The jangling of metal cuffs can only mean one thing. Here we are again, in the cells with another suspect to interro–, interview, interview. Old-fashioned bad habits creeping in there. We’ve got to be nice to them all these days, especially this one. I hear she’s a right little Daddy’s Girl. 
 
   Before we see what she knows about the book she’s supposedly written, let’s do a little homework. I fired up the office computer about an hour ago, so it should be coming to life any…second…now. The custody computers have seen better days. I shouldn’t complain too much, with these budget cuts, we’ll all be back to pen and paper soon.  At least that’d keep the luddites upstairs in CID happy. Let’s take a look at her record. 
 
   Lauren Bradshaw was born in 1990 (awww) in Liverpool, England. Her family moved to Cairns when she was young. She studied a Bachelor of Nursing alongside a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her dream is to be a Forensic Pathologist, a goal she is studying towards now. 
 
   Sounds like a clever clogs to me. Let’s find out just what we’re dealing with. BRING OUT THE SUSPECT!

 

Lauren, Daddy’s Girl is your first novel, what inspired the story?

My inspiration for Daddy’s Girl came from my love of certain authors, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, John J Nance. I love the style in which they write, and the detail that they go into. You can almost reach out and touch the characters! The story wasn’t really inspired by anything particular, it was a series of thoughts that took on a life of their own. Ultimately, writing was an escape from my university studies. Fueled by lack of sleep, too much caffeine and a deep loathing of certain aspects or people in my life. That makes me sound a little bit… psychopath-ish. But it’s true. The gratification one gets from brutally hacking someone to death, is… concerning. It is better than swallowing it, burying it deep, deep down inside and letting it fester. Better out than in!

Why did you decide to write a crime thriller?

Crime has always been a great interest of mine. From a very young age I was helping my Nan solve the mystery of who ate the last piece of cake, or I was framing my younger brother for different things. It has always been in my life, and my Dad actually helped me fan the flames of interest. He used to sneak me into movies crime/thriller movies or buy me books that were not what you usually find on an 8 year old’s shelf, but I love it. I would disappear into the book – trying to figure out the killer or killers before I reached the end.

   I find the gritty world of crime very alluring; the sinister symbolism behind a dark shady alley; the creativity of the killer and ultimately why and how they pick their targets. I could spend hours reading over case notes, or true crime novels and still want more. Crime, in my opinion brings out the animalistic tendencies of man. We all try to hide our primal side, but the reality is that we are all animals. Those that succumb to their primal tendencies seem to either know something we don’t… or are missing a good section of the frontal lobe.

Aside from my love of crime, I also love thrillers. Really, I just love the feeling of being scared. I know that’s a really odd thing to like, but that moment when the hair on the back of your neck stands to attention, combined with the sudden cold chill when you know something bad is going to happen. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel… alive. Fear is an odd emotion. We try to suppress it. Try to figure it out, but in the end, we release ourselves to it. Fear is one of the last emotions that you can’t really explain. What scares you the most? Spiders, snakes, a bunch of carrots? That question is an easy one, but if I were to ask you why? That’s a little bit harder.

I wanted to do something that encompassed my great loves and interests, which are crime, thrillers and medicine. So I decided to pick up the proverbial pen and, well, write. Daddy’s Girl is a mixture of those three interests. I wanted to write a book that not only challenged me to look beyond the looking glass, but also challenged the reader. You can sit there and read until your eyeballs fall out, but it’s that book that peaks your interests in the first few pages; the book that made you skip sleep so you could squeeze in one more chapter; the book that made you actually feel something that you go back to. You tell your friends about, and you cherish until its falling apart. That’s what I wanted people to experience.

Or simply put, I’m weird and wanted to share me eccentricity with as many people as possible.

What made you decide to publish your book independently?

 

   I’d done some research and figured out that initially the most important thing was to get my book and my name out there. I could have been published with one of the biggest and best publishing firms out there, but if you don’t know who the author is, its very unlikely you will pick up their book and start reading. I’m a really down to earth girl, and would prefer people to know me, my words, and my work. I think that’s what makes you ‘famous’. Plus independent publishing let me call the shots. I was in charge of everything. Which is a good and a bad thing… Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be offered a publishing contract, but I think that is something I will look more seriously at down the track. With independent publishing I felt free. I was never stressed. I never felt that I had to write something. It was never a chore, everything I did for Daddy’s Girl, was because I wanted to. I didn’t want my writing to turn into something I would resent.


What was the most emotionally difficult scene to write in the book? 

 

   I wouldn’t really say it was an emotionally difficult scene to write, but it would probably have to be Clara’s assault. I didn’t want to just mention it, but then again I didn’t want to base the book on it. It is a large part of the story, and I wanted to reader to experience what I was writing. I wanted them to hear the boot crunching on the gravel; smell the stale breath on the back of their necks; and feel the anger welling inside them. I can’t really say it was a fun chapter to write, but it really opened my mind. Assault for the majority of people is a very scary aspect of life, and I wanted to bring that reality to them.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on my second novel, Soulless. It’s technically the sequel to Daddy’s Girl, but you could read it independently and it would still make perfect sense, and its going to be a little bit darker than Daddy’s Girl. In addition to that I have jotted down a few ideas for future books. But essentially I am focusing my time, for the next 7 week anyway, on the medicine admissions test. After that I’ll be combining my time between finishing off my nursing and criminology degrees and writing Soulless.

 

  Well, another one bites the dust. It seems like she was telling the truth, which, as we all know, means she’s up to something that we just can’t prove…yet. Daddy’s Girl is available now on Amazon US, Amazon UK  and Xlibris. She blogs and is on Twitter too.

RELEASE THE PRISONER.