Q & A with author Katharine Johnson
Please welcome author Katharine Johnson to my blog today.
Hello Katharine, please make yourself at home. I’ve prepared a fresh fruit salad and there’s some cheese and biscuits to your right also.
Thanks Cristina, it’s lovely to be here!
Katharine, your novel THE SILENCE will be released in just a few weeks, on the 8th June. I believe that this is your second novel. Your debut novel LIES, MISTAKES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS was an Amazon bestseller so congratulations!
Could you summarise your latest work in just a few words.
Thank you, yes it’s a story about a secret that a woman has kept for twenty-five years dating back to a summer she spent in Tuscany as a teenager – a summer that went tragically wrong. When human remains are found in the grounds of a Tuscan villa she realises her secret is no longer safe…
What was your inspiration for this novel?
Really it was the story I wanted to read. I love novels about old houses with secrets, and coming-of-age stories where somebody makes a choice that will change the course of their life. I’ve lived in Italy and had a house in Tuscany for a number of years and felt that the area would make a perfect setting for this type of story so I put all these things together.
Fascinating! I’d love to visit Tuscany, I’m sure I’ll get a little taste of it when I read your new novel.
So what draws you to writing crime novels?
I like seeing how ordinary people cope in extraordinary situations and for most people getting involved in a crime is something outside their experience and something they want to keep hidden from those around them.
I can imagine!
Tell me, what do you love most about writing? And what do you get up to when you’re not writing?
I love being able to see a story come together from that initial jumble of thoughts.
I love travelling and exploring new places and seeing friends but I’m also happy curling up with a good book. I’m a room guide in a stately home and I play netball with some of the school mums.
Brilliant!! I love netball, C or GA please!!
Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?
I suppose I would say don’t sit there in isolation. Build up a social media platform well in advance of your book coming out even if there seems little likelihood of finding a publisher at the moment and join writing groups.
This is very good advice, social media is fundamental nowadays.
Can you reveal if you’re currently working on any new projects?
I’m writing another book about Villa Leonida, the Tuscan villa in The Silence. It’s about a different secret with a different set of people and set in wartime but there is a connection.
By the sounds of it, another novel to look forward to!
Where can my readers go to find out more about you and your work?
You can find out more about the book at my online launch event on June 8th and 9th. There will be visiting authors and prizes to be won. More information here: The Silence online launch party
Your readers might be interested to know that the eBook is available at the special pre-order price of 99p and if you let me know you’ve ordered I will put you into my prize draw which includes Prosecco and chocolates, an Amazon gift card and a signed paperback of Lies, Mistakes and Misunderstandings.
I love to hear from readers. You can find me on my website http://www.katyjohnsonblog.wordpress.com
Newsletter Amazon author page.
Thanks again for popping in. I look forward to reading your new release which I have pre-ordered and will arrive, as if by magic, on my kindle this coming 8th June. The very best of luck with it!!
Thanks so much for having me Cristina, I’ve really enjoyed being here.
