

When I look back and try to identify the ONE thing that took me from slush pile to publication, it’s joining a writing group. Specifically, a workshop critique group. This was a big, scary step for me, because (like most writers) I haaate having my writing critiqued. At the time, it felt like someone was…

Interview with Nathalie Buscombe, Dead Ringer audiobook narrator

Interview with Nathalie Buscombe, Dead Ringer audiobook narrator

ByNicola

Find out the secrets of audiobook narration in this interview with one of Dead Ringer‘s narrators, Nathalie Buscombe. You’re also a talented artist and writer, in addition to being an actor. How does audiobook narration fit into your schedule and why do you enjoy it? I have separate agents for Acting and Voiceover and my…

Is there a stranger out there who shares your face? (guest post for Confessions of a YA Reader)
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Is there a stranger out there who shares your face? (guest post for Confessions of a YA Reader)

ByNicola

What is the likelihood that you have a doppelgänger somewhere in the world? The scientific facts are stranger than you think. The idea of the doppelgänger – a stranger who looks uncannily like you – stretches back through history. The superstition is that encountering your “double” is a bad omen that could lead to your…