Ask the Author: Liz Harris
Answered Questions (9)
Liz Harris
I can't answer this, I'm afraid. There is a mystery in my own background that would make a fabulous novel. It involves other people, though, and while some are dead, there are some still living, and it would be wrong of me to write something that would invade their privacy. Sorry!
Liz Harris
I would go to the fictional world of The Nun's Story, by Kathryn Hulme. It's a book I love. I would focus on the section in Africa, in the hospital with the gorgeous Dr Fortunati, played in the film by rugged Australian actor Peter Finch. I would hope that I looked like Audrey Hepburn when I donned my wimple. I leave the rest to your imagination!
Liz Harris
Fortunately, I have never suffered from this, but I know it can be a terrible thing. I think I'd keep writing, putting things down, even though at some future point I might well delete them all. Just writing something - anything - would be a way of keeping open a line to creativity. You could end up with something with the potential to be developed into a story when the block finally lifted.
Liz Harris
Creating a fictional world that didn't exist until you put finger to keyboard, and giving birth to the people who'll inhabit your world. At the end of writing the novel, it's the most wonderful feeling to look back and see the world you've built.
Liz Harris
Keep writing. Just a few words a day, if that's all you feel up to on a particular day. It's all you need to do to keep the machinery of creativity ticking over. Have a pen and notebook at your side, day and night, and jot down anything that occurs to you, day or night, or any interesting snippets of conversation you overhear. You never know what will come in useful one day. You may think that you won't forget the interesting item you overheard, or the flash of inspiration that arrived in the night, but if you don't at once make a note of it, you probably will.
Liz Harris
The Flame Within is the second in the Linford Series. Although each book in the series is a stand-alone, I knew that the reader would be meeting some of the Linfords in more than one novel. When writing The Dark Horizon (Book 1), I very much liked the character Thomas, who has a dry sense of humour that was right up my street. I knew, therefore, that The Flame Within would be Thomas's story and that of his wife, Alice, who'd been born in a small mill town in Lancashire. And I knew that while The Dark Horizon had centred on a huge lie, I wanted The Flame Within to centre on betrayal - a betrayal which had devastating consequences for the whole family.
Liz Harris
The Lengthening Shadow, Book 3 in the Linford Series. This is the story of Dorothy Linford. The book is with the editor at the moment, and I shall shortly be getting the edits. My fingers are crossed that there won't be too much to do!
Liz Harris
I'm reading at the moment A Daughter's Hope, by Margaret Kaine, and really enjoying it. I have The Prisoner of Penang, by Clare Flynn, on the pile to be read next. And I love thrillers/mysteries, and have the latest Ann Cleeves to read. I read a huge variety of genres.
Liz Harris
The Flame Within is the second in the Linford Series. Although each book in the series is a stand-alone, I knew that the reader would be meeting some of the Linfords in more than one novel. When writing The Dark Horizon (Book 1), I very much liked the character Thomas, who has a dry sense of humour that was right up my street. I knew, therefore, that The Flame Within would be Thomas's story and that of his wife, Alice, who'd been born in a small mill town in Lancashire. And I knew that while The Dark Horizon had centred on a huge lie, I wanted The Flame Within to centre on betrayal - a betrayal which had devastating consequences for the whole family.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more