Can you tell us a little bit about your book, Code Red Lipstick?
Jessica
Cole’s an average teenager, except when she’s modelling and helping out
her private investigator dad, Jack, on surveillance jobs. When the
former MI6 spy vanishes mysteriously,
the 14-year-old takes matters into her own hands.
Following
her dad’s trail to Paris, her investigation leads her to AKSC, the
beauty headquarters of former supermodel, Allegra Knight, and a
conspiracy involving an MI6 double agent.
Jessica needs her wits about her and lots of gadgets to help give her
the upper hand against dangerous adversaries.
What inspired you to write the story?
I'd
read a newspaper interview with a famous supermodel while she was still
at school, talking about juggling school
work while modelling at Paris Haute Couture Week. Immediately, the idea
of a teenage spy came to me. Fashion is a good ruse for travelling the
world alone - investigating conspiracies while maintaining a legitimate
cover. I liked the idea of a girl having
to negotiate the trials and tribulations of leading a dangerous but
thrilling double life.
The
book is your debut novel, what was your favourite part of the writing
process, and did you learn anything new about yourself?
I
really enjoyed doing the research for the book - I read up on MI5 and
MI6, gadgetry and pretty much any spy-related story I could get my hands
on while trawling the internet.
I also visited an annual security conference in London, which was
pretty thrilling. I
experimented with the latest tactical ladders used in hostage
situations and the high-tech grapnels
used to scale submarines as well as encrypted mobile phones and facial
recognition technology, which can spot even the partly obscured face of a
target in a crowd. I was shown how to use the hidden gadgets in
armoured car to disable or even destroy a vehicle
in pursuit. I learnt that I'd quite like to have been a spy if I hadn't
been an author and journalist!
During
the actual writing, I loved the action scenes and trying to get Jessica
out of difficult situations. I also enjoyed re-writing - cutting out
sections I wasn't happy with and starting some
chapters all over again. It felt really satisfying to know I was
improving the book. I learnt I wasn't afraid to cut and change things
around or even start from scratch.
Did you relate to your main character, Jessica, at all whilst writing the story?
I'm
very close to my mum - who lost her own mum at a very young age. It
still upsets her now whenever she talks about her. For Jessica, her
mum's death years ago is crucial to who
she is and what she's going to become. I could identify with how hard
is for Jessica growing up without a mum because of the experiences my
own mum went through.
Code Red Lipstick is the first book in a series, Jessica
Cole: Model Spy. How is the rest of the series coming along?
I've
already written book two and book three. Book two's currently being
edited and will be published in January 2015. Book three comes out in
June 2015.
Did you always plan for the story to be a series?
As
soon as I finished book one, I realised I wasn't done and wanted to
write more adventures for Jessica. Another idea for a gripping
conspiracy came to me and I started planning
and writing book two pretty much straight away. While I was doing that,
I made notes on the main plot for a third book. I then made another
file for possible plots for future adventures. I think I was pretty
fired up that day!
What made you decide to write for a teen audience?
I have vivid memories of my own teenage years - at heart I still feel like a teenager, even though I don't look like one!
What were some of your own favourite books to read as a teenager?
I
loved Wuthering Heights, To Kill A Mocking Bird, Jane Eyre, Pride and
Prejudice, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Daphne du Maurier books, particularly
Jamaica Inn and Rebecca, and other
authors including Agatha Christie, Judy Blume and Stephen King - a lot
of very different books.
Finally, can you give us a random fact about yourself?
I'm a brown belt in karate, about to grade for brown with white stripe. Fingers crossed!
* Code Red Lipstick is published by Scholastic.
Buy the book now on Amazon!
Would you like to win a copy? Then enter the giveaway below! Good luck!
*GIVEAWAY IS OVER*
I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I havewinderyou bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
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