Claire Douglas

Claire Douglas has worked as a journalist for fifteen years writing features for women’s magazines and national newspapers, but she’s dreamed of being a novelist since the age of seven. She finally got her wish after winning the Marie Claire Debut Novel Award, with her first novel, ‘The Sisters’. She lives in Bath with her husband and two children.

1. Can you describe what your debut book, ‘The Sisters’ is about.
   It’s a psychological thriller about twins with themes of grief, guilt and obsession. Abi becomes obsessed with Beatrice, a woman she meets one day in Bath who reminds her of her dead twin sister, Lucy. Abi is still reeling from Lucy’s death and as a result is desperate to become involved in Beatrice’s life. Beatrice is flattered at first, and invites Abi to move into the rambling Georgian town house that she shares with her twin brother, Ben and their arty friends. However Beatrice has an agenda of her own. And when Abi begins a relationship with Ben things in the house take a sinister turn. Is the possessive Beatrice trying to cause trouble or is it all in Abi’s fragile mind?

2. To the readers of the website, tell us about yourself and how you got into writing.
   I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was a child. I was forever making up stories and once got told off by my dad because I was giving my little sister nightmares! I loved reading too and always had my head in a book. I knew I wanted a career that involved writing so I became a journalist, but fiction interested me more. I wrote a couple of novels that, thankfully, have never seen the light of day, before having the idea for ‘The Sisters’.

   [amazon_link id=”0007594410″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]

3. Who is your favourite literary hero/heroine?
   ‘Jane Eyre’ is my favourite heroine and hero-wise I was always a little bit in love with Henry from ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife.’

4. If you could rewrite any book, which one would it be?
   Ooh I don’t know, that’s really hard. I know which books I wish I’d written!

5. If you were to start your own book club, what authors would you ask to join?
   Marian Keyes because I think she’s so funny, Lisa Jewell, Stephen King, Philip Pullman, Maggie O’Farrell, Margaret Atwood and I would have loved to have met the late Sylvia Plath.

6. What area do you suggest a budding writer should concentrate on to further their abilities?
   Writing – I think the more you write the better you get. I read some great books about creative writing, the one that was particularly helpful for me was ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King. And read a lot. I read a variety of different authors in all kinds of genres. I think you can learn so much from reading other authors’ work, like pacing, characterisation and plot development.

7. What book did you read that made you decide to become an author?
   I remember being in the first year of junior school when our teacher talked to us about authors and thinking, “that’s what I want to do!” I’ve always loved books, and as a child I read a lot of Enid Blyton. So it was probably Enid Blyton’s the ‘Faraway Tree’ and ‘Mallory Towers’ that made me fall in love with stories. Oh and ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ by Philippa Pearce. It was my favourite book as a child and I re-read it recently and it still makes me cry at the end.

8. What authors do you admire?
   So many, but the ones that spring to mind now are Maggie O’Farrell – her writing is so beautiful, Harriet Lane, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Philip Pullman, Lisa Jewell, Sarah Waters, Kate Morton, Donna Tartt, Kate Atkinson and Clare Mackintosh. I also admire the writing duo Nicci French.

9. What was your favourite book of 2015?
   I have read and loved some amazing books this year but I think my favourite so far is Clare Mackintosh’s ‘I Let You Go’. That twist! I love a good twist and I didn’t see that one coming. Truly brilliant.

10. If you were stranded on a desert island, which 3 books would you bring with you to pass the time?
    I hope I’m never stranded on a desert island – I wouldn’t last a day! But the three books I’d take with me would be ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy by Philip Pullman. Then I could pretend that I wasn’t stranded on a desert island and escape into Lyra’s world instead.

11. When sitting down to write, what is the one item you need beside you?
    A cup of strong builders tea. Preferably with a packet of biscuits.

12. And finally, do you have any projects or releases on the horizon that you would like to share with the readers of the website?
    I’m busy writing my second psychological thriller. I love writing claustrophobic settings, this time I’ve swapped the oppressive Georgian house for a small seaside town.

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You can buy [amazon_link id=”0007594410″ target=”_blank” ]The Sisters from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.