Becca Day, ALL HER LITTLE LIES
[0:02]Hi, I'm Zivi Owens, the creator and host of the award-winning podcast that you're listening to right now.
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[0:08]Called moms don't have time to read books.
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[0:58]Becca Day is the author of All Her Little Lies, Becca lives in Surrey with her husband, two daughters,
[1:04]and Cocker Spaniel. She studied acting at Guildford College, and went on to start her own murder mystery
[1:09]theater troupe. It was this move that inspired her love of crime fiction, and when she sold the company,
[1:14]she threw herself headfirst into crime writing. Her short fiction has won several prizes,
[1:19]and the girl beyond the gate is her first filling novel. Aside from writing, she is also an avid
[1:24]reader and runs reading parties with fellow author William Shaw.
[1:28]Welcome, Becca. Thank you so much for coming on moms. Don't have time to read books,
[1:31]to discuss your latest book, All Her Little Lies, and the girl beyond the gate.
[1:36]Thank you so much for having me. My pleasure. Where are you zooming in from today?
[1:43]So I'm in England in Surrey, and I've kind of lived in the middle of the woods,
[1:48]so lots of hot tummy trees around me at the moment. It's really nice.
[1:52]Oh, so is that the scary place from which you write? Is there something sort of, I don't know,
[1:59]mysterious about the woods that you enjoy? No, no, it's not a creepy woods. It's a nice family
[2:06]friendly woods with lots of children living here. Can you tell listeners what All Her Little Lies is
[2:13]about? Yeah, so my latest book, which just came out a few weeks ago, All Her Little Lies is set
[2:20]on a farm in England, and we've got character called Alex, who lives and works on the farm,
[2:27]and she discovers a dead body, and she decides for reasons to be revealed to clean up the crime
[2:35]scene and get rid of all of the evidence, and then it's kind of everything that happens after that,
[2:39]and why she decides to do it, and exploring all of that. Yeah, definitely it starts with a bang,
[2:48]and there's a murder right away, and I love how you structure it the day before the murder,
[2:52]the day of the murder, you know, it's very, it's hard not to get sucked in right away, so.
[2:59]Yeah, yeah, I try and make sure that it starts with quite a big, a big thing happening,
[3:05]so they got to grips the redest right away. Yes, and since it only came out less than a year ago,
[3:12]can you also talk about the girl beyond the gate? Yeah, so the girl beyond the gate was
[3:16]my debut that came out in March, and that is setting a fictional gated community of Uncle Jody
[3:24]moves in, and she starts to suspect there's some weird stuff going on with her neighbours.
[3:30]She's got a woman who has a girl who was in a wheelchair, and she starts to just
[3:38]think that there's some strange stuff going on there, so it's all about the secrets and lies that
[3:43]go on within the gate of community. Yeah, lots of secrets and lies in all of my books.
[3:49]Yeah, so where is that? Where is that coming from? Is there something in your past that you
[3:55]feel like you want to get out and talk about? Where is this coming from? No, no, I've had a really
[4:02]lovely life actually, nothing thriller worthy has ever happened to me, it's just like my more
[4:07]than imagination apparently, but I've always enjoyed kind of mad mysteries and reading
[4:12]mad mysteries, and I enjoyed, like, listening to true crime podcast and things like that,
[4:17]I'm always trying to solve them. So yeah, I guess it's just, I wanted to write my own stories,
[4:24]I had so many ideas, and I used to have a murder mystery theater company where we would put on
[4:30]like interactive shows, and I would write the scripts for those, so yeah, it just was kind of like
[4:35]a natural progression from that to novels. Yes, I read that, so you sold that company and then
[4:41]you got into novels. Yeah, so why did you decide to sell it? It was lots of different reasons,
[4:47]to be honest, it was a lot because I had my eldest daughter, so I got two daughters now,
[4:53]and I had my eldest daughter, and it was always like at the weekend, so I was kind of like,
[4:57]I don't really want to be spending my weekends away from her, so yeah, writing novels, I can sort of
[5:02]be home with her while I'm doing it, so it sort of suits my lifestyle a little bit better.
[5:09]And how old are your daughters now? For my eldest to seven, and my youngest is one.
[5:15]So cute. Yeah, I saw your youngest popping out in some of your YouTube videos.
[5:22]Yeah, yeah, I was actually, I was pregnant when I wrote my debut, and then I had her in November,
[5:29]the book came out in March, and then I wrote my second book with a very young baby.
[5:33]So it's been a whole purpose. That's, I mean, hats off to you. I have four kids, and that is
[5:39]no easy feat. I mean, I can barely get stuff done now. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure how I did it.
[5:47]And speaking of your videos, I love your whole series for authors, which is really great,
[5:52]including the one you did about the mental health of waiting for, like, how to deal with your
[5:57]own mental health and waiting for your queries to come back about your, your books and everything.
[6:02]Talk to me about why you turned to YouTube and your whole video series and how you do that,
[6:07]and even, you know, your Facebook group for fellow authors and all of that.
[6:12]Yeah, so I am, well, I've always kind of been into YouTube anyway. I used to work for a company
[6:19]that I reviewed to a company and we used to produce videos for them, so I've kind of always been
[6:24]in that realm anyway. And then when I was going through the querying process, which is like,
[6:31]to get an agent and so that you can get published, it was really hot on my mental health. And I
[6:36]really struggled. I, you know, there's a lot of rejection. It's part of that process. And actually,
[6:42]I had a very quick and somewhat painless process, very like some people are querying the years
[6:47]and years and years. And I just don't know how they do it. So yeah, because I struggled so much,
[6:52]I really wanted to create a space for aspiring authors where they could talk to each other
[6:58]and get support and feel like they're not alone. So I do that with my YouTube videos and I'm also
[7:05]part of a few different Facebook groups. And then I've also got a mentorship program that's coming
[7:11]in March next year where it's basically me and a bunch of other thriller authors and where
[7:18]each going to take a mentor and just kind of help them with their manuscript, a mentee
[7:22]brother, help them with their manuscript. And yeah, hopefully get them published. So that's kind
[7:28]of the goal is to try and help some more aspiring authors who are in the same position that I was in
[7:34]you know, two years ago. It's amazing. So where can people find all of that? Let's see,
[7:39]they're listening and they're like, yes, this is exactly what I need. Where should they go?
[7:43]It's thrill pit.co.uk. So anyone, you don't have to be from the UK, you can be from anywhere
[7:49]in the in the world. But yeah, you need to be writing like a thriller or a crime novel because
[7:54]that's what we all specialize in. And yeah, you can submit in March. We've got a few events like
[7:59]Twitter chats and things in the lead up to it. But in March, we're opening to submissions. And
[8:04]yeah, we're going to each pick someone to help out. That's great. So thrillpick.co.uk,
[8:11]okay. We'll try to remember to put that in the show notes. But if not, I said it twice. So
[8:15]thrillpick.co.uk. So there's any things repeated. So I remember them personally. So I just assume
[8:22]people have the same have the same needs. Did someone help you out? Like, where is the where is the
[8:28]instinct to give back? Do you feel like anybody was there to guide you along? Yeah, I had a mentor
[8:34]myself. And so when I was looking to get published a woman called Laura North, who is another
[8:40]thriller author, she very kindly decided to take me under her wing and see what, through the
[8:47]manuscript with me, the got me on the gate. And yeah, then she was like my rock while I was
[8:54]querying and every time I got a rejection, I would come crying to her and I don't know what
[8:58]I would have done without her. So yeah, that was kind of, that's what made me want to give back
[9:03]because I know how helpful it was to me and I'm not sure I would have got published without it. So
[9:09]yeah, it's a rough journey and you need help and you need support. How did you find? How did
[9:15]you connect with her originally? I was on Twitter. I knew that I wanted some kind of, I didn't
[9:22]really know about mentorships, but I knew I wanted some support from someone. And she had just
[9:28]posted on Twitter saying I really want to mentor an aspiring author. I don't know how to get
[9:33]into it and then I literally just slid into her DM. Like, if you want to mentor me,
[9:39]but please do. And it just went from there. So yeah, Twitter is a really good place to be
[9:45]if you're an aspiring author because there's a lot of sort of publishing professionals there,
[9:48]assuming Twitter is still going to be around. It's crazy. I'm like, just don't take Instagram.
[9:56]Like, what would I do? It's like, I invest so much time in Instagram.
[10:00]I mean, not silly. I get a lot out of it, but it's like, it is just like this manufactured
[10:05]community, you know, that we rely on. And one day, it can just up and go. And you're like,
[10:08]wait, what about all those relationships that I have on this other platform?
[10:12]Well, we're getting to the point where we're starting to sort of meet each other in
[10:15]person now, find an ace ace. That's nice. What are you working on now?
[10:21]So I've got, uh, deal next year for the, um, books three and four with my current publishers.
[10:28]The book three has actually been put up on pre-order now already. Um, so it's called
[10:33]the Secrets We Buried and that is coming in June. I'm still writing it. It's a whole process
[10:41]with a one year old. It's getting there. And then book four, I haven't got a title for
[10:45]yet, but that's going to be coming in a 20, 20 fall. Okay. No more. I don't know how I'm doing this.
[10:51]I'm literally asking. How are you doing this? Is it like, when is it happening? What time of the day?
[10:58]How fast do you rate? Like, how is this getting accomplished? It's basically any matches of time
[11:04]that I have. So I will literally write for like 15 minutes about what I've got and just get as many
[11:11]words as I can done in that 15 minutes. And then I'll deal with the one year old. And then
[11:15]maybe an hour later I'll have another 15 minutes match and I'll just write as many words as I can.
[11:20]And it's, I don't really have like a proper sit down writing session anymore. It used to be
[11:26]that I'd be like, okay, you know, you want to clog. I'm going to sit down and I'm going to write for an
[11:31]hour. And it just doesn't work like that anymore. Now that I've got one year old, so I kind of
[11:36]have to just take what I can. And right when I can, basically. And do you always remember,
[11:42]and maybe it's because I'm working on a novel, but I like leave it for weeks and then come back
[11:47]and I'm like, wait, who is that again? Like, do you, can you dip back in all the time because it's
[11:52]so top of mind? Like, I always forget. And I have to read back and where was I? And now
[11:58]yeah, I mean, I have a weird issue where when I'm drafting a novel, I literally can't think of
[12:03]anything else. Like my head is just filled with those characters on the story at all the time. And
[12:08]I'm kind of playing out the scenes in my head. That's actually one of the ways that I get the
[12:13]book written is I write it in my head first like a movie. And then I put it into words. But yeah,
[12:19]I just I'm constantly thinking about it. And it means that I'm always forgetting like,
[12:23]kids, but they're parties that I'm supposed to be taking my daughter to and things like that,
[12:27]but it's a necessary part of it. I just can't, my head is fulfilled with the story. And I just
[12:33]never switch off from it. So yeah, it's a little bit stressful actually.
[12:38]Yeah, that's amazing. I'm like, that's so cool. It's almost like the writing is like,
[12:43]it's like you just open the spigot for a little bit of time, but it's all pushing out anyway,
[12:47]like it's already ready. So that's clearly that's not the same problem I have, but that's okay.
[12:54]That's okay. There are blogs that I try and plan out as much as I can of the novel before I write
[13:01]so that I kind of know where I'm going with it. And that kind of helps to stop me from being
[13:07]blocked and sitting there going, I don't know what to write. Like I always know what's coming next.
[13:12]So yeah, wonderful. Do you have a in person? So I know you talked about your mentor, but
[13:19]in Surrey, you know, everything are there authors that you meet up with for coffee and like,
[13:23]is there a community of writer lead people that you interact with in person at all?
[13:29]Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of people in London, which is a pain for me to get to with my kids.
[13:36]So I don't see people as much as I would like, but there are a couple of authors who are sort of
[13:41]all over to me who I meet up with quite regularly. And then there's like a big festival called
[13:46]Haraga, which all of the sort of crime and thriller authors go to every year. So that was really
[13:52]nice. I went last year and I met all the people I've been speaking to virtually. So yeah, it's
[13:59]I would like to be able to see people more, but at the moment with the kids, it's not really
[14:05]feasible for me. So I'm sticking to Zoom for the most part. Nice.
[14:11]Dear daughter, is it your older daughter at least? Does she ask why you write like what you write?
[14:16]Like why so dark? Does she understand what you're writing?
[14:18]She doesn't really understand what I'm writing. I've told her it's not appropriate for her,
[14:23]because she else if she can read it. She loves reading. And I'm like, no, you definitely can't read
[14:28]my books. I've told her that they're so geared towards adults, but she doesn't really know
[14:33]what they're about. But she does keep on saying like, say, when am I going to be old enough to read
[14:37]them? Like, what age do I have to be? I'm like, I don't know. I'll see how we go. But yeah,
[14:42]she keeps on saying that she wants to write books now, say, but I mean, she wants to do a
[14:47]different career every week. She says, I want to write books now because I'm like, oh, that would
[14:51]be so nice. That's great. And what do you like to do when you're not choosing after your kids
[14:59]and dealing with the stories and characters swirling in your head? What do you have any time to do
[15:06]I don't really do much else to be honest. I do whole fitness, which I do on like a Thursday evening
[15:12]after the kids have gone to bed and my husband's at home, so he can stay home and I'll go there.
[15:17]And that's really nice because it's kind of the only time I have just for me where I'm just doing
[15:22]something for myself. And I really love it. It's such an amazing workout. So yeah, that's really
[15:28]really the only thing I do for myself. Yeah. Is there anything that you have found to be really
[15:36]helpful in marketing your books? I think just making friends with people, that's what I always
[15:42]suggest when authors are like, oh, I don't know what to do in terms of getting my book out there
[15:46]and like just be really friendly to as many people as you can because what you'll find is that
[15:52]when you are friends with people, they will be willing to shout about your book for you and it's
[15:57]always better of it's coming from other people than from you. Like if you're saying buy my book,
[16:01]no one will listen, but if someone says buy this book I read it and it's amazing then they
[16:05]listen. So yeah, just try and sort of make as many friends within the industry and you know
[16:11]book talkers and books to grammets and as many people as you can. And then it will just naturally
[16:17]come. I mean it's my my books on you know as big as some of the other books out there. So I've
[16:24]definitely got a way to go, but yeah a lot of the sort of publicity I've had has been just through
[16:30]friends being really nice and shouting about my book for me. So yeah, that's what I would say
[16:35]is just be really nice. It's a small industry and people remember if you're a good person.
[16:41]Great. What's your favorite snack or meal when you're trying to write? Do you have a favorite food
[16:47]meal, something like that? I tend to eat really badly when I'm drafting a doll. I'll have like
[16:52]a bowl of popcorn next to me and just like anything picky that I can just sort of stack on without
[16:58]thinking about it and lots of coffee. Once I finish drafting a novel I have to like do a full detox
[17:05]to try and wrap out when I say it's done. I love it. Okay and then last question what are you reading
[17:12]now? Anything great or if you have you read anything that you loved lately? Yeah so I'm currently
[17:17]reading a proof of a book that's coming in 2023 which is called the Blink of an Eye by Joe Callahan
[17:23]and it's um it's really interesting. It's thriller but it's also kind of kind of sci-fi. It's sort of
[17:30]like looking into the future kind of thing, speculative sort of fiction and yeah there's a lot of
[17:36]buzz around it so I imagine people will hear it quite a lot about it next year but it's really good.
[17:41]I haven't finished it yet but I'm very much enjoying it. I wonder if I... Excellent. Okay last
[17:46]question okay I know I said last but this is really last. What advice do you have for aspiring
[17:50]authors because I know you have so much on so many different topics and have a whole YouTube channel
[17:54]about it so what's like one piece that we should all take away? I would say just focus on the
[18:00]writing and just start because I think there's a lot of things that can get in the way that you
[18:05]can think about oh I need to make a website and I need to get on social media and I need to
[18:10]you know do TikToks and all of these different things but none of it's getting the book written
[18:16]so as much as those things do come into the business of being an author the most important thing
[18:21]is to just sit down and write the book and if there's something stopping you if you're like oh you
[18:26]know I don't know if I can do it just sit down and write get some words down on paper
[18:30]and then you can edit them and make them better later perfect. Back I was lovely to meet you across
[18:36]the ocean here and wishing you the best of luck with all of your multitasking and again just my
[18:42]hat's off to you as a working mom with tiny a tiny little one I mean it is hard it's always hard
[18:48]but it's even more hard so anyway well done bravo I'm on okay take care bye bye
[18:58]Thanks for listening to this episode of moms don't have time to read books don't forget to
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