Lacey Dearie

Publisher info

Lacey Dearie is a writer from Ayrshire, Scotland. She has lived her whole life in the Ayrshire countryside and sets many of her stories in this area, or in the places where her extended family live.

On leaving school in 1995, she chose an entrepreneurial career path, which later led to a job in book-keeping before working for over a decade as a paralegal. She also ran a small perfumery for a short time and has worked as a mystery shopper since 2007, partly because she likes the glamour of being a spy, although it's actually super boring and there's a lot of paperwork involved.

She returned to study in her 30s, undertaking a BA in Arts & Humanities with the Open University in Scotland, where she gained a distinction in creative writing. She has also studied Comparative and World Literature with Harvard's online program, Harvard X and History of Religion, specifically magical beliefs in the Middle Ages with the Universitat de Barcelona.

Since 2002, she has written for a variety of publications, both in print and online. She is the author of 39 cat sleuth novellas, 2 chick-lit novels, 3 stories about sexually active foods and a blog named Rock Paper Spirit. She has also written a Chaka Demus and Pliers tribute musical, just to pass the time.

She has been an associate member of the Cat Writers Association since 2018.

Smashwords Interview

What is your writing process?
It's different with each book, but generally I try not to over-think it. I plan all my stories on one sheet of paper only. If I need help with the chain of events I'll write them all down on post-its and juggle them around until I get it right. After that I write about 5K words and then go back over them and edit. After that first 5K though, I usually get into the swing of things and push on without further edits until I'm finished. I round off with a couple of thorough edits, one final edit and the proof-read. Once I've published the story I do another double/triple check. There's always something I miss the first time round.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I was a big fan of the short stories you get in comics so that was my usual reading material when I was a child. The first actual book I remember reading was Flat Stanley about the guy who's so flat he can be sent through the post in a giant envelope when he wants to go somewhere. There was also a book of Aesop's Fables I remember reading. I loved them.
Read more of this interview.

Lacey Dearie's favorite authors on Smashwords