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Author Q&A with @carolJhedges #Thriller

shelleywilson72

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many of my online writing friends in real life, and sitting in the London sunshine chatting about books, life, and pink cars with Carol Hedges was a highlight. I’m always delighted to invite fellow writers on to my blog, but I get uber excited when it’s someone I’ve connected with in the flesh. So, without any further delay I would love to introduce my guest, Carol Hedges to talk about her latest release, Wonders and Wickedness (Book 5 in the Victorian Detectives Series). Over to Carol…

Carol Hedges Picture

Me, My Shelfie and I

Who is your hero?

It has to be my ‘other half’. We’ve been married now for 42 years, and although we grumble at each other a lot, I couldn’t manage a single day without him. I am aware that, statistically, I should be onto my third husband by now, but we have managed to stay together, and that’s due in a big part to his calm unruffled temperament, as most of you appreciate, living with a writer is NOT EASY!

What are you most proud of?

Finally taking control of every aspect of my books: I’ve been mainstream published, had a top London agent, but nothing beats seeing my own imprint on the covers, and helping to design them. Also reaching Book 5 ~ I’ve never managed it before. And doing it all before I die!!!

What’s your biggest regret?

I wish I’d been a better mum to my daughter. I had a difficult and unloved childhood, and it has made it hard for me to show as much love as I wanted. Hopefully, I’m making up for it with the 2 gorgeous grandchildren. My second biggest regret (not that you asked) was not backing up my writing files ~ a recent computer crash meant that I lost 13k words of the 6th Victorian Detectives book. I’m still re-writing it. And mentally slapping myself round the head.

What do your friends tease you about?

My hair, normally. And my astonishing ability to mislay stuff: keys, mobile, bus pass. And my love of pink cars.

What from your past would you like to delete?

Most of my childhood … it wasn’t a happy one, although perhaps if I did, I might not end up being the writer I am today. Oh, and hanging out for a short time with a very dodgy Scientologist.

Who owes you an apology?

My ex-agent, whose trenchant put-downs about Diamonds & Dust nearly ended my writing career. I was so depressed after reading her email that it took months before I was prepared to hit the keyboard again.

Tell us a secret?

I’m a lot taller than I look on Twitter (Something we have in common, Carol!) 😉

What’s the biggest misconception about you?

That I start each day, bright and alert and full of wit. It’s a long long crawl from ‘eyes open’ to ‘hello world’. Coffee helps. A lot.

What advice would you give your younger self?

To realise that what you are going through right now will pass. All of it. And the things you were told wouldn’t happen to you, because you didn’t deserve them, all the happinesses and successes, will happen.

Wonders and Wickedness

Wonders & Wickedness (The Victorian Detectives Book 5)

1864 marks the arrival of a brand new department store right in the shopping heart of Oxford Street. What owner John Gould does not expect, is the presence of a dead man in one of his display windows. How did he get there? And why has Gould’s store been picked out as a murder location?

Meanwhile Sir Hugh and Lady Meriel Wynward are not expecting to hear from their daughter Sybella, who died in a railway accident two years ago. So when a letter written in her hand arrives unexpectedly, on what would have been her eighteenth birthday, it throws them into turmoil. What is going on?

Bleak expectations dog the progress of Stride and Cully, two of Scotland Yard’s finest detectives, as they embark upon their most complex case so far. The twists and turns of the investigation will lead them into a murky mire of murder and blackmail, and the strange dark underground world of Victorian spiritualism.

Praise for The Victorian Detectives:

‘Carol Hedges, in her wonderful Victorian Detective series, channels the most Dickensian of tropes without the overly sentimental, I-get-paid-by-the-word-so-I-never-use-one-where-six-would-do Dickensian mush.’ ~ Barb Taub, reviewer

‘Transports the reader to Victorian London: each scene is crafted to perfection.’ ~ The Lady

Links:

Amazon UK and Amazon US

Twitter

Blog :http://carolhedges.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks for visiting my blog, I hope you enjoyed this post. Want more? Connect with me here:  Twitter @ShelleyWilson72, Instagram or check out my Facebook pages http://www.facebook.com/FantasyAuthorSLWilson and http://www.facebook.com/MotivateMeBlog. You can also find me on Pinterest

Published by shelleywilson72

Hello, I'm Shelley, an English multi-genre author. I write young adult/middle-grade supernatural and fantasy fiction and motivational adult self-help. I'm a proud mum of three and live in the West Midlands, UK. I love travelling in my VW camper, reading about Tudor and Viking history, and obsessing over to-do lists!

24 thoughts on “Author Q&A with @carolJhedges #Thriller”

  3. Loved this interview – thoughtful questions, concisely and entertainingly answered! And I can vouch for the tall thing ~ made me feel like a pygmy, both of you! As for the agent who dissed Diamonds & Dust…. yet one of the many things that has made me lose faith in the ability of these beings who place themselves so high (maybe by us, too..)

    Agree re the angst thing. I don’t think I could write decent characters if I hadn’t been through some of the stuff they feel. The other night, husband and I had a very rare row. Whilst upset/fuming, the stuff in my head started to relate itself to a section of the WIP. I got up and wrote it. Went back to bed, totally calm.

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  7. Great interview. (I, too, had a lousy agent at one point, so I totally get it.)

    I’m not sure how tall I look in social media, but I assure you, you’re taller than I am. Most people are. Nice getting to know you better. Best wishes!

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  8. What a wonderful interview and great to learn more about Carol. Agents – what do they know? At one point I had two fighting over what I later published as No More Mulberries. When the big five – or six as it was then – all declined I suggested the agent try smaller, independent publishers. She said, “I don’t have time for that. You can try if you like and if anyone bites let me know and I’ll take it from there.” Goodbye agent, hello indie publishing.
    As for the angst creeping into our work someone said (and I don’t know if this is a quote from someone famous because I can’t remember who said it!) writers have a sliver of ice in their hearts which allows them to take notes about painful, traumatic events for future use. I don’t think this in any way lessens how we feel about the painful events in our lives but I think it is probably true.

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    1. Thanks, Mary. I like that quote! I know it’s true for me and probably 99% of the writing community. It fascinates me how much my own voice changes depending on the level of angst. We could have found an interesting blog topic here x

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