It’s Writer Wednesday and we are happy to have
Yvonne McEvaddy, author of Passion Killer
is here with us today!
Tell us a bit about yourself:
Do you work another job when you are not writing?
Yes. I am a childminder. I have two children of my own, aged 4 and a half and almost 3. I mind three other children aged between 9mths and 4 and a half. So it’s a very busy house.
What is your favorite thing to do when you aren?t writing?
Reading and watching movies. My favorite types of books are murder and horror. I love watching romantic comedies, thrillers and horror.
What is your favorite color? Why?
Green. I can’t give a reason, I’ve always just been drawn to it.
What is your favorite season? Why?
Tough question. In Ireland we tend to have four seasons in one day. Winter is what springs to mind. That’s winter in wintertime as opposed to wintry weather in spring, summer and autumn. Curling up by the fire while I watch Christmas movies, putting up Christmas decorations, listening to Christmas music, Christmas shopping, ice skating. I love it all.
If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be? Why?
It would have to be Paris. I fell in love with it when I was 19. I went to do my college work experience in Euro Disney. It was my first trip away from Ireland and the sense of adventure combined with my love of everything Disney, love of the French language and cuisine, the beauty and culture of Paris made it the love of my life, in terms of places anyway.
If you could have any car, what would it be?
A mini cooper. So not practical when you’ve got young children. But I will have one some day. A Nissan Figaro is another one that someday I will have.
Tell us about your writing:
How long have your been writing? Was it a dream, a goal or is it just a hobby?
I remember lying back on my bed when I was five, having just read Enid Blyton’s stories for five-year-olds and older, and thinking, “That’s what I want to do when I grow up.” Of course at the time I thought all you needed was a typewriter and paper, to type out a story, and hey presto. It was a dream I always kept to myself as it was so important to me I didn’t want it to be disparaged.
How many hours a day do you devote to writing???
Not as many as I would like. My first child arrives at 6.15am and he goes back to bed. I then usually have an hour before the next child arrives and my own two wake up. That’s my only semi-guaranteed hour of the day. Sometimes I manage to squeeze in a few words here and there when things are relatively quiet, and, if not too tired, I sometimes write for an hour after the kids go to bed at 8pm.
Do you have a set routine or do you write when the mood strikes??
Oh, to write when the mood strikes! A lot of my writing happens in my head when doing household chores or activities with the children. And then when I have time I sit down and type the scenes that have already played out in my head.
Is there some place special you like to be when you write?
I love it when I can go to a cafe on Tuesday evenings, my designated evening to meet up with the Javawriters group. We meet up between 8.30pm and 9.30pm and eat, drink and chat until about 11pm, but I’m usually there at 7pm to do some writing before the others turn up. Also sometimes I manage to get to a cafe for a couple of hours at the weekend to do some writing.
Do you listen to music or do you need a quiet place to write?
I love to listen to music, but in the mornings I’m trying to keep the noise level in the house down so that the kids stay asleep. If they wake up that’s my writing time finished. The rest of the day I write with whatever noise level I’m presented with, whether it’s nursery rhymes, children playing, singing or shouting, or the radio. In a cafe there’s the noise of cutlery and glasses clinking, dishes breaking, and chatter. Sometimes I get to write to a CD of my choice, though not very often.
Tell us about your book:
What is the name of it and is it part of a series or a stand alone novel?
Passion Killer is a stand alone novel.
Where did the idea come from? How long did it take to write?
The idea came to me in the year 2000. I was just about to go to sleep one night when a picture of Sylvia came into my head. The title and a rough idea of the plot came next. However it was six years before I sat down to the computer to write it. It took six months to write the first draft. Then I got pregnant and life got a whole lot busier. It’s taken five more years to bring it to its finish.
What is it about?
It is a story of how unrequited love, jealousy and obsession become dangerous, turning passion to murder. It revolves around a group of friends in a small town in Ireland. Sylvia arrives home one evening to find her boyfriend, Rick, in a pool of blood. In the course of their investigation, Detectives Barbara Molloy and Mick Naughton question the group of friends and uncover a web of deception. A party the night before the murder left many fingerprints at the scene of the crime. In the tangle of love triangles there are plenty of motives to choose from and few alibis, casting the net of suspicion wide.
As the story unfolds, the friends discover secrets and lies that test their relationships to the point of breaking. In order to cast suspicion away from one of their best friends, Alex, the group start to suspect a myriad of acquaintances. Will they find out who killed Rick before Alex is put away for something he didn’t do? Or will they find out that Alex isn’t who they thought he was?
Your other work:
Do you have any upcoming projects in the works or other books that have been published?
Shadows of the Dead, a novel about a couple living in a haunted house, is currently being edited and I have started my third novel, Thief of Hearts, a story about a writer, a serial killer, a heart surgeon and a boy with a congenital heart defect.
Where can readers connect with you?
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/yvonnemcevaddy
Blog: http://yvonnemcevaddy.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yvonne-McEvaddy/255759494518831
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/yvonnemcevaddy
Where can we buy your books?
Passion Killer is available in paperback & as an ebook from amazon.com and is also available as an ebook from amazon.co.uk and smashwords.com.