LUCY CLARKE ON WRITING & MOTHERHOOD
The idea for my fourth novel, LAST SEEN, came to me shortly after having my first baby, a beautiful little boy called Thomas Oak. I’d worried that my creativity might fade beneath the weight of sleepless nights and the admin of being a new parent – but in truth, I felt more creative than ever. I picked up my pen when Thomas was a few weeks old and I suddenly felt like I had a wealth of new experiences and emotions to share.
My husband and I co-parent. We’re both self-employed (he’s a professional windsurfer and creator of Bigsalty.com), so we split our working day in half: he looks after the children in the mornings while I write, and then at lunchtime we switch. Although I no longer have the luxury of a full day to write, I use my morning slot with a focus born from necessity.
Six months into writing LAST SEEN, I fell pregnant with my second child, a little girl called Darcy Wren (cue dashing from desk to bathroom in the throes of morning sickness). It was a race against time to finish the novel before she was born, but I signed off the copy edits a fortnight before my due date.
The two lead protagonists in LAST SEEN, Isla and Sarah, are mothers. I think the novel is heavily influenced by the deep well of emotion that parenthood opened in me. Now I’m busy working on my fifth novel, alongside bringing up Darcy and Tommy. Both of my roles – writer and mother – are weaved into the fabric of who I am, and I can’t imagine life without either of them.
Lucy with a copy of her bestselling novel, LAST SEEN
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