I am delighted to welcome to my blog psychological thriller writer, Charlie Tyler whose debut novel, The Cry of the Lake, was published earlier this year. Here’s the book’s blurb
A gruesome discovery unravels a dark trail of murder and madness
A six-year-old girl sneaks out of bed to capture a mermaid but instead discovers a dead body. Terrified and unable to make sense of what she sees, she locks the vision deep inside her mind.
Ten years later, Lily is introduced to the charismatic Flo and they become best friends. But Lily is guilt-ridden – she is hiding a terrible secret which has the power to destroy both their lives.
When Flo’s father is accused of killing a schoolgirl, the horrors of Lily’s past come bubbling to the surface. Lily knows that, whatever the consequences, she has to make things right. She must go back to the events of her childhood and face what happened at the boat house all those years ago.
Can Lily and Flo discover what is hiding in the murky waters of the lake before the killer strikes again?
Me
Hi Charlie and welcome to my blog. I really enjoyed your book. It was a fascinating read and very cleverly constructed. You certainly know how to crank up the tension! Congratulations on a very accomplished debut novel.
So, the question I ask everyone. Where did you get the idea from? (I’m sure that should really read ‘From where did you get the idea?’ but it just doesn’t sound right. Or is it just me?)
Charlie
Lakes, ponds and fishes are all things which spark my imagination. My inspiration came from seeing a photo of a rickety boathouse, complete with a long, wooden jetty, leading out onto a lake.
I remembered being a child and fishing by the edge of a pond, collecting tiny creatures in jam jars and lining them up along the bank. I imagined a small girl lying on the jetty, catching minnows, and being told by her older sister that a mermaid lives beneath the surface of the lake; a mermaid called Myrtle who can only be seen at night when there is a full moon.
If that had been me, I would have been out the very same night, searching for the mermaid and that’s what led to me creating the main incident for the book. I envisaged the girl arriving at the water’s edge, but rather than seeing a mermaid, she witnesses a terrible crime.
Unable to process what she has seen she buries it within her mind. I built up the rest of the story around the fallout from what happens years later, when this memory is forced to rise to the surface again.
Me
Great answer! My older sister used to tell me stories like that. They used to frighten the life out of me. In fact, come to think of it, they still do.
So, what inspires you most?
Charlie
I am completely obsessed and inspired by water – lakes, rivers, ponds, though, curiously, not the sea. I daydream about lakes – maybe it’s because I’m often driving through Rutland Water. I also spend a lot of time out walking my dog. My house borders onto fields and quite quickly I can get to the canal, so I’m frequently out, marching along the towpath, passing through various small, chocolate-box villages which feed my description for an idyllic village life.
Sometimes, on my walks I see things and store them away for later use, for example, a couple of years ago I was walking through fields with my husband and daughter and we came across a fenced-off, rectangle of slime which we later found out was King Charles’s Well where he supposedly watered his horses when he came back from defeat at the battle of Naseby. Fast forward a couple of years and the well makes an appearance in The Cry of the Lake; I remembered it and thought it would make the perfect place to hold a village fete.
For bookish inspiration I look to anything written by the amazing Agatha Christie. How I wish I’d come up with the plots for ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘Then there were none’ – pure genius. I also adore Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike series which I think has a perfect blend of description and mystery all cleverly tied up with two characters I’ve grown to care about.
Me
Great to meet another Agatha Christie fan. She’s the reason I love reading and writing crime novels. How did your writing journey start?
Charlie
I have been writing now for over a decade. I’ve written various different things, including a contemporary romance, a children’s book and a YA. For a couple of years, I was signed to a big literary agency, but sadly the book submitted was never sold. Not put off by this, I did a six month online Creative Writing Course which kept me going, but it was only this year that I signed with Darkstroke and they published The Cry of the Lake in July 2020.
Me
And what are your future plans?
Charlie
Whilst The Cry of the Lake was doing the rounds, I was already three-quarters of the way through another novel which is set in a girls’ convent school. Two bodies are discovered, hidden in the crypt of an Abbey, but the police cannot make any headway into how or why they got there. They have to send in an undercover policewoman to try and engage with the girls and figure out what secrets they are hiding.
Me
Sounds great! I am really looking forward to reading it. Thank you for some great answers and now, to round it off, please tell us three things we may not know about you.
Charlie
I am terribly squeamish and find writing murder scenes absolutely horrendous. Sometimes just the thought of what I’m writing about makes me cry – I’m such a big baby.
I adore spicy food, but if it’s too hot I get a nosebleed which isn’t great for my dinner companions.
My absolute favourite type of fiction to read is historical. Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy is the perfect match for me.
Me
Thank you so much for answering my questions so patiently, Charlie. There’s just one thing I wish I’d asked you but didn’t. What’s the name of your gorgeous dog?
Social Media Links, blog, website etc.
The all important buy link.
https://mybook.to/thecryofthelake
Author Bio
Charlie signed with Darkstroke in May 2020 and The Cry of the Lake is her debut novel.
Charlie is very much a morning person and likes nothing more than committing a fictional murder before her first coffee of the day. She studied Theology at Worcester College, Oxford and now lives in a Leicestershire village with her husband, three teenagers and golden retriever.
PAULA WILLIAMS 