Guest Post: Lucinda E Clarke

~ beetleypete

I am very pleased to bring you a guest post from Lucinda. She is a writer, published author, and a very loyal blog follower.

Here is her bio.

Lucinda E Clarke has lived an extraordinary life, in 8 countries, on land and sea, survived childhood abuse, marriage to a psychopath and many real-life adventures. She moved from teaching to the media realising a life-long dream to write for a living. From announcing on radio, she graduated to scriptwriting for radio and television and every other form of writing known to man. Movies, advertising, drama plays, street theatre, mayoral speeches, her newspaper column, company reports, tourist promotions etc. She was prepared to write for anyone who paid her – even if it meant lying through her teeth. She needed to support one husband, two children, a St Bernard, other dogs, various felines and a menagerie of small furry animals and at one time, a riding school comprised of broken-down hacks not fit for the knacker’s yard. She won over 20 awards for her films in writing, concept, direction and production. More recently she is a winner of numerous book awards – including a gold, two silvers and an honourable mention from Readers’ Favorite. Now pretending to be retired in Spain she is scribbling in a variety of genres, which she says proves her schizophrenic tendencies. If she can’t write she gets withdrawal symptoms and plans to go to the big library in the sky with her laptop under one arm.

Welcome

This is her guest post.

First, a huge thank you to Pete, for allowing me to share on his blog. In particular I enjoy his daily serial and his tenacity in his daily emails – my blogging has faltered for the reasons below.
Twelve years ago, the DH (Dear Husband) and I left South Africa and retired to Spain. He may have imagined us lying on the terrace sipping sangrias overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, but within a year I was bored silly. I’d not wanted to sell my company and put my feet up, I wasn’t ready for that. I still miss the crew and the camaraderie and visiting all the locations we filmed.
So, while we pottered about our tiny rabbit hutch – you try buying a mansion with the SA Rand to Euro exchange rate and see where that gets you – I began to invite lots more people to live with us.
DH didn’t notice at first as more and more moved in, male, female and undecided, along with a few animals and African wildlife.
They were all in my head of course, but I laughed with them, cried with them, and, if they annoyed me, I popped them into a wheelchair or killed them off.
It was murder and mayhem on a daily basis. I may be an old wrinkly, but the power kick was the biggest adrenalin rush ever. I could blow up a boatload of people and no police would come knocking on the door. Atom bombs? Where would you like me to drop them? A plague? No problem, shall I start in China?
The world of the writer has endless possibilities. We can topple presidents, resurrect forces from outer space or under the ground. We can do anything we want and never, ever break the law. The worst punishment we suffer is the occasional one-star review from a dissatisfied reader.
What I need to know, before I continue on my rampage: is there a special hell for those who inflict cruelty on characters? I’m worried now I’d be a prime candidate.
I don’t write cosy mysteries where everyone is nice to each other. Oh no. My heroines are not so much stars as victims. They face insurmountable odds, lose loved ones, limbs and trust and most of the time have no idea who is threatening them. It’s me of course, but I don’t tell them that and do, please keep this a secret too. I have the odd nightmare they leap out of the book and strangle me while I’m asleep.
Amie was my first creation. I transported her to Africa and then sent the plane evacuating the expats off into the sky leaving her behind all alone in the middle of a civil war. I caused her more suffering took her on more adventures in four more books, and now she is sulking as I’ve abandoned her, at least for the moment.

Leah was my next heroine victim. I married her to an upstanding lawyer to the mob, burdened her with an out-of-control teenage stepdaughter and presented her with a dodgy best friend. What more could a woman ask for? Well, I amputated her left leg as well, for good measure.

The A Year in the Life of… series, charting the lives of Leah and her family, are psychological thrillers, but no ghosts, zombies or werewolves I’m afraid. Just the car accidents, mental homes, burglaries and unknown threats kind of thriller.
All this rambling nonsense is designed to send you rushing over to Amazon to snap up all four Leah books on sale @ $/£0.99 each including the latest one which launches on Friday 14 May.

Belinda Brand the sassy teenager – who was once a vegan, turned vegetarian for ten minutes until Leah began frying the bacon for breakfast – has won a prestigious award for her bestseller and a Hollywood film offer for her debut – and last – book. But, she has a secret. Someone has discovered it and is threatening to tell. Danger lurks in the shadows and then her best friend disappears.

Once more thanks Pete and love to Ollie, oh and regards to Julie as well.

Please use the links to check out the books, and to connect with Lucinda too.

37 thoughts on “Guest Post: Lucinda E Clarke”

  3. Pingback: Guest Post: Lucinda E Clarke – Tla culture interclubsitre du site

  4. Lovely to see Lucinda here and read about her life she is correct about writers being able to commit crimes without getting arrested though we have carte blanche to do pretty much anything…A great read 🙂 xx

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  5. I have thought about variants of your question: “is there a special hell for those who inflict cruelty on characters? “Most of the time in fiction the victims are throw-a-way characters, cutouts, for whom readers have scant connection except in some very special situations where the focus is on the victim and the victim’s revenge. But then in life, the participants (us regular people) have a very scant connection to the victims reported in the news, and I think a lot of us believe there is a special place in hell for those who inflict real cruelty on others. So, I suspect there is not enough room for another special place in hell to consign fiction writers there. Warmest regards, Theo

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  6. What a wonderful life, and what great experiences, even with a married psychopath. Because you can divorse. What would you do living in a region where you have do deal with a lot of them, on a daily basis, but you cant leave? Lol Sorry, I’m exaggerating a little. But basically I like your experiences much better, Lucinda! 🙂 Best wishes, Michael

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  7. Fabulous post, Lucinda! The crap that writers can get away with is pretty funny when one thinks about it. Characters with problems and setbacks make them interesting, as all of us can identify with that. Who wants to read a story about some perfect character without a care in the world? That’s not real! What is real is creating complex characters with wonderful qualities while also having their personal demons. Life is no picnic. Keep giving those protagonists tons of things to overcome. The trick, as you know, is to make the obstacles attainable.

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  15. Hi Beetley Pete and Lucinda,
    Great post .. thanks for the guest post. Love how you share your explosive nature with your characters!
    Also, love that wonderful photo of you with your book!
    Amy

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