SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL

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Charlotte Duckworth on - Why I’m drawn to writing dark books Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:00 PM PDT Like most writers, when I started out I didn't have a clear understanding of what genres were or how they worked. I didn't have a clue what genre my first novel might be, or that it might matter where it would sit on a bookshop shelf one day.  That novel (mercifully rejected by editors - who are gatekeepers, yes, but for a reason!) was a passionate love story, but it ended with a very grisly suicide on a remote beach. So definitely not one that could be filed on the 'romance' shelf… Some of the feedback I got for that novel said that they couldn't work out whether it was meant to be a horror. A horror?! It had never occurred to me. I'd just sat down to write the story that was inside my head. I thought I was writing 'fiction'. But without any conscious planning on my part, I'd been drawn to the dark side. I hope if you asked anyone who knew me in real life, they'd say that I'm not a particularly dark person. I love a moan (I'm British after all) but I'm generally pretty cheerful and laid-back and I try to see the positives in life where possible. But I'm also a terrible wimp. I've written eight novels now – 6 of which have been published (or are going to be). I've covered subjects such as postpartum psychosis, sexual assault, baby-loss, stalking, murder, toxic masculinity and accidental death. My latest novel, The Sanctuary, explores the dark side of wellness culture, and how dangerous it can be to put your life in the hands of self-declared 'gurus'.  And finally, eight books in, I think I've worked out why all my novels, in their own ways, are pretty dark.  I believe it's one of my brain's ways of dealing with anxiety. I have an extremely low scare threshold – I can't watch any kind of violence on screen and I find the news endlessly upsetting and terrifying (although who doesn't these days, to be fair). I have anxiety about so many things and yet I am drawn to the things I am most anxious about. I find myself researching things that terrify me. I think by writing about the things that scare me the most, I'm able to get my fears out into the light, to examine them from every angle. And somehow, this makes them less frightening. Knowledge is power, after all. Over the course of my writing career, I've also realised that writing is my therapy. I know that without it, my mental health wouldn't be as robust as it is. Writing is my way of processing the world, my fears and thoughts, and a way of emptying my noisy, cruel brain of all the things that it likes to haunt me with. When I write a dark character or dark situation, I know that I am in complete control. I have the ultimate say, and I can determine the outcome of their stories. I think this gives me a safety net to explore my fears. (I secretly think many writers are control freaks. I certainly am.) However, as you'd imagine, I've often wished my brain worked differently. I would love to write happy, uplifting books and have great admiration for those who do so. It's true what they say – it's far harder to write convincingly about happiness than it is about misery. Most of all, I'm in awe of people who manage to write in multiple genres, and especially those who write thrillers as well as romance – how do they do it? I can start off with the happiest of happy couples and yet within a few thousand words one of them will be plotting the sinister downfall of the other. I'm determined one day to write a genuine love story, with no horror or cruel fate lying in wait for my protagonists. As writers, we're always learning, and there's always room to improve. And perhaps this is why I love this job so much – there's always something to aspire to, a new challenge to overcome. A new way of looking at the world, and processing what you see. The Sanctuary by Charlotte Duckworth (Quercus Books) Out Now. Four pregnant women. Three nights of pampering at an exclusive yoga retreat. One too many deadly secrets . . .On a remote farm in the deepest Devonshire countryside, four pregnant women arrive at an exclusive yoga retreat for a five-star weekend of prenatal pampering. The location is idyllic. Their host, Selina, is eager to teach them all she knows about pregnancy and motherhood. But, like Selina, each of the women has a secret. And secrets can be deadly . . . You can find out more information about Charlotte and her books on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @charduck and on Instagram @charduck.  Picture © Charlotte Duckworth

Top 5 thrillers that explore female friendships By Bryony Pearce Posted: 30 Mar 2022 10:00 PM PDT Female friendships can be closer and more intense than romances. Women can be the most loyal and the most vicious in defence of one another and enduring female friendships get us through the hardest of times. We develop these close relationships through sharing mutual life experiences, from our first days at school, university or work, to the antenatal groups that get us through early motherhood. Female friends can be therapists, staunch defenders, cheerleaders and partners in crime.  But when things go wrong, oh boy! The ending of a close female friendship can be more crippling and more brutal than the ending of a romantic one, yet this is not generally acknowledged.  When friendship turns to enmity, women can be enormously underhand and creative in their cruelty. Even the ancient Greeks knew that when a woman turns to vengeance it can be shockingly scorched earth (see Euripedes' Medea). Consequently, female friendships are rich material for novelists writing thrillers. How could they not be? My own novel, Little Rumours, deals with three women living in a small Devon village, their relationships to one another and to others. When one of their children goes missing, rumours swirl that one of them, at least, knows why. But mine is only the latest in a run of thrillers focused on female friendships. Here are some of my favourites: From Ruth Ware, who writes brilliant thrillers, The Lying Game, is a novel about four women who haven't seen one another in years, but who literally drop everything to reunite when one of them sends a text: I need you. Secrets and lies surrounding their youth in a boarding school in the marshes come to light when a dead body is discovered. Has one of them broken the rules of the lying game (lie to everyone else but not to one another)? Claire McGowan's The Other Wife, is, like Little Rumours, told from the points of view of three very different women whose lives have been or are being controlled by terrible men. But their own secrets mean these women are stronger than anyone realised.  Cass Green is another of my favourite writers. The Woman Next Door was her debut adult thriller and is told from the point of view of neighbours Hester, a lonely and obsessive older woman, and Melissa, a young mother with a teenaged daughter. When something terrible happens, Melissa is forced to turn to Hester for help. But Hester is not the kind of person you want on your side. Sarah Naughton is a wonderful writer, who creates characters that completely draw you in (did you read Tattletale?). In The Festival she writes about four friends, who were close in school but have since drifted apart. When one of them turns 40, they go to a festival in their old hometown to celebrate and recapture their youth. But as always, things are not as they seem and not all the women will leave the festival alive. My final choice is Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, which tells the story of a group of women, who like those in Little Rumours are forced together by the school gates. But these friends come together to face the world head on, and deal with an issue of school bullying that has its roots in something so much worse. For a change, a thriller about women united, rather than divided. A murder, secrets coming to light and twists and turns make it a tense and unputdownable thriller. Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce (Harper Collins) Out Now It started with a rumour. But rumours can be deadly... In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates. Naomi has lived in Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone. Aleema hates it here. It's been three years and she's yet to make a single friend. And she's sure the other mums whisper about her behind her back. Kelly is an outsider. New to the town, she arrives with nothing but her son - and a dark secret. By the end of the school day, one of their children will be missing. And rumours will swirl that one of them knows why... You can find Bryony Pearce on Twitter @BryonyPearce and on Instagram @BryonyPearce. She can also be found on Facebook.

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