Posted by Sue Leonard on Monday 1st March 2021
An outdoor child, Allie started snowboarding when she was 20.
“I went to a dry slope.”
Afterwards university, Allie took a TEFAL course in Barcelona.
“I went to Andorra to snowboard every weekend, and I spent my holidays on the slopes.”
It wasn’t enough. So Allie worked three jobs throughout the summer months and saved for her winters.
“I taught English; I worked at Manchester Crown Court; I waitressed, and I worked in a nightclub. I biked between jobs and worked out at a gym. It was tough, but I’d do it all again.”
She snowboarded all winter in ‘half-pipe,’ in France, then Switzerland.
“In year 3, I competed in the British Championships and made the top 10.”
The following year she trained for 8 months but fell before the championships and tore knee ligaments.
“And the following year there was hardly any snow. I was 26. It was time to get a real job.”
She trained as a primary school teacher and worked in central London. Then, holidaying in Australia, she got into surfing, and found a way to stay on, working as a teacher.
“I’ve been writing since I was 22 – and have 4 unfinished novels. I’ve also written commercial short stories and had 120 published worldwide.”
Shiver took 6 months to write. Selling in a 10-way auction, it has been optioned for TV.
Who is Allie Reynolds?
Date of birth: Lincoln, England, in 1975.
Education: Yarborough High School, Lincoln, then sixth form college; Manchester University, Computational linguistics.
Home: The Gold Coast, Australia.
Family: Sons Danny 8, and Lucas, 6.
The Day Job: Fulltime writer.
In Another Life: “I had wanted to get to the Olympics, but I don’t regret quitting snowboarding.”
Favourite Writers: Karen Dionne; Clare Mackintosh; C.L Taylor; Ruth Ware.
Second Novel: “I’m busy writing it.”
Top Tip: Read. “I’ve learned how to write from reading widely; analysing why books work.”
Website: www.ali-reynolds.com Twitter: @authorallier
The Debut: Shiver. Headline: €14.55. Kindle: €5.56.
Milla joins 4 snowboarding friends for a reunion in the Alps – 10 years after Saskia went missing, presumed dead. An ice-breaker game turns menacing. Who asked her there, and will she learn the truth?
The Verdict: A brilliant taut, icy thriller – its high tension tinged with humour.
Published in The Irish Examiner, 23rd January.
© Sue J Leonard. 2021.