Sue Wallman Knows You Did It

Let's hit the ground running with a small Q&A type post (very rare for PW, I know.) with thriller writer, Sue Wallman. 

In case you're not sure who Sue is (how?!), Sue is the bestselling author of four YA thrillers - Lying About Last Summer, See How They Lie, Your Turn To Die and Dead Popular - with her fifth title, I Know You Did It, coming out TOMORROW!!! All her titles are edge-of-your-seats away winners with her debut, Lying About Last Summer, was part of and won the Zoella Book Club 2016.

Now, I don't want to say too much about what I Know You Did It is about (Sue's going to explain in an elevator pitch below), but I am HUGELY grateful to Sue for saying "Yes" to my out-of-the-blue email, asking "Do you fancy being on my blog again?". 

Oh, FYI! By the think you'll be reading this, Sue will have done a Crowdcast with her lovely editor from Scholastic, Linas, and I think (though I'm not sure so don't hold me to this) that you might be able to rewatch the event. Go to crowdcast and see for yourselves.

Also, I would love it if you pop over to Sue and say hi. You can do so by visiting her website (suewallman.co.uk), her Instagram (instagram.com/suewallman/) or her Twitter (@suewallman).

Now, ONTO THE Q&A!

Murder Month - Sue Wallman Gets Dead Popular

Let's kickstart this Murder Month of mine with having the super lovely Sue Wallman on for a quick Q&A.

For those of you not in the loop, Sue is a YA thriller writer who's previous three novels, Lying About Last Summer, See How They Lie and Your Turn to Die have been making waves with YA thriller readers. Lying About Last Summer was selected as one of Zoella's Book Club picks with WHSmiths in autumn 2016 and each book has won awards and have received praise across the UK.

Her newest, Dead Popular, came out last month, but I have been saving myself to read it till this month as how perfect this book is to fit into this themed month of mine! Sue has written about what Dead Popular is in my quick Q&A of six questions - I didn't want to go too spoiler plus I wanted to know what her thoughts of the genre of crime and thriller.

Before I hand you over to the Q&A, I want to quickly thank Sue for answering these questions and thank Harriet at Scholastic for going "That sounds like fun" when I mentioned I was planning to do this month. If you want to say hi to Sue, you can check out her website at suewallman.co.uk or say hi to her on Twitter at @SueWallman. 

ONTO THE MURDERY QUESTIONS!

Murder Month - Lying About Last Summer

As soon as I heard this at the Scholastic Blogger Brunch, I knew I had to read it as soon as it came out, and with the thriller vibes I got off it when it was being described, I knew I had to read it sometime within this month.

Last summer, Skye's sister died. Her parents think sending Skye to a holiday camp for beggared teens will help her move on with her life. Move forward.

And, at first, the camp's not the bad. Yes, there are some people there that Skye dislikes and some of the activities remind Skye too much of her sister. But then the text messages start. The texts that can't be possible. As they sent on an messaging app, in a private group. And only two people know the passcode for the app. One is Skye and the other is her sister...

Is her sister talking to her? Is she really dead? Or is someone at the camp playing a cruel and sick game with Skye?

As you guys are aware, this is my Murder Month where I read books that have a crime/thriller/mystery element to them. And while this book does have a thriller/mystery element to it, what this book does really well is explore grief. Grief is a subject that some books, I have found, tackle very badly. Not all, but some. And as someone who has gone through grief/is going through grief (depending on how you look at me/it), it's refreshing to see a book that looks at grief and shows that every person goes through this very differently. We have several characters who are going through this and each character is going through it or is coping with it differently. This is refreshing to see.

The book itself is very interesting. There's something addicted about this book, and I can't put my finger on what it was that made me speed through. The writing was strong and the mystery over the mystery texter made me suspect every person about the camp. No one was safe from the "Who Doing This?". When the truth came out, I was surprised over it. I didn't see it coming.

This book, while keeping me on the edge of my seat, did have one or two problems. There was one storyline that I saw coming, and was surprised over how the characters missed it. Yes, I get they (and us) are caught up with the mystery texter, but I couldn't help getting annoyed over how not aware they were. Because of this, I wasn't the biggest fan of the final few pages. It could have been a little bit more meatier, I feel. Either more in depth or just an extra few pages.

I did find this an addictive read, and I can't wait to see what Sue writes next.

Lying About Last Summer - Swimming Pools

I am thrilled to start this Murder Month with a guest post from Sue Wallman, debut author to thriller Lying About Last Summer. I should be reading this later this month and with praise comparing this book to 13 Reasons Why and We Were Liars, this sounds perfect for this month!

Last summer, Skye's sister died tragically and Skye hasn't been coping. Her parent decide sending her to a camp for troubled teens - it might help with her grief, they think. And for a while, Skye feels like she can move on, begin to come to terms with her lost. Until the text messages start. Texts from someone pretending to be her dead sister... The past has to be confronted, but what about the present danger...?

When Faye from Faye Rogers PR asked if I wanted to be involved in this blog tour (photo on the side if you wanna see who else is taking part!), I jumped at the chance. As soon as I heard of this book, I knew I had to read it! It sounds so dark and twisted, it sounded beyond perfect for me. Before I hand you over to Sue and why swimming pools are so important to herself and her debut, I must thank both Sue (@SWallman) and Faye (@FayeRogersPR) for taking time out for this tour!

Now, over to you, Sue!

Why swimming pools are important in Lying About Last Summer and to Sue

The idea for Lying About Last Summer started with a swimming pool. I’d done a writing workshop on setting/place workshop with author Lucy Christopher and I realised I really liked pools. Not the sort with chipped tiles, floating plasters and kids chucking things at your head. No. Beautiful outdoor ones, where the sun’s bouncing off the water and I’m the only one in it. 

As a starting point for my book, I liked the idea of a lovely pool in an idyllic summer setting where something bad happens. It’s something that will change my protagonist Skye for ever – her sister dies. A year on, Skye goes to a camp for bereaved kids at an activity centre where she tries to pretend she isn’t phobic about being in a swimming pool or lake. 

I love swimming but I wasn’t a good swimmer as a child. When I swam breast-stroke one of my legs had a weird twist. It still does. I was in my 20s when my cousin taught me to swim front crawl and suddenly there was a sport I actually liked. There’s something liberating about swooshing along rhythmically with my head underwater, where sounds are different, and I’m cut off from the real world. A few years back I developed an allergy to chlorine and it felt as if I had a permanent heavy cold, so I started swimming with a nose clip, forcing myself to get used to it even though for ages it felt as if I was drowning. 

Over the eight years I’ve been writing fiction seriously, I’ve spent hours in the pool fantasising about being published as I’ve swum my lengths. To have finally got there with Lying About Last Summer is an incredible feeling.