{"id":3275,"date":"2012-08-24T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T15:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=3275"},"modified":"2012-08-24T17:05:01","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T17:05:01","slug":"interview-with-uk-author-sensation-rachel-abbott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/interview-with-uk-author-sensation-rachel-abbott\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with UK Author Sensation Rachel Abbott"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Ear\u00adli\u00ader this sum\u00admer, fel\u00adlow author and friend Rachel Abbott gra\u00adcious\u00adly inter\u00adviewed me for her blog (you can read that inter\u00adview here<\/a>, by the way), and I am pleased to return the favor. Rachel\u2019s detective\/suspense\/thriller nov\u00adel ONLY THE INNOCENT has been an Ama\u00adzon UK sen\u00adsa\u00adtion, reach\u00ading #1 in the Kin\u00addle Store (Paid), as well as #1 in sev\u00ader\u00adal oth\u00ader cat\u00ade\u00adgories.<\/p>\n

In this inter\u00adview she talks about writ\u00ading, liv\u00ading in Italy, the nature of inter\u00adnet celebri\u00adty, and much more. If you\u2019re in the mood for a suspense\/thriller, you should def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly pick up ONLY THE INNOCENT. Rachel is work\u00ading on her sec\u00adond nov\u00adel now.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

ONLY THE INNOCENT has been ranked #1 in sev\u00ader\u00adal cat\u00ade\u00adgories on Ama\u00adzon UK: #1 Kin\u00addle Store (Paid), #1 British Detec\u00adtive, #1 Sus\u00adpense, and #1 Thriller. The nov\u00adel obvi\u00adous\u00adly has great crossover appeal between gen\u00adres. What about the nov\u00adel is mak\u00ading read\u00aders respond so pos\u00adi\u00adtive\u00adly?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think there is a lev\u00adel of intrigue that has com\u00adpelled read\u00aders to find out the answers to all the ques\u00adtions. ONLY THE INNOCENT is not so much a book about WHO com\u00admit\u00adted the mur\u00adder, it\u2019s far more about WHY and to some extent, HOW. It also seems to appeal to peo\u00adple on dif\u00adfer\u00adent lev\u00adels: some are inter\u00adest\u00aded in the whole con\u00adcept of the detec\u00adtive solv\u00ading the crime, oth\u00aders are more inter\u00adest\u00aded in what would dri\u00adve a woman to com\u00admit cold-blood\u00aded mur\u00adder. So I believe it keeps peo\u00adple intrigued to the end.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although ONLY THE INNOCENT has been pro\u00adfound\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful on Ama\u00adzon UK and has been ris\u00ading up the Ama\u00adzon US charts, you and the nov\u00adel are some\u00adwhat less well known in the States. What would you like to say to Amer\u00adi\u00adcan read\u00aders of mys\u00adter\u00adies, sus\u00adpense and thrillers to encour\u00adage them to buy and read your nov\u00adel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I ini\u00adtial\u00adly focused most of my mar\u00adket\u00ading on the UK audi\u00adence pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly because I am from the UK, and had quite a fol\u00adlow\u00ading there. But although ONLY THE INNOCENT is set in the Eng\u00adland, there are parts of the book set in Venice and Posi\u00adtano and the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist does live in a very glam\u00adorous world. So I believe that the set\u00adting should appeal to peo\u00adple every\u00adwhere. In terms of the sto\u00adry, the issues faced by the main char\u00adac\u00adters are uni\u00adver\u00adsal. There is noth\u00ading that defines them as British, and although the police\u00adman is \u2013 of neces\u00adsi\u00adty \u2013 Eng\u00adlish, the sto\u00adry is dri\u00adven by mys\u00adtery and sus\u00adpense, rather than by a police inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion. There have been a num\u00adber of reviews already in the US, and to date all of them have hap\u00adpi\u00adly been favor\u00adable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019ve had over 100 5\u2011star reviews of the nov\u00adel from Ama\u00adzon read\u00aders, but sure\u00adly 1\u20132 must stand out as favorites. What are some of your favorite cus\u00adtomer com\u00adments about the book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly like this review, because it cov\u00aders quite a few aspects of the book :<\/p>\n

Rachel Abbot\u00adt\u2019s roller\u00adcoast\u00ader debut is astound\u00ading and has best\u00adseller writ\u00adten all over it. She explores some dark, dark places in the human psy\u00adche that will make you think twice about out\u00ader kind\u00adness and char\u00adi\u00adty. The Dev\u00adil\u2019s in the detail but who is The Dev\u00adil? Grip\u00adping from start to fin\u00adish, the pages almost turned them\u00adselves as I enjoyed the fast-paced jour\u00adney to the final denoue\u00adment.<\/em><\/p>\n

I also liked this review, which came ear\u00adly on, from the Kin\u00addle Book Review. This is just a brief extract :<\/p>\n

A Stun\u00adning\u00adly Com\u00adplex Debut Nov\u00adel<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rachel Abbott has proved with this debut that she is a crack\u00ading writer. The book is a com\u00adplex lay\u00adered web, every chap\u00adter adding more and more lay\u00aders of intrigue that pull you in fur\u00adther.<\/em><\/p>\n

But per\u00adhaps the one that made me smile most was :<\/p>\n

I near\u00adly burned the din\u00adner twice because I couldn\u2019t put this book down.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Are you an avid read\u00ader of books in these gen\u00adres (mys\u00adter\u00adies, sus\u00adpense and thrillers), and is that why you were inspired to write one of your own, or did you write ONLY THE INNOCENT for oth\u00ader rea\u00adsons?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am an avid read\u00ader of var\u00adi\u00adous gen\u00adres, but I sus\u00adpect I read more thrillers than any\u00adthing else, part\u00adly because my hus\u00adband likes them too, so I have always tend\u00aded to buy books that we can share. But in this case, I\u2019d had an idea in my head for a very long time and nev\u00ader had the time to sit down and write it. I want\u00aded to think up a sce\u00adnario in which a woman \u2013 a per\u00adfect\u00adly nor\u00admal, sane woman \u2013 would have no oth\u00ader option than to com\u00admit a cold-blood\u00aded mur\u00adder. I didn\u2019t want a psy\u00adcho\u00adpath\u00adic killer \u2013 I want\u00aded a nor\u00admal per\u00adson, and that was my inspi\u00adra\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You were invit\u00aded by Ama\u00adzon KDP to the Lon\u00addon Book fair to dis\u00adcuss your suc\u00adcess with ONLY THE INNOCENT. What did you learn about pub\u00adlish\u00ading and your\u00adself from the expe\u00adri\u00adence?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was real\u00adly excit\u00aded when KDP asked me to come to the book fair, and the one thing that I learned was that I real\u00adly want to be in this indus\u00adtry \u2013 not just as a one-off author of a book, but because I want to be a writer. I am very clear in my own mind that self-pub\u00adlish\u00ading has been real\u00adly good to me, but in no way does that mean for a minute that I believe tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal pub\u00adlish\u00ading is dead. I loved see\u00ading a pile of my books, actu\u00adal\u00adly print\u00aded (by KDP) for me to sign, and I do love the idea of walk\u00ading into a book\u00adstore and see\u00ading them all there. But self-pub\u00adlish\u00ading has some real pos\u00adi\u00adtives too, and I real\u00adized at the end of the book fair that I won\u2019t rule out either option. One thing that is very clear, though, is that mar\u00adket\u00ading your book to suc\u00adcess has to be par\u00adtial\u00adly down to luck. If I had launched ONLY THE INNOCENT at the same time as the 50 Shades series, it would have been impos\u00adsi\u00adble to get to the #1 spot!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your #1 suc\u00adcess with ONLY THE INNOCENT on Ama\u00adzon UK has made you some\u00adthing of a celebri\u00adty in the Indie Author com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty. How has your writ\u00ading life changed as a result of this celebri\u00adty?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When ONLY THE INNOCENT was suc\u00adcess\u00adful, I want\u00aded to share the things I had learned with oth\u00ader indie authors. I orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly launched the book with low expec\u00adta\u00adtions of sales. I would have been hap\u00adpy, to be hon\u00adest, with a thou\u00adsand copies sold. That was my goal. But clear\u00adly I was very lucky, and I must have done a few things right \u2013 so for quite some time I spent most of my days blog\u00adging about what I did, and shar\u00ading things with oth\u00ader authors.<\/p>\n

But the biggest change by far came when I found myself an agent. I have Ker\u00adry Wilkin\u00adson \u2013 anoth\u00ader suc\u00adcess\u00adful indie author (although he now has a pub\u00adlish\u00ader) \u2013 to thank for this. He intro\u00adduced me to my agent, and she has changed the way that I work com\u00adplete\u00adly. She edit\u00aded ONLY THE INNOCENT \u2013 some\u00adthing that I hadn\u2019t thought of doing, but should have \u2013 and has guid\u00aded my writ\u00ading, giv\u00ading tire\u00adless\u00adly of her time. So the so-called celebri\u00adty sta\u00adtus had a tremen\u00addous impact, and has made me even keen\u00ader to improve my writ\u00ading and help oth\u00ader indies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You live and write in Le Marche, Italy (Cen\u00adtral Italy). How has being a writer in Italy influ\u00adenced your writ\u00ading and how you work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liv\u00ading in Italy is a joy, and I can write here prac\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly with\u00adout dis\u00adtrac\u00adtion. I am able to write full time \u2013 which I know makes me one of the few very lucky ones \u2013 and in an atmos\u00adphere of total peace and qui\u00adet.<\/p>\n

But liv\u00ading in Italy also means that dur\u00ading the sum\u00admer months it is extreme\u00adly hot \u2013 this sum\u00admer in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar has been relent\u00adless and we have had no rain for over three months. It is quite dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to work when your arms are stick\u00ading to the desk! We don\u2019t have air con\u00addi\u00adtion\u00ading, because in a nor\u00admal sum\u00admer it\u2019s hard\u00adly nec\u00ades\u00adsary \u2013 but I might think about that for next year! We also have a lot of vis\u00adi\u00adtors from May to Sep\u00adtem\u00adber \u2013 friends and fam\u00adi\u00adly look\u00ading to escape the very wet sum\u00admer in the UK. We love hav\u00ading guests, but they have all had to accept that I hide myself away for a large part of each day. The temp\u00adta\u00adtion of a few hours by the pool in the after\u00adnoon, though, some\u00adtimes gets the bet\u00adter of me.<\/p>\n

So for most of the year I can be 100% focused, but for the sum\u00admer months it becomes quite dif\u00adfi\u00adcult \u2013 par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly if every\u00adbody else is drink\u00ading a nice chilled glass of white wine with lunch and have feel I have to stick to water!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Who are your writ\u00ading idols\u2014those writ\u00aders whose work inspires you to be the best writer you can be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure that I have any writ\u00ading idols. If I have to choose one, it would be Daphne du Mau\u00adri\u00ader. REBECCA is my favourite book of all time. What I love about it is that it is a mys\u00adtery, but it\u2019s all about rela\u00adtion\u00adships. It\u2019s not a sto\u00adry that is led by a detec\u00adtive \u2013 it is led by the pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnists. ONLY THE INNOCENT had to have a detec\u00adtive in the sto\u00adry because a mur\u00adder is com\u00admit\u00adted in the first chap\u00adter. But I def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly want\u00aded to feel that the sto\u00adry was all about the vic\u00adtim and the per\u00adpe\u00adtra\u00adtor, and was not a nov\u00adel about a police\u00adman.<\/p>\n

There are writ\u00aders whose books I always enjoy \u2013 and Har\u00adlan Coben would be right up there. What I love about his books is the com\u00adplex\u00adi\u00adty of the plot \u2013 and I am refer\u00adring to the one-off titles rather than the Myron Boli\u00adtar series, which I enjoy for entire\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent rea\u00adsons. It\u2019s this lev\u00adel of intri\u00adca\u00adcy that I strive for.<\/p>\n

A con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adable num\u00adber of books that fit into the thriller genre focus almost entire\u00adly on the inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion and the char\u00adac\u00adter of the police\u00adman rather than the per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty of the vic\u00adtims, but with the Har\u00adlan Coben books, the focus is on the peo\u00adple to whom the events are hap\u00adpen\u00ading, rather than on the peo\u00adple solv\u00ading the crime. So between Daphne du Mau\u00adri\u00ader and Har\u00adlan Coben \u2013 a strange mix, you might say \u2013 they have shaped the way I think of a sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You are some\u00adthing of a social media maven as well, tire\u00adless\u00adly pro\u00admot\u00ading ONLY THE INNOCENT on Face\u00adbook and Twit\u00adter. How has social media helped you as a writer, and how has it been a hin\u00addrance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I launched ONLY THE INNOCENT I had just nine fol\u00adlow\u00aders on Twit\u00adter. I had a Face\u00adbook account, but I rarely used it. I worked hard to build a fol\u00adlow\u00ading \u2013 par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly on Twit\u00adter, although I am work\u00ading hard\u00ader on Face\u00adbook now by engag\u00ading peo\u00adple in con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion a lit\u00adtle more.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that social media has been a hin\u00addrance at all. I have used some of the tools avail\u00adable to make my life a lit\u00adtle eas\u00adi\u00ader, because for months I was doing all the updat\u00ading and search\u00ading for new fol\u00adlow\u00aders man\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly. I now have two Twit\u00adter accounts, pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly because most of my fol\u00adlow\u00aders on the first account were oth\u00ader indie authors. That is no prob\u00adlem at all, and I\u2019m delight\u00aded to chat to them. But the things that inter\u00adest them are dif\u00adfer\u00adent to the arti\u00adcles and reviews that inter\u00adest read\u00aders \u2013 so I now main\u00adtain two accounts. The one for read\u00aders is where I post reviews \u2013 not just of ONLY THE INNOCENT \u2013 hard\u00adly ever, in fact \u2013 but reviews of oth\u00ader books they may find inter\u00adest\u00ading, retweets from oth\u00ader authors, etc.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve made some real\u00adly good friends via Twit\u00adter \u2013 par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly in the indie author area. In gen\u00ader\u00adal, they are a real\u00adly sup\u00adport\u00adive bunch of peo\u00adple, although of course you get the odd troll who sees that a book has received a load of good reviews so takes delight in going to the Ama\u00adzon page and writ\u00ading a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly nasty one that shows no evi\u00addence of them hav\u00ading read the book. The aim is clear\u00adly to dam\u00adage one book in the hope that it will make theirs more promi\u00adnent. That, to me, is the only down\u00adside of social media. You are lay\u00ading every\u00adthing out there for the world to see, and not every\u00adbody shows the nec\u00ades\u00adsary respect for oth\u00aders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re cur\u00adrent\u00adly work\u00ading on your sec\u00adond nov\u00adel. Can you give read\u00aders a gen\u00ader\u00adal idea of what it\u2019s about and what inspired you to write it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want\u00aded to explore what goes on under the appar\u00adent\u00adly per\u00adfect sur\u00adface of people\u2019s lives, and how indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals \u2013 inten\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly or oth\u00ader\u00adwise \u2013 can cause harm through obses\u00adsion, jeal\u00adousy and delu\u00adsion.<\/p>\n

In my next book, an appar\u00adent\u00adly per\u00adfect com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty is ripped apart by a ter\u00adri\u00adble acci\u00addent. But it is this acci\u00addent and the inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion into it that grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly begin to expose cir\u00adcles of deceit that are lying just beneath the sur\u00adface.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is there any advice that you could give bur\u00adgeon\u00ading Indie Authors, advice that you wish you had received when you were start\u00ading out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes! As you know, Chris, I have now had ONLY THE INNOCENT pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly edit\u00aded. The first ver\u00adsion did incred\u00adi\u00adbly well, and I think that\u2019s because many peo\u00adple read like I do \u2013 they are dri\u00adven entire\u00adly by the sto\u00adry. But some crit\u00adi\u00adcized the first ver\u00adsion, and hav\u00ading had an edi\u00adtor pore over it and send me reams and reams of notes for improve\u00adment, I under\u00adstand why.<\/p>\n

The edit\u00ading process was quite hard. I didn\u2019t get back changes<\/em> which was what I half expect\u00aded. I got back notes with com\u00adments such as \u2013 \u2018what\u2019s going on in the room?\u2019 or \u2018what\u2019s she see\u00ading here?\u2019 or \u2018cut this sec\u00adtion in half\u2019 \u2013 and it real\u00adly made me think. The sto\u00adry hasn\u2019t changed, but the char\u00adac\u00adters have been fleshed out, and there is more to visu\u00adal\u00adize in a scene. I spent a cou\u00adple of months rewrit\u00ading chunks, and then it was edit\u00aded again<\/em> by a sec\u00adond per\u00adson, who made even more sug\u00adges\u00adtions.<\/p>\n

It sounds hard, but I real\u00adly think that if I had done that at the out\u00adset, ONLY THE INNOCENT would have been an even big\u00adger suc\u00adcess. As it is, it has been re-released in the new ver\u00adsion on all plat\u00adforms, and the reviews on iTunes (UK) and Water\u00adstones \u2013 prob\u00ada\u00adbly the biggest inde\u00adpen\u00addent book\u00adstore in the UK \u2013 are all incred\u00adi\u00adbly pos\u00adi\u00adtive.<\/p>\n

So if I was start\u00ading again, I would try what\u00adev\u00ader I could to find the bud\u00adget for a pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal edit. It has changed the way that I will write going for\u00adward, but hope\u00adful\u00adly not changed the ten\u00adsion and sus\u00adpense of the sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How can read\u00aders buy ONLY THE INNOCENT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ONLY THE INNOCENT is avail\u00adable in all eread\u00ader for\u00admats, and can be found by fol\u00adlow\u00ading the links below. For some of the read\u00aders, such as Kobo and Sony, it might be nec\u00ades\u00adsary to per\u00adform a search as the sites default to the coun\u00adtry you are search\u00ading from.<\/p>\n

Ama\u00adzon US<\/a><\/p>\n

Ama\u00adzon UK<\/a><\/p>\n

Barnes and Noble<\/a><\/p>\n

iTunes (US)<\/a><\/p>\n

Rachel Abbott Web\u00adsite.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ear\u00adli\u00ader this sum\u00admer, fel\u00adlow author and friend Rachel Abbott gra\u00adcious\u00adly inter\u00adviewed me for her blog (you can read that inter\u00adview here, by the way), and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interview","category-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3275"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3308,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3275\/revisions\/3308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}