The Magpies

Last night on #SJsTwitterBookClub

Hi everyone!

#SJsTwitterBookClub

This week’s #SJsTwitterBookClub featured author Mark Edwards (@mredwards), who popped in to talk about his writing, and in particular his fantastic debut psychological thriller “The Magpies”.

I asked Mark if he’d give us a spoiler-free, tweet-length introduction to the book. He told us: “The Magpies is about a nice young couple, Jamie & Kirsty, who move into their first home together, only to find that the couple downstairs are a pair of psychopaths who are determined to destroy J&K's lives. It's a psych thriller with horror undertones. And spiders.”

We talked about the ‘spiders’ scene (you’ll know if you’ve read the book!) and Mark told us it actually happened to him “…in the flat where the book is based. A lot of The Magpies was ripped from real life.” A scary thought indeed!

I always ask the authors to tell us about their process, since it differs so widely. Mark told us:

Mark Edwards @mredwards

I'm a pantser (autocorrect kept changing that to panther). I've tried plotting but I can't do it. And I write during school hours. 9 till 3, Mon to Fri. I can't imagine writing anything longhand. I wouldn't be able to read my own writing at the end 😂 #SJsTwitterBookClub

S J Watson @SJ_Watson

Can you tell us about your process, @mredwards? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Up with the lark or midnight oil? Keyboard or pen? Post-its or spreadsheets? #SJsTwitterBookClub

February 24th 2022

21 Likes

¹(Click on the above tweet to be taken to the discussion thread)

Another fascinating discussion about a fantastic book. If you haven’t read it yet, do so now!

The next #SJsTwitterBookClub will be on Thursday March 10 at 7pm (UK time). We'll be talking to Sarah Bonner (@sarahbonner101) about her gripping, twisty debut psychological thriller, “Her Perfect Twin”.

When Megan discovers photographs of her estranged identical twin sister on her husband's phone, she wants answers. Leah already has everything Megan has ever wanted. Fame, fortune, freedom to do what she wants. And when Megan confronts Leah, an argument turns to murder. The only way Megan can get away with killing her twin is to become her. But then lockdown hits. How can she continue living two lives? And what happens if someone else knows her secret too?

Happy reading!

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1. A ‘pantser’ is someone who ‘flies by the seat of their pants’ when they write (i.e makes it up as they go along), while a ‘plotter’ is someone who plots the whole book out before they begin putting the words on the page.