Q&A with Clare Mackintosh Author of I Let You Go, I See You, and released this year Let me Lie(03/13/2018) @claremackintosh

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1. What author do you love that you feel had the biggest effect on you?
I love Sophie Hannah’s books. They were the first crime novels I’d read that weren’t just police procedure, they drilled down into the minds of the people involved. I found the approach so much more compelling, and Sophie’s work definitely had an influence on my own.
2. After being a police officer for 12 years what made you leave that and turn to writing?
I wasn’t spending enough time with my children, and work was making me stressed and bad- tempered at home – my priorities suddenly felt wrong, so I took a career break. I still needed to earn money, and the only thing I knew how to do was write, so that’s what I did. I threw myself into freelance journalism, and copywriting for businesses, and then I wrote my first novel.
3. What would your children say you are best known for?
Books. They tell me it’s very embarrassing when I’m in the papers or on the radio, but according to their teachers and friends they’re secretly quite proud.
4. What secret talent do you have that others may not know about?
I have a good singing voice. I love show tunes and can belt out a pretty good Liza Minnelli number.
5. You’ve had some unbearable personal tragedy in your life. Do you feel that has affected your writing? Do you think writing helps you in any way?
I write a lot about grief. I explored the loss of a child in I LET YOU GO, and now the loss of a parent in LET ME LIE. It’s undoubtedly cathartic, but it can be painful too. There are some scenes I won’t tackle until I’m on my own in a hotel room, and I know I won’t be disturbed.
6. If there‘s one subject you would never write about or feel most uncomfortablewriting, what would that be?
I don’t shy away from many topics, but it’s unlikely that I would write a book about the sexual abuse of children. It’s less about feeling ‘uncomfortable’ and more about not wanting to spend a year of my life in the heads of abusers and child abuse victims. They aren’t stories I want to read, either, and I feel strongly that a writer should write what they enjoy reading.
7. If you woke up with a superpower of your choice, what would it be, and why?
Invisibility. Every writer is a people-watcher, and being invisible would make it SO much easier
8. Which of your books is your favorite and why?
That’s like asking me to pick a favourite child! I like all my books for different reasons. I like I LET YOU GO because it’s my most personal book, and because I’m incredibly proud of the twist. I like I SEE YOU because it’s such a simple hook, yet such a universal one. But I think LET ME LIE is the best. So far…
9. Can you give your fans a little hint about what you are working on now and what can we expect from you in the future?
No, sorry! I’m about halfway through the first draft of a new book, but it’s too early to say much about it. All I can promise you is that my books will always focus on ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations, because that’s what I find most fascinating to write.