I thought it might be fun to veer off course slightly and talk about some of the other things I enjoy doing. But don't worry if you are only here for the writing related content I promise there is interlinking. And that's because I'm pretty much always thinking about my books.
If you hadn't already guessed from the title I enjoy cooking - both baking and meal making. I cook nearly everything from scratch, I have celiacs disease, therefore cooking everything myself generally makes life easier for me. As a rule I cook much like I write; I know what I want to make and the ingredients that go into the dish but I happily deviate from the plan when I know it'll ultimately produce a better final outcome.
Because my husband works from home I can't be listening to music or anything whilst I cook (the kitchen is the room next door to the office) and actually I'm fine with that. It gives me time to think. I often find that when my mind is concentrating on cooking the story part of my brain is happily ruminating over stories. It's at times like this that ideas will bubble to the surface.
I also love taking photographs and have captured some really pretty shots of the little bit of the Fife coast I live near. Sometimes I'll be somewhere and I'll see something and an idea will flash into my mind. I take the photos to remind me later. I did this last year when we took our camper van to the north west of Scotland. I've been thinking about a photo I took on that holiday and how it can work it into book 5. I know exactly what the opening scene will be, but as yet not sure who's going to be dead or why - there's plenty of time for that though - I need to finish writing book 4 first.
I really love a good walk along the coast or somewhere off the beaten track, last year we stopped a night in Tyndrum, which is well known for the Green Welly Stop. We've driven though it countless times and I was so glad we decided to schedule a night here. You can access the West Highland Way easily (I would love to walk the whole of this one day) and we had a fab afternoon/evening walk along a section of this. It was as I expected breathtaking.
I'm sure if you were to walk along behind me and overhear the conversations I have with my husband about parts of the scenery I think would make good places to hide or discover a body you'd be quite concerned. Perhaps I should have a hoodie printed up that says I'm a writer not a serial killer!
It doesn't really matter where I am or what I'm doing I know that in my subconscious I'm always thinking about my characters and stories.
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