Hi everyone!
This week’s #SJsTwitterBookClub featured Sarah Pinborough (@SarahPinborough), chatting about her recently-adapted-for-Netflix thriller Behind Her Eyes.
I asked Sarah to describe the book in her own words. “It's a book about the dark side of obsessional love,” she said, “and the lengths someone might go to keep a person. Basically a really f*cked up love triangle. It's an arch, fun, Hitchcock/polanski style story…” Sarah has written loads of books, but chose this to talk about because “this one had the TV show (so) there were probably the most questions about it! it's my favourite in that it changed my life quite dramatically, but I've written 27 (?) I think books, and it's hard to pick a favourite.”
She told us about genre-hopping and I asked whether she always knew where a book would ‘fit’ when she started it, or whether she was ever surprised. “By the time I start writing I've probably mulled it for a while and always ALWAYS have to have the final scene in my head so no they don't surprise me. Death House did (surprise me) I guess because I thought I was writing a dystopian horror but actually it was a love story”
Sarah also told us about her process. “I'm absolutely a plotter. Not a whole book outline but I like to get the tent pegs in, and the ending locked. I start in a notebook, lots of spider diagrams, then I'll plot about 15k, rough write it, then neat write it. Defo early bird. Was up at 4.15 this morning...”
Finally, after a far-reaching discussion (which you can catch up with by clicking on the tweet below and/or searching #SJsTwitterBookClub), Sarah introduced us to her writing companion.
Join us next week (THURSDAY, 7.30pm UK time), when we’ll be talking about THEN SHE WAS GONE, with author Lisa Jewell (@lisajewelluk). Not to be missed!
Happy reading!