This week I’m delighted to host Harriet Tyce, who I was lucky enough to meet recently. Her debut novel Blood Orange is deservedly garnering a lot of praise so it was great to find out a little bit more about the person behind the name, and be able to share that with you.

Author Bio:-

Harriet Tyce was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She graduated from the University of Oxford in 1994 with a degree in English Literature before gaining legal qualifications. She worked as a criminal barrister for ten years, leaving after the birth of her first child. She completed an MA in Creative Writing – Crime Fiction at UEA where she wrote Blood Orange, which is her first novel.

Which 5 pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack to your life and why?

Summer Lovin’ from Grease – my brother and I were obsessed with this song when we were little.

Just Like Heaven by The Cure – takes me back immediately to being 14 and going through all the ups and downs of being a teenager.

Lost Weekend by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – drinking my way through my early twenties. There were some lost weekends.

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli – our wedding song to which we danced incredibly badly.

Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols – when my son was little he was obsessed with the film Flushed Away, and this song from its soundtrack became his favourite. I could practically sing it backwards even now…

 

Highlight 5 things (apart from family and friends) you’d find it hard to live without.

 

Coffee

Cheese

Twitter

Internet delivery services

Sleep

Can you offer 5 pieces of advice you’d give to your younger self?

 

Don’t attempt a Princess Diana haircut – it’ll look terrible.

Get up earlier.

You don’t always have to finish the bottle.

Just because he looks like Robert Redford does not make him a good thing.

You don’t have to be the last to leave the party.

 

Tell us 5 things that most people don’t know about you.

I’ve trained as a chef.

I don’t like crowds.

I cry at adverts.

I’m allergic to cats although I love them.

I can play the flute and the piano at Grade 8 standard.

What are the first 5 things you’d have on your bucket list?

See the Northern Lights.

Dive with manta rays in the Pacific Ocean.

See the cherry blossom and autumn leaves in Japan.

Follow the course of Odysseus across the Greek islands.

Eat cheese fondue in the Alps.

o-o-O-o-o

Thanks so much for taking part Harriet. Some sage advice for your younger self. I had my own Princess Diana faux pas, thankfully not as long lasting as a haircut, but the pictures still remain to remind me of a hideous red and white tri-angle patterned blouse with a Lady Di tie neck! I suspect many of us have also had a  ‘Robert Redford’ scenario  -we live and learn! Very impressed with your musical ability, at least when you are the last to leave the party you can keep people entertained (assuming a piano or flute is to hand). I hope you get to achieve some, if not all on your bucket list and wish you all success with Blood Orange.  

 

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (see my review here)

Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise – she’s just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems…

Just one more night. Then I’ll end it.

Alison drinks too much. She’s neglecting her family. And she’s having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.

I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.

Alison’s client doesn’t deny that she stabbed her husband – she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.

I’m watching you. I know what you’re doing.

But someone knows Alison’s secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she’s done, and who won’t stop until she’s lost everything….

 

You can keep in touch with Harriet via:-

Twitter

Facebook

Her website

 

Join me next week for Five on Friday with Louise Beech