Suzy, you asked what inspired me to write about gambling. “The initial idea came to me after I had heard how a business man had lost everything he owned through gambling. A few weeks later I met a lady who had a family member who was addicted to internet gambling, again another story of unnecessary loss. From then on my story slowly began to unfold. It took several months to write and edit before I was happy enough to send it to my editor. Even then I was nervous about her reaction. Thankfully in the end I had nothing to fear as her final words to me after delivering my manuscript back were, “Good luck! You deserve it. I’ve loved this story.”
Creating a cast of characters and giving them a story to tell is only part of the process. I needed to understand the deep emotions of how addiction takes over. For this I read many stories from people who had been in that kind of situation. I also I spent a great deal of time checking out gambling rules and laws that were pertinent to the sixties, very different from today’s gaming laws. In the Cold Light of Day is not about sitting round a roulette table or understanding the rules, it is about how two people find themselves caught up in the consequences of gambling addiction and how it turns their lives upside down to the point of destruction.
Here is the blurb….
Bertie Costain has worked hard all his life in the building trade and now owns his own London-based company. In 1967, approaching fifty and still unmarried he enjoys a playboy lifestyle, but when he meets Kitty, an attractive, wealthy widow ten years his senior, he swiftly proposes.
Swept off her feet, Kitty adores him. The happy couple seem to have it all, but Bertie has a secret. Kitty has no idea their home is mortgaged to the hilt, or that the many expensive gifts he brings her come out of his winnings at roulette. Proud of his apparent success and ignorant of his gambling addiction, she happily loans him large sums of money, ostensibly for his business.
Convinced with each spin of the wheel that his run of bad luck will change, Bertie gambles for increasingly high stakes, falling deeper and deeper into debt until, facing financial ruin and with nowhere to turn, he resorts to fraud. As their lives begin to unravel, Kitty learns the horrifying truth.
In the cold light of day can their love survive the pain and destruction Bertie’s addiction has wrought?
I am a Yorkshire lass, but have lived in several different locations over the years; Suffolk, Surrey and Holland. Today, I live on one of the beautiful islands of the Canary Isles with my husband and our two gorgeous rescue doggies.
Years ago I gained a BA (Hons) degree from the Open University, today I spend my time writing fiction. I have five books published, plus a 20 minute short festive story.
My passion is to write about events that happen in life and change everything for those involved as well as those caught up in the maelstrom. I want my characters to sit at your side, steal your attention and sweep you up in their story. Stories that will bring tears to your eyes, have you laughing out loud and sometimes, what they share with you, will stay in your hearts for a very long time.
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In the Cold Light of Day is available in Kindle from ALL Amazon stores (paperback to follow in the New Year)
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