Funday Friday - Truth or Lie? Tracey Sinclair - Month 5 Week 4

Welcome to the latest edition of Truth of Lie. My name is Rachel and I will be your host, for this exciting new game show. Each Friday, I will have one contestant, and they will be answering at least 14 questions. There is of course one small twist...

For three of the answers, they have to lie. It is your task as the viewer to guess which three answers are lies. You are allowed 3 guesses and I want them posted into the comments field. 

Every 4 weeks, I will close the guessing, count up how many correct answers each of you has, and create a leaderboard. Anyone who is top of the leaderboard, will go into a draw for a paperback of the winners choice (open internationally). 

Please do include a way for me to contact you (email or twitter or similar), so that I can let you know if you have won. 

The weekend after a 4 week period closes, not only will I produce a leaderboard, and announce a winner, I will also let you know into the true answers, and which were the lies.  

Closing date for the fifth month is 11pm on 29th September 2016. 

So without further ado, let's meet today's contestant. 

Good morning Tracey Sinclair, please can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a freelance writer, editor and author, born in Newcastle but based in Brighton. My books include the romcom The Bridesmaid Blues and the Dark Dates/Cassandra Bick series, the latest of which is Angel Falls.

Please to meet you Tracey, who is back for another interview, after kicking off my Back Catalogue Books interview series back in July. 

Now onto the show, and remember everyone, Tracey, hasn't been entirely truthful with three of these answers, so it is up to you to guess which ones they are (only 3 guesses per person though). 

1) What book do you wish you had written?

That changes pretty much every time I read something good, but off the top of my head: The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn or The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

2) Tell me about any really memorable dream or nightmare you have had

I often have vivid, narrative dreams that are like watching a film. A few years ago, when there was all that furore about the movie Natural Born Killers, I dreamt an entire version of it that scared me so much that to this day I haven’t been able to sit through the entire film!

3) What was your most memorable holiday ever?

A childhood holiday to Wales – it rained constantly but I didn’t care as I had a massive crush on one of the locals who worked at the campsite, so spent the entire time either ‘accidentally’ trying to be wherever he was, or writing bad poetry about him in my notebook! 

4) If you could be an animal what would you be and why?

A cat – they seem to have life pretty figured out!

5) What superpower would you love to have?

If I could have a combination of teleportation and invulnerability, that would be great. 

6) What is the most annoying interview question you have ever been asked?

Perhaps annoying is the wrong word, but my first novel was a book about a woman who tracks down and has an affair with her estranged father. So it was always slightly off-putting when people asked, ‘is that based on you?’ Um, no!

7) What is your dream job, and have you tried to achieve it?

It isn’t any more, but as a teen I wanted to be a TV presenter and did an audition tape that I cringe to think of even now. It was the eighties so I recall my outfit being neon bright and terrifyingly heavy on the shoulder pads…

8) If you could only read one author for the rest of your life (and I’m aware that’s a very scary world), who would you choose and why?

Terry Pratchett – he’s written a lot of books, and he’s my favourite ‘go-to’ reread. 

9) Did you have an invisible friend as a child? If so, please tell me about them. 

Not invisible as such, but I did have a life size doll called Athena who was about 3 feet tall, that I used to pretend was a real friend and used to hold long, detailed conversations with. Maybe as an only child I wanted a sibling. My mum got so freaked out though that she gave it away!

10) What would your ideal pet be?

In an alternate universe where I lived in a big house with lots of space, I’d love a big, friendly dog like a collie or a husky or a lab.

11) What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to music? 

Oh, my music tastes are all cheesy and I’m not guilty about any of them! I love a good pop song and am not embarrassed about dancing round the living room to Taylor Swift or Britney Spears!

12) If you could only look at one view for the rest of eternity, what or where would you like to be to see this view?

I’d like it to be a balcony view over the ocean, ideally somewhere warm. Maybe Hawaii. 

13) Can you let us in on an embarrassing secret?

I once accidentally dyed my entire body a glittery shade of blue (long story).

14) If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

Travel. Maybe check out the view from a balcony in Hawaii…

Thank you so much Tracey, I urge you to put your audition tape onto youtube, as I bet your fans would love to see it, and while your there please also share with us all how exactly you managed to die your body glittery blue! 

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Truth or Lie? I will be back next week with another episode, and in the mean time...

Don't forget to guess the lies, to be in with a chance of a prize! 

About Tracey Sinclair

Tracey Sinclair is an author and freelance editor and writer. Her books include the romcom The Bridesmaid Blues and the Dark Dates/Cassandra Bick series. Her latest book, Angel Falls, is out now.

www.darkdates.org
@thriftygal
www.facebook.com/darkdates



The Bridesmaid Blues:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridesmaid-Blues-Tracey-Sinclair-ebook/dp/B00M83Y3VO/

Angel Falls:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angel-Falls-Cassandra-Bick-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01AMOGRBY/

Back Catalogue Books - Q&A with Tracey Sinclair

Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it! 

So without further ado, my first guest on Back Catalogue books is: 

Tracey Sinclair is an author and freelance editor and author. She has written for numerous publications in print and online, and her short stories have been included in a number of anthologies, been performed on the radio, and won several awards. She is also a performed playwright, and a theatre reviewer for Exeunt and The Stage. She has written 8 books (5 novels and 3 collections of short stories).

1) Please tell me about your first book, and what started you writing in the first place

I know it’s a cliché but I’ve written stories as long as I remember. I got my first ‘paid for’ story published in a magazine when I was 17 and just kept going from there. My first novel, Doll, was published back in 2005, and is best described as contemporary fiction – it’s a dark, twisted romance about how messed up families are.

2) How many books have you written and what are they?

I’ve written 5 novels and 3 collections of short stories – Doll was my first novel, published by the small press publisher Kennedy and Boyd, who also published my first short story collection, No Love is This. Then I decided, because I was working so much in digital media, I wanted to try indie publishing, and started the Dark Dates series, which has now extended into 3 novels (Dark Dates, Wolf Night, Angel Falls and 2 collections of short stories – A Vampire in Edinburgh and Other Stories, and A Vampire in New York and Other Stories). I also wrote a rom-com, The Bridesmaid Blues.

3) Which book are you most proud of writing?

I’m proud of them all, as they all represent different things, and me trying new things or taking risks in different directions. They’re my babies!

4) Which book was your favourite to write?

The Dark Dates books, without a doubt. I only started writing them as a bit of an exercise – I’d written a short story for a friend about a vampire dating agency, but the idea stuck with me, and at the time the world was going crazy over Twilight and I wanted to write something that could embrace the genre – which I love – but not have such a wimpy heroine, and be savvy and funny. And they just turned into such fun to write, I love them – I get to think up lots of jokes and outrageous scenarios, and use settings around London that I know well.

5) Who are your favourite characters from your books and why?

I love the Dark Dates crew – Laclos and Cain are both hot and exciting to write (is it sad to fancy your own characters? I don’t care!), and I enjoy writing the girls, too, especially Cass, who gets to be snarky and sarcastic and has a lot of me in her, so is easy to write – though I do wish I had her talent for comebacks in real life (not to mention the aforementioned hot guys). I also have a fondness for Luce from The Bridesmaid Blues – again based on me, a little bit, she’s well-meaning and funny but a bit of an emotional and romantic car crash, so I can’t help being fond of her.

6) If you could go back and change anything from any of your books, what would it be, and why?

I’d change the cover to Doll – it was a good idea but didn’t work in execution. I’d probably spend more time editing but that might be just because you never think your books are truly finished!

7) Which of your covers if your favourite and why?

My favourite is actually my current book, Angel Falls – I love that feather! But I also love Bridesmaid Blues, as I think it captures the novel well and I wanted to avoid the usual chick lit cartoony cover. (I work with the same designer, Caroline Goldsmith of Goldsmith Publishing Consultancy, on all my recent books, and I like what she does). I also liked the razor blade in the heart image on the front of No Love is This, which was done by Jo Gurney of Stella My Star.

8) Have you ever thought about changing genres, if so what else would you like to write?

As you can see, I have done! I’d like to try proper science fiction next, and crime/thriller. I have a few ideas kicking around…

9) Looking forward can you let us know what you are working on next?

I’m working on the next Dark Dates book, and have a couple of other projects in the works but they are at an early stage.

10) I dare not ask for a favourite author, but is there any author’s back catalogue you admire and why?

For consistency and quality, John Connolly, Terry Pratchett, Pat Barker, Jim Butcher, Dennis Lehane, A L Kennedy and Ian Rankin. Too many to list. I also quite admire people who just wrote one or two exquisite novels then packed it in…

11) Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your back catalogue of books?

Other than give them a try? I try to subvert the genre a little – I often get people saying to me, ‘I never read vampire books, but I loved yours!’ – so that there’s lots to like if you’re a fan of the genre, but they can appeal even if you’re not. For instance, Bridesmaid Blues is a little more down to earth than your usual romcom (it’s set in Newcastle, for a start!), and Dark Dates both embraces the urban fantasy genre but pokes fun at some of the tropes that have become clichés (my inspiration for the style of writing was shows like Buffy and Supernatural, which tend to be very self-aware). So give ‘em a go!

Thank you so much Tracey Sinclair for this great interview, and for kicking off my latest feature. 

About Tracey Sinclair

Tracey Sinclair is an author and freelance editor and writer. Her books include the romcom The Bridesmaid Blues and the Dark Dates/Cassandra Bick series. Her latest book, Angel Falls, is out now.

www.darkdates.org
@thriftygal
www.facebook.com/darkdates


The Bridesmaid Blues:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bridesmaid-Blues-Tracey-Sinclair-ebook/dp/B00M83Y3VO/
Angel Falls:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angel-Falls-Cassandra-Bick-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01AMOGRBY/