Dear Reader,
‘Fake news’ is a term that’s much bandied about these days. But this new definition of so-called ‘reality’ had yet to dawn when I first sat down to write Guilty. As with all my novels, Guilty is a work of imagination, it is also a mix of personal observations and experiences diluted into fiction. I began with only the slimmest synopsis to map my way forward. But, as the story developed its own energy, I realised I was drawing together three distinct strands that have marked my career as a writer and merging them together to create the narrative.
Good timing has never been one of my strongest virtues and when I first decided to write I did so in tandem with tending to the needs of a new born baby and two older children. When that ambition was abandoned and ‘The Great Novel’ was packed away in a deep, dark drawer, never to be revived, I began to write newspaper features. I was lucky enough to attract the attention of a helpful editor, who was interested in my work and commissioned me to write on many different subjects. Without making a conscious decision, journalism gradually became my full-time career and my ambition to write a novel seemed like someone else’s dream.
Years later, after much soul searching, I took a career break with the intention of finally writing fiction. The story that flowed from me was not for adults, as I’d planned, but for children. Looking back to that era, it wasn’t a surprising development as my ‘baby’ – then aged twelve – was constantly challenging my imagination with requests for stories. And there they were, a host of them just waiting to be written down. Over the following years I wrote many books and short stories for that age group, and also enjoyed writing radio and television scripts for pre-school children.
When the issues I wanted to explore became too challenging to sit within the confines of children’s literature, I moved seamlessly into writing my first novel for adults. But I’ve never forgotten the enjoyment of stirring young people’s imagination and luring them into the depths of a fantasy kingdom. Nor have I forgotten the buzz of journalism, the excitement of chasing information and piecing it together for an investigative feature. Guilty allowed me to combine those two elements into my novel, which was both a challenge and a joy to write.
At the end of a book, I feel lonesome when I wave goodbye to my characters but I’m also relieved to see them enter that long tunnel that, hopefully, has a reader at the end of it. You are that reader and I’m deeply grateful to you for choosing to read Guilty. If you enjoyed my book and would like to leave a review, I would be very appreciative.
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With warmest regards,
Laura Elliot