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Don’t Close Your Eyes

Don't Close Your Eyes, Try Not to Breathe, Writing

Handy tools for getting to know your characters

22nd April 2018

Robin inspiration board on Pinterest

Last week I shared some handy tools and techniques for planning a novel and because I’m literally currently doing this, I thought I’d follow up with the next step: planning characters.

Most of my books have a small ensemble ‘cast’ but I tend to start with the most ‘active’ voice and build that character first, the other characters are formed almost as ‘answers’ to that first character.

In Don’t Close Your Eyes, which features twins with equal billing and points of view, I started with one character (Robin) and then built the others using her as a starting point. The reason for this was simply that Robin came to me almost fully formed, so I had a running start. It’s not always that easy!

In Try Not to Breathe, I started with Amy. Although in the present day she is definitely not the most active, Amy’s point of view opens the book. And because the central question of the novel is ‘what happened to Amy?’ it was vital that she really came alive for the reader straight away.Readers have to care about what happens to a character, and you can’t care about someone you know nothing about.

But I don’t use anything remotely cutting edge to plan my characters…

Continue Reading…

Books, Don't Close Your Eyes, Paperback, Publication

Don’t Close Your Eyes is now in paperback!

4th January 2018

…So the day is finally here. My second novel, Don’t Close Your Eyes, is published in paperback in the UK and Ireland!

Paperback cover for Don't Close Your Eyes by Holly Seddon

I’m still in The Netherlands for the moment, glamorously dealing with my son’s chicken pox and using my literary skills to do loads of laundry as we’ve still not caught up after Christmas’s Norovirus outbreak.

But I’m vicariously living through friends and readers who are kindly sharing pictures of tube and rail posters like this one from my schoolfriend Charlotte. Isn’t it beautiful? I’m so grateful to my publisher, Corvus Books.

Don't Close Your Eyes poster, Charing Cross Underground Station.

Don’t Close Your Eyes poster, Charing Cross Underground Station.

It’s an absolute privilege to publish a second book, and I really hope you enjoy it.

 

Don't Close Your Eyes

Don’t Close Your Eyes is out NOW!

9th July 2017
Don't Close Your Eyes book cover

And it’s out! Nearly a year since I wrote ‘THE END’ (metaphorically anyway, I don’t actually write that), it’s finally out!

I had the most amazing launch party, the most horrific hangover and am now knee deep into the edits on book three…

You can buy Don’t Close Your Eyes from Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and all good retailers! Woohoo!

And if you’ve already read it and would like to leave a review, I’d be immensely grateful.

Don't Close Your Eyes

Don’t Close Your Eyes or you’ll miss this video

10th December 2016

How cool is this? My wonderful publisher Corvus has put together a video for Don’t Close Your Eyes and it makes me want to squeal. It also makes me want to read the book even though I already know what happens…

PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON

Don't Close Your Eyes

Don’t Close Your Eyes – available to pre-order now

9th December 2016
Don't Close Your Eyes book cover

Want to get Don’t Close Your Eyes as soon as it comes out? Like, the second it’s released? Pre-order your Kindle copy today and the minute the clock strikes on 6 July 2017, it’ll be ready to download to your device.

PRE-ORDER DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES

Here comes the blurb…

Robin and Sarah weren’t the closest of twins. They weren’t even that similar. But they loved each other dearly. Until, in the cruellest of domestic twists, they were taken from one another.

Now, in her early 30s, Robin lives alone. Agoraphobic and suffering from panic attacks, she spends her days pacing the rooms of her house. The rest of the time she watches – watches the street, the houses, the neighbours. Until one day, she sees something she shouldn’t…

And Sarah? Sarah got what she wanted – the good-looking man, the beautiful baby, the perfect home. But she’s just been accused of the most terrible thing of all. She can’t be around her new family until she has come to terms with something that happened a long time ago. And to do that, she needs to track down her twin sister.

But Sarah isn’t the only person looking for Robin. As their paths intersect, something dangerous is set in motion, leading Robin and Sarah to fight for much more than their relationship…