Interview with TC

click here: Interview with TC on YouTube 

Trudy, can you tell us something about yourself?

I live with my husband and three adult children in Düsseldorf, where I work as an entrepreneur.

 

What is your life like & how did you get into writing?

I have always loved words and even while I was at school I made up stories that helped me escape the confines of a small town. After graduating from high school, I left the country life behind and fled to Paris. Back then this meant pure freedom and yet it was also a culture shock for me, but I still draw from these experiences and memories today.

 

The beauty of the city, the unconventional manner of the French and my own freedom have left a lasting mark on me. It wasn't all rosy by a long shot (the French can make life very difficult - watch Emily in Paris on Netflix), but I loved the time there.

That's when I learned how powerful words are. They not only influence our environment, but above all ourselves. Because of this knowledge and my blossoming imagination, I decided to become a writer.

But as it so often is the case in life, many things turn out differently and before you know it you live a different everyday life and push your dreams aside. In my case, it was an exciting career path that was neither straight nor predictable.

After studying and training, I first worked for an NGO and got to know a lot of suffering in Africa. I stayed loyal to the region afterwards by doing cultural bridging from a management consultancy for an Israeli company.

When my children were little, I discovered China for myself. In over 50 trips to Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen & Guangzhou, I have developed into a production professional over the years. What started as a hobby turned into a company and thus my career path that completely absorbed me. 

Different African countries, Israel, China, India, USA, Mexico, Thailand - all of these were and are professional stations for me, which have given me many experiences and insights. I've been able to experience a lot around the world and at some point I started to write down my stories for myself personally. They have helped me to process things that are often completely unimaginable to us in our homeland.

 

Why are you writing?

My career path was and is exciting, I come into contact with a lot of people. Not all of these are comfortable, and over the years I've noticed that we are losing a lot of values. Too often us humans don't get on well with one another and with ourselves.

This topic occupies me personally and I use my writing on the one hand to escape it, but on the other hand it also gives me the opportunity to point out these grievances behind my stories.

In addition, I have a vivid imagination and am a cornucopia of stories. I like to create scenarios and characters with which I can convey something and inspire people.

 

How can we understand that?

I take my readers with me to places whose beauty touches the soul, where you can come to yourself and find the peace and quiet to concentrate on the essentials or to dream.

My protagonists value good interaction with one another, are respectful, rarely adapted and thus illustrate how one can pursue one's own path. They are humorous and some have a weakness for exaggeration (Cornelius). However, they are also profound and deal with topics that give food for thought.

 

What do you want to achieve with your books?

First of all, I want to provide my readers with a story to immerse themselves in. I would like to take them with me to places that enchant me and let me experience things that wake up, inspire or just make you laugh or dream.

My characters and stories should offer many approaches, stimulate thought, arouse admiration or longing, generate feelings and perhaps make things come alive that many people lack the courage to do in real life.

For example, my protagonist Samy Wilde left everything behind her that made up the first 33 years of her life and with which she was very successful - only because she was firmly convinced that there could be something completely different for her. A brave step that very few take. 

Or her wonderful friend Cornelius, who does not allow himself to be fooled and would actually be predestined to attract scorn and ridicule. However, he has found a role for himself that reaches other people and carries them away. He is a great example that people who are different shouldn't let themselves be prevented from fully living out this otherness.

It is important to me to use my characters and situations to make it clear that courage is always worthwhile and that life offers a lot more if you leave the path you have trodden on.

 

How long have you been writing?

As already mentioned, since my school days. However, only in the last few years have I found the time to finish manuscripts every now and then. Something always came first and kept me from writing. Now, however, I no longer have to deal with schools and my professional life has changed a lot too. Digitization and established structures with my business partners make a lot of trips superfluous. 

Today I would like to be able to do many of the trips again without any business or professional obligations. Then I would take my time for the things that interest me and that really matter.

For example, I would visit the Great Wall of China. In more than 50 business trips to China, there wasn't even a single time i got the chance to go there. 

However, the world has changed a lot and a lot of what I valued about distant countries is no longer the same. Therefore, I will have to pack my memories in stories and experience them again.

 

What have you already written? 

Countless unfinished novels, mostly crime novels, as well as the first two parts of the BAFFER saga. This is a family & fantasy story that tells in several volumes how two time travelers stir up a 21st family and show them how important a course correction is in our society.

This is a monumental work that will cost me a lot of time. In addition, everything has to be revised and proofread, but the time for that has probably not yet come.

(I released THE LITATRIT from the series as a self-publisher in 2019. In 2020 I “read it out” completely digitally and you can listen to it on my YouTube Chanel).

 

What inspires you

A lot - people who are brave and show that it is always important to be kind, authentic and determined.

Books & movies that reach my heart and soul.

Places that are magical and give me wonderful memories.

Moments with people & animals that make my heart beat faster

and much more.

 

What idols do you have?

There are many statements and actions by people that have a “wow effect” on me, but overall I try to be my own role model & my own yardstick, because as Oscar Wilde said so beautifully -

"Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken!"

And yet, I

… admire Lady Gaga for her strong appearance

… thank Jim Morrison & The Doors for the inspiration their music gives me

… am enthusiastic about quotes from Oscar Wilde

... celebrate my daughters for their determination

... thank my husband for his unlimited support and love

... envy my son for his composure when it comes to me    

... could name countless big names from many epochs and areas,

    who did or said something that touched me deeply.

 

Who are you writing for

Generally for everyone who is enthusiastic about stories and likes to read. But of course each genre is aimed at a specific readership. Murder in Windsor, for example, is for lovers of Cozy Crimes set in England.

I'm definitely not the storyteller for bloodthirsty and brutal stories, I don't either like reading them myself. I want to be able to sleep well at night and at some point I realized that I couldn't get along with books or films that depict extreme violence. So there is none of that in my stories.

You can read my stories without being awakened by nightmares afterwards. Readers who love Cozy Crimes are much better off with me than readers who want to converse with the very worst abysses of people.

 

Which genre do you personally love? 

I love classic English thrillers by Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but overall I love stories that take place in Great Britain in general - be it crime thrillers (historical as well as contemporary), fantasy or family novels. As soon as I can see from a blurb that there is something British hidden in it, I can hardly get past it.

However, I also like old German family stories and books set in the New England states that focus on human relationships.

Biographies and descriptions of stages in my life fascinate me very much, I particularly liked “Becoming” by Michelle Obama, but I would also like to read works like “Promised Land” by Barak Obama or “The Room Where It Happened” and “The Other Side Of The Coin”.

 

Why is Windsor such a big issue?

I went to Windsor for the first time when I was 15. At that time I was staying with a family in Surrey, South England, as part of an exchange program. My host parents showed me the highlights of the area and a tour took us to Windsor, where I was blown away by the gigantic Windsor Castle.

Since I could read to some extent, I had worked my way through my parents' very extensive library. There were many historical novels, family stories and a few thrillers set in England. Of course there were other locations too, but I was always drawn to the English stories.

Exploring southern England and London as a teenager probably did the rest and I fell completely in love with this country. I passed this love on to my family, but it was a long time before I came back to Windsor.

In the meantime I have been to Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Kent and the south coast of England, as well as countless times in London. A few years ago I finally went back to Windsor with my youngest daughter and it was like "coming home".

Since that moment it has become our second home and we spend as much time there as possible. Sometimes I retreat there all by myself for a few days to finish a project or just to take a deep breath.

There are countless places in Great Britain that are magical, towns with small alleys that bring the middle ages back to life, enchanted cemeteries, buildings that breathe history and pubs that you never want to leave. Still, Windsor has become THE PLACE TO BE for us. That's why Samy & Cornelius investigate exactly there.