Welcome M/M author, Charlie Cochrane...

Hi Charlie! It's great to have you visit me blog for the very first time and have the chance to learn more about you and your work. Wishing you much success with your latest release, DON'T KISS THE VICAR! Let's kick off with my questions...

   1.)   What is the strangest talent you have?

I can do mirror writing. I have to admit to practicing it at school so we could send notes to each other without the teacher realising what was going on! Still useful to jot down things without others in the room getting wind of what you’re making a note of.

2.)              What is the best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?

I don’t think I’ve ever dressed up for Halloween. I was once a very nifty medieval wench for a local carnival, so can I count that? I’ve been an excellent flapper in my time, too…

3.)              Are the titles of your books important?

Yes and no. (Well, that’s helpful, Charlie.) They’re important in that they have to catch the eye and pique the interest of a potential reader but they’re just part of an overall package of cover art, blurb and the like. Sometimes titles can be deceptive – in a mad, glasses-less moment, I picked up a book in a library which turned out to be totally different to what I expected from the title and cover. Caveat emptor…

4.)              If you’re struggling with a scene or difficult character, what methods help you through it?

Doing something physical and mindless, like gardening or cleaning the kitchen floor. I suspect that frees the sub-conscious brain to work on things; often at the end of the digging or mopping I’ve got the answer to the problem. Simply going and working on another writing project for a few days has the same effect. Or driving up the A3057. That road seems to have a magic effect on unblocking writer’s blocks.

5.)              Do you prefer dog, cats or none of the above?

I’m very fond of sloths. And duck billed platypuses.  They both have the cutest offspring.

6.)              Who’s your favourite author? Why?

Oh, so much choice! Mary Renault has an economy of language that every author could learn from – she says more with a simple word like “quite” than most people could in a whole page. I re-read her book The Charioteer all the way through at least once a year and dip in and out of it, reading a few pages or scenes, on an almost monthly basis. “Charlie, you’re a sad woman,” you cry, and I might have to agree with you, but it’s like listening to a favourite piece of music. You listen again and again so why not read a particularly pleasing piece of prose as many times as you still find it pleasing?

On the other hand, Agatha Christie is the queen of plotting (with Ngaio Marsh not far behind), Patrick O’Brian the master of characterisation and  Jerome K Jerome makes me hoot with laughter.

7.)              Do you have a pet peeve?

Poor timekeeping. I like to be on time and expect other people to be.

8.)              Do you remember your dreams when you wake up in the morning?

Sometimes, although rarely the really good ones. They remain annoyingly elusive. The naff ones, where I go into an exam and have no idea about the subject I’m supposed to be writing about, or am late for an appointment and can’t get there however I try, seem to stick in my mind. It’s not fair, is it?

Blurb: Don't Kiss the Vicar

Vicar Dan Miller is firmly in the closet in his new parish. Could the inhabitants of a sedate Hampshire village ever accept a gay priest? Trickier than that, how can he hide his attraction for one of his flock, Steve Dexter?

Encouraged by his ex-partner to seize the day, Dan determines to tell Steve how he feels, only to discover that Steve’s been getting poison pen letters and suspicion falls on his fellow parishioners. When compassion leads to passion, they have to conceal their budding relationship, but the arrival of more letters sends Dan scuttling back into the closet.

Can they run the letter writer to ground? More importantly, can they patch up their romance and will Steve ever get to kiss the vicar again?

Buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0129DPATQ

Bio:

Because Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes. Her mystery novels include the Edwardian era Cambridge Fellows series, and the contemporary Lindenshaw  Mysteries. Multi-published, she has titles with Carina, Samhain, Riptide, Lethe and Bold Strokes, among others.

A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People and International Thriller Writers Inc, Charlie regularly appears at literary festivals and at reader and author conferences with The Deadly Dames.