Meet Catherine: A Q&A with the Author of The Alpha Flame

Welcome to something a little different on the blog, a personal Q&A with me, Catherine Lynwood, about The Alpha Flame: Discovery. I asked my daughter, Sammy, to help collect questions from readers (and ask a few of her own). If you want to know what inspired the book, why it's set in the 1980s, or why I insisted on telling some very hard truths, this is for you.

Sammy: Mum, a lot of people asked why you chose to set The Alpha Flame in the 1980s. What makes that decade so important to the story?

Catherine: I grew up in Birmingham in the early 80s, so it’s the world I remember most vividly. It wasn’t polished or forgiving. It was industrial, declining, and often felt forgotten. There were strikes at the car factories, whole streets boarded up, and families struggling. It’s perfect for a thriller because the stakes were real. No smartphones, no easy escapes. Secrets could stay buried. Lies were easier to tell. But you also had this strong sense of loyalty among people who didn’t have much else. It makes every betrayal in the story cut deeper.

Sammy: One reader wanted to know if the places in the book are real or made up. Like the underpass, the pub, the estate Maggie lives on…

Catherine: Great question. They’re all *inspired* by real places, but with some creative licence. Maggie’s estate is based on the 1950s/60s flats I knew, three-storey blocks with tower blocks nearby, cracked car parks, old cars, bits of graffiti. The underpasses and flyovers were exactly like that, dark, damp, with an edge of danger. But the pub? That’s real. The Barnt Green Inn is very much a real place, and still going strong today. It’s lovely, full of atmosphere, with that warm old-English pub feel. I spent more hours there than I probably should admit, once I was 18, of course! It’s a setting I know well, so it felt right to weave it in authentically.

Sammy: This one's from your Ask Catherine page, “Why write such a dark story? Wasn’t it hard?”

Catherine: It was incredibly hard. Some scenes left me shaken for days. But I think fiction has to tell the truth, even when it’s ugly. Abuse happens. People are exploited. Women, especially, are asked to survive things that shouldn’t exist. If I’d softened it too much, I’d be lying about what that feels like. That doesn’t mean there isn’t hope in the book, there’s loyalty, humour, love. But I couldn’t skip the dark to get there. That would have felt dishonest to me and to anyone who’s lived it.

Sammy: Someone asked, “Is Beth based on anyone you knew?”

Catherine: Not one single person, no. But I knew girls who went through things like she did. Who seemed older than they should, quieter than they should, or too good at pretending nothing was wrong. Beth is built from pieces of that, and from what it felt like to watch people lose their sense of safety. She’s also her own person, with her own fire. I wanted readers to see how someone like that might find her strength, even if it’s messy and painful.

Sammy: Let’s talk about Maggie. You’ve said before she’s a little bit you…

Catherine: (laughs) More than a little, probably. She has my sarcasm, my protective streak, and definitely my tendency to say exactly what I think. But she’s braver than I ever was. She steps up even when she’s scared. And she’s fiercely loyal to people who’ve been hurt. I think if you’ve been on the edges yourself, you learn to spot who needs help. Maggie’s also flawed. She makes mistakes, holds grudges, sometimes lashes out. I wanted her to feel real, not like a cardboard heroine.

Sammy: Here’s one I wanted to ask. “Why didn’t you make it easier to read?”

Catherine: Because life wasn’t easy. I didn’t want a thriller that you forget as soon as you close it. I wanted something that made you feel, angry, sad, even a bit hopeful. Some scenes are raw because they need to be. I didn’t want to sanitise Beth’s work as a prostitute. I didn’t want to fade to black when Rick shows his worst. But there’s humour too. Maggie fending off men in bars, her banter with friends. And there’s warmth, like Mary bathing the girls after they escape. It’s hard reading, but I hope it feels true.

Sammy: Another reader wanted to know why the book is set specifically in Birmingham.

Catherine: Birmingham is my city. Not the tourist version, but the real streets I grew up on. In the 80s it was tough. There was pride and humour and friendship, but also racism, poverty, crime. It felt forgotten by the people in charge. I wanted to capture that sense of a city fighting to survive, and the way that seeps into the people who live there. It’s not meant to be flattering. It’s meant to be honest. I love Birmingham, but I wanted to show the truth of it.

Sammy: Last one for today, “What do you hope readers feel at the end?”

Catherine: I hope they feel something. Even if it’s discomfort. Even if they’re angry at me for what happens. I want them to remember Maggie and Beth, not because they’re perfect, but because they survived. I want readers to see the loyalty between them, the fight to hold onto themselves. If someone’s been through trauma, I hope they feel seen. And for everyone else, I hope it makes them think about the things people hide behind closed doors, and what it takes to come back from that.