Category: Interview/Q&A

Blog Tour/Q&A: The Room by the Lake by Emma Dibdin

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I’m thrilled to be co-hosting the first stop on the blog tour for The Room by the Lake by Emma Dibdin, a dark, unsettling psychological thriller. I’m even more thrilled that Emma has agreed to answer some questions about the book, its inspiration and her approach to writing.

Do check out the post from my co-host, the fabulous Book Addict Rambles . You can also read my review of The Room by the Lake here.

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TheRoombytheLakeAbout the Book

When Caitlin moved from London to New York, she thought she had left her problems behind: her alcoholic father, her dead mother, the pressure to succeed. But now, down to her last dollar in a foreign city, she is desperately lonely.

Then she meets Jake. Handsome, smart, slightly damaged Jake. It looks like she has found the fresh start she longed for. But Caitlin realizes too late that she might become lost forever…

Format: Hardcover Publisher: Head of Zeus Pages: 368
Publication: 10th Aug 2017 Genre: Thriller    

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Kobo
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Room by the Lake on Goodreads

Interview: Emma Dibdin, author of The Room by the Lake

Welcome, Emma! Without giving too much away, can you tell us a bit about The Room by the Lake?

The Room by the Lake is about a young English woman, Caitlin, who’s just out of university and on the verge of a breakdown. Desperate to escape after years of being a caretaker to unstable parents, she spontaneously books a flight to New York, which feels like a place she can become truly lost. Once there, she falls hard for Jake, a charming and slightly damaged former soldier who whisks her away to meet his family at their idyllic lakeside house upstate. But his family isn’t what it seems.

How did you get the idea for the book?

The idea to write about a cult came from a surreal encounter I had years ago in Seattle, with a man on the street who was protesting against then-president Barack Obama. The man was very young, about my age at the time (early twenties), and his argument was bizarre, illogical, as though he had learned it by rote or by brainwashing. He was polite, but dead-eyed, and the encounter really haunted me, particularly when I learned he was part of a far-right “political movement” which is essentially a cult. They prey on young people, I was told, often people cut off from their own families, and that got me thinking about what would make someone psychologically vulnerable enough to be sucked in.

The Room by the Lake is your first novel so can you tell us a bit about your writing journey?

I’ve always written fiction, for as long as I can remember – my mum loves to talk about how I used to write my own Animals of Farthing Wood stories when I was really young! Being an author was what I always wanted to do, but I went into journalism because it seemed like the best way of making an actual living from writing, and continued writing fiction in my spare time. I wrote The Room by the Lake during evenings and weekends, over the course of about two years, and I think the best thing about writing with limited time is that you can’t afford to be too precious – there’s no such thing as waiting for “the muse” to come.

In the book, Caitlin sees her move to New York as a form of escape.  Where in the world would be your dream place to escape to?

Well, funnily enough I really did move from London to New York two years ago, although not to escape! I think my dream place to escape to is anywhere my family and friends are. I’ve been craving a trip to Italy a lot lately – my parents lived there for years and we spent a lot of time there in my childhood, so I think my answer right now is Tuscany.

In The Room by the Lake, Caitlin comes across as a troubled, fragile, rather socially awkward young woman.  Do you think it’s necessary for readers to like the main character in a book in order to engage with them?

No, I don’t think so – I prefer characters that lean more towards anti-hero than straight hero, and any protagonist who’s not at least slightly troubled is a non-starter. Caitlin’s not necessarily somebody I’d want to be friends with, at least not at this point in her life, but I think her fears and insecurities make her fairly relatable. Female coming-of-age stories often get boxed into just being about sexual awakening, and while that’s definitely an element in Caitlin’s journey, I wanted her struggle to be psychological, and about the burden of mental illness in families.

How did you hope the setting of the book – the vast forest, the silent lake – would contribute to its atmosphere?  

The isolation of that setting is really key to Caitlin’s unravelling. Getting away from hectic city life and escaping to a peaceful forest sounds dreamy, but that experience can really turn on a dime if you’re feeling fragile. There’s such a weird duality to New York specifically: people always think of the city, which is one of the most densely populated in the world, but there’s also this vast expanse of very, very remote farmland upstate. I wanted to really draw out the contrast between those frenetic early chapters in Manhattan – where Caitlin’s shaky but at least engaged in the world – and this slow-paced retreat upstate, where she’s seemingly getting better.

Have you tried any of the dishes mentioned in the book – the sweet potato brownies, the cauliflower rice, or even the Apfelwein?

I’ve tried pretty much all of them! Cauliflower rice is great – I won’t pretend it tastes like the real thing, because it does not, but it’s a pretty good light alternative. I would never want to be fully paleo (in the immortal words of Oprah, I love bread https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2sx8Bc4mAw) but I do enjoy experimenting with ways to make slightly healthier versions of things, although there’s no substitute for a real brownie.

What was the biggest challenge you encountered when writing the book?

The third act was probably my biggest challenge, just working out how things should finally unravel. The first half of the book was always incredibly clear to me, Caitlin walking around New York in this alienated haze and becoming wilfully lost, but the climactic chapters at the cult went through a lot of different iterations. There’s a twist that comes towards the end of the book which wasn’t in my original draft, but came to me suddenly one day last December – and once I’d figured out that turn, everything else fell into place.

Which other writers do you admire?

Margaret Atwood, George Elliot, Elena Ferrante, Cormac McCarthy and Gillian Flynn are a few of my all-time favourites. I just read Robin Wasserman’s Girls On Fire, which was really vivid and intoxicating. I also love to read plays – I saw Angels in America while I was back in London over the summer, and just bought the text so that I can really dig into the language.

What are you working on next?

I’ve just started my second novel, a thriller that takes place in modern Hollywood, following a young journalist who becomes drawn into the life of a very famous actor she’s assigned to interview. Unlike The Room by the Lake, this book draws a bit from my own experiences (I’ve been in entertainment journalism for years) but with the drama cranked up several notches. I’m also working on a short story commissioned by Audible.

Thank you, Emma, for those fascinating answers…and the inside track on your next book.  

EmmaDibdinAbout the Author

Emma: ‘I’m a lifelong writer and pop culture nerd, and feel endlessly grateful to have a job that combines both. Since moving to New York from London two years ago, I’ve spent a lot of time brewing coffee, writing fiction, and covering the ever-broadening selection of Peak TV – all while fighting a one-woman war against the culinary tyranny of cilantro. My first novel, The Room By The Lake, will be published in the UK on 10th August 2017.

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Q&A: The Rain Never Came by Lachlan Walter

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Today’s guest on What Cathy Read Next is Lachlan Walter, author of The Rain Never Came, an intriguing story set in a drought-stricken Australia.  I’m delighted that Lachlan has agreed to answer some questions about the book, its inspiration and his approach to writing.

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TheRainNeverCameAbout the Book

 

In a thirsty, drought-stricken Australia, the country is well and truly sunburnt. As the Eastern states are evacuated to more appealing climates, a stubborn few resist the forced removal. They hide out in small country towns – where no one would ever bother looking. Bill Cook and Tobe Cousins are united in their disregard of the law. Aussie larrikins, they pass their hot, monotonous existence drinking at the barely standing pub. When strange lights appear across the Western sky, it seems that those embittered by the drought are seeking revenge. And Bill and Tobe are in their path. In the heat of the moment secrets will be revealed, and survival can’t be guaranteed.

Format: Paperback/ebook Publisher: Odyssey Books Pages:
Publication: 25th May 2017 Genre: Post Apocalyptic

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Barnes & Noble ǀ Publisher
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Rain Never Came on Goodreads

Interview: Lachlan Walter, author of The Rain Never Came

Without giving too much away, can you tell us a bit about The Rain Never Came?

In terms of plot, The Rain Never Came is about a thirsty, drought-stricken future Australia in which the eastern states have been evacuated to more appealing climates. A stubborn few resist this forced removal, hiding out in small country towns where no one would ever bother looking. But no one can hide forever…

In terms of heart, The Rain Never Came is actually about two classically ‘Australian’ mates trying to take the end of the world in their stride. And it’s about friendship and community, independence and practicality, larrikinism and egalitarianism, the things that we fight for and the things we let go of. And in the end, it’s about the ties that bind and the length that these ties will stretch.

How did you get the idea for the book?

Some years ago, I moved back to my hometown at the tail end of Australia’s Millennium Drought, a ten-year drought that devastated much of the country’s south-east. My hometown is the actual town of Newstead, the main setting of The Rain Never Came – it’s a small country town, deep in the bush, and like everywhere else it was suffering from the ravages of the dry.

Life there was strange indeed – communities were fraying as those who depended on water for their livelihood began walking off their farms, abandoning the land and moving to the city; water theft had become a common occurrence; our 20th-century technology meant nothing against nature. It seemed as if the past had returned; a world of hard work, dust and thirst. And yet we were surrounded by the trappings of 21st-century life. More than anything else, this hybrid world to me seemed like the beginning of some post-apocalyptic world from the pages of science fiction, and I knew that one day I just had to make it so.

The Rain Never Came is your first novel. Can you tell us a bit about your writing journey?

I’ve loved books and stories ever since I learned to read, but I didn’t really start writing until late high school: poems and short fiction, some of it the usual teenage dross, some of it not too bad. I kept at it through my early twenties, submitting things here and there but never taking it that seriously. One day, I just stopped.

Almost a decade later, I returned to university to finish a Bachelor’s Degree that life had interrupted. At this point, the idea for The Rain Never Came had already come to me, but turning it into a book seemed like a fantasy. However, as I progressed through my degree and into my honours year, I took more and more writing classes and rediscovered my passion and enthusiasm for writing. I practised and practised, writing a lot of crap to get to the good stuff. Then the opportunity arose to do a PhD, which would encompass writing a novel and a piece of literary criticism. I leapt at it, realising that here was the perfect environment to bring The Rain Never Came to life.

Much perseverance and stubbornness has finally paid off.

You are a reviewer and critic but what’s been your experience so far of being on the receiving end of reviews?

I haven’t actually perceived that many reviews yet – The Rain Never Came hasn’t been out very long – and those I have received have been quite positive. I’m prepared for the negatives, however – nothing is perfect, especially something as personal as a story. Luckily, I’ve also got a pretty thick skin. The writer’s lot has given me this. You can’t let rejection letter after rejection letter stop you from writing. You just have to have confidence, perseverance and an honest eye, and realise that you can always get better.

It helps if you remember that taste is in the eye of the beholder. Even better is making sure that you do the best job that you can, and resisting any urges to grow complacent or lazy with your work. We write for the love of writing and literature, books and stories. There’s no point in phoning in that love.

The focus of your PhD was post-apocalyptic fiction. What do you think makes this genre so attractive to authors, and to readers?

I think that for writers and readers alike, post-apocalyptic fiction appeals to some dark part of us, a part buried deep in our reptilian brain stem, a part that longs for a life free of our contemporary distractions and problems, that relishes the idea of the symbols of our civilisation, along with its monuments and idols, reduced to wreck and ruin. It’s no coincidence that much of the iconography of post-apocalyptic fiction consists of landmarks that are globally recognisable, despite the devastation inflicted upon them: the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

And then there’s the fact that we live in an increasingly uncertain age, in which the end of the world feels like it just might be on the horizon, a cyclic cultural occurrence that has repeated itself numerous times throughout human history. Right now, the heralds of the apocalypse are many: climate change, overpopulation, fundamentalism, isolationist tribalism, vast inequality, terrorism, delusional zealots controlling nuclear-armed countries. At times like these – times of great change, instability, hopelessness and anxiety – I think that some people fantasise about an enormous event that would allow society and civilisation to begin again, this time in a more fair and just way.

It seems to me the situation envisioned in The Rain Never Came, and people’s different responses to it, support the idea of a ‘thin veneer of civilization’. Is this an idea that interests you?

I think that for some people, civilisation really is only skin deep, and that these people only ‘behave’ because they have to, and that they’ll seize any opportunity and/or circumstance in which they can indulge their barbaric side. As well, I think that many people would, rightly or wrongly, give up their civilised sides when it came to life or death. But to assume that everyone would act this way is to take a very dim view of humanity, and to wallow in pessimism and misanthropy. Not all of us are bad or selfish, even when things get hard. For some people, dire straits only make their humanity shine; something history has proven time and time again.

Did the characters of Bill Cook and Tobe Cousins change at all during the writing process or did they arrive in your mind pretty much fully formed?

The core relationship between Bill and Tobe existed from the moment I had the idea for The Rain Never Came: two classically ‘Australian’ mates standing side-by-side at the end of the world. But as individuals, Bill and Tobe constantly evolved as I fleshed out their world and explored the dynamic and history between them. They changed dramatically as the story progressed, as they became more ‘real,’ and as the history between them became an essential part of the narrative.

These changes often surprised me. But then, a well-rounded character should sometimes surprise both the reader and the writer. For the writer, their personalities and psychologies should direct how they’re written; rather than being shoehorned into an action or decision for the sake of plot, the actions and decisions they make should come from within them, from their individual personalities and psychologies. For the reader, a character should be surprising because that’s what people are like – at times, we’ve all been contradictory, impulsive, unthinking, inconsistent or just acted out of character.

Are there any Australian colloquialisms in the book you think readers in other parts of the world may struggle with?

I hope not… But in all seriousness, I believe that context is key when it comes to understanding colloquialisms – we should be able to understand them without needing to refer to a glossary, something that most astute readers have a handle on.  In the case of The Rain Never Came, most of the colloquialisms have either been encountered before through Australia’s internationally successful films – think of how Crocodile Dundee and the Mad Max series introduced the world to phrases like ‘she’ll be right’ and ‘fang it’ – or else they should be easily interpretable, given the context. After all, one person’s ‘g’day’ is just another person’s ‘howdy.

Which other writers do you admire, and why?

Being a fan and writer of science fiction and its subgenres, most other writers I admire tend to come from the same field. I do, however, prefer those writers who have a singular “voice” and focus on the emotional states of their characters, and on their characters’ psychological development. These kinds of writers normally use their big science fiction ideas as a frame to support an exploration of these states and developments, rather than as an end unto themselves.

I’m talking about people like JG Ballard, Kurt Vonnegut, Debra Biancotti, Steven Amsterdam and Margaret Atwood. Their work, while full of big ideas, is memorable more for the way they make us feel, rather than the way the make us think. Outside the umbrella of science fiction, I admire people who do the same kind of thing, and possess a similarly singular voice and focus on the emotional and psychological states of their characters: Charles Bukowski, William Kotzwinkle, Katherine Dunn, Franz Kafka and Peter Carey.

What are you working on next?

I don’t think anyone creative can ever have too many projects on the go. The trick is in knowing which one to focus on, something I’m not very good at yet. And so right now I have a pretty decent second draft of a book-length story cycle that takes a serious look at giant monsters of the Godzilla/King Kong kind, and I’ve also made a start on two other books: a post-apocalyptic western, and a zany piece of metafictional science fiction. Did I really just use the word zany?

Thank you, Lachlan, for those fascinating, insightful answers. It’s really made me excited to read the book and I’m sure I won’t be the only one.

LachlanWalterAbout the Author

Lachlan Walter is a writer and nursery hand (the garden kind, not the baby kind), and has completed a PhD in the relationship between Australian post-apocalyptic fiction and national identity. His debut novel The Rain Never Came has just been released by Odyssey Books, and he also writes science fiction criticism for Aurealis magazine and reviews for the independent ‘weird music’ website Cyclic Defrost. He loves all things music-related, the Australian environment, overlooked genres, and playing in the garden.

Connect with Lachlan

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