Author Interview - Lynda Renham Cook

Over the last few week's Lynda Renham Cook has been watching her latest novel Croissants and Jam climb higher and higher up the Kindle Charts reaching the dizzying heights of the top 100. Pretty incredible stuff! In between refreshing the Amazon button she made time to give Sprig Muslin it's very first author interview.

Hi Lynda, thanks for dropping by! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hello, I’m a freelance writer. I write political articles for the scavenger magazine.www.thescavenger.net and NL Aid news agency  http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/child/friends-without-a-borderangkor-hospital-for-children/ as well as others. I’m also a novelist and live with my husband Andrew and one cat Bendy, which is short for Bendrix, named after a character from a Graham Green novel.

Writing is obviously your passion, how long have you been a writer?

As long as I can remember. My first published piece was over thirty years ago in a children’s comic. I wrote during school lesson, at home when I should have been doing my homework and also in my spare time.

I may have done a little school lesson writing myself! Many people find it hard to prioritise their writing, do you have a routine?

I write as soon as I have prepared dinner and it is in the slow cooker. By nine I am at my word processor. I work until lunch and then have a break. I continue after lunch until six. In the summer I sit and write in the summer house. In the winter, because our country cottage is so cold, I write in the lounge in front of the fire. Bliss in both summer and Winter.

Sounds lovely. Most writers are voracious readers first and foremost. Which authors do you admire?

Iris Murdoch. I was lucky enough to visit her house and meet her husband John Bayley after a film made about her won an Oscar. I popped to their house and asked if I could have tea with John and amazingly enough he said yes. It was the greatest moment of my life.

That must have been an amazing experience. Do you have a favourite book?

‘Blood secrets’ by Craig Jones

Tell me about your previous books and why you decided to self publish?

I self-published after becoming disgruntled with publishers and agents. My comedy novel ‘Wedding cake to Turin’ was self-published and I would advise any good writer to use this route as it disciplines you and makes you work very hard at your craft. I now have a publisher and ‘Croissants and Jam’ is out with them.

Would you recommend self publishing and why?

Competition is very stiff at the moment so self-publishing gets you seen and your work is then out there. However, you have to work hard and make sure it is proof read. I learnt a lot about writing from that experience.

What are you working on right now?

My third comedy romance. To be released at the end of this year.

If you could be any character from a book who would you be?

Elizabeth Quigley from ‘The heart listens.’

What do you hope to achieve with your writing?

To be remembered as a wonderful liar.

Thanks Lynda - and I look forward to reading Croissants and Jam.

Lynda's novels are available from amazon.co.uk go to www.renham.co.uk for more information.