Today I have the pleasure and honour to host the very talented Lucinda E Clarke on my blog. I’m a big fan of her work and look forward to reading this new psychological thriller series of her. Books 1 & 2 are on sale @ $/£0.99 for a week beginning 12th September.
Now over to Lucinda and her experience as freelance writer
When you earn a living as a freelance writer you meet all kinds of people. You also get to visit all kinds of interesting places. I’ve been inside a power station, numerous factories, radio and TV studios, in helicopters, tunnels under the sea, behind the scenes at Ocean World, honestly the list is endless.
Each time you’re commissioned you have a subject specialist who may or may not be the main client. Either way, it’s a new boss.
I worked with some wonderful people and I also encountered what I described as ‘the clients from hell’. These were the frustrated Steven Spielbergs who just knew they could write better and who kept changing both their minds and the facts and figures each time I submitted another draft.
When I retired to Spain and began to write novels, I left all that behind.
Or did I?
The short answer is NO.
My new boss is totally unreasonable and utterly impossible.
For example, if I decide to spend an hour reading, she nags me. ‘Have you replied to that email?’ ‘Are you up to date with your FB posts?’ ‘You said you were going to write at least 1,000 words a day, yet you sloped off to do the ironing. What was that all about?’ ‘Have you booked that promo?’ ‘It’s over 10 minutes since you checked your sales!’
As if that wasn’t enough, she directs all my work. ‘We won’t have any more Amie books for the moment, change genres to psychological thrillers. They are popular right now. And, you must publish at least 2 of those a year, so get writing. The first A Year in the Life of.. series was published last August, so the second should be out during lockdown to catch all those Netflixed out, bored, stuck at home people desperate to ready anything. Then to capitalise on that, book 3 must be out in September and tell everyone book 4 will launch in January.’
“You are joking, aren’t you?”
‘Nonsense. Stop being so lazy.’
“But I have all the marketing and promos and a husband to amuse and friends to talk to and…”
‘I’m not listening. You’re always finding excuses.’
“It’s not easy now with WordPress and FB changing all their settings and layout. I can’t find my way around anymore, and, I’m supposed to be retired.”
‘Yes, I’ve heard all that before. And, what happens when you don’t write?’
“I get twitchy, and a bit shaky and I can’t settle.”
‘Exactly, so sit down and write that guest post for Christoph and stop arguing.’
“Yes Lucinda, stop nagging. You are such a bully.”
A Year in the Life… series follows the Brand family through terrifying trials and tribulations. Leah lost her leg, her husband and two babies in a car accident. She remarries, but then strange and frightening things happen in her home. Someone is out to convince her she’s mad, but who would do that and what would they hope to gain?
In A Year in the Life of Andrea Coe Leah’s best friend helps her back on her feet and is there for her every step of the way. But does Andrea have another agenda? Who is she working with? Who committed the murder and why? From England to Australia and back Leah needs to discover who is telling the truth and who is lying.
A Year in the Life of Deidre Flynn sees the Brands in France, but the threats and incidents have continued. Once again Leah has no idea who the enemy is or what they might want. As each attack gets more vicious than the last, neither Leah nor Deidre know which way to turn. Then Leah’s stepdaughter Belinda goes missing.
Books 1 & 2 are on sale @ $/£0.99 for a week beginning 12th September.
Well hopefully that will shut the boss up for a while and it only remains to thank Christoph for having me as a guest on his blog.
Of course, I dare not relax as I’ve not written the 1K words today and I have a review to write. Never enough hours in the day and unless ‘she’ allows me some time off I’ll not be able to reach my laptop through the accumulated dust and dirt.
Don’t be fooled by retirement, it’s a myth. The sad part is that I didn’t want to retire. I was having way too much fun writing and traveling on location and making movies. I was a boss in those days and the team work was such fun. I’m not sure what turned Lucinda into this virago who is now working me to death, I had more time off in my old life.
