I'm delighted to welcome author Suzanne Seddon to The Hippo today. Her debut novel, A Fool's Circle, will be published on the 17th of March by Wallace Publishing, and I'll let you into a little secret - I thought it was an outstanding read and I'll be sharing my review of it very soon.
Let's get things started by introducing you to the lady of the moment and finding out a bit more about the woman behind the words.
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| Photo courtesy of Suzanne Seddon |
Author
bio
Suzanne
Seddon was born in Islington, London. After leaving school she had many
interesting jobs, from swimming teacher to air hostess, and was able to travel
the globe. Now a single mum to her teenage daughter Poppy-willow, Suzanne
spends her days writing and has written several articles for magazines and
newspapers.
Growing
up, Suzanne witnessed mental and physical abuse within her own family which
strongly influenced her when she wrote her first play, A Fool’s Circle, when
she attended the famous Anna Scher Theatre. Suzanne, however, was not content
to leave it there and decided to go ahead and transform her play into a novel.
Not
one to shy away from exciting challenges, she also wrote, acted, directed, cast
and produced a trailer for the book around her hometown in Islington with the
support of local businesses, who recognised the drive and importance of Suzanne
and her work.
Suzanne
is a passionate writer and she is determined to be heard so that the issue of
domestic abuse is raised amongst the public's consciousness, empowering others
to speak out. She wants those who suffer at the hands of another to have their
voices heard, loud and clear.
* * * *
What inspired me to write a book!
Growing up in a dysfunctional family, I witnessed a
lot of domestic violence and mental abuse. Topics like this were never really
spoken about and it wasn’t until I got older and attended a well-known drama
class in Islington called The Anna Scher Theatre that I had the idea for A
Fool’s Circle, writing it as a gritty, no holds barred short play.
Raising my young daughter and being my father’s
full-time Carer, my time was restricted. However, undeterred, I knew I needed
to develop the play into a film.
What started out as a short film script soon turned
into a full-length feature film script. I could see the characters come to life
as soon as I opened my laptop. The harrowing storyline and the honesty of it
excited me, and I was now desperate to get a trailer made for the project.
The only problem was I was a skint single mother
from Islington. But determined, I wasn’t going to let a little thing like that
stop me!
I contacted actor friends of mine, as well as sound
technicians, and managed to get a camera crew in place. I had Islington Council
loan me their offices, whilst my local Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s sponsored the
four-day shoot and fed the cast and crew. They also secured other shoot
locations for the trailer.
This was like a dream come true and I had made this
all happen without costing me a single penny! My mother was my biggest
supporter and helped me so much. Then everything came crashing down.
My mother went into hospital for an operation whilst
the trailer was in editing. She never got to see it finished as due to severe
complications, she remained in the hospital for two years before passing away
in 2016.
I was absolutely devastated. My health also took a
dramatic turn for the worse. It took me ages to watch the finished trailer but
I drew strength that my mother was so proud I had achieved what I had set out
to do.
I knew from that day, there would be no possible way
I would be able to go ahead and film a full feature film. I was a single mother
with no support network and I was in a very dark place.
My mother taught me to read, she was very much into
reading and helped out in my primary school. Teaching the other children in the
class. I remember as a child, she would read a lot of Catherine Cookson books.
She always said that one day she was going to write a book.
Through my grief I decided, as a tribute to my
mother, I would now take this script and turn it into a book. For those writers
out there, they know only too well that script writing and writing a book are
two completely different things. But once again, I was determined I was going
to do this.
I completed my first draft in 2017 and after a lot
of re-writing, it was finally finished in August 2018. The book will be
launched on what would’ve been my mothers 74th birthday, March 17th 2019.
Apart from having my daughter, writing this book is
one of the best things I have ever done in my life. Knowing I did it for my mum
and that I was completing her lifelong dream makes it even more special.
* * * *
Blurb
Kate
Sanders has suffered many years of physical and mental abuse at the hands of
her abusive husband Alan, and convinces herself that she is only holding the
family together for the sake of her eight-year-old daughter. If it wasn’t for
her best friend Jill Reynolds, she would have taken the suicide option a long
time ago.
As
she desperately seeks a way to escape, she is contacted by a solicitor. Kate’s
old aunt has died and she has been left a small fortune.
For
the first time, she sees the light at the end of the tunnel. She dreams of a
fresh start, a new home, a new life. What Kate doesn’t know is that Jill and
Alan have their own secrets, and are both desperate to get their hands on her
money.
Kate
soon finds herself falling for the charms of Jonathon Jacobs in what she
believes to be fate finally intervening and offering her a second chance,
unaware that each move he makes has been directed, orchestrated and
well-rehearsed as he begs her to leave her husband, Alan.
But
is it all too late, as she finds herself in the frame for murder?
A
Fool's Circle will be released on 17th March, 2019 and is available for
pre-order now here.
You can find out more about Suzanne, her book and connect with her using the links below:
Wallace Publishing
Amazon
Goodreads
Book trailer
I'd like to thank Suzanne for taking the time to write her very insightful guest post and stopping by today, it's been great to host you. Watch out for my review of A Fool's Circle and don't forget that you can pre-order your copy now.
