Q&A: Ten for The TEN with Claire Douglas
A thrilling adventure
Claire may well correct me on this but one of the last times I saw her in person was at a garden centre on the outskirts of Bath.
We’d been previously introduced by a mutual friend and I was excited to hear about her career as a novelist. She was in the process of writing her fifth book, Then She Vanishes, and if I recall correctly, was still searching for a title.
I’ve followed her on Instagram ever since, and read her books (as has my mum!), so was delighted when Claire, who’s just published her tenth novel, The Wrong Sister, said she’d take part in a Ten for The TEN.
She’s now a Sunday Times number one bestselling author, which is the dream she held as a seven-year-old girl. A former magazine journalist, Claire’s books have sold over a million copies in the UK and been published worldwide.
She got her big break after winning the 2013 Marie Claire Debut Novel Award, with The Sisters, and has since flourished. Last year’s, The Woman Who Lied, was shortlisted for Book of the Year, in the Crime and Thriller category, at The British Book Awards.
More importantly, she’s a woman after my own heart citing crisps as her favourite writing snack. “Red Leicester Mini Cheddars are a current favourite!”
Book eleven is already in the works, although she’s keeping the specifics under her hat for now. “It still in its early stages, but it’s a thriller about family, with a twist I hope turns everything on its head.”
You’ll have to a wait a little while for that one but The Wrong Sister, is very much out now. It’s her first in hardback and flew in at number two on the Sunday Times fiction hardback list when it was published at Easter.
Congratulations on the publication of The Wrong Sister. This is your tenth stand-alone thriller. Can you share a little of what it’s about?
Thanks so much. It’s about two sisters, Alice and Tasha, who look very similar but have very different personalities. Older sister Alice is a high flying scientist recently married to the wealthy entrepreneur Kyle, and Tasha and her childhood sweetheart Aaron still live in their Somerset hometown and have two-year-old twin girls.
When Alice realises Tasha is struggling she suggests that they do, what she calls, a ‘life swap’ for a week where Alice and Kyle stay at Tasha’s house to look after the twins while Tasha and her husband fly to Venice to spend some time at Alice’s fancy Venetian apartment. But while Tasha and Aaron are in Venice they receive the devastating news: someone has broken into their house, attacked Alice, and killed Kyle. Thankfully the twins are safe.
Then Tasha receives a note saying ‘IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU’. Is it a case of mistaken identity and was Tasha the intended target? Or is something else going on?
What initially inspired you to become a crime and thriller writer?
I’ve always loved reading thrillers and devoured Agatha Christie as a teenager, but I was always worried that I’d never be able to write a police procedural. And then I began to read the early psychological suspense/dark women’s fiction by authors like Emily Barr, Erin Kelly, and Louise Millar, and realised that a thriller didn’t necessarily have to revolve around the police, and could be about the darker side of relationships, like obsessive friendships. It gave me the idea to write my first novel, The Sisters.
That’s the novel that won you the Marie Claire Debut Novel Award, in 2013. How many books did you write before that, and how did the award change your life?
I wrote about four unpublished books before The Sisters. I started off writing short stories and even had a couple published by women’s magazines. When I was 24 I wrote my first full-length novel (it was really bad!) and sent it off to agents. Unsurprisingly, I received rejections. I wrote a couple more over the years in between my job as a journalist.
Even though more rejections followed I started to get the odd encouraging letter from literary agents, which helped to boost my confidence. And then, when my children were little, I wrote a rom-com that I called Saving Lucy. It was all written and ready to send off to agents but something stopped me. I think it was because deep down I knew this wasn’t “The Book”. So I took some of the characters from Saving Lucy and made the premise darker.
When my friend alerted me to the writing competition held by Marie Claire I wasn’t sure whether to send in Saving Lucy, which I’d been working on for the last few years, or the beginning of this new, darker, story. Thankfully, I decided on the darker story which became my debut, The Sisters.
Winning the competition was truly life-changing career-wise because through it I met my agent, Juliet Mushens, who has taken my career from strength-to-strength. I thank my lucky stars every day because she is amazing. It’s a really important relationship as you need to trust each other.
Can you describe your typical writing routine?
I write a book a year, so for some of those months I’m actually working on two books at a time (writing one, and editing the other).
I spend about two months with the idea germinating in my mind while editing the previous book and then about six months getting the first draft down. And then a good four months editing that book – while beginning the next and the process starts all over again.
I try to work while my children are at school – so usually from about 10am until 2.30pm. The minimum I try to write is 1,000 words a day but some days it’s as little as 200 and others it could be more like 2,000. It usually depends on how distracted I am by social media!
Writing the book is only part of the job; there are other things that need doing too, like answering emails from my publisher or agent with requests for publicity tours, or writing blog posts or pieces for different online publications.
How do you approach the process of generating and developing ideas?
I try to read a lot of crime/news stories. With The Wrong Sister, the idea came to me after chatting to a friend about a ‘life swap’ that she does with her own sister. The twist in the book was born from a news article my husband sent me because it was really interesting. I also watch a lot of old movies.
The idea for the book I’m writing now came to me after watching an old black and white British movie from the 1960s.
Can you share your revision and editing process, and tell us how many drafts you typically go through?
I usually write one full draft before sending it to my editor and then I’ll have a big structural/story edit which usually takes me about four weeks. After that, maybe two further lighter edits and then a copy edit, where a copy editor will check through for inconsistencies and repetitions.
It’s hard to stay motivated sometimes, especially when I’m beginning a new book and haven’t really got myself immersed in the story and characters yet. I’m at that stage at the moment and everything is a distraction!
What has been the biggest change for you between writing novel number one and novel number eleven?
I would like to say I have more confidence but I don’t know if this is true. I still start off every book as though I’ve forgotten how to write!
You’re very active on Instagram. Is it important for authors to nurture a social media following?
I think publishers encourage their authors to have a social media presence as I do think it can help with spreading the word about your books. It’s also a great way to interact with readers. I don’t think it’s important though if it’s not something an author feels comfortable with.
It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable with it myself as I am a huge technophobe so it has been a bit of a learning curve. At first, I felt very self-conscious posting anything but now I think it comes a bit more naturally.
What piece of writing has informed your life or stuck in your mind, and why?
I remember reading a piece of advice once from a published author about making sure to read in the genre you want to write in, and deconstruct the book as you read it so you get to learn about pacing, characterisation etc. I still do this now.
Would you be interested in having your work adapted for film or television, and if so what book would be the first you'd adapt?
I have had books optioned for TV and at the moment The Couple At No. 9 has been optioned by the BBC. I would love it if it got made but I’m realistic and know that so many books get optioned and only a fraction get adapted. Hopefully one day!
The Wrong Sister, published by Penguin, is out now.
Follow Claire on Instagram here.
Want more? Check out the Ten for The TEN archive by clicking these actual words.