Valerie interviews B.M. Carroll, whose latest thriller, One of Us Is Missing, revolves around a family dealing with a mysterious disappearance of one family member during a concert. The conversation also touches on B.M. Carroll's writing process, character development, and the importance of feedback and rewriting.
00:00 Introduction and shoutout to AWC graduate Richard Pritchard on this third book 01:55 Nat Newman’s writing tips 02:50 Words at Dawn writing group 05:19 Avoiding info dumps 09:32 Book giveaway: Blackwater by Jacqueline Ross 15:49 Interview with B. M. Carroll 22:44 The creative process and panic 23:32 Editing and major rewrites 25:59 Timeline of writing and rewriting 30:18 Character development and authenticity 37:27 Writing routine and word count goals 40:09 Name change and genre shift 42:35 Top tips for aspiring writers 46:34 Conclusion and fun fact
Ber Carroll (also known as B.M Carroll) was born in Blarney, a small but famous village in Ireland. The third child of six, she often retreated from the chaos of family life by immersing herself in books. She has fond memories of the mobile library bus that used to pull up outside their house in Blarney and the dozen or so books she would borrow at a time, some quite inappropriate for her age.
Ber moved to Sydney in 1995 with her boyfriend (now husband) Rob. She got a job as a finance manager in the IT industry and began to climb the corporate ladder. The exciting and dynamic work environment captured her imagination and inspired her first novel. When Executive Affair was published, Ber flatly denied it was in any way auto-biographical. She now admits that the novel did have a lot of her in it, and suspects that half the people who purchased the book were her ex colleagues, to see if they were in it too. Ber gave up her finance career when she realised that she couldn’t hold down a demanding job, be mum to two small children and write books to contractual deadline. She now writes fulltime, but says that she misses getting dressed up for work and being around people who listen to what she has to say, unlike her kids!
Ber is the author of eleven novels. Her most recent novels The Missing Pieces of Sophie McCarthy, Who We Were, You Had It Coming, and The Other Side of Her are published under B.M. Carroll. You Had It Coming was shortlisted for the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and the 2022 Davitt Award for Best Adult Novel.
