Today, we’re speaking with Inkubator Books’ author Miranda Rijks. Miranda is the author of The New Neighbour and What She Knew.
Inkubator Books: When did you start writing?
Miranda Rijks: I’ve always written. As a child I wrote short stories for fun. In all my jobs, writing was at the core, whether that was writing business plans, press releases or content for websites. My first published book was a non-fiction about handwriting analysis and then years later I wrote a biography. But I had to fit that around doing other work, so I never considered myself an author. When my daughter was little, I made up a different story using the same characters every single night. As a mature adult, I completed a Masters in Writing. In 2015 I was treated for a rare bone cancer and it gave me the chance to reassess what I wanted to do. I started writing psychological thrillers, Inkubator Books found me and now I’m living my dream life!
IB: What does a typical day of writing look like for you?
MR: Depending upon how well I slept (I have a lot of pain in my leg where my femur was replaced with a titanium rod), I’ll get up, have a bowl of muesli and berries and set up my laptop at the kitchen table. I’ll read through the chapters I wrote the day before and do some light edits. Then I’ll start writing. After an hour or so, pain-permitting, I’ll walk the dogs (we have two black Labradors) in our local woods. We’ll all return very muddy! Then I’ll write some more before having lunch with my husband who also works from home. In the afternoon I’ll either write or run errands. I don’t feel like I work very hard, but my output is quite high! When I’m not writing, I’m still thinking about my characters.
IB: Do you base your characters off people you know or are they all the product of your imagination?
MR: They’re a product of my imagination but I certainly use some characteristics from people I’ve met in the past. Occasionally I’ll ‘steal’ a phrase I might have overheard!
IB: What’s the most difficult part of your writing process?
MR: The initial plotting. I absolutely love the writing part and struggle more with the plotting. It’s a bit like eating a cake – you like it all, but you love the chocolate buttercream on the top most of all!
IB: What comes first for you – plot or characters?
MR: The plot. Despite finding the plotting stage the hardest, all my books are very plot-led. I tend to come up with a concept, a very simple outline for the plot and then the characters come to life afterwards.
IB: Which of your books is your favorite? Why?
MR: I know we should love all our babies equally, but… It’s a close call between The Visitors and The New Neighbour. The Visitors is set in the holiday cottage that I used to run in The Peak District and The New Neighbour is broadly based on an imaginary location where we now live, in West Sussex. I like that sense of claustrophobia when writing about neighbours and some of the storylines are based on what has really happened to friends and family.
IB: How would you describe your ideal reader?
MR: I don’t have an ideal reader. I’m just immensely grateful to everyone who reads my books. If I can bring a little bit of escapism and enjoyment to my readers, then that is truly amazing.
IB: What are you doing when you aren’t writing?
MR: I’m knitting, trying not to buy more yarn to add to my massive stash (a hopeless cause!), painting on my iPad, spending time with family and friends, travelling to Switzerland and trying to find weird and wacky ways to give me pain relief.
IB: What does your writing space look like?
MR: I work at the kitchen table. I could sit in a small office upstairs, but I use that mainly for storing all my craft materials. I like being in the kitchen because it’s a lovely oak-beam vaulted room with lots of light and I have the dogs for company.
IB: Have you ever traveled to research for a book?
MR: No. I’m still trying to persuade Inkubator Books that I really should be setting future novels in far flung places around the world!
(Ed note: We will work on a travel budget for our authors coming in…2033!)
IB: What genres do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?
MR: Thrillers. I mainly read psychological thrillers, psychological suspense and domestic noire. It’s impossible for me to pick my favourite authors as the list would be about twenty authors long. For general fiction, I love reading books by Kazuo Ishiguro, Naomi Alderman and Ellie Midwood.
IB: How do you come up with names for your characters?
MR: Sometimes they just pop into my head based upon their key characteristics. Other times I’ll use a random name generator.
IB: What was your favorite childhood book?
MR: The Cat in The Hat by Dr Seuss. I found it recently and it’s a very well-thumbed book.
IB: Have you ever abandoned a book you were writing? How did you know it was the right thing to do?
MR: Yes, several times. Three of my early books will never see the light of day. They’re over-written with caricature-like protagonists! These days I run my ideas by the team at Inkubator, so I don’t waste time on developing a story that’s going to run into a brick wall.
IB: Do you have any tips for first-time authors?
MR: Read copious books in the genre you’re writing in and write every day. It’s the same as every other skill, you need to put in your ten thousand hours.
IB: Who inspires you?
MR: My dad. He was a truly remarkable man, an innovator and inventor of many fresh produce foods that we take for granted these days, very modest with a wickedly dry sense of humour. He passed away recently.
IB: If you could eliminate one thing from your daily life, what would it be?
MR: Pain. (But I don’t want sympathy!)
IB: Do you have any pets?
MR: Yes, we have two black Labs. The eldest is 13 and I adore him. He has an old soul. My friend who bred the eldest, bred another litter last year and persuaded us to take one of the puppies. She’s very sweet, strong-willed and is utterly desperate to be liked by her older brother who totally ignores her!
IB: How do you approach your genre in a unique way?
MR: I’m not sure that I do!
IB: How do you manage the “whodunit” aspects of your story as far as clues and revelations? Do you outline?
MR: Yes. I work with my developmental editor and do a very detailed outline, sometimes up to 8000 words long, before I start writing. Thrillers can be very complex with lots of sub plots so without outlining, I would tie myself up in knots.
IB: How do you relax?
MR: Knitting, drawing, chatting to my daughter and listening to her compositions (she’s a professional musician and DJ) watching too many thrillers on Netflix, occasionally playing the piano and lots of reading on my Kindle.
IB: Who are your first readers when you write a new book?
MR: My developmental editor and my husband, but I’m not sure he’s very objective! My dad was also one of my first readers and I’m really missing his input and enthusiasm for my books.
IB: What’s one thing you wish your readers knew about you?
MR: I wish I could say thank you to every single person who reads one of my books. Being able to write full-time has radically improved my life and I feel such gratitude that my readers have enabled this to happen.
IB: Which do you enjoy writing more: dialogue or internal thoughts?
MR: Dialogue. I find that it flows so easily and I love imagining the banter between characters.
Thanks to Miranda for sitting down with us today.
Want to read Miranda’s books? Check out her titles on Amazon.
You can find her at the following places:
Website: http://www.mirandarijks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MirandaRijksAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MirandaRijks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mirandarijksauthor/
