Lady in Red

Pursuing the truth can be a dangerous game…

School’s out for the summer, and Eye Spy Investigations have a new case - looking for Lady in Red, a lost masterpiece by Victorian painter, Gabriel Pascoe.

The clock is ticking for Alex and Donna, because the artist’s house, Acacia Villa, where their friend Jake lives, is due to be demolished, and vital clues may be destroyed. And Alex has an additional problem: he is terrified of snakes, and Jake has a pet snake called Queenie…

As the twins pursue their enquiries, they come up against the man who wants to demolish Acacia Villa. But Mr Mortimer is the godfather of their baby half-sister, Sophie, and criticising him could open up family rifts, which have only just healed.

Then Queenie goes missing, setting in motion a disastrous train of events that will turn the search for Lady in Red into the twins’ most dangerous case yet.

Author Q&A
1. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Don’t let self-doubt hold you back. Keep at it, and never give up. If you want something enough, and you’re prepared to work hard, you’ll achieve it in the end.

2. Favorite childhood memory involving books?
I spent many happy hours with my friend, Lyndsay, writing and illustrating stories, plays and comics. We agreed that when we grew up, one of us would write books, and the other one would illustrate them. Sadly, this never happened, because Lyndsay died when she was sixteen, but I never forgot her, and my first published children’s book Eye Spy, is dedicated to her.

3. Did you want to be an author when you grew up?
I didn’t want to wait until I grew up to be a published author, especially when I discovered one of my favourite books ‘The Swish of the Curtain’ had been written by a fourteen-year-old. My Dad, who was the author of an extremely learned book on maths, offered to send one of my efforts to his publisher, Constable. After a while I received a very nice reply, suggesting that I wasn’t quite ready for publication as yet, but that if I kept writing, I might make it at some time in the future.

4. What’s one movie you like recommending to others?
One of my favourite modern films is Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’. It’s a fantasy where the hero travels back in time to 1920s Paris where he meets all the literary greats of the time- Scott ad Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and many others. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve wanted to write a book set in that time and place and featuring some of the famous people who congregated there. Maybe one day…

5. Have you ever met anyone famous?
My first job was as a secretary to the architect Richard Gilbert Scott, who was famous for his modern reinterpretations of Gothic architecture. His best friend was the poet, John Betjamin, who shared his love of old buildings, and I often made coffee for the two of them as they sat and discussed conservation projects.

6.What is the first book that made you cry?
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. There are few books that make me cry, but this story of a reclusive, disabled artist who helps a young girl rescue an injured goose, and then dies rescuing soldiers from Dunkirk, was truly a tearjerker. In my copy, Elizabeth Jane Howard, who went on to be an acclaimed novelist herself, was the model for the girl holding the snow goose on the cover.

7. How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?
Up to two years, because I’m not a fast writer. With my new novel, I’m trying to do a more detailed plot outline in advance, and more complete character profiles, in the hope that this will speed up the writing process.

8. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Read, read, read, every sort of book, but particularly the genre you want to  write yourself. Note how other authors achieve their effects, and remember it is usually the characters that readers remember, rather than the plot however dazzling.

9. What is your favorite genre to read?
When I first got into adult fiction as a teenager, I read a lot of Regency romances. I recently spent some time in hospital, and I found the perfect authors for transporting me to an imaginary world away from the inevitable drama of hospital life were Georgette Heyer and Mary Kingswood. Back at home, I’m now returning to my usual fare of modern PI novels, historical crime fiction and biography.

Author Bio –

Tessa Buckley was an inveterate scribbler as a child, and spent much of her time writing and illustrating stories. After studying Interior Design, she spent fifteen years working for architects and designers. She took up writing again after her young daughter complained that she couldn’t find enough adventure stories to read. This led, in 2016, to the publication of  Eye Spy, the first in a series for 9-12 year olds about two teen detectives. There are now two more books in the series: Haunted, which was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2017,, and Lady in Red. She lives by the sea in Essex and recently completed an Open University arts degree.

Social Media Links – 

Website: https://tessabuckleyauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tessa-Buckley-Author-

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4157057.Tessa_Buckley