Human Remains

decide on the structure for
Into the Darkest Corner
?
    I wanted to write a dual narrative to explore the story of the same character four years apart, to show the difference in her life before and after a traumatic event. In
Into the Darkest Corner
we meet Catherine as a carefree and outgoing twenty-something, living her life to the full, but we also see her four years later, clearly suffering from crippling OCD and terrified for her safety. Running the two strands of her story in parallel allowed the contrast to unfold, from how she copes with Christmas, for example, to more essential themes such as her opinion of herself; her courage, her fears, her self-esteem. And the structure provided the perfect way to build suspense, since the reader is waiting to find out what happened to Catherine in between those times, and whether her fears in the present are justified after all.

    When we meet Genevieve in
Revenge of the Tide
she’s living on a houseboat on the River Medway. What made you choose this setting for the novel?
    I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of living on a boat, and as I live quite close to Rochester and the River Medway I thought it would be a great place to write about. I really enjoyed threading Genevieve’s adventure through locations that are familiar to me; it made the whole story much more real. The river can be so beautiful in the sunshine, with Rochester Castle standing guard over it, but at night time, on a foggy night in November, it can be quite chilling too. For Genevieve, at the start of the novel, living on a houseboat is a long-held dream, but it rapidly turns into a nightmare when a body washes up against the side of her boat, and she recognises the victim. The story of how she came to escape her double-life in London – office worker by day and pole dancer by night – is revealed as her sense of security in her new life unravels, and the boatyard that initially felt like such a safe haven can’t hide her secrets forever.
    How has your life changed since the publication of your first novel,
Into the Darkest Corner
?
    It’s all gone a bit mad, really. I have to keep pinching myself, since the life I’m living now is pretty close to the writerly fantasies I had as a teenager. I did think I’d rather like to live in a converted lighthouse on a clifftop, but for now I’m quite happy with my writing shed. I particularly enjoy meeting book groups, in person or via Skype. It’s a real privilege to get feedback from readers and I’m always amazed and chuffed to bits when people take the time to email to let me know what they thought. I still can’t quite believe that I am a writer and I struggle to call myself that if anyone asks what I do for a living. I can manage to think of myself as a novelist – as is everyone who successfully completes National Novel Writing Month! – but being a proper writer somehow still seems a little unreal, as though the day I take that on board will be the day it all ends. For now, though, I’m going to enjoy everything while I can.

 
     
    If you have enjoyed
Human Remains
, you might also like Elizabeth Haynes’ bestselling second novel
Revenge of the Tide
     
    For an exclusive extract, read on…

One
     
     
    I t was there when I opened my eyes, that vague feeling of discomfort, the rocking of the boat signalling the receding tide and the wind from the south, blowing upriver, straight into the side of the
Revenge of the Tide
.
    For a long while I lay in bed, the sound of the waves slapping against the hull next to my head, echoing through the steel and dulled by the wooden cladding. The duvet was warm and it was easy to stay there, the rectangle of the skylight directly above showing the blackness turning to dark blue, and grey, and then I could see the clouds scudding overhead, giving the odd impression of moving at speed – the boat moving rather than the clouds. And then, that discomfort again.
    It wasn’t seasickness, or river-sickness, come to that: I was used to it now, nearly five months after I had left London. Five months living aboard. There was still a momentary shock when my feet hit the solid ground of the path to the car park, a few wobbly steps, but it was never long before I felt steady again.
    It was a grey sort of a day – not ideal for the get-together later, but that was my own fault for planning a party in September. ‘Back to school’ weather, the wind whistling across the deck when I got up and put my head out