1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE TRIP
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Four friends take the vacation of a lifetime to Thailand, only to discover someone has been following them…It’s a thriller dealing with themes of class, friendship, status, domestic abuse and con artists.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I wrote a lot of THE TRIP in the covid lockdown, and at the time I was desperate to be out of my apartment and somewhere exciting! I did a lot of research into Bangkok and Koh Samet, and ended up taking a vacation there this year, after the book was finished – I prayed I had got the details right! I loved it there – it’s a real sensory experience, and I hope I did it justice.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
My novel has four protagonists – Holly, Saskia, Theo and Lucas, and the book flits between them. I enjoyed writing Saskia the most; I’m not sure I’d hang out with her, she has a pretty troubled past, but I might hang out with Lucas. He’s overall the nicest of the four, and his chapters try to provide a different ‘reader’ perspective to the book.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
I’d say for Saskia – cunning, smart, and vulnerable.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned a lot about Thailand! I had a really useful guidebook and I watched lots of online videos taken by tourists; I loved reading about the gorgeous temples and Koh Samet island itself, and it was such a joy to visit it this year too. It’s a beautiful country, and the island is the closest one to Bangkok itself, just a short boat ride, so it’s definitely worth a visit.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I try to get a decent first draft down first and then go back and edit – obviously sometimes you end up going back through a little bit, but it’s much easier to edit once you have something substantial to work with – as the saying goes, you can’t edit a blank page!
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Ooh, I’m a chocolate girl! It’s great for a sugar boost when writing feels hard…
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I write wherever I can! I don’t have an office so I might write in the living room or kitchen, but I also find it helpful to write in cafes or libraries – a bit of background noise doesn’t bother me, and you can take inspiration from the world around you, too! If I am at home, I like writing with a candle lit.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I love Liane Moriarty, Jennifer Close, Maggie O’Farrell, Louise Candlish, Liz Nugent – to name just a few!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
I’d say reading After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell had a big impact on me – she’s such an interesting, unusual writer, she made me think about language in a totally different way.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.”
I still remember getting the email to say my agent (the wonderful Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson) wanted to represent me – I was in the café at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London (very appropriate!) And when I got the email saying I’d be published for the first time (with my debut, The Doll House) I think I was actually at the London Book Fair speaking on a panel (I work in publishing as an editor as my day job). Getting published changed my life and fulfilled a dream and I will be forever grateful!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love crime and thriller, but I also really enjoy short stories – Katherine Heiny as an example. I think they are much harder to write than they look!
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I love A Lot Like Love – it’s an old rom com that follows two characters throughout their adult lives, and I like the structure. I also love Matilda – the original bookworm!
15--What is your favorite season?
The summer! For sure.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I often go away for the weekend, my birthday is in January so it tends to be pretty cold here in the UK!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I loved Baby Reindeer on Netflix – a fascinating and unusual story, told very cleverly and movingly.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian!
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I run and kickbox, and I also act in a local amateur dramatics group. I think it’s important to have other interests as a writer, it keeps you stimulated and keeps the ideas flowing!
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I am partway through (in the early stages!) of writing my sixth novel, which doesn’t yet have a title! It’s about a woman whose husband is accused of a terrible crime, but she can’t provide his alibi because she was having an affair at the time… It has shades of a courtroom drama. Who knows how it will turn out!
A Novel
A new heart-stopping thriller from the author of The Wild Girls in which two couples go on vacation and murder ensues.
How well do you know your friends?
Four friends are on the vacation of a lifetime in Thailand. Until a vicious murder shatters their paradise.
Four friends who would do anything for each other-until now.
Only one of them committed a crime.
But all four know how to keep a secret.
And they're all guilty of something...
Thriller Psychological [William Morrow Paperbacks, On Sale: October 8, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063416789 / eISBN: 9780063416796]
PHOEBE MORGAN is an author and editor. She studied English at Leeds University after growing up in the Suffolk countryside. She edits commercial fiction for a publishing house during the day and writes her own books in the evenings. Phoebe lives in London.
She is the author of The Doll House and The Girl Next Door and The Babysitter is her third book. Her novels have been translated into multiple territories and are available in the US, Canada, France, Croatia, Italy, Estonia, Norway, Portugal and more.
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