My life has been heavily book-focused. I started writing as a teenager and went straight from school to working in a bookshop, where I met my husband. My fiction combines my fascination with history and my passion for horror films, but it doesn’t feature the other love of my life: guinea pigs. I’ve owned fifteen of them and am known by name at the vet! I have a deep affinity for all animals. My hobbies include gaming (both video and board games) and theme parks. I’m at my happiest on a rollercoaster, exploring a museum or walking in the woods on a sunny day.
Meet Laura Purcell
Questions on Writing
What has been the hardest part of your writing experience?
I’ve always struggled with insecurity and self-doubt in my personal life, but I don’t think I realised how much the author life would amplify these feelings. Having your years of work, and your physical self, opened up to endless scrutiny is really hard, and it makes it difficult to be vulnerable in your writing, which you absolutely need to do to write good emotive fiction. I never expected to receive either the levels of love or the levels of hate I have over the years. I just want to get lost in the stories and not think about that stuff.
What have you learned about yourself when writing?
I’m very good at adapting. If the edits come back and there are huge changes, I’m able to take everything apart and sew it back together in a different way. I have my preferences for the project, but if I’m told the publisher/producer or whatever wants other stuff to happen or have a different tone I can generally rejig the story to suit their needs. I’m more flexible than I thought!
Do you make yourself write everyday/regularly, or only when inspiration strikes?
Writing is my full time job, so I have to do it every day if I want to eat haha. But I have learnt I can’t do it for eight hours a day or my brain turns to mush. My target is a thousand words a day, which I can do all in one go or in stages if that’s not possible. Sometimes I do much more, when the writing is flowing. Other days I’ll sit at the desk for hours and only have three hundred words, every one of which will have felt like drawing blood from a stone.
What does literary success look like to you?
If I’ve given even one person an enjoyable reading experience, then technically I think the story has succeeded. I never truly believed I would be someone’s favourite author, or write their favourite book, and it still makes me happy-cry when people tell me these things. But with writing as my only source of income, I really do need the book to be a steady seller with figures that will encourage publishers to offer me more contracts in the future.
How much planning/world building do you do before writing, and how much comes along as you write?
I plan a lot, but so much changes in the process of the writing. I realise the plan isn’t working, or I come up with an idea that changes something later on. So my computer is full of files called Scene Plan, New Scene Plan, This Scene Plan, What Happens Now etc. It can be torture redoing the plan AGAIN but I think it’s necessary to keep an eye on the whole structure of the story and where it’s headed. What changes most, I feel, is the characters, who start to come into their own as I write them, and I realise they would act in a slightly different way to the plan as it stands.
You’re best known for your gothic thrillers; what drew you to this genre?
Looking back, all my writing has been quite Gothic. Even my Georgian Queens series had a monarch slowly losing his mind and a wife locked away in a tower because of her infidelity. When I wrote The Silent Companions, I really wanted to create a scary ghost story to reflect my love of horror movies. As with many of my initial ideas, the original draft was much more horror and was gradually tamed down to be more marketable. But I love the ambiguity and shifting perspectives of the Gothic, it’s so unsettling and gives room for your own imagination to add to the stories.
How do you celebrate when a book is published?
Launch day is always strange because it’s not the end, it’s the start of the promotion work, which for me is the hardest part. I’ve thrown parties for three of my books but honestly by the time you get to publication, organising your own celebration is an extra bit of work you just don’t need. You also can’t afford to get too tipsy because you’re probably getting on a train to do an event the next day! Sometimes the publisher takes you out for a meal which I think is nice, if you’re not too nervous to eat!
Do you still feel the same about researching/writing/publishing now as you did when you first started out?
Sadly not, I often feel quite jaded these days, and I’ve learned not to take myself too seriously. But there’s always a rush when you hit upon a particular idea or have a great writing session that reminds you why you do this. I couldn’t live without it now, but it’s certainly mentally and emotionally draining.
Questions on Books and About You
Firstly, the most important question, what books are currently ‘on your bedside table’?
I’m currently reading and loving The Thorns Remain, a creepy YA historical fantasy from JJA Harwood. I’m researching from Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, which tells of a Jamaican nurse’s experience of the Crimean War. Also dipping in and out of Michelle Obama’s amazing autobiography Becoming, but I’m always slow at reading biographies, so this one will be with me for a while.
What children’s book would you suggest every adult read?
I was obsessed with Black Beauty as a child – the full, unabridged edition which I think is probably a bit full on for the children of today, what with the war and endless tragedy. But I think it’s a wonderful teacher of compassion. I also read Peter Pan for the first time when I was 18 and was blown away by the nuances about aging and youth that I just don’t think I would have understood as a younger reader.
What does your writing space look like?
It’s a mess! I’m not one of those Instagram authors with their own writing shed and mood-boards. My desk is next to my husband’s, cluttered with spare pens, pads, Funkopops and bills I need to pay online. I have a little trolley of research reference books to my right, which is also unorganised, and a houseplant that is rapidly dying.
How many books do you think you own?
My husband and I recently had a massive clear out of books, but I still think we must be near 800. We both used to work at Waterstones, where we had a 33% staff discount, so when we got married the combination of book collections was massive! And now I’m offered about three advanced reading copies from publishers each week. This is just physical books. If I count the eBooks on my Kindle and the audiobooks we must be topping 1,000.
Who is your literary icon?
Can I only pick one? That’s torture! I think I’ll have to go with Daphne du Maurier, but shout outs to Jane Austen, Sarah Waters, Margaret Atwood, Philippa Gregory, Shirley Jackson and Stephen King.
If you could own one rare/1st edition copy of a book, which would it be?
My favourite book is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (I know, I know, you all hate me sorry) so a first edition of that would be incredible.
Is there an author who you always read?
There are many! I love to re-read for comfort, and I think that’s why I chose Daphne du Maurier as my icon, because I pick at her books over and over again.
And finally, are there any plans for any new books? If so, what teasers can you give us?
I’m currently writing my next adult Gothic horror, but it’s not been announced yet so I’m not sure if I can talk about it much. That will be followed by another YA dark fairy tale featuring a very different kind of unicorn.
Thank you Laura😊Don’t mind me….just squealing over here that one of my favourite authors is featured on my blog❗❗
Laura Purcell’s Books
Books By Your Bedside 