Excerpt:
There isn’t much known about Lakegrave School for Young Women due to its remote location and it being a new school, but it is the only school in the world known for its unique education style—it’s completely self-taught. There are no teachers, just one headmistress. The school only invites the best and brightest women from across the globe to study there for one year before being scouted to go on to their dream careers. This didn’t mean smart in absolutely everything but a genius in our own field.
That is the other unique thing—it also only invites one person per specialist subject.
That’s whyRowan and I were lucky enough to be accepted. Rowan is only just old enough to attend at one and twenty years of age; I, on the other hand, have two years on her. Luck was also on our side when we were encouraged to pursue different hobbies instead of the same, otherwise we wouldn’t have been accepted concurrently.
Leading up to the school, I can only make out the tops of the building as the hedge has overgrown so much. It’s as if the place has been neglected over the summer, if not over the years. Such an odd notion for a new educational establishment but, then again, it was something else before.
I reach the main gate and see a crest at the top. In the middle, there is a sprig of lavender and on each side of the shield are bees facing inward. This looks like it’s been cleaned recently.
Couldn’t say the same for the rest of the gate.
It looks like it once was black, but it is brown now due to the rust. I don’t want to touch it, so I nudge it open with my elbow and shut it again once I’m in.
It’s called a school, but it would be better off compared to a castle, just like every other boarding school that exists. The windows stretch tall and look like they are modelled after a church. Although it is a fairly newbuild, its appearance is like it has been designed as old-fashioned on purpose, fitting in with something from the 1600s rather than the 1800s. And it almost looks like it’s falling apart, the brickwork cracked and turning the walls into a darker colour rather than its usual sand. It is preposterously big for a school that doesn’t admit too many students. There is definitely some sort of beauty to the building but for some reason, even in the daytime, it appears a little ominous—as if the place is lifeless. It seems as though the garden has overtaken everything as greenery and moss is growing alongside the building. To the west of the school there are some greenhouses and to the east of the school is a church.
The ground crunches as I walk up to the building. There is a huge fountain which is bordered by the driveway on either side but appears not to work, and a huge statue coming out from the middle of it. I’m not that knowledgeable about Greek gods but I know it’s Aphrodite.
It seems fitting to have her standing guard over us.
I pause by the front door, already hearing voices coming from within, so I grip my violin case tighter and push the double doors inwards—letting them shut me away for the next year.
Interview
1. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I
recently went to The Manor House in Castle Combe – which is what the school in
LAKEGRAVE SCHOOL FOR YOUNG WOMEN is based on. I only spent one night there as
it’s an expensive place! But I always planned to go there before the book’s
release and it was worth the money (especially for the French toast breakfast).
2. What is the first book that made you cry?
I
remember absolutely sobbing at My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson. I
wasn’t expecting what happened to…happen and it destroyed me. I haven’t picked
it up since but do want to go back at some point and visit Wilson’s works, I
bet it’s a different experience reading them as an adult.
3. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Exhaust me. But, unfortunately, most things do exhaust me!*cries in chronically ill* But despite that, it’s always the best escape and I’ve been writing since I was nine (on and off) and don’t think I’ll ever stop.
4. What is your writing Kryptonite?
Too
many ideas. It sounds great in practice but then you end up not being able to
focus on one book at a time, meaning it takes ages for a book to be finished.
It’s a blessing and a curse.
5. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
Not
for my horror books but for if I ever went into different genres. I do really
want to write a fantasy one day – maybe under L.A. Carter but who knows? Right now,
the focus is on horror…with some mystery involved here and there.
6. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
A.L.
Davidson is my writing bestie but I also have to mention Cat Voleur, Sophie Ingley,
Angel Krause, and Casey Masterson. Whether it’s reading my work, blurbing it, or
helping promote things, writing friends are always there and forever the best. They
have the best critiques to make my stories even better by their final draft.
7. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
So,
there technically is a small connection between some of my booksbut I can’t
reveal it quite yet. All I can say is, it’s a chain of connections and it needs
enough in the chain to make sense. And what connects them is hidden within each
book…
8. What authors did you dislike at first but grew
into?
I
would hate to say that I dislike an author but Brooke Garratt – purely because
she hasn’t let me read her book but I have forgiven her and have grown to like
her since.
The
Night Farm series by A.L. Davidson and no, I’m not just saying this because
she’s a friend! It’s a bingeable, cosy and spooky series, and it’s a lot like Stardew
Valley! Easy to read and fall in love with the characters too – it deserves
many more readers.
10. As a writer, what would you choose as your
mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
My
doggos for sure –the amount of times that would sit behind my writing chair so
I couldn’t get up, even if I wanted to. They clearly were my cheering team or
maybe the spot behind my chair was comfortable – either way, there’s a reason
there’s a book dedicated to each of them (one published and one to come…).
…at
least 12 if not more. Some only have a tiny bit but I think that still counts.
Some are on sub, some are nearly finished (and have been for a while, whoops). I
said it earlier and I’ll say again, blessing and a curse to have too many
ideas.
12. What did you edit out of this book?
I
edited out an unrealistic storyline, which might have worked, but felt like it
ultimately didn’t make sense. Might be something worth exploring if I did a
spin off for LAKEGRAVE SCHOOL FOR YOUNG WOMEN but this isn’t something I’m
thinking about right now.
13. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
I
do work alongside writing; I’m a library assistant in an academic library. The
two jobs go hand in hand, especially since I curate the small fiction
collection we have and will forever be surrounded by books.
14. Do you hide any secrets in your books that
only a few people will find?
If
you refer back to the connections question, yes, yes I do and no one has found
it yet…or if they have, they haven’t said a thing. (How I would so like to give
a clue but any clue I come up with is a dead giveaway).
15. What is your favorite childhood book?
All of the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine. I barely
read as a kid (except maybe during the summer reading challenge) but what I
would read is Goosebumps. Quick, easy, and fun – every single time. If I had to
choose, Night of the Living Dummy III and Piano Lessons Can be Murderwere
my favs.
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