Published by Avon
Amazon UK
About the book:
Deborah’s son was killed four years ago. Alice’s son is in prison for committing that crime.
Deborah would give anything to have her boy back, and Alice would do anything to right her son’s wrongs.
Driven by guilt and the need for redemption, Alice has started a support group for parents with troubled children. But as the network begins to grow, she soon finds out just how easy it is for one little lie to spiral out of control…
They call it mother’s intuition, but can you ever really know your own child?
A twisty and unnerving story about the price of motherhood and the unthinkable things we do to protect our children. Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and Laura Marshall.
‘Sam Carrington has done it again. One Little Lie is a twisty, gripping read that deserves to fly. I loved it.’ Cass Green, bestselling author of In a Cottage In a Wood
Let's have a chat:
I always love it when I get the chance to have a little Q&A with authors; to pick their brains on how they get from the first words on the page to the final novel. I have developed a real passion for psychological thrillers in the last couple of years, so when I got the chance to ask Sam Carrington a few questions I think I literally squealed... out loud!
Ok, enough of me, let's chat with Sam.
1. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
I’d long had the desire to write – I’d been buying ‘how-to’ books for years, but was just reading about writing, rather than actually writing! When my second child was born in 1997, I began a writing course but didn’t really get going with it. It wasn’t until the end of 2010 when I was ‘in-between’ jobs that I sat down and thought ‘come on – you can do this’ and began to write a short story. I then had some ups and downs for a few years and eventually began taking writing seriously at the end of 2013.
2. Did you find it hard to start writing your first book?
It took a while to get used to the change in form because I’d been writing short stories (which requires a different set of skills to those used in novel writing) prior to attempting my first novel. The change in pace – the fact that the plot had to stretch over about eighty-five thousand words, not just a few thousand – and having many more characters to develop than in a short story, were all challenges to begin with. But the enjoyment of working on something longer outweighed those challenges and I completed my first draft in 2014, about eight months after starting it.
3. How did you decide what genre you wanted to write in - did you just know or did you have to think about it?
I wrote about ten thousand words of a chick-lit novel when I first attempted writing. It was for the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. It stalled at those ten thousand words, though, and I turned my attention to crime/psychological thriller for my first full-length novel as this was more in keeping with my interests. I had worked with offenders in a male prison, so this seemed the best fit for me.
4. Where did you get the inspiration for ‘One Little Lie’?
I’m not sure whether I could call it ‘inspiration’ as such, but the idea came about after watching a documentary on BBC1 called Murder Games: The Life and Death of Breck Bednar. It was about a 14-year-old boy who’d been groomed through online gaming by an 18-year-old and was subsequently lured to his death. I found it quite shocking, particularly as I had two boys who spent a lot of time online gaming and it opened up a lot of questions and discussions with my boys! I found the documentary to be so harrowing and the victim’s mother’s story stayed with me. I thought that I’d explore the impact of such a crime in my writing. But I wanted to go further than exploring how the mother of the victim might feel by focussing on the effects of the crime on the mother of the murderer. So, Alice was created!
5. Did you do a lot of prep work on the plot and characters before you started writing ‘One Little Lie’?
I generally write the beginning fairly soon into the process – just the opening page or so, because it starts off the creative process for me. For One Little Lie my main characters had been floating about in my head for a few months prior to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I also did a character bio of each character and wrote out what their goals and motivations were before I started work properly. I had the bare bones of the plot sorted before I began writing, but there were parts that changed as I went along.
6. What was the hardest thing about writing ‘One Little Lie’?
There were some dark and emotional scenes within this book – and to get it right, I had to really get into the mind of my characters. This turned out to be very emotional – and I felt very low during the writing of those scenes! I think for me, and a lot of parents, the death of your child is one of the worst things imaginable, ever. Full stop. I found it harrowing to watch the documentary – witnessing the mother’s pain – and I found it equally harrowing writing about that loss. The novel’s twist was also a challenge – but I can’t say anything about that!
7. What did you enjoy most about writing ‘One Little Lie’?
I enjoyed writing from the perspective of Alice, the mother of the murderer, as I had to use my imagination a lot more for that (thankfully!) and as a character she was multi-layered. I found her story fascinating to write about.
8. Did you get inspiration for your characters from anyone you know in real life?
I don’t think so, not consciously, anyway. Maybe it’s inevitable that sometimes certain aspects of a person’s personality – a trait – shows up in one of my characters, but I don’t believe I do it intentionally. I might use elements of physical description from those I know though.
9. Of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favourite?
They are like my children (and I have three children, the same as books at the moment!), so I can’t possibly favour one over the other! As with my children, each one has their own unique qualities. When my children used to ask who my favourite was, I’d say: I like Danika the best because she was my first child, and my only girl; I like Louis the best because he was the easiest birth and he was my first son; and I like Nathaniel the best because he will always be my ‘baby’ and he came as a shock in that he weighed in at an impressive 12lbs 10oz! So, in the same vein – each of my books has a special place: Saving Sophie is the best because that was my first and got me an agent and a publisher, Bad Sister is the best because that was the easiest to write, and One Little Lie is the best because I think it’s my most impressive one – haha!
10. Have you already got your next book idea in mind?
My next book is written and currently with my editor. It’s due out as an ebook in March 2019 – so not that long really! My fifth book is in the very early stages – the characters are in my head, floating about waiting for me to write out their characters bios – and the first few pages are written. I will now take some time writing notes and thinking about the plot before the hard work commences!
I’m not sure whether I could call it ‘inspiration’ as such, but the idea came about after watching a documentary on BBC1 called Murder Games: The Life and Death of Breck Bednar. It was about a 14-year-old boy who’d been groomed through online gaming by an 18-year-old and was subsequently lured to his death. I found it quite shocking, particularly as I had two boys who spent a lot of time online gaming and it opened up a lot of questions and discussions with my boys! I found the documentary to be so harrowing and the victim’s mother’s story stayed with me. I thought that I’d explore the impact of such a crime in my writing. But I wanted to go further than exploring how the mother of the victim might feel by focussing on the effects of the crime on the mother of the murderer. So, Alice was created!
5. Did you do a lot of prep work on the plot and characters before you started writing ‘One Little Lie’?
I generally write the beginning fairly soon into the process – just the opening page or so, because it starts off the creative process for me. For One Little Lie my main characters had been floating about in my head for a few months prior to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I also did a character bio of each character and wrote out what their goals and motivations were before I started work properly. I had the bare bones of the plot sorted before I began writing, but there were parts that changed as I went along.
6. What was the hardest thing about writing ‘One Little Lie’?
There were some dark and emotional scenes within this book – and to get it right, I had to really get into the mind of my characters. This turned out to be very emotional – and I felt very low during the writing of those scenes! I think for me, and a lot of parents, the death of your child is one of the worst things imaginable, ever. Full stop. I found it harrowing to watch the documentary – witnessing the mother’s pain – and I found it equally harrowing writing about that loss. The novel’s twist was also a challenge – but I can’t say anything about that!
7. What did you enjoy most about writing ‘One Little Lie’?
I enjoyed writing from the perspective of Alice, the mother of the murderer, as I had to use my imagination a lot more for that (thankfully!) and as a character she was multi-layered. I found her story fascinating to write about.
8. Did you get inspiration for your characters from anyone you know in real life?
I don’t think so, not consciously, anyway. Maybe it’s inevitable that sometimes certain aspects of a person’s personality – a trait – shows up in one of my characters, but I don’t believe I do it intentionally. I might use elements of physical description from those I know though.
9. Of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favourite?
They are like my children (and I have three children, the same as books at the moment!), so I can’t possibly favour one over the other! As with my children, each one has their own unique qualities. When my children used to ask who my favourite was, I’d say: I like Danika the best because she was my first child, and my only girl; I like Louis the best because he was the easiest birth and he was my first son; and I like Nathaniel the best because he will always be my ‘baby’ and he came as a shock in that he weighed in at an impressive 12lbs 10oz! So, in the same vein – each of my books has a special place: Saving Sophie is the best because that was my first and got me an agent and a publisher, Bad Sister is the best because that was the easiest to write, and One Little Lie is the best because I think it’s my most impressive one – haha!
10. Have you already got your next book idea in mind?
My next book is written and currently with my editor. It’s due out as an ebook in March 2019 – so not that long really! My fifth book is in the very early stages – the characters are in my head, floating about waiting for me to write out their characters bios – and the first few pages are written. I will now take some time writing notes and thinking about the plot before the hard work commences!
Thank you so much to Sam Carrington for taking the time to answer my questions. I for one cannot wait to read One Little Lie, so I'm off to buy the kindle version now! I suggest you do the same and then drop me a comment below about what you thought of it!
If you could ask one author, one question - who and what would it be? Let me know in the comments below!
Chat soon beautifuls,