Very happy to welcome Alice Feeney to Liz Loves Books today answering some questions about her wonderfully tense and brilliant psychological thriller, Sometimes I Lie. I should apologise that this was supposed to be part of the blog tour but me being me I missed my spot. But maybe better late than never!
Thanks so much Alice.
Thanks so much for agreeing to answer some questions for me on the wonderful “Sometimes I Lie” I’m a huge fan of it, especially of the main character here, Amber Reynolds. Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind her, what originally started the journey?
Thank you! It’s so lovely to hear that you enjoyed it!
The idea for this story literally came to me in a dream! I scribbled it all down at about 3am one morning (I do this quite often) and when I woke up the next day, it still seemed like a good idea (this happens less often). I couldn’t stop thinking about Amber and so in the end, her story just had to be written.
Sometimes she lies – books with unreliable narrators are hugely popular as are psychological thrillers generally right now – In “Sometimes I Lie” the narrator herself tells us she is unreliable right from the start. How do you then go about weaving a plot that is realistic (it is!) yet still surprising to the reader?
I’m a planner. I think about a story for a really long time before I’ll commit to writing it – my stories often spend months simmering away in the background before I begin. I have a giant corkboard at home covered in different coloured cards – each one represents a chapter and I can’t write a word until the whole thing is planned out. That plan may change during the writing, and in my experience it always does, which is absolutely fine – it’s quite fun when the story starts to write itself. There is no right or wrong way to do it though, I think it is just about finding whatever way works best for you. There are authors who can just sit and write and I think they must be far cleverer than I am. For me, starting without a plan would be like setting off on a long walk with the dog to somewhere we have never been before without a map – I’d be worried the whole time about getting lost!
Can we talk about endings for a moment without actually giving the ending away – apart from to say I thought it was spot on – was that always the ending or did it change? Did you know how it would end when you started writing it or was it hard to find the right finish given the twists and turns that led up to it?
No, that wasn’t always the ending! In earlier drafts the story ended a little bit sooner than that. It felt like something was missing and so I wrote the chapter called Later. I’m delighted that you enjoyed the ending – thank you!
Can you tell us anything about your next project?
I can tell you that the first draft of book two is written, which I’m so happy about! The next book is another dark and twisty tale and will be published by HarperCollins in the UK next year.
Finally a question I like to ask – are there any books you yourself have read recently that you would like to recommend?
I read a lot. I live in a tiny Victorian house and there are bookshelves in literally every room except the bathroom! There are so many books I would like to recommend, but the one that has stayed with me the most after reading it recently is This Must be The Place, by Maggie O’Farrell.
Thanks so much!
Thank you for the interesting questions!
About the book:
My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.
Find out MORE
Follow Alice on TWITTER
To Purchase Sometimes I Lie clickety click right HERE
Happy Reading!
