Ask the Author: Gytha Lodge
Answered Questions (12)
Gytha Lodge
This is such a slow reply, so sorry!! Notifications seem to have stopped - but this is such a great question 🤣 I am totally with you on the numbers. 20-25...-50... 🤣 I love writing the characters' stories so it's hard to imagine wanting to stop!
Gytha Lodge
So sorry for the slow reply!! For some reason I no linger get notifications, eek! This is so lovely 😊 I think trio is just the right word! I love to research and I spend a lot of time asking a friend in the Metropolitan Police endless questions... He is very patient but I do feel bad 🤣 I also love to research other elements. For example how a teenager's life would be in care, which comes into book 4, or life onna stud farm, like book 5 :)
Gytha Lodge
Oh that’s so frustrating! I am emailing Random House now. Perhaps if you add me on Facebook or Twitter I can grab your email address and put you in touch? X
Gytha Lodge
Hello!! So glad you've got in touch. Was this for a copy won through Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and is it a US version? I can see someone else didn't get theirs either so let me chase with Random House if so! I'm guessing they may have had postal issues thanks to lockdowns :s I'm so sorry you've had to wait! xx
Gytha Lodge
Hello!!! Sorry I don't seem to get a notification about these! Have you had your copy? I obviously need to chase with Random House if not! I wonder if they had postal issues with lockdown? So so sorry you had to wait in the first place. xx
Gytha Lodge
Ah so sorry for the delay!! Was this run through the publishers? And was it the US version (was though Random House)? I can chase for you :) x
Gytha Lodge
I think inspiration comes from huge numbers of places, and some of those are little triggers, where some are more general motivations to write. For me, I love to immerse people in another world, and I love to put characters in interesting situations and see what happens to them. So I suppose those are my main inspirations.
But then there are also other motivations and inspirations, such as, in She Lies in Wait, really wanting to portray a victim who was thoroughly realised and not just someone to trigger a murder investigation. Someone you cry over, because the reality of any murder is the awful heartache and the terrible waste, and I didn't want to lose track of that.
But then there are also other motivations and inspirations, such as, in She Lies in Wait, really wanting to portray a victim who was thoroughly realised and not just someone to trigger a murder investigation. Someone you cry over, because the reality of any murder is the awful heartache and the terrible waste, and I didn't want to lose track of that.
Gytha Lodge
I always find this question hard as ideas come from such random things, like a piece of music, or something strange someone says to someone, or a single line of dialogue in a film. And then later I have trouble pinning it down, as usually "an idea" for me is three or four of those all woven together.
She Lies in Wait I think came out of a short film script I was asked to write for the UEA Creative Writing MA. I was midway through this teenage campfire scene and suddenly started thinking about how it could all go really wrong. But where the original concept for that short film came from, I have no idea!
She Lies in Wait I think came out of a short film script I was asked to write for the UEA Creative Writing MA. I was midway through this teenage campfire scene and suddenly started thinking about how it could all go really wrong. But where the original concept for that short film came from, I have no idea!
Gytha Lodge
I'm in the midst of a second mystery story, which may just feature one Jonah Sheens and his team once again. I'm at that bit where I've become mega-absorbed in it, so I'm loving it, but also feel like I need to take my book on holiday somewhere so I (and it) can chill for a bit.
This should totally be a thing, by the way. A non-writing retreat.
This should totally be a thing, by the way. A non-writing retreat.
Gytha Lodge
Do not. Stop. Writing.
I can't say this often enough to sufficient numbers of people. Don't take failure to heart. I've failed many, many times and will do so again. Want to talk through the apparent disaster of a book not selling to publishers? I've been there, and I'm here to tell you it's ok. Honestly.
And if you're ever despairing, talk to other writers. You'll realise that we all have depressing bits in our careers and that it's all about keeping on going. :)
I can't say this often enough to sufficient numbers of people. Don't take failure to heart. I've failed many, many times and will do so again. Want to talk through the apparent disaster of a book not selling to publishers? I've been there, and I'm here to tell you it's ok. Honestly.
And if you're ever despairing, talk to other writers. You'll realise that we all have depressing bits in our careers and that it's all about keeping on going. :)
Gytha Lodge
Creating a world for people to lose themselves in. I know that's what I love, love, love about books. And I hope I can do that for other people, too.
There are a ton of other good points: that writing is cathartic, stretches the imagination, and is a way of communicating so many things I'd never say to anyone. Plus I'm unbelievably nosy about people. But that first one is the main one, I think.
There are a ton of other good points: that writing is cathartic, stretches the imagination, and is a way of communicating so many things I'd never say to anyone. Plus I'm unbelievably nosy about people. But that first one is the main one, I think.
Gytha Lodge
This is an interesting one, as I think there's a lot of debate about what it actually is. For me, not being able to write a scene usually just means I haven't thought it out enough, or sometimes that I'm trying to make my characters do something they wouldn't naturally do for the sake of the plot. Having written a lot for the stage, I find that the second one is a total killer, but it also should be. I generally stop trying to write, stop and think, and then come back to it.
Very occasionally "writer's block" is just being tired or not in the mood. But I generally find that once I've started, I'm ok, and if it's come off the back off a really intense week of writing, then I might just need to give myself a day off.
Very occasionally "writer's block" is just being tired or not in the mood. But I generally find that once I've started, I'm ok, and if it's come off the back off a really intense week of writing, then I might just need to give myself a day off.
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