Interview with Sue Lilley, Author of Whispered Wishes

What can you tell us about your new release, Whispered Wishes?

It’s a tale of bad choices and second chances. The two male characters, Nathan and Lucas, already have history. Then Olivia gets caught between them and life explodes in their faces. When Nathan’s daughter goes missing, Lucas is to blame. if they have any hope of finding her, they’ll need to bury their toxic past and work together.

Writing Whispered Wishes was a real labor of love, as I had to write it in snatched half-hours. My two-year old granddaughter lived with me for eighteen months. At the same time, my husband had surgery which put him in a wheelchair for six months. It took forever! But of all my novels, it’s my favorite. I’m very proud of it.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I was a child who always had my nose buried in a book. When I won a story competition at school, my late mother cried with pride. I still have that hand-written exercise book in an old box of treasures. I had various short romances published in magazines. But I always needed to know what happened next to my characters. I lost my mother when I was seventeen. But she’d be thrilled I’m now a published author.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

My all-time favourite is The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. I read it so many times, it fell to bits and I had to buy another copy. I adore everything about it – the wonderful characters, the sense of family history, the vivid setting. I suspect her writing inspired my lasting love of Cornwall, which features in my own novels.

Stepping by Nancy Thayer. I was newly married when I read this the first time. I never had step-children but the story haunted me. I still have the battered paperback and return to it from time to time, like a favourite movie.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This was my first “grown-up” book and again I’ve read it many times. Who wouldn’t love to create a heroine like Scarlett O’Hara?

Scruples by Judith Kranz. The first big “sex and shopping” novel of the eighties. They even made a TV mini-series back in the day. I fell in love with Spider Elliott.

Nora Roberts – anything! I’m working my way through her back catalogue on kindle. I can never put them down, so I have to ration myself or I’d get nothing else done. Her male characters are something else!

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

I’m a total Sandra Howard fangirl. Her life is so intriguing. She was born in Malta during WW2. She was a famous model in the sixties and met everyone including Frank Sinatra. She’s married to a senior politician and is now a best-selling novelist, drawing heavily on all that life experience.

I’d want to ask her if there’s anything in her fascinating life which wasn’t so wonderful. And also how she managed to sit down long enough to produce such amazing novels.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

I write what I love because if I don’t love it, who else will? I do like a happy ending and I enjoy fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together without it seeming contrived. Writing is my therapy and not as expensive as buying shoes.

What is a typical day like for you?

When my husband was ill, I took a redundancy package from my job. I’m now “working from home,” convincing myself writing is a business.

In the mornings, mindless physical activity helps me mull over where I’m up to in my current plot. I like fair-weather gardening – the pretty design kind, not growing useful things to eat.

I write in the afternoons and spend the evenings with my lovely husband who’s a talented artist.

What scene in Whispered Wishes was your favorite to write?

The scene on the train, where Olivia meets Lucas again. It was inspired by a real life encounter. He was a total surf-dude and she was a young executive lawyer type. They started off bickering but after three hours on the train, they were all over each other, clearly heading for a hotel. I was intrigued and desperate to follow them. But I reined in my stalker tendencies and wrote it down instead.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

“Well done is better than well said” (Benjamin Franklin)

Sue Lilley is the author of the new book Whispered Wishes.

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