Guest Author Interview – Lynette Creswell

Today I am joined by my twin soul Lynette Creswell.  We have so much in common we could write a book about it!  Fortunately Lynette is far too busy with her young adult series and latest release to concern herself with my claims on her soul!  Over to Lynette.

The Fun Five:

1.  What part of the world do you come from?

Originally I was born in London but I was raised in Burnley, Lancashire. Now I live just outside Grimsby so I literally moved across the country from the west coast to the east.

2.  What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an air hostess! However, that was until I found out you didn’t get a two week break every time you boarded a plane. Then to add insult to injury I learned I needed to be able to speak several languages. I was already rubbish at French so I decided to stick to writing instead.

3.  List three words to describe yourself.

Loyal, determined AND BOSSY! (Well, so my kids say!)

4.  Who would play you in a film about your life?

Although she is beautiful and I’m not, I’d have Kate Winslet play my part just for the hell of it, (our hair colour is the only thing that’s similar).

5.  Do you have any unique talents or hobbies?

My only talent is my writing although I do dabble a bit in photography.

 

The Sensible Six:

1.  What inspired you to write your first book?

My husband inspired me due to his constant belief in me. Whilst my children were growing up I wrote many short stories for them and he was so impressed that he really wanted me to write something a little more substantial. One day he went out and bought me a laptop and said I no longer had an excuse. So I started writing seriously and this is how ‘Sinners of Magic’ was first created.

2.  Why did you choose to write for young adults?

I think there are enough authors out there who write about crime and murder. For me, writing is fun and I don’t really want to write about the darker side of life. Writing for young adults means that I don’t have to write about explicit sex or any kind of abuse. I want my stories to be filled with lots of twists and turns ensuring the reader becomes intrigued, enjoying the adventure. However, having said that I may, in the future, write something just for adults. Who knows! Never say never – right? The truth is I’m having so much fun writing fantasy and the occasional ‘clean read’ that I’m simply happy doing what I’m doing.

3.  Did you plan to write a series when you wrote Sinners of Magic?

No, not at all, I wrote the book as a standalone but then my readers started emailing me, begging for more, insisting that I couldn’t end the book the way I did. My readers said they wanted to learn more about Crystal and her immortal family. She was only sixteen when the book finished and my readers said they were hungry to see my protagonist grow and keen to follow her on her journey to womanhood. I listened and realised they were right. The story of Crystal could be taken and expanded to create a far greater tale with fire breathing dragons and powerful magicians entwined in the storyline and this is how the trilogy was born.

4.  Tell us a little bit about your recent Author Days, where did this idea stem from?

I truly love the Author Days. It all started when I began my writers’ group and I was due to do a book signing in Freshney Place, Grimsby. I came up with the idea of involving the group and instead of it being just a book signing, we would turn it into a day where aspiring writers could come and talk to experienced authors about getting their manuscript to the next level. I understand all too well how difficult it can be to know where to turn with your manuscript once it’s finished and a lot of writers end up with their masterpiece hidden in a drawer somewhere.

For a start, it’s hard knowing where to find a publisher or even what the next step actually is. This is when I realised that between us, the writing group was a fountain of knowledge and although we didn’t have all the answers we could probably still help. We brought with us information for new writers to take away with them. Literature such as how to get the best out of Social Media, showed them how they could self-publish and the benefits of getting themselves an agent. Through the Author Days we have been visited by writers from all walks of life and met some truly wonderful people. I adore being able to help aspiring writers and to see them walk away with a spring in their step makes the days so worthwhile. I am very pleased to say that the Author Days have been a huge success and I hope they carry on for a very long time to come.

5.  What can we expect from you in the future? 

Next year I am pencilled in to do an Author Day in Meadow Hall, Sheffield which will be awesome. I will also be visiting Grimsby and Scunthorpe. I have also started Creative Workshops for children and I should hopefully have my latest novel, ‘Clump a Changeling’s Story’ out by the end of the year.

6.  How can we contact you or find out more about your books?

My email is: Creswelllyn@aol.com and you can also find more information about me and my books at www.Lynetteecreswell.wordpress.com.

The links to my books are;

http://getbook.at/Sinners1

http://getbook.at/Betrayers1

http://getbook.at/Defenders1

http://getbook.at/TheWitchingHour

If you would like to follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Creswelllyn