“I stand as close as I can to the Liver Building without looking proper weird and tip my head back. My eyes can’t focus properly, but I can make out a turquoise shape right at the top, so I mouth ’iya to Bella. I’m a bit soft on the Liver Birds. They’re 300-odd feet up in the air, so they should be able to see everything, but they’re chained down…”
A story of the far-reaching effects of unrequited love and drug (ab)use, Underrated follows five lads who are just trying to make things better for themselves. In Liverpool and on the south Devon coast, their lives entangle as they turn to cocaine.
While some people take drugs to escape their circumstances, others deal drugs to escape theirs. But is escape ever really an option?
***
***
Q&A
Did or do you like to read comic books/grapic novels? Which ones?
I used to read comics when I was younger – my brother and I used to get The Beano every week! But I never really got into graphic novels. I appreciate them as a format, and the artwork can be stunning, but I prefer going into my own head and making my own pictures from the words.
Whom did you inherit your love for books/reading from?
I’m not sure that a love of reading can be inherited! I remember loving the massive bookcase in the front room when I was growing up, and my parents used to take me to the library on Saturday mornings, but I think it was just something I felt drawn to. We had a brilliant teacher in my first school, called Mr Thomas, and every afternoon we’d go into the hall, and he tell us his ‘Jeremy Stories’. I think he made them up on the spot, and I used to love it. I was shy and fearful as a child, and I used to love escaping into someone else’s world.
When you need a murder victim or someone you can diagnose with a serious disease or someone who is involved in a fatal accident do you sometimes picture someone nasty you have met in real life and think ‘got you’ LOL?
Haha! I’d like to say yes’, but it doesn’t work like that for me! I once tried to base a villain on an ex-boyfriend, but within a couple of lines he’d become his own person and was doing his own thing! And those kinds of incidents generally happen to characters who are at the crux of the story, and I wouldn’t give that kind of word count to someone I didn’t like!
How do you come up with the names for your characters?
I imagine what name their parents would have given them, so sometimes it’s a Biblical name; sometimes I Google what names were popular in a particular town at a particular time and choose from there; sometimes the characters end up with nicknames their friends have given them, for something they’ve done, or their surname or something. In my WIP, this lad’s dad had been a biker, so he’d called his son Harley. I really enjoy naming characters!
Do write other things beside books (and shoppinglists 😉 )?
Yes. I occasionally write short-stories, and I used to write poetry and songs. Novels are what comes naturally to me now, though. I’m about to have a go a flash fiction, for a festival this summer.
If a movie or series would be made from your books, would you be happy with the ‘based on’ version or would you rather like they showed it exactly the way you created it?
Ooh, difficult question! Making a film out of a book isn’t easy, so it would never be ‘exactly’ as I created it. And when you watch films and TV series based on book, the actors never match up with the people you had in your head while you were reading! Also, I guess everything is based on something. I think I’ll just have to say that I wouldn’t put my name to anything I wasn’t happy with. Because the other factor is, I need to pay the bills, like everyone else!
Who would you like/have liked to interview?
Jack Kerouac. I’d loved to have had the chance to go for a beer with him.
Do you have certain people you contact while doing research to pick their brains? What are they specialized in?
For my first two novels, I contacted a psychiatrist because I needed to know something particular about memory loss in trauma victims. I also got in touch with someone I went to uni with, who is now a forensic scientist, so I could make sure I got the details right about the behaviour of blood in water. For Underrated, I spoke to a friend who’d been to Liverpool University about the campus layout, the clubbing scene, student life there and the like. I’ve asked a couple of former archaeologists about the tools they use, for my fourth novel – which is coming out in the not-too-distant future! For my WIP, I’ve asked my dad for details about steam engines; I’ve contacted people who used to be in bands … and on it goes! It’s amazing what you learn when you’re trying to write a book!
Is there someone you sometimes discuss a dilemma with?
My editor and publisher, obviously, but I do get my novels beta-read too, to make sure I’ve conveyed what I intended to convey, and to make sure it doesn’t sound false or clunky. When I’ve been writing in my local cafe, or pub, I’ve discussed plot issues with the people who happen to be around me!
What is more important to you : a rating in stars with no comments or a reviewer who explains what the comments they give are based on (without spoilers of course)
The latter. But I like ratings too – writing reviews isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and any feedback is appreciated!
Thanks for having me!
Thank you
***
About the author
When she was six years old, Morwenna wrote and endless story about a frog, and hasn’t stopped writing since.
She’s the author of bestselling noir psychological thrillers, The (D)Evolution of Us, and Glasshouse, has an MA in Creative Writing, and can usually be found down by the sea. Morwenna’s third novel, Underrated, was published by #darkstroke on Valentine’s Day, 2022, and she has several works in progress.
She often thinks about that frog.
***
Author Links
Twitter – @MorwennaBlackw1
Instagram – morwennablackwood_
Facebook – Morwenna Blackwood page
Website – www.morwennablackwoodauthor.com
***
***
Book Link
***
Giveaway
Win PB copies of The (D)Evolution of Us and Glasshouse
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494510/?
***
B for Bookreview 