I wrote chapters 1, 2 and 3 (now chapters 4, 2 and 1, respectively) of the first book while I was on maternity leave after the birth of my son in 2001. The idea slept, almost undisturbed, until 2010 when I was off work for about 3 months with severe sciatica. I picked up where I had left off and continued. The first draft was quite short for a novel, around 45,000 words, and not “strong enough” according to a couple of agents who asked to read the whole manuscript. I couldn’t honestly disagree with them.
Then I showed the book to my Dad, Ted Price (pictured here in Nice in 2016 on his 80th birthday). He 
had also written a novel, still unpublished (although I hope to change that someday), and he loved to read and write. He was retired by that time and perhaps he was looking for some creative outlet. He asked if he could contribute and I had already returned to full-time work with little time to spare for hobbies, so I agreed. I thought his input could only improve things and it gave us something special to share.
From that point on, Dad got stuck right in. Goodfellow, Debbie, Mike and his gym, the betting shop where Cathy’s office is, Franco’s Deli, the entire backstory – they were all my Dad’s creations. Dad lived in Scotland and I am in Belgium so we emailed the manuscript back and forth between us, sometimes making no progress for many months and sometimes making great headway in short bursts. We saw each other 2 or 3 times a year and could spend hours discussing the ins and outs of the backstory and the merits of which villain to choose as the murderer. It might have gone on that way for many more years had it not been for my Dad falling seriously ill in January 2017.
It was a very difficult time for us all. My Mum, sister and brother-in-law bore the brunt of hospital visits and caring for my Dad. I was in Belgium and although I travelled over as often as possible, I wasn’t there as much as I would have wanted. I decided that one thing I could do to show Dad my support was to finish the project we had spent so much time working on together.
My daughter, Laura, is a gifted artist so I asked her to create a cover for me. (NB. The first one was understandably rushed but she redrew it by hand in 2018 and that’s the artwork I use for the cover now.) I self-edited the manuscript, having read a few books and blogs to guide me, and I published Lay Her Down To Die as a Kindle eBook on 1st July 2017. Sadly, Dad passed away 6 weeks later. I know he was proud of us both for achieving what seemed to be an impossible dream at times.
It wasn’t easy to pick things up and continue afterwards and it’s taken me a long time to start marketing and make progress on book 2. There was always going to be a sequel and the plot for book 3 is also taking shape. But I miss those discussions with my Dad, his brilliant ideas and his constant encouragement and optimism. When I write a scene with Goodfellow now, I always think of Dad and I ask myself what he would have wanted Goodfellow to do, say or think.