I am thrilled to be taking part in the Little Rumours blog tour today and to be welcoming Bryony Pearce to A Cottage Full of Books.
Please tell us a little bit about
yourself
Hi, my name
is Bryony Pearce and I’m a multi-award-winning novelist working in both the Young
Adult (YA) and Adult markets. In the YA genre I write dark thrillers,
paranormal adventures and horror. My most recent YA novels are Cruel Castle
(the sequel to the award winning Savage Island) and Raising Hell, an urban
fantasy with a Buffy vibe.
For the adult
market I write domestic noir for Avon (Harper Collins). My adult debut, The
Girl on the Platform was published in 2021 and my follow up, Little Rumours
will be out this week.
I also enjoy
writing short stories, which have been published in a number of anthologies –
look out a couple coming up in Parsec Magazine and the Daily Express.
I teach a
course at City University (London) called Writing for Children and work as a
consultant and mentor for Cornerstones Literary Consultancy and The Writing
Coach helping aspiring novelists achieve their own dreams.
I currently reside
in the Forest of Dean and have two teenagers. When I’m not working or providing
a taxi service, I can usually be found reading, writing, drinking wine or
playing the cello (I started learning shortly before lockdown)!
Please tell us about Little Rumours
and your inspiration for the book
The story of
Little Rumours was inspired in part by real events. In 2018 the abduction and
murder of Aleesha MacPhail entered the National headlines, not only because
Aleesha was only six-years old, but because her murderer was another child: a
16-year-old boy, named Aaron Campbell.
Aaron’s
mother, Janette, helped search for the missing girl. Later, however, she
checked the CCTV system installed outside her home and found footage of her
son, leaving and returning, on the night Aleesha was taken. She reported the
footage to the police, and this led to Aaron’s arrest.
The fact that
it was Aaron’s own mother who had turned him in stuck with me. I wondered how
much Janette agonised over her decision and whether, in that situation, I would
be able to hand my own son over. The question haunted me, especially when it
came to plotting Little Rumours. One of its main characters is the
ex-wife of a serial killer who is growing afraid that her own son, Joe, is
becoming too much like his father. When one of Joe’s friends goes missing,
Kelly has to ask herself how far is she willing to go protect her son, when she
is sure that he is lying to her?
The question
hangs there for the reader throughout the novel – how far would you go to
protect those you love?
What was your journey to publication
like?
I am not
unusual in that it was somewhat arduous and filled with ups and downs and a
great many rejections. I wrote my first novel-length story in 2004/5. I got my
agent in 2008 (when I won a competition run by SCBWI called Undiscovered
Voices, which I heartily recommend to anyone writing in the children’s or YA categories),
I signed my first book deal in 2009 and my first book, Angel’s Fury, was
published in 2011. It’s not an easy process, and full of submitting and waiting
that doesn’t get any easier ever after a decade of being published. You’re only
as good as your last book in this industry.
Do you have a particular place where
you write?
I used to
have a lovely, tidy, study with a gorgeous view. My husband nicked it during
lockdown. Now I work on the dining room table. It’s somewhat dingy but I can
look out at sunshine in the back garden on nice days like today.
Do you have any tips for aspiring
writers?
Read widely,
especially within your proposed genre. Do your foundation work – plan your
characters, setting and storyline. And to make your writing as professional as
possible, prune out most adjectives and all adverbs and replace telling with
showing. Consider entering competitions like SCBWI Undiscovered Voices.
I hope that
helps.
Do check out
my TikTok for a series of short videos of writing tips @bryony.pearce
Do also
follow me on Twitter @BryonyPearce or Instagram Bryony Pearce – I occasionally
post writing tips on there too!
Thanks, Bryony! Little Rumours is published today.
