Meet The Author: Louise TW Lucas

 

Architect, designer, and author of three novels, a children's book, and a biography of the artist Gillian Watkiss.
I was born in an old Cornish cottage in the rural parish of St Levan.
Dylan Thomas lived there before his marriage to Caitlin.
My parents then moved to Zennor, a remote coastal village where D.H. Lawrence and his German wife, Frieda, had a cottage during the first world war. At the time, and because of Frieda's background (she was related to the infamous Red Barron), the locals suspected them of spying.
The relevance these famous writers have to my story is, precisely... none whatsoever. They are just interesting facts about two elite literary figures I considered worth bandying about in this biography. I'm not saying our closely shared geographical history has, in any way, enhanced my own literary talents.
However, I'm sure Dylan and Lawrence would have really enjoyed my novels had they lived long enough to read them.
Sons and Lovers is a fantastic novel, but, in my opinion, Lady Chatterley's Lover is over-rated. You'd be better off reading my second novel, Showing Off, as it's far funnier and really entertaining.
I was seven when the family moved again. This time from Zennor to St.Just.
St just is a mining town near Pendeen (Poldark country, to fans of the series).
When I left home at seventeen and moved to St. Ives, those innocent and happy years were well and truly over.
My sister Sharon was killed in a car accident when she was seventeen (just over a month after my sixteenth birthday).
The nightmare of that event and the emotional growing pains we all go through hit me hard.
My early twenties were marred by a steep decline into depression and anorexia.
I self-medicated by chain-smoking at least forty cigarettes a day. The idea of anti-depressants had not occurred to me. It wasn't until I emerged from under that very dark cloud that I realised it had been shadowing me.
Depression wasn't talked about back in the day.
Although I sometimes, unwittingly, re-visit that twenty-year-old self and feel the Earth shifting uneasily beneath my feet, the gift of two beautiful sons, a happy marriage (later in life, not with boys' father) and a great family keep me afloat.
In my most recent novel, Lies & Revelations, some of my personal struggles with mental health have helped shape the narrative.
For twelve years, I ran a vintage clothing shop in Penzance called Kitts Couture,
In that time, I organised five vintage fashion shows at local venues.
The idea for Showing Off was shaped by that experience.
My children's story, Caterpillar Cat, is based on the true story of Caterpillar Cat, a stray who's moved in and become part of the family.
In 2020 I published a book called, In Conversation with Gill Watkiss, a compilation of interviews and photographic illustrations of the artist's (my mother's) work.
Mum also features (fictionally) in my two first comic novels.
This year, 2022, I'm working on a new novel and a collection of short stories.

My books to date

Showing Off
Hungary For Love

Lies & Revelations

In Conversation with Gill Watkiss

Caterpillar Cat