This month’s fantastic free audiobook, brought to you in partnership with publishers Harpercollins, is a sizzling thriller

Jane Hughes is living a quiet life in rural Wales when a dark secret from her past looks set to destroy everything. C.L. Taylor’s The Lie is the second in our fabulous free audiobook offer. Here, she talks to Prima exclusively about her life as a writer and where she gets her inspiration from…

When did you first decide to become a writer? I was about eight years old and a keen reader. I sent a book I’d written to Ladybird Books and, several weeks later, received my first ever rejection letter.

How did it finally take off?

When one of my best friends from school died suddenly, aged 33, I realised life is short and if I wanted to achieve my ambition, I should hurry up and write a novel. I wrote the first draft of my romantic comedy

Heaven Can Wait after work, then I had an idea for a psychological thriller that I wrote while on maternity leave. I’ve now written nine books and sold more than a million copies in the UK alone.

What’s your writing routine?

My son is now seven, so my writing day is defined by the school run.

I try to keep the weekends free, though, so we can spend time together as a family.

What’s the best bit about writing? When I get an idea that I’m really excited by. I love scribbling down character sketches, scene ideas and twists and turns. There are twists that jump into my head late at night and solutions to problems I thought I’d never fix.

How would you advise would-be

authors? I’d say self-doubt is a normal part of the process, and study books you love. I learn a lot from other authors.

What audiobooks have you enjoyed recently? The Last by Hanna Jameson. It’s a murder mystery set in Switzerland, shortly after a nuclear attack devastates the rest of the world. I also fell in love with Maud, the main character in Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey. A beautifully written book.

‘There are twists that jump into my head late at night’