LLOYD OTIS
The debut crime writer tells Adrian Magson how his first novel was inspired by his own experience of identity theft
If one piece of author’s advice should be heeded by would-be writers, it’s that it pays to have a vivid imagination and some life experience to use as a basis for becoming a writer. The author is Lloyd Otis, whose debut crime thriller, Dead Lands, was published in October by Urbane Publications.
‘I definitely have a colourful and vivid imagination,’ admits Lloyd, from south-east London. ‘But the inspiration for Dead Lands was born out of an identity theft issue I experienced, with someone pretending to be me. For a while I had to battle with that issue, but in the end it became a police matter and that particular theme runs through the book.’