NK Chats To…Heidi Field

Hello Heidi, thank you so much for joining me today and inviting me onto your blog tour. Can you tell me about The Other Boy?

Hey Laura. Thank you for having me. I wrote The Other Boy after watching a documentary about Dean Corl, the Candyman serial killer, who raped, mutilated and murdered over twenty teenage boys and young men. I didn’t want to write from the POV of a victim or their family, or the detectives or even the killer, there was another story, in the shadows, that I wanted to tell. The Other Boy is about parents whose child makes a choice they could never have imagined. A terrible choice. A fatal choice. An unforgivable one.

What are the challenges of writing a psychological thriller and what advice would you give to someone wanting to write in this genre?

I have taken a master’s in creative writing and spent many hours watching master classes from Jericho Writers, and a comparison between mysteries and thrillers was a lightbulb moment for me. A mystery is about solving a crime; a thriller is about surviving it. The survival can be physical, or, as in psychological thrillers, it can be mental and emotional. The advice I would give to someone writing in this genre is not to be afraid of how far you push your protagonist, be brave, be bold, be ruthless. However bad the situation, it is how the character claws their way back to life, sanity and freedom that is exciting. The further they sink, the greater the battle back up to the surface, and the more satisfying it is for the reader. The challenge is having the courage to go the darkest places; my advice is to go further.

What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?

I do love routine, and planning my time, it makes me more productive and makes my days feel more worthwhile. I walk early with my Great Dane, which puts me in a good frame of mind for my day. I have all the early morning school prep madness to do and then the school drop off. I come home and run or lift weights. I am terrified of aging and I LOVE exercising, it gives me an adrenaline buzz, and I listen to all my favourite tunes and sing along. Then I am in my office at my desk, clearing emails, doing the household or children related chores, clubs, appointments, you know the drill, then I write. Ideally I write for about three hours, if I’m lucky, four days a week. There’s always an appointment to fill one of the afternoons, and I take my mum swimming every Thursday. My goal is to write three chapters per week. I’m writing a book every six months since the release of The Other Boy.

From idea to finished draft, how long did it take you to write The Other Boy? How did you approach the research and editing process?

The Other Boy was a LONG process. It began at university, the opening chapters serving as my dissertation. The first, very messy draft, took a year. I paid for an editor, and that was another six months of back and forth and many changes. I also used beta readers for a different perspective. I lost characters, whole chapters, started four chapters earlier, then lost the lot and started several chapters later. I added and binned tens of thousands of words. It was a lot of work, and a huge amount of learning. I loved it all.The editing is my favourite part, finding what isn’t working and making it better, knowing that I can change anything and everything until I am happy with it. I had written another book by the time I was approached by Tule Publishing, and a year after I had put the Other Boy aside, I was back with the manuscript making changes for my editor at Tule. The second book, The Other Mother, has been a far smoother experience.

If you were compiling a playlist for this novel, which songs would you include?

Interestingly, I have put a playlist together and you can find it on my author page on the Tule Publishing website. Still My Child by Agtverse, We Don’t Need No Education by Regent Street, The Dying Light by Sam Fender, Death Bed by Powfu and Beabadoobee, The Monster by Eminem and Rihanna, Monsters by James Blunt, Viva La Vida by Coldplay and Tell Me It’s Not True from Blood Brothers.

What’s your favourite word and why?

Karma, because it is everything I believe about the world. You get what you give – karma. What goes around, comes around – karma. It is the law of cause and effect, and I love that idea, that you can influence your future by your actions and behaviour and energy.

What are you currently working on?

I have just finished my edits for the second book in the series, The Other Mother, and I am now writing the third book, The Other Killer. Book two is Suzannah’s story and book three is Mason’s story. I thought that this was a three-book series, but while I was away on holiday I had an idea for a fourth and final book, The Other Brother, Gunner’s story. I didn’t write The Other Boy with the intention of making it a series, but the characters had other ideas. I am much more of a pantser than a planner, and I like to let the characters drive the narrative. I usually have no idea what is coming or how the books will end, it is what makes the process of writing so much fun.

Which fictional character would you like to meet and why?

Daenerys Targaryen from The Game of Thrones. It is my favourite series EVER. I have always wanted a dragon friend, and that desire has not lessened in middle age. The image of Daenerys walking out of the flames with three baby dragons is, for me, the best image of all time. I just want one of her dragons.

What was your route to publication and what’s your advice for someone approaching it in this way?

This is a question that I asked over and over before Tule offered me a contract. I read and listened to every bit of advice I could to find a path to publication, and I can regurgitate a lot of that advice. Write a great book and don’t be afraid to get feedback and make changes. If a reader or editor pulls you up for something that doesn’t work, listen, they won’t be the only ones who feel like that. Send your book out for submission everywhere, who knows which agent or publisher will fall in love with it. There are so many books to choose from, spread your net wide. I sent The Other Boy out to UK and USA agents and publishers for well over a year, tens of them. I had a five-year plan, to write four books, submit each everywhere, and then I would self-publish. Tule offered me a contract while I was busy writing the next book.

Any other advice for new writers?

Yes. This is easy. A large part of success in life is resilience. Be resilient. Be persistent. Keep writing, the next book, and the next, and the next. Each time you will learn and improve. Each one will be better than the last. When you have a handful, if you have not found publication, do it yourself, there is a raft of information and help out there to get your amazing book out to readers who will love it.

Would you rather –

Have the ability to see into the future or be able to visit the past?

Neither. The fun of life is in not knowing what comes next, and being able to change it. Going back does you no good, either, it’s done, it’s in the past, let it go.

Have the ability to move things with your mind or read minds?

Move things with my mind. Hands down. I have tried doing this ever since I watched Carrie as a girl. I cannot think of anything worse than knowing what other people are thinking, I know what goes through my head throughout the day and I would not wish that on anyone. It’s dark in there, sometimes scary, often obscure and unhinged, with a healthy dose of totally unrealistic achievements, like winning Xfactor, and being able to fly.

Sing or dance to your favourite song for the rest of your life?

This is a tough one, I love to do both, often at the same time, usually during my morning workouts. I guess I already do this on a daily basis. I’ll take the singing though, provided I am awesome at it.

Have money or power?

Money. I want to live a quiet, peaceful life, doing the things I enjoy. I would share the money with all the people I love, after I have set myself up with enough investments to provide me with a comfortable living. I have no desire for power, or the stress and responsibility that it comes with. I don’t want to tell people how to live any more than I want someone to tell me how to live.

Have an endless summer or winter?

Summer. I plan to live in a hot country when my last child has left home and settles himself. I LOVE the heat, a lounger, a swimming pool, the sea, summer dresses, a tan, and warm evenings eating dinner outside.

Drink tea or coffee?

I have always been a tea drinker. Now it is green tea, all day.

See the movie or read the book first?

Either. If I have seen the movie, I am unlikely to read the book, though. I do love to sit with a tub of Hagen Daas cookies and cream and watch a movie, but I read at regular times of the week when my son is at sports clubs and I can hide in the car with my kindle.

Read a Paperback or eBook?

I have a bunch of paperbacks on my shelf and a stacked kindle. I guess, as the kindle is so easy to take around, I am preferring ebooks.

Would you rather have magical powers here on earth or live in a magical place without powers?

I really like this question, and I am so torn as to which I would choose. Much like my dragon fantasy, I have also imagined having powers here on earth, so I guess that one. The idea of living in a magical place sounds great, but I’d want the powers that everything else in the world has, and I would like to live forever.

About Heidi Field –

Heidi Field was raised in the beautiful countryside of the South of England with her parents and her two sisters. In her twenties she was a freelance Sports Massage Therapist. She achieved a Degree in Zoology at the age of thirty and then went on to raise two boys and became the stepmother of three more young children.

She still lives near her family home with her partner, their Great Dane and the children that have yet to fly the nest. In her early forties Heidi completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Winchester University.

he entered the course hoping she would become a children’s fantasy writer and left with a burning desire to write contemporary mysteries and thrillers. Heidi wanted to put relatable people in extraordinary situations, challenge them, push them to their limits and watch them fight for their sanity.

The Other Boy is her first novel.

Say hello to Heidi via. her website and on Facebook, X, Instagram and BlueSky.  

About The Other Boy – 

When the worst comes calling…

Scott and Blair Bagby are a happy, successful English couple living in the suburbs with their teenage son and Great Dane. Life seems good, until one beautiful spring morning when a detective inspector knocks on their door asking if their son is home, unleashing an unspeakable horror that blows apart the life they thought they had.

Police have discovered bodies buried deep in the Peasedale forest and the inspector suspects one is Jamie, the final victim of a brutal and prolific serial killer. But Jamie’s death is unlike all the others, starting with his emergency phone call that leads to a macabre burial ground near a dilapidated hunting shack and creates shocking suspicions.

With bone deep grief threatening to destroy their marriage and their sanity, Scott and Blair set out to investigate Jamie’s death, a journey that not only upends their perceptions of who they are, but torturously reveals they may not have known Jamie at all…

Buy The Other Boy on Amazon, Waterstones, Apple, Google, Kobo and Barnes and Noble.

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.