(OTHERWISE KNOWN AS 10 DISTRACTIONS FROM WRITING)

24 Hours

24 Hours

WHERE ALL THE DUST COMES FROM IN MY HOUSE which coats the computer I'm trying to write with, so I can barely see the screen. Meaning I can spend an entire morning cleaning it…and the house…or not, but it's an excuse to do not much work. Or…I could just use pen and paper, I guess J

WHY MY CHILDREN CAN NEVER EVER FIND their shoes, their socks, their homework, their dirty washing, their clean washing, their shin pads, their school jumper on a Sunday night, the dog lead, the dog… you get my drift. Precious moments working lost, looking for 'stuff'.(And on that tack, why the dog always alwaysalways picks my stuff to chew whilst I'm upstairs writing: my hair clips, my bobble hat, my slippers…)

WHY EVERY TIME I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A BOOK, SOMEONE ELSE HAS A ONE SIMILAR AROUND THE SAME TIME?does that mean there are only a finite amount of ideas?Or are they all copying me?!JI delivered 24 HOURS just as GONE GIRL came out. They are not similar but they are about destructive relationships. When my last book FRAGILE MINDS was published, about Claudie who can't remember things, and fears she is complicit in a terrible crime, SJ Watson's BEFORE I SLEEP then came out, about a woman who has no memory at all...Coincidence? Or the universe trying to tell us something?

WHY ARE SO MANY TV THRILLERS JUST A BIT TOO UNCONVINCING?Having just switched off BBC'S DR FOSTER, unconvinced, I wonder why so many thrillers on TV don't always work. Is it because a good screenwriter is not necessarily a thriller writer? You have to keep the plot going and keep the reader/ viewer hooked and keep them watching / reading with enough plausibility and sometimes, it just don't work!

WHY DID THE WORLD INVENT FLIES? that buzz around my tiny office when I'm trying to concentrate . I mean: Spiders: maybe scary, there is a point. Worms: a wriggly, gardening point. Ladybirds: dead cute, and eat greenflies. Caterpillars: turn into butterflies. Flies? Not so much.

WHY IS THERENEVER ENOUGH TIME TO READ ALL THE AMAZING BOOKS OUT THERE?I could lock myself away - or get snowed into a library or a bookshop, my idea of heaven - and I would never ever ever have enough time this life-time to read everything I want to…

WHY TIME GOES SO FAST WHEN WE'RE HAVING FUN (OR RUNNING OUT OF IT ON A DEADLINE) - AND SO SLOW WHEN WE'RE NOT? Like a holiday - it whizzes when it's fun, but when you're waiting for the dentist, the doctor, your new love to call and they're not. Tick tock etc.

WHY IS THERE ALWAYS SOMEONE IN THE TRAIN CARRIAGE HAVING THE WORLD'S MOST BORING MOBILE PHONE CONVERSATION WHENI'M TRYING TO WORK And why do they talk so loud? What makes them think we want to know their innermost secrets, and do they not know we don't care? Or is that spurring them on?Everyone's the star of their own show these days, eh?!

WHY DO I NEED TO HAVE PERFECTLY MANICURED NAILS TO WRITE A BOOK? It must be because I'm looking at my hands all the time, of course!

WHY WHENEVER I'M WRITING IN A CAFÉ I END UP WRITING THE LYRICS DOWN INSTEAD OF MY OWN WORDS…is this a sign to buy some earplugs, or pay less for cappuccinos?

24 Hours Here today. Dead tomorrow?

My best friend, Emily, is dead - killed last night in a hotel fire. But it was meant to be me. Now I have 24 hours to find my daughter. Before he finds out I'm still alive. 24 Hours is a fast-paced, intelligent psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.

UK: http://amzn.to/1K0I1Bi

US: http://amzn.to/1JLtFRM

Website: www.claireseeber.com/

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