Sanjida Kay's Writing Toolkit

WRITING TOOLKIT gives you an idea of an author's writing process through the tools they use. The tools can be anything (real or virtual) that they think is essential for their writing - serious, fun or even a fetish (that they're willing to own up to)! 

I am delighted to welcome 

SANJIDA KAY

AUTHOR OF MY MOTHER'S SECRET

TO SHARE HER WRITING TOOLKIT

My Mother's Secret is published on today, on 3 May 2018, by Corvus/Atlantic Books. 

Office

Our exciting news is that we’re renovating a house in rural Somerset. In the meantime, we’ve downsized so I no longer have an office, but a desk in the corner of an open-plan room. I look out over a small, but beautiful green garden that backs onto an urban nature reserve. Jays and blue tits peep through the window. I can’t think if there’s any clutter, and I like to have a flower or two next to me. I work on an Apple Mac and a laptop. This has revolutionised my life: because everything is in the cloud, I can pick up my laptop and go, without having to check it’s saved, and I no longer have that awful realisation that I’ve spent hours working on the wrong document.

Notebooks

I love having different notebooks with lovely covers. I have one for ideas, one for quotes and overheard snippets of conversations and a working one, with what I need to do next. It helps me keep track of where I am - for instance, My Mother’s Secret is just about to be published out, but I’m still talking to readers about my previous thrillers, Bone by Bone and The Stolen Child, whilst editing the fourth one, The Anniversary. I find writing long-hand is a good way of generating ideas too, although I actually type my novels straight onto the computer.

Exercise

Writing is incredibly sedentary, so I need to move! I get up before anyone else and do an hour to an hour and a half of the Tracy Anderson Method. Tracy is a trainer in the states; I stream her classes, which are a combination of light weights and dance cardio. At the weekends I run or go mountain biking. I love walking. One of the characters in My Mother’s Secret lives in the Lake District, so it was a great excuse to head up there for ‘research’. I find walking helps with creativity and general resetting of one’s mental equilibrium.

Coffee and chocolate

I start my writing day with black coffee and 80% dark chocolate. I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic coffee roaster, Extract, at the bottom of our road and I buy their organic espresso, which tastes of hazelnuts and cocoa. Apparently.

Candles

I light a candle when I start working. I like scents that are quite sharp when I’m concentrating: my favourite is St Eval’s Rosemary and Bay; and then soothing, like Sandalwood, when I want to unwind. I love being surrounded by greenery so I fill the house with lots of plants.

Protein shake

I get through that mid-afternoon slump with a protein shake, usually made of fruit and vegetables, non-dairy milk and protein powder. I normally add spinach - this one is raspberry and coconut milk.

Headphones
Since we’re all in one room, there’s quite a lot of ‘negotiation’ about who gets to watch downhill mountain bike racing, How to Train your Dragon, or have some peace and quiet to write their novel. I spend quite a lot of time wearing headphones and pretending I can’t hear anyone speaking to me. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts when I’m doing chores; I’m a big fan of The Story Grid podcast and book, which is by editor Shawn Coyne and is aimed at helping writers and editors improve.

Cake

My daughter and I love baking: this is a cake that I made for one of my sister’s for her birthday. It’s a great way to relax and a slice of cake feels like a nice treat after a week of writing several thousand words and drinking spinach smoothies!

THANKS FOR TAKING PART, SANJIDA!

About Sanjida Kay

Sanjida Kay is a writer and broadcaster. She lives in Bristol with her daughter and husband. Her first psychological thriller, Bone by Bone, was longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, chosen as one of the best reads of the year by the Sunday Express, a must-read by the Guardian, and she’s been named an Amazon rising star. The Stolen Child, her second thriller, has been optioned for TV and movie rights by the company that made Homeland. Her third psychological thriller, My Mother’s Secret, will be published on 3 May by Corvus Books.

Find Sanjida on her website, on her Facebook page and on Twitter - @SanjidaKay

About My Mother's Secret

Published by Corvus/Atlantic Books (3 May 2018)

Publisher's description

You can only hide for so long...

Lizzie Bradshaw. A student from the Lake District, forced to work away from home, who witnesses a terrible crime. But who will ultimately pay the price?

Emma Taylor. A mother, a wife, and a woman with a dangerous secret. Can she keep her beloved family safely together? 

Stella Taylor. A disaffected teenager, determined to discover what her mother is hiding. But how far will she go to uncover the truth?

And one man, powerful, manipulative and cunning, who controls all their destinies.

Salt Lane by William Shaw

I am delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for Salt Lane by William Shaw. Salt Lane is published by Riverrun Books on 3 May 2018.

Salt Lane
By William Shaw
Published by Riverrun Books (3 May 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher’s description

SHE ALWAYS WENT TOO FAR

DS Alexandra Cupidi has done it again. She should have learnt to keep her big mouth shut, after the scandal that sent her packing - resentful teenager in tow - from the London Met to the lonely Kent coastline. Murder is different here, among the fens and stark beaches.

SHE WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND THE KILLERS

The man drowned in the slurry pit had been herded there like an animal. He was North African, like many of the fruit pickers that work the fields. The more Cupidi discovers, the more she wants to ask - but these people are suspicious of questions.

AND NOW IT WAS KILLING HER

It will take an understanding of this strange place - its old ways and new crimes - to uncover the dark conspiracy behind the murder. Cupidi is not afraid to travel that road. But she should be. She should, by now, have learnt.

My verdict
I raced through Salt Lane, from beginning to end. Yet again, as with The Birdwatcher, I was totally mesmerised by the quirky characters, chilling setting and emotional plot.

Everything about this book, and William Shaw's stunning writing, is excellent. The dialogue, in particular, is so realistic that it brings each character to life and drives the plot forward at a cracking pace. The setting is stark and desolate, yet the descriptions of the coastline, marshes and fens are so vivid, providing a strong sense of place and an air of mystery.

DS Alexandra Cupidi is investigating two deaths - one is a woman found floating in the water and the other is a migrant worker found floating in a slurry tank. A scandal back in London led Cupidi (and her teenage daughter, Zoe) to the bleak Kent coastline and she's still trying to fit in, remaining a little distant from her fellow police officers. But as the case continues, she's having to rely on them more and more - especially as she and her colleague Jill Ferriter put themselves into some very tricky (and potentially dangerous) situations.

William Shaw covers some dark topics and contemporary issues with a splash of humour and plenty of sensitivity. This character-driven crime novel follows on from The Birdwatcher (which was a standalone), but this is the start of a new series. I don't think there's a need to read The Birdwatcher first (other than to gain some background into Cupidi and her daughter).

I loved The Birdwatcher, but now love Salt Lane even more.

Follow the Blog Tour

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
By Gail Honeyman
Published by HarperCollins (25 January 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley

Publisher's description

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

My verdict
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine took me on a emotional journey, through joy, hope, sadness and despair. The writing is gorgeous and highly readable, and the story is sensitive and compassionate. This is the type of book that I will read again, to savour the descriptions and the dialogue.

Eleanor is socially awkward and full of innocence with a simple, and very black-and-white, view of life, people and the world around her. It took me a little while to get inside her head, but then I couldn't let go. I fell in love with her character's quirky nature and sharp observations, and then with the book itself.

Though the book isn't a crime novel or a psychological thriller, there's still an element of mystery within its pages. Eleanor can't remember something about her past, having locked it away in a corner of her mind, somewhere safe where it can't hurt her. So underneath all that naivety, some dark shadowy secrets are desperate to come out, and over time Eleanor realises that maybe she's not completely fine after all.

This is a book about loneliness, love and laughter. About feeling different, overcoming obstacles and finding somewhere you belong. And about how simple acts of kindness can have a powerful impact on people's lives - those who perform them and those who receive them.

Highly recommended.