In our Meet the Novelist series Flic Everett, writing as F.L Everett, has just debuted her Edie York cosy crime series with A Report of Murder. And her second novel, Murder in a Country Village, is now on sale.

How would you describe yourself?

I am small, extremely determined, highly anxious, and a very loving – some might say smothering – mother to my wonderful grown-up son. I’m very bad at staying tidy but like to have huge, sweeping blitzes of the house every few weeks, so everything is perfect for 10 minutes, before it all atrophies again.

I love cooking. I’m vegetarian/pescetarian, while my husband basically has the diet of a Paleolithic tiger, so I often cook complex and fancy meals for myself. Although Ottolenghi’s recipes make my brain hurt. I love baking and eating out, but have been on a rolling low-key diet for months, so I’m not doing much of either at the moment – and eating out is increasingly too expensive. And I like crap reality TV and really good TV dramas, and my favourite films are mostly pre-1950.

Can you tell us more about your unique sense of style?

I love clothes. I used to own a vintage shop in Manchester and I still miss it. My greatest treat is a proper rummage in an old-fashioned charity shop and a pile of bargains. I’m quite lazy about beauty though – I’ve just had my first haircut in two years, and I can’t do Botox because I’m too scared of it.

How important are friends and family?

I have a lot of friends who I value hugely, on and offline. As an only child, I have a very small but wonderful family – I go back to Manchester a great deal to see them. I’m married to Andy, my third and last husband, who is very clever and understands me.

Aside from the people I love, what makes me happiest is animals and reading. We’ve got two spaniels and a little black cat. When I’m away, I miss them so much it’s almost physical. Every childhood photo shows me clutching some small animal or other, or cuddling a pony – not mine, I’m not very posh – or holding up a reluctant cat. I wanted to be a vet, but I’m rubbish at science.

Apart from writing, what are you good at – and what are you not so good at?

I’m good at buying presents, finding bargains, listening, decorating, drawing, and arguing in print. I’m bad at parking, concentrating on anything but reading or writing, maths, science and arguing in person because it makes me panic.

Where do you like to write?

I hate writing in cafes. I feel constantly on edge, aware of crying babies and beset by the whacking sound of that little coffee thing they’re always bashing. I feel like I need to keep ordering stuff I don’t want so they don’t chuck me out and I honestly can’t understand why people enjoy it.

Equally, I don’t write outdoors. “Ooh, lovely day, look at me, working in the garden!” Yes, with your pink, peeling nose and the sun glaring off the screen. No, thank you. I work in my house, in silence – I can’t focus any other way. You may not believe I’m fun at parties, but I am.

Any particular spot in the house?

I have a sort-of office in the spare bedroom of our two-bedroom cottage, but the dogs either whine outside the door, or bash their way in and jump about, plus Andy likes to have the news on in the living room so I get distracted by reporters shouting about politics. I prefer to work in the kitchen on a really un-ergonomic bentwood chair piled with cushions, so I can reach the table, as I’m 5’1”. That way, I’m near the kettle, the radiator, the fridge and the dogs. Plus the cat has a box on the table, so I can reach out to stroke her if she’s lying in it. At the moment she prefers our bed, but cats are very changeable.

Are you a handwriting merchant?

Good grief, no. I used to read books by Americans that often mentioned writing in yellow legal pads and they always sounded quite exotic, but I’ve never found one. I have terrible handwriting. If I write Andy a shopping list he has to go through it, translating worries into cherries. I work on a MacBook Air. Occasionally, I make notes in my phone if something strikes me, but notepads really are just for notes. For actual book, it has to be typing in Word. I am that Mac person who the PC people despise.

Do you have any writing rituals?

I have to be dressed properly, I have to be sitting upright and, while I will allow Andy to come in and make bread, and I can cope with the tumble drier being on, any more noise than that is unacceptable to me and my jangling nerves.

So, you’re a creature of habit?

Yes, I must have a boiling hot bath every day, or I feel uneasy. I don’t drink much, after years of drinking quite a lot – or a normal amount for a journalist. I stopped for four years and now I have the odd one, but I’m a Virgo and a health hypochondriac. I don’t want to be responsible for my own death, so I try to be reasonably healthy. I go for long walks where we live in the country in Scotland. It’s my dream to see an otter.

Do you eat and drink while you write?

A great deal of tea with skimmed milk. I don’t really drink much else. I can’t write while I eat, so I have to have a little break. I’ll read the sidebar of shame or a bit of whatever book I’m reading – currently the new Lisa Jewell. I try to have a proper lunch break to give my brain a rest, so I eat leftovers or soup or whatever’s in the fridge.

Do you write to music or do you prefer quiet?

Silence and solitude. Although I was writing a short story for a mag the other day and struggling to get in the mood, so I did play a bit of French accordion music to help me write about Paris.

What’s the strangest thing you do to inspire yourself?

I don’t think I do anything strange, I’m quite boring. Perhaps as a freelance journalist for 30 years, you get over the idea of inspiration very quickly. I’m still a journalist, as well as a novelist. If I’ve got a deadline, I just do it, and the same goes for writing novels. Sit down, bash it out. Some days it’s easier than others, but I don’t drift about by ponds, waiting for my muse to strike.

What if you’re exhausted?

If I’m tired, I favour a very hot bath with a good thriller, and a cuddle with the dogs. And in times of exhaustion it’s nice to have a change of scene – even a visit to the cinema – to immerse yourself in something else for a bit. And I go for a walk nearly every day, so if things just aren’t working, I take the dogs out and go up a hill. See? Boring.

How do you overcome distractions and procrastination?

I don’t even think about them. I started as a journalist when I was 21, working from home. By 22, I had a baby, and by 24 I was divorced. I had to make a living, so that’s what I did – it’s no different from sitting in an office. If I dick about, I’m not earning money and I’m annoying my editors, and they probably won’t use me again. That’s enough to keep me at it. Having said that, I spend a lot of time on social media – it has made life much less lonely for writers.

Are many of your characters based on real people?

None of them. I always find it odd when people ask who they’re based on, as if the whole point of being a writer isn’t making things up. I invent all of them – it’s my favourite part of the entire process. I think all plot should spring from character, even in crime novels. It’s very important to me to make my cast of people believable. Of course, we’re all influenced by who we are, and who we’ve met over the years, and I’m sure there’s a bit of me in Edie – but really, they’re people I’d like to meet, rather than people I know. Although I did borrow one tiny trait of my mum’s in my second book to describe a character and she did recognise it, but nobody else would!

Read more: meet another novelist; Mhairi McFarlane on romcoms and real people…

Are there other genres you’d like to explore with your writing?

I constantly have ideas for books in other genres – the only kind that doesn’t remotely interest me is fantasy. Books about elves and kingdoms are in my Room 101. They always seem utterly devoid of humour – “Sire, we shall feast well this night!” – and I find them horrifically dull.

I’m not keen on horror, space, goddesses, futuristic dystopias or books about everyone on Earth suddenly waking up with a new power. I do enjoy witches, time travel and pure science-y sci-fi, though. Blake Crouch does this well. I like thrillers, spy novels, good rom coms, gripping literary fiction – books about real people in real situations. I would happily write any kind, as long as it’s character-led.

I do love cosy crime as it ticks many of my enjoyment boxes, but perhaps one day I’ll try other types too. I did write a psychological thriller during lockdown, but looking back, it was a bit bleak, and a bit too informed by my last, very traumatic, divorce. Best left, I think!

Are there any hard and fast rules you set yourself for your stories or characters?

I try to avoid cliché. Other than that, there are certain unspoken rules about cosy crime. You wouldn’t make your lovable protagonist the killer, for instance – and the ending has to be satisfactory. You can’t just leave all the threads dangling. But beyond that, no.

I’m very careful about dialogue. My books are set during the war, so I spend a lot of time on etymology websites, checking on slang and whether certain expressions were in use. I wish TV scriptwriters would do the same. I’m still not over Downton Abbey describing Lady Edith as ‘feisty.’

Will the internet and people’s shortened attention spans ever mean the end of the novel?

This is an Oxford entrance exam question. I know, because I did the exam, then screwed up the interview by getting drunk the night before with a Goth undergraduate I’d just met.
I can’t answer it, which is probably why I didn’t get in. I can only say, I hope not.

What do you wish you’d known before starting this novel-writing malarkey?

That I’d be extremely skint for a very long time – you get paid after publication with my publisher. Other than that, nothing has surprised me. I love it and it’s everything I hoped.

What would you advise eager new writers?

I’d say don’t get too bogged down in support groups and writing circles, and don’t worry too much about feedback early on. Too much opinion can kill a book stone dead. Write what you want to write, make it as good as you can. Then show the world.

Writing is fetishised and people get overwrought about it, but you’re just putting words down on paper. You don’t need rituals and hashtags and retreats, you just need to have a story you want to tell. Crack on! Nobody will tell your story for you – unless you’re a celeb with a ghostwriter – so you might as well do it yourself.

• To order Flic’s books on Amazon in all their various forms hit this link
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) takes place every November. It began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Meet the novelist: Flic Everett on cats, clichés, and the horror of fantasy appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Inspired by her love for history and cosy crime, Everett dreamed up Edie York. A Manchester-based reporter stuck answering telephone calls at her local paper. Until she gets caught up in the death of a Home Guard soldier.

Everett shares how her book deal came about, after thirty years as a journalist, how WWII became the setting for her series, and the solitude that comes with being a writer. 

Who are you, and what’s going on?

F. L. Everett

I’ve been a journalist, columnist and editor for thirty years. I’ve self-published a novel and had several non-fiction books published. But during the pandemic, I turned 50, my son had long left home, I’d finally rejected the terrifying concept of getting a full-time job, and I decided it was time to concentrate on a novel I first started ten years ago, and see if I could get it published.

Writing fiction is all I’ve ever wanted to do – but with the need to earn a living it’s been hard to give it the time it needs to succeed. I felt it was now or never, so I sent a tweet in reply to publisher Bookouture’s request to see new synopses, and they liked the idea enough to follow it up. Two years later, I have a three book deal to write the Edie York series, about a brave and nosy young journalist in WWII Manchester. Who keeps getting drawn into murder investigations.

The first is out on 21 September, and book two is already written.

What aspects of your life experiences do you find yourself drawing upon most frequently as you craft the characters and plots in your crime novels?

I have been a journalist on a local paper but obviously not during WWII. People don’t change that much though, and I’ve met many people who have lent a little of themselves to the characters. In Annie, Edie’s best friend, there’s a bit of my own dearest friends – people who can sometimes annoy you, but you love them enough for it not to matter. I loved writing about Edie’s newspaper colleagues, and I believe I’ve made them up – but who knows!? 

Her editor, Mr Gorringe, is a stickler for grammar – and so is my dad. So I think I’ve probably borrowed little bits here and there. In Lou, my irascible detective inspector, I can see certain elements of my husband. I didn’t think I was anything like Edie – until I described her to my best friend (‘small, nosy, won’t take no for an answer’) and she snorted. 

In terms of plot, that really is made up. But I know Manchester very well, having grown up there and lived nearby until ten years ago. I now live in the West Highlands, but I go back all the time to see family and friends. The book is a bit of a love letter to my home town. I do a lot of research to find out where certain buildings would have stood in 1940, where was bombed and when. It’s given me a new appreciation for the buildings that stayed standing!

Could you share a glimpse into your writing process? How do you go about developing a crime storyline that keeps readers engaged?

I wish I had a process. Basically, I begin with the victim, and the circumstances of the murder scene, then work backwards to figure out who killed them and why. I don’t know if this is the normal path for a cosy crime writer, but it’s the only way I can do it. I spend a lot of time on long dog walks, thinking about alibis and red herrings, and I make voice-notes on my phone, like Alan Partridge. But I am a plotter, not a ‘pantser’ – I can’t imagine making it up as I go along. 

I begin with the victim, and the circumstances of the murder scene, then work backwards

Before I start, I write a detailed synopsis, then I break it down into chapters. It makes the process much easier. Did I mention I’m a Virgo who packs two days before a trip, and likes to do my washing on holiday, so I come home with clean clothes? Yeah. These things go deep. 

I also discuss certain things with my husband Andy, who has worryingly acute insight into how a killer’s mind might work. But largely, I just do what I’ve always wanted to do. Sit at my desk, or the kitchen table, with the cat and snacks nearby, and make it up. 

Crime novels often involve intricate details and suspenseful twists. How do you approach research to ensure your stories are both captivating and authentic?

First of all, I have an amazing historian friend, Catherine Pitt (of Pitt Stops, on Facebook). She’s been absolutely invaluable with the second book, which is quite complicated and needed a lot of research. I’d message things like ‘could you get a train to London from Manchester in April 1941 without stopping?’ and she’d find out within five minutes.

I also read a lot of WWII social history books. I have an entire bookcase dedicated to them, and I find myself ordering even more. At first it was just the basics, but now I’m getting into the obscure, white-label imports. I love reading about it, and I hate the feeling that I might be getting things wrong. I like my fiction to be rooted in genuine history. I also watch films set during the war, like Mrs Miniver and This Happy Breed. They’re invaluable for getting dialogue and class issues right. I have been to the Imperial War Museum North in Salford and the Police Museum in Manchester, both of which are incredible repositories of historic research. And then, of course, there’s Google. 

I love reading about [WWII], and I hate the feeling that I might be getting things wrong. I like my fiction to be rooted in genuine history.

In terms of plot, I love reading crime and have done since I was ten. I tend to think ‘would I guess the killer? And if so, would I guess why?’ and having read so much Golden Age crime is a real help in terms of pacing and plot twists. 

With three crime novels in the works, have you planned out all of them in one go? Or will you wing it?

No, one at time, although I do have a rough idea of the general themes of each one. I’ve just written the plot synopsis for book three, so I’ve done the hard work. Now I just have to write it.

Read more interviews – Joe McGann’s sober companion: an interview about an intervention

Many writers find inspiration from other art forms, like music or visual art. Are there any unexpected sources that have influenced your approach to crime fiction?

Yes. I think being a journalist means you’re interested in lots of different things, and I love a bit of culture. There’s reference to the arts in all of the books so far. I love researching the cultural aspects of life in the war – what they’d have seen in galleries, or at the pictures, and what music and theatre they’d enjoy. I spend a lot of time on YouTube doing ‘research.’

And of course, Edie herself is an avid reader of crime novels, so that’s fun too. Though I have to check the publishing dates to make sure she’d have been able to get them from Boots lending library. 

As you’ve transitioned into novel writing, have you discovered any surprising challenges or unexpected joys that differ from your previous work?

It’s all joy so far, apart from structural edits, which mean changing bits around like a Chinese puzzle, only to find your small alteration has messed up an entire sequence of chapter. Other than that though, I love everything about writing novels. It really is the dream. All I want in life is to be left alone to make stuff up. And to make enough money to run an animal sanctuary for abandoned cats, dogs, horses, donkeys, pygmy goats…

Writing can be a solitary endeavour. Do you find opportunities to connect with other writers or readers to discuss your ideas and thoughts? Or just crack on alone?

Being a freelance journalist is pretty solitary these days too. It’s not like when I began back in the ‘90s, when I was going all over town interviewing people in their living rooms. I love people and like to think I have lots of friends, but not when I’m working. I’m extremely solitary as a writer, like some toiling spider in a dark corner. 

It’s not like when I began back in the ‘90s, going all over town interviewing people in their living rooms

I can’t imagine being in writer’s groups and getting ‘feedback.’ Other people’s opinions are the kiss of death, and make me doubt myself. I’d much rather crack on, then find out what they think after it’s published! 

I don’t even like writing in public places like cafes. The noise! And the people! I’m much happier with a cup of tea and deafening silence. Apart from the pets snoring.

Crime novels often explore the darker aspects of human nature. How do you approach delving into these themes while keeping the narrative engaging and not overly grim?

‘Cosy’ crime is a very specific genre – there are rules. You can’t kill children or pets, and you don’t want anything too grisly at the murder scene. It’s more interesting to me to look at the psychological factors at play with crime, than peer at viscera on the pathologist’s slab. I’d always rather watch Endeavour than Silent Witness. So, I adhere to the principle of ‘if the audience doesn’t need to see it, don’t show it.’ 

Can you share a pivotal moment or realisation that pushed you to pursue crime fiction as the genre for your novels?

It’s what I love most as a reader. I think for a long time I was scared to attempt it. I knew nothing about the police or prison, and I wasn’t sure I could make it authentic in any way. Then I realised I could set it in the past, and suddenly I felt freed up to write the sort of book I would love to read.

I think it really began, though, in the school library when I was eleven. I was lurking in there one rainy lunchtime, and came across the Agatha Christie classic, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Well, it blew me away. I had never read anything so gripping or surprising. 

My wonderful grandma was a huge classic crime fan, and she introduced me to the rest of Christie, and then Sherlock Holmes stories, and Ruth Rendell. I have loved crime novels ever since, and always dreamed of writing one. I think most crime fans really love the fact that within the boundaries of a novel, calm is brought to chaos. The world is an alarming and random place, but a great crime novel narrates the pursuit of truth and justice, and ends with the case closed. It all goes back to my holiday packing, really. I like calmness and order. And I like to know everything.

In a rapidly evolving literary landscape, what do you hope your crime novels bring to readers that sets them apart and makes them memorable?

I hope they’ll invest in the character of Edie, and in her life during wartime. It’s not so long ago, but in many ways it was such a different world. I’ve tried to bring some lightness to it, as well as the darkness. My grandparents lived through the war and were both very funny. I think a lot of WWII set books overlook the fact that people made jokes, and had little irritations about queuing and sandwiches, as well as dealing with the big things. So I hope the characters feel real, and that the Manchester setting is a reminder that the war didn’t just happen in London. It was everywhere, and everyone suffered in different ways. 

I hope they enjoy trying to solve the mysteries that Edie finds herself wandering into, and lastly, I hope they like the dog. Of course I had to include one. 

Murder in the Blitz by F.L. Everett is available for purchase on 21 September as in paperback, audio, and ebook. 

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post Murder in the Blitz – Interview with Flic Everett appeared first on Silver Magazine.