We caught up with Becky C. Brynolf, author of I Found a Body and a graduate of Faber Academy’s Writing a Novel and Writing Crime courses, to talk about her path to publication, the inspiration behind her gripping debut and how she juggles parenthood, a full-time job and writing her next novel.

You previously studied on our crime writing course as well as our flagship Writing a Novel course. How valuable were these courses to the writing of your novel?

So valuable. Worth every penny. Prior to the courses I’d had a lot of enthusiasm for writing, but not a lot of discipline or much of an idea of how to write well. With the courses I learnt to read like a writer and had regular opportunities to get feedback from peers and experts.

Did you make writing friends during your Faber Academy course? How important has peer feedback been to your process?

I did make writing friends! My Writing a Novel cohort are all in the same WhatsApp group, and we celebrate/commiserate with each other all the time. We’re yet to meet in person as a whole group, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of these days we’ll all be in the same city at the same time. Peer feedback has been so important to my process – without it I Found a Body might have been very different, and might never have been published.

I Found a Body has been described as a ‘gripping unputdownable story of an influencer, a dead body and a live stream.’ Could you tell us a little bit more about the novel? What gave you the inspiration for it?

If you found a body in the woods, would you call the police, or live stream it? I Found a Body opens at this fork in the road, and is an odd couple story for crime fiction fans and the chronically online. It throws together a seasoned detective navigating divorce and teenage strops, and a misguided influencer turned internet sleuth after finding a body during a live stream. Their duelling investigations explore themes of fact versus fiction, expert versus amateur, and private versus public. Chapters in the past are juxtaposed with chapters nine years later, so we see the characters grapple with the consequences of their actions, leaving the reader with plenty of questions, such as how has influencer Kylie May become a household name, and why is Detective Mona Hendricks disgraced, injured and unemployed?

I was inspired by the way we have been literally and figuratively pointing cameras at bodies for entertainment for some time now. We pass endless true crime podcast and Netflix documentary recommendations between each other like good books. TikTokkers investigated the site of Nicola Bulley’s disappearance until the police had to issue a statement to discourage the internet sleuths from dropping by. Logan Paul became infamous after filming a dead body in Japan. Celebrity culture and true crime have been bedfellows for a long time; it’s an easy topic in which to find inspiration – truth is stranger than fiction, etc etc, and don’t we all just love a good whodunnit?

Can you share your journey to getting published?

I was very lucky in my publishing journey. After I completed the Writing A Novel course, a sample of my writing was included in the Faber Anthology that goes out to a wide range of literary agents. I received interest from a small handful of agents, and one in particular really stood out: Becky Percival at United Agents. She waited patiently for the book to be finished and signed me when it was ready to go to submission. Some editors took interest, but eventually one editor, Rachel Morrell at Black & White Publishing, really understood the book and worked hard to champion it. She made the editing process collaborative and enjoyable, and working with the B&W team on marketing I Found a Body was so much more fun than I could have anticipated. The whole journey took around four years, from starting the Writing A Novel course to my novel being published.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

You can’t edit nothing.

If your book were to be adapted into a movie, who would be your dream cast?

I could definitely see it as a TV series. A bit left field maybe, but I think Amelia Dimoldenberg (or an Amelia Dimoldenberg type) would be a lot of fun as influencer Kylie May. As for Detective Mona Hendricks, I often picture actresses like Nina Sosanya, Tiffany Stevenson, or Lucy Davis.

What are you reading right now?

I’m (slowly) reading four books right now: Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister, The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell, Hark by Alice Vincent, and Probably Nothing by Lauren Bravo. It’s taking an age for me to read a book quickly since I had a baby at the end of last year, but it’s nice to open an e-reader app on my phone during night feeds and contact naps.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I work from home, doing digital and comms for a charity. I’m just about to go back to my job after six months of maternity leave, during which time I Found a Body was published. It’s been an exciting time, learning how to be a parent, promoting a book, keeping in touch with work, all while keeping our energetic collie entertained. I suppose another way to answer this question is that when I’m not writing, I’m multitasking.

What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

Keeping all the clues and breadcrumbs in place after cutting 30,000 words from the original draft. I love when you can look back through a story and realise the clues were staring you in the face, that all the details were intentional nods to the reveal. Making sure those ‘aha, of course!’ moments were still intact after a massive word count cull was stressful but so worth it.

What’s next for your writing?

I’m working on a second book! It’s leaning more towards horror this time, but still explores themes around internet subcultures. There are fresh challenges this time, mostly around finding the time to write while maintaining balance with the other areas of my life. My husband is so supportive and proud of my writing, which is great because I love writing, but I also love spending time with my family! If anyone knows how best to maintain this balance with a full-time job, my DMs are always open.

Writing a Novel is designed to support aspiring fiction writers to develop their craft over six months, with courses in London (at Faber’s HQ in Hatton Garden), Newcastle and online.

A six-month programme of seminars, sessions will cover all the essentials of novel writing – including character, story, structure, plotting, voice, dialogue, conflict and more.

Find out more about the next iterations of Writing a Novel.