Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?
Life for those working for a travelling funfair in the 1950’s was not the glamorous one it was perceived to be. Let me take you into the world of the Grundy family and the rest of their fairfolk community, laugh and cry with them as they face unknown obstacles and adversaries from inside and outside the community, whilst they labour hard to bring some fun and excitement into the lives of working class folks in the North of England.
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
‘DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.’
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
I was once asked if I would write the eulogy to be read out at the funeral of a much loved pet dog.
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
Impossible for me to decide between two. Charles Dickens the master at characterisation. Agatha Christie the master of whodunits. Both such superb storytellers. To sit on the side lines and observe them both working, let alone have the utter privilege of writing conjointly with each of them, the stuff dreams are made of for this writer.
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).
I am an open book and therefore there isn’t much about my life that I haven’t shared with my readers over the thirty years I have been writing. They might not know though that I am a huge Star Trek fan across the franchise and still watch episodes now even though I have watched them already several times. In fact anything to do with the universe and how it works intrigues and fascinates me. My dream is to travel in space and explore the cosmos, visit places no man has ever been before, but as I have a fear of flying and I am terrified of heights, even if space travel was possible, a dream that will never be realised.
Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
No matter how hard I have worked that day or how late the hour I cannot sleep until I have read for at least an hour, which usually turns into three or four. Research aside, I read for pleasure and to be taken into the lives of people I never would be in reality. I like stories that are intricate but easy to read and with characters that are likeable and I can relate to, imperfect like I am. I read many genres but my preference is crime, American by the likes of David Baldacci, Harlan Coben, Dan Brown, but for me nothing beats a good British whodunit by the best in the business, Agatha Christie, also Anne Cleeves, Joy Ellis, Denzil Meyrick amongst many others whose stories I enjoy.
At the moment I have just started the 4th in the series of Fen Murders by Joy Ellis. Riveting crime stories set amid the atmospheric scenery of the Fen’s around the Wash with a very likeable detective duo, both dealing with their own demons in life whilst they solve the horrific crimes of other demons who operate on their patch. Very enjoyable and easy to read.
Rosie Goodwin’s, The Misfit. A wonderful saga writer who tells compelling stories of people living in by gone times facing hardships and difficulties and how they triumph through them. I have read several of Rosie Goodwin’s books and each one I couldn’t put down and whose characters I was sorry to say goodbye to when I reached the end.
The Last Dram before Midnight, Denzil Meyrick. I lived in Scotland for eleven years and to me Denzil had created characters that epitomise everything Scottishness. His stories are set in a remote but bustling town, the exchanges between the characters are at times bellyachingly funny, so reading it you find one moment you are gripped in horror, the next crying with laughter. I am desperately waiting for the next in the series to be published.
Who is Lynda Page? Lynda Page is the bestseller author of 31 novels, sales of over 1 1/2 million to date. She was born and raised in Leicester and now splits her time between a village in Leicestershire and her daughters’ holiday park in Epworth, North Lincs where she helps out as much as she can cleaning cottages, ironing mounds of bedding or cutting grass. Until the age of thirty seven, Lynda had no aspirations to become a writer, in fact had never written anything remotely literary, let alone publishable, since leaving school at 15. Coerced by her best friend to go to night school to study for a GCSE in English Literature, a short story she wrote was to develop into her first novel Annie which she completed in her lunch hours on a works word processor. Persuaded by a colleague to try and get it published she sent it to an agent who immediately recognised her talent for story telling, sent the manuscript to a publisher who 4 days later made an offer for the book and Lynda has been under contract to them ever since.
All the Fun of the Fair by Lynda Page is published by Canelo on 19th February (available in ebook, £1.99)
