What makes a 'suspense' novel and leaving law for writing with Sonia Velton

Sonia Velton grew up living between the Bahamas and the UK. She has worked as a solicitor at an international law firm and lived in the Middle East for eight years. She has since moved back to England where she lives with her three children. Her first novel, Blackberry and Wile Rose, was a historical fiction inspired by real characters and events. Her latest novel, The Image of Her, is something entirely different and that's what we're chatting about today.

Our interview starts at 15 minutes. 

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In this interview, we chat about: 

• How Sonia was inspired to write The Image of Her and why she believes the idea finds her, regardless of genre
• What makes a suspense novel or genre fiction?
• Why Sonia felt the need to change her career after working as a lawyer internationally and how her London borough inspired her first novel
• The desire to have someone externally ‘approve’ of the decision to write and how this affected Sonia’s writing process
• Why Sonia decided to pursue publication and how she got her book deal

Books and other things mentioned

• The Weekly with Charlie Pickering
• Homeschool History (podcast)

Follow Sonia on Instagram @Soniavelton

Follow us on Instagram @betterwordspod

The Image of Her is available now. 

Thank you to the team at Quercus Books UK for sending us copies of The Image of Her in preparation for the interview.