by C. L. Taylor
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Q&A
Q: Where did you get the idea for The Missing?
A: Most of my novels begin with a “what if . . . ?” question and The Missing was no different. My initial thought was, “What if a child disappeared in the middle of the night?” My second thought was, “What if everyone in that child’s family felt guilty about the disappearance?” As I was brainstorming the idea I read about Agatha Christie’s fugue to Harrogate and that sparked new ideas—what if Claire was responsible for her son’s disappearance but couldn’t remember what happened? What if she’d suffered a fugue and started a new life with him somewhere and left him behind? I considered lots of different possibilities but the one I kept coming back to was—what if Claire couldn’t accept that someone in her family was responsible for Billy’s disappearance? How would that affect her subconsciously? What if it triggered a psychological disorder? I wanted to write a novel that explored family dynamics, the pressures of motherhood and the lies we tell ourselves and each other. The Missing was the result.
Q: Did you include any real-life experiences in the novel?
A: This is the first psychological thriller I’ve written that doesn’t include any of my real-life experiences but it does explore one of my fears, and a fear a lot of parents have—the loss of a child. There’s something very cathartic about writing through your fear, but it’s also very difficult as you have to put yourself in the main character’s shoes and let yourself feel every emotion she’s feeling. It took me about five months to write the first draft of The Missing and there were at least two months when I felt constantly tense and unsettled. I couldn’t understand why I felt so odd but then I realized it was because I was so immersed in Claire’s feelings that they’d become enmeshed with my own. As soon as Claire came to terms with her feelings in the book it was as though a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Q: Your main character, Claire, is a very unreliable narrator. Did you find her difficult to write?
A: She was quite difficult to write as I wanted her to be a strong character who was a bit of a control freak but she had to be likeable too. I needed the reader to identify with her, care about her and feel her confusion each time she suffered a fugue. But I also needed the reader to mistrust her and question whether she had anything to do with Billy’s disappearance.
Q: Did you always know how the novel would end? Did elements change during the writing process?
A: I always knew that Billy would be found and that he would be dead. I did play around with a couple of scenarios where he was found alive but that would have watered down the emotional journeys that all the other characters go through. They, and their lives, needed to be changed forever by Billy’s death.
Q: As a mother yourself, did you find the writing process and subject matter affected you emotionally?
A: It did, yes. The subject matter really affected me emotionally as I was writing The Missing and much earlier than that, when I was researching the subject of missing children and reading books about Madeleine McCann and James Bulger. I found those books utterly harrowing. I cried, I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t get certain images out of my mind. I knew there was no way I could write a book about a very young child going missing (my son is four) so I chose to make Billy a teenager. I also made him quite unlikeable. It worked for the storyline and it also allowed me more emotional distance than writing about a toddler or preschooler would have.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
A: It’s hard to give blanket advice because each author’s journey to publication is so different. I started by writing short stories. I entered them into competitions and submitted them to women’s magazines and, once I felt I could craft a good short story, I turned my hand to novels. But lots of authors have never written a short story, or have no interest in writing one. I learned about writing novels by reading “how to” books. I read everything I could get my hands on—books about crafting characters, creating plots, the three act structure, the hero’s journey, writing a “blockbuster”—everything. I also read, and continue to read, books on writing screenplays as a lot of what you can learn from a gripping film you can also apply to novel writing. But the best way to learn how to write a novel is to read. Read everything and anything, within your chosen genre and outside it. Read with a critical eye. What makes one book good and another bad? Analyze a book you found compelling. Why did you keep turning the pages? When you’ve finished writing your book get a second opinion from someone who isn’t a friend or related to you. Join a local or online writing group or befriend another aspiring writer online and swap manuscripts. Learn from feedback. The chances are it will sting and you might be tempted never to write another book but if you can learn from it and bounce back you’ll become a better writer and your book will become a better book. Rejection and criticism are something all writers experience and it doesn’t end when you get an agent or a publisher. You need to be thin-skinned to be a writer, but thick-skinned to get published. To get a book published you need to write a damned good book and you need to be determined. Keep going!
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Huge thanks to Caroline Kirkpatrick for her support, help and insightful editorial skills. Caz, you helped shape The Missing into a book I’m truly proud of. A big cheer for everyone else at Avon, HarperCollins for all their hard work behind the scenes, particularly the sales and digital marketing teams, and to LightBrigade for their PR brilliance. A massive hug to Maddy, Thérèse and Cara at the Madeleine Milburn agency for your guidance, support and expertise. I’m so proud to work with such a fabulous group of women.
I’m indebted to the people who gave up their time so willingly to help me with my research. It’s important to me that my books are as accurate and realistic as possible and I couldn’t have written The Missing without you. Thanks to Stuart Gib for answering my enormous list of questions about police procedures, Dr. Jez Phillips for kindly giving up so much of his time to help me understand dissociative amnesia, DK Green for talking to me about counseling and ethics, Torie Collinge for giving me the low-down on life as a pharmaceutical sales rep, Andrew Parsons for pharmaceutical advice, Lee Stone for his train expertise, Dr. Charlotte McCreadie for answering my GP questions, Michael Jones for explaining paramedic procedure and to Joanna Purdue for being a mobile phone guru. Thank you Ray Wingate for answering my questions about CCTV—unfortunately those scenes didn’t make the final cut but I’m still very grateful for your time. I’d also like to thank Susannah Thomson who ferried me around in her car so I could research some of the Bristol settings in the book. The black bag we saw floating in the river made it into the Avonmouth scene!
A special mention goes to Pierre L’allier who won a mention in the acknowledgements as a result of his very generous bid in the Authors for Nepal Auction. Thank you too to Clare Christian who was equally as generous in supporting the Clic Sargent auction. She named the character Edie Christian. I hope your daughter enjoys the book, Clare.
So much love to my parents Reg and Jenny Taylor whose neverending support (and babysitting help!) make it possible for me escape from my desk so I can go out and about and meet my readers and other authors. You’re the best! Love too to my sister, Bec, and brother, Dave, for amusing me on WhatsApp and keeping me grounded. A massive hug to my extended family—Sophie, Rose, Leah, Suz, LouBag, Ana, Angela, Guin, Steve, Nan, Ali, Margaret, Sam and all my lovely uncles, aunties and cousins (there are a lot of us). Big kisses to my amazing friends—Rowan, Julie, Kate, Miranda and Tamsyn—for always being there. Love you girls. There are so many other people I’d like to thank but I’m running out of space so thank you to the CAN ladies, the Bristol SWANS, the Brighton mob (past and present), the Ellerslie Girls, Knowle Book (Wine) Club and all my lovely
writer friends.
And finally . . . all the love in the world to Chris and Seth. You have my heart.
PRAISE FOR C. L. TAYLOR:
“Black Narcissus for the Facebook generation, a clever exploration of how petty jealousies and misunderstandings can unravel even the tightest of friendships. Claustrophobic, tense and thrilling, a thrill-ride of a novel that keeps you guessing.”
—Elizabeth Haynes
“A gripping and disturbing psychological thriller: every bit as good as The Accident.”
—Clare Mackintosh
“Fast-paced, tense and atmospheric, a guaranteed bestseller.”
—Mark Edwards
“Haunting and heart-stoppingly creepy, The Lie is a gripping roller coaster of suspense.”
—Sunday Express
“5/5 stars—Spine-chilling!”
—Woman magazine
“An excellent psychological thriller.”
—Heat magazine
“Packed with twists and turns, this brilliantly tense thriller will get your blood pumping.”
—Claire Frost, Fabulous magazine
“A real page-turner, with two story lines: one of growing menace in the present, and a past narrative of a girls-only holiday that goes horrifically wrong. Creepy, horrifying and twisty. C. L. Taylor is extremely good at writing stories in which you have no idea which characters you can trust, and the result is intriguing and scary and extremely gripping.”
—Julie Cohen, 2014 Richard and Judy Summer Book Club Pick
“The Lie is absolutely brilliant—The Beach, only darker, more thrilling and more tense. It’s the story of a twisted, distorted friendship. It’s a compelling, addictive and wonderfully written tale. Can’t recommend it enough.”
—Louise Douglas
“C. L. Taylor delivers another compelling read that’ll keep you turning pages way too late into the night. Warning: may cause drowsiness the following day.”
—Tamar Cohen
“My heart was racing after I finished C. L. Taylor’s brilliant new book The Lie. Dark, creepy and full of twists. I loved it.”
—Rowan Coleman
“C. L. Taylor is fast becoming the queen of psychological suspense. Read this: you won’t be disappointed.”
—Victoria Fox
ALSO BY C. L. TAYLOR
Before I Wake
The Lie
CREDITS
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
Cover photograph © Karina Vegas / Arcangel
Cover images © Shutterstock (background)
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE MISSING. Copyright © 2016 by C. L. Taylor. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Originally published in the UK in 2016 by Avon Books.
FIRST WILLIAM MORROW PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED 2017.
Digital Edition November 2017 ISBN 978-0-06-267354-1
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-267353-4
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