A Slice of Cake With... Isobel Blackthorn

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Isobel Blackthorn.

Isobel is an award-winning author of unique and engaging fiction. She writes dark psychological thrillers, mysteries, and contemporary and historical fiction. On the dark side are Twerk, The Cabin Sessions and The Legacy of Old Gran Parks. Her Canary Islands’ collection begins with The Drago Tree and includes A Matter of Latitude, Clarissa’s Warning and A Prison in the Sun. Her interest in the occult is explored in The Unlikely Occultist: A biographical novel of Alice A. Bailey and the dark mystery A Perfect Square. The esoteric theme pervades much of her writing. Isobel is currently at work on a new mystery series, her sixth Canary Islands’ novel and a dark esoteric mystery.

Isobel has a background in Western Esotericism. She holds 1st Class Honours in Social Studies, and a PhD from the University of Western Sydney for her ground-breaking research on the works of Alice A. Bailey. After working as a teacher, market trader and PA to a literary agent, she arrived at writing in her forties, and her stories are as diverse and intriguing as her life has been.

Isobel performs her literary works at events in a range of settings, gives workshops in creative writing, and writes book reviews. Her reviews have appeared in New Dawn Magazine, Esoteric Quarterly, Shiny New Books, Sisters in Crime, Australian Women Writers, Trip Fiction and Newtown Review of Books. She talks regularly about books and writing on radio, in Australia, and on occasion in the UK and USA and Canary Islands.

British by birth, Isobel entered this world in Farnborough, Kent, She has lived in England, Australia, Spain and the Canary Islands.

What kind of books do you write?

I write rich stories with a strong element of social realism. I aim to entertain, but there’s a part of me that takes a deep interest in history and culture, and I love researching new topics. I like intrigue, drama, conflict, all the stuff of good fiction. My stories also tend to be setting rich.

Can you describe your writing why?

Writing must be written into my DNA. I’m hard-wired this way. I’m not suited to much else. The motivation to write comes from within, from a deep need to create and give expression to my imagination.

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

This paragraph is from Sing Like a Canary (Canary Islands Mysteries Book 5). I have enjoyed writing most of my books but this one was very special as it’s based on the true story of when my mum was a copper in London’s Metropolitan Police:

I’d always enjoyed keen eyesight. Ever since I was a child my eyes would home in on little bits of evidence – the shoelace of Carl Fisher’s school shoes in the bushes where Fiona Macintyre was molested, the missing tooth of Wendy Fraser in the gravel edging the school driveway after her skirmish with notorious school bully Sharon Weare – and it was this natural talent that had led me to join the constabulary. You’d make a great detective, my mother had said, which was a progressive thing to tell a daughter in the 1960s. I had a habit of finding myself in the right place at the right time, too, and I had a good nose for sniffing out clues. You’re a natural, Marjorie Pierce. Isn’t that what they’d said, back in the days of my police training. It was 1977 by the time I joined the force at the tender age of twenty-four, and indeed they had. That was what they’d said when they weren’t being lewd. 

Tell us about your latest project

My latest release is a cosy mystery. Murder in Myrtle Bay (Ruth Finlay Mysteries Book 1) is set where I used to live in Australia, and features the adorable and quirky sidekick Doris Cleaver. In this the first in the series, Ruth is a journalist writing for a lifestyle magazine and the duo find themselves unexpectedly trying to discover who murdered Ruth’s old tennis coach. It’s a complex case. Every suspect has a motive. Most had the opportunity. 

I loved writing this book so much. It’s also dedicated to the real Ruth Finley, who was the relative a lovely friend. Ruth was a high school teacher with a warm and strong nature. I came to know her all too briefly when I decided to name the main character after her – the outcome of a Facebook post. (You never know what can happen when you put character name queries on Facebook!)  Ruth was taken much too soon, but she did read the early chapters and journeyed along with my writing process all the way to publication. I have never written a book in such a disciplined fashion because we all felt in a race against time. Murder in Myrtle Bay is a fun feel good read, as you would expect with a cosy mystery. Especially so, as my intention was to entertain Ruth. It was uncanny, too, that my crafting of the fictional Ruth’s father actually resembled the real Ruth’s dad! 

What is your favourite cake?

Fruit cake as long as my slice comes with a thick layer of Marmite instead of icing.

You can connect with Isobel here:

isobelblackthorn.com
facebook.com/Lovesick.Isobel.Blackthorn
goodreads.com/author/show/5768657.Isobel_Blackthorn
twitter.com/IBlackthorn
instagram.com/isobelblackthorn

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Tom Hamling. 

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Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.