Author interview with bestselling psychological thriller writer Louise Jensen!

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You're tuned into the Writing Community Chat
Show, the live streaming YouTube podcast that
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brings you the stories of authors,
screenwriters and more indie or established. This
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Head to the Writingcommunity chatshow dot com
for more info. The WCCs together as
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one, we get it done right. Yeah, Hello, and welcome to
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the Writing Community Chat Show. It
is indeed Friday. I get so excited
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every time that happens. Brilliant.
It's been a very quick week actually,
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so I can't complain, but it's
great to be back on the show.
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We've got another great guest lined up
for you tonight, and mister Hooleiot is
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here. We've just been complaining that
the sun is actually bothering us today.
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Very unusual habit for us. But
how are you doing, Chris, Yeah,
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it is a strange one. I'm
kind of embracing it a little bit.
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I was messing around with the lighting
and I feel like a bit of
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natural sunlight is good. Get a
bit of vitamin D in there so it
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will go down over time. I
feel like when the song was growing up
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then I was just like singing that
Elton John song in my head or is
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it Elton John? What song is
it? Yeah? Yeah, that is
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me. Yeah, and this here
looks like I've got that looks like a
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lamp, but it is not.
That is the sunshine at the window.
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Yeah, don't let the sound good
down of me. That's You're drinking a
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nice glass of red wine by the
look of it, Chris, No,
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that's coke. Oh yeah, yeah, to be fair, all the other
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glasses are in the discust, so
that was a clean glass. Well,
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lovely putting the Guinness, which I've
I've also seen my guest has and there's
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a bit of history with our guests
in Guinness, so that's interesting. Yeah,
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and I've got Guinness endy right now
because I much preferred to drinking a
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Guinness. But Harrogut is on its
way, trying to slim down, knowing
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that the whole body will be on
camera, so yeah, trying to shed
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a few pounds and Pepsi max is
far less calories than a Guinness, so
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yeah, it is for this health
benefits to that, so don't worry anyway.
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Yeah, you're quite right. Harrogate
really is is coming around the corner
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pretty quick, and it's fun to
see people getting excited about it on Twitter.
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Sorry X can't call it X Twitter
about harroget already and they're saying they're
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getting emails about it, They've had
invitations and people are saying they're going to
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be there. Who's going to be
there? And that's really exciting for us
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being there for the second third year, but the second year hosting moderating for
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Pamitt Mellon. It's going to be
very interesting, a lot of fun and
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we will be there in the beer
tenth for quite a while. So if
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you guys are there, please hello
to us. We'd love to meet you
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and to chat as well. So
yeah, check us out at Harrogate Crime
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right As Festival this year if you
are going, that would be great to
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see you. Yeah. And I
feel like we've missed out a little bit
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on the invites, so some of
them got lost in the post. Just
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send them again. I'm sure we'll
get around seem Yeah, well we get
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both a few beers, but yeah, little dinner somewhere would be good.
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We have had one before, but
we'll see, we'll see. We're making
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some good connections there. Hello to
Anna, Anya, Sarah and in the
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chat there. Nice to see you. Happy Friday, happy weekend, and
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we hope you had a good week. Let us know what you've been up
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to. How is your writing being
Chris, I'm asking you as well,
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how is your writing bean this week? Yes, it's been I've finished a
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couple of books reading wise this week, which has been good writing. It's
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not been as productive as last week. I've still been doing it, but
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Ross has gone on holiday and that's
massively impacted my accountability buddy element because he's
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a way and I don't want to
him to to him having a good time.
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And I'm probably just using this as
an excuse, but if someone doesn't
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hold me to account then I do
become quite lazy. So yeah, less
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productive this week, but I hope
it's been productive for everybody else. And
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how's your writing going, Chris?
Pretty pretty slack. I have not really
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done much of this week. And
yeah, so I have no accountability buddy,
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So I'm just saying. That's why
Anna says she'll take over for yelling
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at you. So if you need
yelling at please you can in fact on
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the podcast. I'm sure you can
send voice messages or if you want to
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send one through email, well we'll
play it to Chris if you want to
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shout it and yeah, and he
says, yeah, the semester is winding
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down, so lots of grading and
not too great lots of coffee too.
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I can imagine you need that for
grading. Yeah, it's greeding. Respect,
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I must be distracted. Yeah,
if you're a writer and you've got
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a lot of work, paperwork to
do, I can imagine it's not easy
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to do all that kind of paperwork
and then sit down and trying to write
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as well. So I wonder if
that kind of kind of slows down that
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creative side or not. I'm not
sure. Be interested though if it does.
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Cool. So, Chris, are
you ready to chat to tonight's guest,
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because I do know that when we
did books to look out for this
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year coming out, the Intruders was
in fact one of them. It was
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indeed, there was some great books
on there, and we've had a couple
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of guests already from that wonderful list. But yeah, we'rely looking forward to
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chatting to tonight's guest. You know, absolutely fantastic author as we builled,
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and that billing, by the way, was great. I love the fact
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that in the tweet you put I
thought the little emojis just added to it,
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and yeah, I thought it was
really good but obviously fantastic author to
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chat to and again, so yeah, definitely. So today I'll do the
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introduction. As always, we have
the honor hosting a truly exceptional guest,
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none other than the internationally acclaimed author
Louise Jensen. With their remarkable career spanning
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gripping psychological thrillers and heartwarming love stories, Louise has captured the imaginations of readers
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worldwide. Her novels, including The
Sister, The Gift, and The Surrogate,
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have sold over one point five million
copies and have been translated into twenty
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five languages. That always blows my
mind. Not only have a book stopped
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the best sellers list, but they've
also been optioned into for TV and film,
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and solidifying Lewis's status as a literary
powerhouse. So join us as we
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delve into the mind behind the suspense, explore here journey from thrillers to romance,
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and get an exclusive sneak peek into
her latest thriller, The Intruders,
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which you can see up there in
the top corner. Everybody, please welcome
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Louise Jensen. Hello, Louise.
Hello, how are you doing our house?
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My children would laugh at that.
Thank you, ah good, Thank
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you so much for joining us.
It's an absolute pleasure to have you on
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the show. Yeah, it's going
to be great to chat to you and
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hope you all doing well, yes, and very well. Happy Friday,
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Yeah, happy Friday. So there's
gonna be lots of chat about and we
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do love stories on this show and
a little uh site, you know,
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kind of around the book well,
but also little other ones. And just
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before we came on, you mentioned
Guinness that we're both drinking Guinness. Chris
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is kind of let us down a
little bit. But you used to work
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for Guinness in a sense. Yeah, I used to do promotions years ago
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with Guinness and ginger Ale or regrets. I can't believe we promote cigarettes,
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but we did and yeah good times. Yeah. So in a weird way,
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has has kind of working in that
sense for Guinness and all those kind
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of companies. Has that helped you
on your marketing kind of Joe as an
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author, No, unless I can
get readers drunk, then yeah, well
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that's that's a great idea, right
when drunk has definitely been talked about before
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have you ever done that, Louise? I was on very strong painkillers and
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I've written my best stuff on really
strong painkillers. Wow. Yeah, stuff
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that I couldn't recall writing and then
reading it back, this is actually really
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good. Yeah, well maybe there's
something to that. Yeah. Yeah.
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And for the audience, whereabouts in
the world are you today? I'm not
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panton Ship? And how is that? As always I like to know for
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a for an author, is it
much of an author seen there? Do
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you get to meet kind of local
authors and are they know? No,
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there's not a lot going on here, but we're not far from Leicester and
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there's a great writing community in Leicester, right, Okay, Yeah, it's
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always interesting. Do you ever meet
do you kind of get recognized as being
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an author at all? Sometimes not
very often, but sometimes Yeah. Has
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it been any weird kind of conversations
based on that? Or is everyone quite
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nice? And I don't mean not
nice, but you know warming, Yeah,
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I know if people are okay,
yeah, that's somebody on the brain
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that was reading my book and that
was a bit weird. Yeah, it's
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nice. It's a bit surreal.
Actually, yeah, did you did you
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approach that? Yeah? I think
I had the same question of like,
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did you go I've noticed that,
and then gone hello. No. The
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first time I saw somebody reading my
book, my debut had come out and
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it had been so crazy, and
I'd gone to the spa for the day
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just to sort of decom brass,
and somebody was reading it by the swimming
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pool. So I waited till she
had gone in the sauna, and I
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just left her a little note,
Oh, thank you, that's quite nice.
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I liked when authors go into like
a supermarket and they leave little messages
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in the book that no one has
bought yet. I think that's pretty cool.
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Oh. I got thrown out of
Tesco's for trying to put my own
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book my books Actually, who are
you out? Yeah, they're like you,
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you can't do that, and I
said, but I'm just there matching
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bookmarks, and they were very unhappy
with me. I'm very surprised to that.
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You know, yeah, I could
have just been I mean, yeah,
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well you would have thought, like, especially if you're using social media
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to promote that that was beneficial to
them as a company as well. Yeah.
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I don't think that's a company policy. It's probably just that one assistant
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boo to that person amazing. Right, what we're going to do is we're
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going to play part one video,
which is the road to write in and
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we're going to get a good insight
into kind of how you've ended up where
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you are now a best seller,
having books translated and TV and film of
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adaptations, which is all an amazing
career. So we will want to try
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and dig into that little bit and
learn about your journey. So right after
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this video we will hopefully impact that. So, Louise, what was the
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first point where you realized writing with
something more than maybe just when did you
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first start writing? But when did
you realize it was more than just a
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hobby. I think when I started
writing it was very I was about six,
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I think I was really young,
and I wrote a really original series
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called The Fantastic Five about some children
and a dog that's mysteries, and it
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was all I wanted to do throughout
school and I just wrote constantly. I
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was set on being a writer.
And then when I saw the careers officer
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before I left school and said I
don't want to be a writer, and
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she said, well, how do
you want to earn a living? I
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wanted to be a writer, and
she said and people like you don't become
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writers. And I never had a
lot of confidence anyway. And this was
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the eighties and we didn't have Google
to learn how to be a writer or
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you know. So I just went
to work in an office like she said
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I should. And that was it
for years and years and years. I
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didn't write again for long. It's
interesting, isn't it, I don't think.
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Yeah, it's a lot of people, especially understand the industry, would
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go down that route of saying as
a careers officer, yeah, that's not
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really going to be something you can
get into or I don't know how to
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get you into that, so just
forget about it. Yeah, I guess
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now you just google, can't You
can google everything? But yeah, then
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it's different times. So where did
the spark come again? And Louise like,
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obviously you working in an office and
you obviously didn't stay there. So
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what happened? No, Well,
I had a car accident and I had
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a pre existing health condition anyway,
and then I got some spinal damage and
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I just found myself in a wheelchair
and I couldn't do my job anymore,
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and I became clinically depressed, and
it was all very tragic, and before
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that I ran and I horse rode
and did lots of active things, and
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I couldn't do any of that anymore. My spinal consultant one day said you
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need to take up knitting, and
I didn't really understand that. I know
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now that consultants actually say that because
it's mindful and what they mean you need
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to do something mindfully, but I
just thought, I'm knitting. But then
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I thought, I do need to
do something because I had three children and
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I needed to kind of pull myself
together really, and I just remembered that
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I just loved writing because I felt
so limited as to what I could do,
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and I thought, I'm just going
to have a go a short story.
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So I just started writing and then
didn't stop. Wow, that's that's
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an amazing kind of twist in your
journey that you obviously didn't see coming,
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and writer was almost you know,
you might have been an expert knitted by
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now. I'm not sure if you
kept up. Did you have an idea
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of how you want to approach that
first kind of phase of writing then your
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short story when you started writing into
that, did you have to learn how
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to do that or you're quite comfortable
in just attacking that story. No,
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well, I went to a I
googled that was Google by then, and
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there was a writing meeting near me
with how to self publish. And at
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the time, I thought I wanted
to start writing, and I was going
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to write a little bit about my
journey and about chronic pain and depression and
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mental health and how I was overcoming
it. So I went to that meeting
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and when you walked in, they
gave you three words and said write something
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as an icebreaker, which was terrifying, and then you had to read it
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out. And I wrote what essentially
is the beginning of The Sister now my
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debut, and then decided to make
it into a short story. But yeah,
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I just kept on and on and
on. Do you remember what the
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three words were? Yeah, it
was forest, shovel. I don't remember
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the third. What I'd like to
do is, the people who are watching
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this now, if you can write
in the chat forest shovel and nighttime,
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very very short, very very short
story like it'll have to be a black
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fiction. So you can come up
with something and we'll read them out.
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Shovel boris nighttime. Give that a
go. Yeah, So that's amazing for
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you to actually then think, Okay, I've started something that I really think
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is a great idea that instantly kind
of consumed you in that sense. Did
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you then just go home and think
I'm just going to do this and then
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sit at a computer or write it. I didn't want to tell anybody because
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it just sounds well, it just
sounds really pretentious with me, I'm going
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to write a novel now. So
yeah, I had you know, my
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children were quite young at the time, so I didn't have the time.
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But having chronic pain, I found
myself awake most of the night. I
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would sit up. I'd get up
about three o'clock in the morning and just
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sit so it gave me something to
do. So I wrote throughout the night
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without telling my family at all.
Nobody knew what I was doing because I
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think at the time I was getting
so many sympathetic looks. Anyway, I
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thought, if I tell people I'm
going to try and write a book,
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it would just be another Ah.
At what point did did you tell your
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family? Had you finished the story? At that point, I was struggling
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a little bit with character names.
I've written quite a lot, and my
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character names didn't really fit my characters. So I thought, I'll order a
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book of baby names off the internet. Amazon delivered and my husband just opened
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it saw it as a baby name
book. Face just dropped and I had
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to say, no, it's not
what you think. I'm trying to write
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a write a story. So yeah, did you remember his reaction to that?
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He's really supportive. But I don't
think anybody really thought I could write
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a book, because you know,
how do you know how to write a
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book? It's something you just did
it. Yeah, he's always been really
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supportive. Yeah, and I'm guessing
from that point then it was there was
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no looking back because you've gone on
to write book after book after book and
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done very well with those books.
But do you remember kind of the I'm
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guessing or most authors go through the
anticipation of releasing your first book in perhaps
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imposter syndrome or nervousness. How was
that first release for you and how did
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you feel after you've got that kind
of good feedback? I had impostor syndrome
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up until book ten, I think, yeah, overcoming it. So yeah,
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it was a real whirl wind because
I couldn't get an a well,
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I had an agent and then they
decided they didn't want to be an agent
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anymore, so I and then nobody
wanted me, And then was contacted by
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this little publisher who just started up
really book Achure, who are absolutely huge
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now on one of the editors because
I blog blog flash fiction every week and
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then read my stories, read that
I'd written a book, and emailed me
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and said can we re it?
And from the minute they read it,
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it just happened so quickly because they're
digital, they could get it out within
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a matter of weeks. It was. It was nervous, but I knew
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because they would say to me on
pre orders it was in the I think
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it was in the top fifty four
weeks while it was on pre order,
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and I think by the time it
was published it sold about one hundred and
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fifty thousand already. So wow,
I kind of knew it wasn't a disaster,
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but you have nothing to compare it
to, so yeah, and it
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was. It was funny because then
they wanted another one. That was when
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the panic set in, because I
said, I am not a writer.
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I just I just really wanted to
give myself something to do. Wow.
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Yeah, that's really interesting to think
you're in that position and you're feeling like
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you're not a writer. You just
achieved a little maybe a little something you
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wanted to do, but suddenly you're
faced with a challenge to actually become an
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author in the sense of you have
work to produce for someone. So did
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you have to kind of settle down
and kind of think about that or did
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you just decide to go for it
and then did you come up with that
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next idea? They offered me a
three book deal initially, and we went
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back and I was off. I
don't know why they signing because I kept
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saying I'm not really a writer and
that we think you can do another one,
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and I said, I don't think
I can, and what if I
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can't, are you're going to assue
me? Am I going to lose my
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house? And they said we won't
sue you. And I said, I
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need that in writing before I sign
a book to you. Yeah. So
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I had this deal and then The
Sister came out and it went to number
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one, and it was number one, I think for about four months.
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Wow. So they bought the second
book forward. It was supposed to be
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released in March, and they bought
it full to November because they wanted to
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capitalize on that, and I haven't
written it, and I didn't know what
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I was doing, and it was
I don't want to complain because I know
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how fortunate I was getting a deal
to start with, but it very stressful.
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I can imagine. I just wrote, probably for about twelve hours a
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day. I don't think I saw
my family for about four months. It
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just shut myself in a room and
yeah, trying. So Louis is,
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how did you navigate the process of
Obviously you've been talking about the fact that
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you had young children, you were
in chronic pain, you're suffering from depression
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what you were writing, So that
was your initial process and how did you
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manage that? But also how has
your process changed as you've gone on from
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book to book. I don't think
I managed it very well at all,
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because I just had that constant fear
of letting people down and that they've given
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me this chance, and so I
needed to produce a book quickly and you
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know, do what I could,
and I didn't manage it very well with
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balancing family and quality time with them. Now I kind of have a better
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work home life balance. I think
for the first few years I wrote every
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single day, even Christmas Day,
I'd get up earlier than the kids and
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spend some time writing. If we
went on holiday, I would take my
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laptop. It was just constant.
Whereas now I have weekends off and try
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not to do too much in the
evening, and I have much better balance,
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and I think my writing's better because
of it. If you could go
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back to that time and give yourself
a little bit of advice, would that
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be what you'd say, you know, just take your time and take your
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foot off the guests, or do
you think that that part of that process
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is actually it's made you who you
are today sort of thing. I think
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I'd probably say, it's not the
end of the world if you can't deliver
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a book on time. It's nobody's
going to die. It's you know,
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it's fine, order just schedules.
But at that time, it just felt
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like everything and that I couldn't be
late. Yeah. I think we've had
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a few authors on that here,
Chris, that have struggled with deadlines and
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openly admitted that they don't hit them
often, So I'm pretty sure there is
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some flexibility there. I obviously want
to keep a good reputation with your publisher,
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but you know it does happen in
reality. So yeah, then on
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Sorry, Chris, I was going
to say, we have had a quite
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a few offers about that. I
mentioned that, and I think the deadlines
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are almost a little bit of a
myth in some sense. But I'm really
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intrigued about the depression element, and
because I feel like a lot of creatives
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do supper mentally, yeah, just
simply because they can sort of envision every
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scenario as part of like that's creative
persona. What advice would you give to
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people who maybe going through a state
where their mental health is maybe not so
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great, because that is something that
there's not really cropped up in the show
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that often. But I do think
it's really important if you if you could
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offer some sort of advice or insight
and people would benefit from I think I
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learned mindfulness. I used to teach
mindfulness and that's just been life changing for
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me. That being present, because
if you're writing dark things and you're in
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your head all the time with those
dark things, it is detrimental to your
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mental health. And that's why I
started writing in another genre because a few
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years ago or COVID hit and I
noticed my depression came back, and I
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thought, I don't want to be
because I wasn't having regular breaks from writing
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at that time. I needed to
write something a bit happier. So it's
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taking, I think, taking breaks
and being present, and I just I
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can't speak highly enough about mindfulness.
Yeah, I think that's a great tip.
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I mean, I've heard that with
actors who are like kind of in
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a character that's dark and going through
dark times and they get kind of dragged
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into that, but I've never really
considered that. What you mentioned there,
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Chris and luis about how an author
can do that if they're in writing in
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the same kind of headspace and getting
trapped in there with them. So that's
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that's really interesting to know, and
I think that's great advice, So thank
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you for that. That's because it's
so solitary, isn't it. You're on
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your own, and particularly during during
coavid because you know, now I can
335
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go and meet a friend for lunch
and it's it's a bit different, But
336
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then you're just in a room on
your own, just dreaming up horrible things
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people can do to each other.
For a book. We did have a
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couple of flash fiction responses this too, in there, Halo said, She
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said afterwards, she's gone very basic. I use a shovel to plant my
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glorious corpse garden in a forest at
light time. A corpse. There's an
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image, Chris, you can read
this. It's got big words in it.
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Okay. Emma watched as the glowing
moon slowly rose behind a veil of
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Spanish moss. The nighttime air clung
to her skin, cursing a shrink of
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what's e Someone could correct me,
I don't know, as she plungs the
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shovel into the shore near the baby. Yeah, I got that right.
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Maybe maybe not. I'm not sure
what epithet is. I'm gonna have to
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google this. I can't see is
going to put a shame in a minute.
348
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An epithet is an adjective or phrase
expressing equality or attribute regarding as characteristic
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of the person or thing mentioned.
Okay, there we go. Every day
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is a learning day. Well done
to those people. That's fun to say,
351
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though now that I'm able to say
it, cursing a string of epithets,
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though I don't quite I still haven't
worked at that. When we work
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at that, another time, we
have to break that down, Chris,
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Louise. After say, a couple
of your books in and you're noticing that
355
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you are doing well, At what
point did you start believing that, you
356
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know, stop saying to your publisher, I'm not to write it. When
357
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did that mindset switch for you?
It didn't really. I mean I did
358
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my three books and they all did
really well. So my agent got a
359
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lot of offers in and we went
round all the big publishers in London where
360
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they laid on swanky lunches and offered
me loads of money, and I just
361
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said no. I just couldn't cope
with the pressure. So because I didn't
362
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feel like I felt like I was
winging it in a way. I felt
363
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like the stories were real and I
was just writing them down on behalf of
364
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the characters. I didn't feel that
I was creating anything. I know that
365
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sounds not insane, but yeah,
is that how the idea came? Lloyd?
366
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Did they come sort of fully formed
and sort of living and breathing characters
367
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in your mind and then you sort
of follow the story out it came or
368
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did you sit there with you you
know, you post its and stick them
369
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all about and stuff like that.
Yeah. No, they never come fully
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form. My Amelia Henley books come
fully formed. The thrillers, don't.
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It just starts with a concept and
then it's just an angst written a few
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months because I don't write in order
either, so I just think of random
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scenes and at the moment that the
book I'm writing, I've got one hundred
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and twenty seven segments in scrivener.
I don't know if you guys are familiar
375
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with scrivener, and then I will
have to piece them all together somehow.
376
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But yeah, it's very messy,
and you find that's better for creativity though,
377
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because you've got you can kind of
just write what you feel like writing
378
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at the time and then absolutely put
it together. Yeah, I think I
379
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write all the emotional things and then
the action, and then I guess they
380
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filler, but then the bits that
will piece them all together. And I
381
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think I'm saying how my process differed
from the beginning. I now know it's
382
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okay because I used to read all
this stuff that you should write beginning to
383
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end and never edit as you go, and all the advice. That's good
384
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advice, but it just it wasn't
the way I work. I had to
385
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make myself work that way. But
yeah, it certainly is. It find
386
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what works for you, and for
a lot of people that might work.
387
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But if it's not how you do
it, then that's great. But I'm
388
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fascinated how you write those different sections. But it makes a lot of sense.
389
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So if someone struggling, like Chris
said, on a certain section and
390
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you're already thinking about another section that's
maybe even distracting, you go ahead and
391
00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:33.359
write that verse and come back to
it. Right. Yeah, it works
392
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for me. With the Intruders,
I wrote the whole of part two actually
393
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before I'd written anything else, and
then because I knew what I wanted the
394
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twist to be for this book,
so I wanted to write that first.
395
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You don't get a rushed end if
you write the end first. You know,
396
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there are a lot of comments about
how good the end twist is in
397
00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:02.680
this, and we don't want any
spoilers, so we're assume we will jump
398
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into that. So we'll leave that
for a minute, but we'll get into
399
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that soon. But then, Chris, I was going to say, with
400
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the twist element, when you become
known for sort of twists and readers become
401
00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:22.839
aware of it's going to be one, does that get trickier with this sort
402
00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:29.160
of high end expectation. I love
a challenge. I love the mystery of
403
00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:33.799
the twist. So it's with this
book. I gave them something that they
404
00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:37.000
would work out and they would think
that's everything, and then it really isn't.
405
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:41.880
So yeah, yeah, I do. Every time I write a book,
406
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I think, have I just used
up now all the twists? That's
407
00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:49.480
it? So in essence, when
you when you wrote this, you you
408
00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:53.480
led them towards a twist in their
mind that was going to be the twist,
409
00:29:53.559 --> 00:29:59.319
but that wasn't the it. That
wasn't it, no it, So
410
00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:03.920
how would you pass probably do that
without giving too much away or but perhaps
411
00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.319
going into too much depth. How
would you prepare it as an author one
412
00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:14.559
twist while still having the big twist
in there? Ah, just careful writing?
413
00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:22.079
I think, yeah, interesting,
Yeah, I do like the fact
414
00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:29.039
that you had that second twist in
mind first, because I think a lot
415
00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.880
of people would would probably go,
I'm going to write this first bit to
416
00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:34.680
build up to that, and then
I'm going to get to that, and
417
00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:40.240
that could change the sort of process, you know, and you might change
418
00:30:40.279 --> 00:30:44.039
your direction halfway through and it might
not make it as effective but you know,
419
00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:47.480
having the confidence to go, this
is what I want to write.
420
00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:49.559
I'm going to do that now.
You know that that's brilliant advice for a
421
00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:52.799
lot of people out there, and
you know, to just get it down
422
00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:59.240
on paper. Amazing. Yeah,
So just before we do get to the
423
00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:06.400
intruders, like you mentioned, your
books became best sellers. They've sold many,
424
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:11.039
many copies, and I'm always may
it kind of. I just don't
425
00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:15.519
when they get translated into different languages
always freaks me out for some reason.
426
00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:18.519
But then they get translated into different
languages, they have different covers and all
427
00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:23.720
that good stuff. Have you had
any kind of like communication with readings or
428
00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:30.839
fans perhaps from other countries all the
time, particularly on Instagram, I find
429
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:34.240
readers, particularly in Poland, the
photos they take, they take so much
430
00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:41.200
care with accessorizing everything with the cover. Yeah, yeah, it's really nice.
431
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.279
It's a really good way to connect
to Yeah. It must be interesting
432
00:31:45.319 --> 00:31:49.359
because I can imagine different cultures may
even interpret the book in different ways too.
433
00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:53.440
Yes, yeah, yeah, I
would imagine. So, I mean,
434
00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:56.000
my mum says to me, how
do you know they don't change the
435
00:31:56.079 --> 00:32:04.880
story. Yeah, I don't know. It's a completely different story amazing.
436
00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:07.480
So let's get on the part two
because I really want to talk about the
437
00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:10.759
Intruders. I think what we did
the books to look out for Chris and
438
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:15.200
you had this book, We had
this cover open and we're talking about it.
439
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.160
I'm sure I said something about aliens
in the attic because there's a green
440
00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:21.000
light in the window, isn't that? And I'm sure you've replayed on Twitter
441
00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:25.519
say no, it's not aliens.
But yeah, we'll playing the cover for
442
00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:30.000
a bit. Yeah, we'll play
part two video, watch the story and
443
00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:32.359
I'm really interested. So when when
we come back from this little video,
444
00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:37.279
Louise, we hope you've got a
great pitch for this because we want you
445
00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:43.119
to pitch the story to the audience. Are you up for that? Yeah,
446
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:45.119
I'll give it a go. I
should be able to do this,
447
00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:47.319
but I haven't yet. So let's
give it a girl. Part two coming
448
00:32:47.400 --> 00:33:04.359
up, Okay, Louise, all
on you that well. The Intruders is
449
00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:07.799
set in Newington House, which I
think is a character in its own right,
450
00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:14.039
and thirty years ago in Newington House
there was a home invasion and most
451
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:17.160
of the family that lived there were
murdered. And it's just just been rotting
452
00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:22.720
ever since. Nobody's lived there.
It happened just before the time of YouTube
453
00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:27.640
and no Urban Explorers. Nobody really
knows it exists. It's tucked away and
454
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:30.359
then a company buys it and they're
looking for caretakers, so they offer this
455
00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:35.240
young couple, Cass and James,
the job, and Cass and James really
456
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:38.119
want to live together but can't afford
to, so they decide to move into
457
00:33:38.200 --> 00:33:42.559
the house. Now, James knows
the history of the house and Cass doesn't,
458
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:46.680
and when they move in, strange
things start happening, and Cass believes
459
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:52.279
that the house is haunted by one
of the previous occupants. James is very
460
00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:57.160
rational and will come up with a
perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that's going on.
461
00:33:57.640 --> 00:34:00.359
But then they both begin to believe
that the truders from thirty years ago
462
00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:06.160
have come back for some reason.
Ooh, I love the idea. I'm
463
00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:07.280
going to get this book, Chris, I'm going to have to read it.
464
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.239
Yes, I love the sound of
that. And what's really interesting they
465
00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.079
picked up from that pitch straightaway,
was you set it before the time of
466
00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:21.000
YouTube and Urban Explorers. Because you're
quite right in noticing that. Quite on
467
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.840
YouTube. At the moment, all
these old, abandoned mystical places are becoming
468
00:34:23.960 --> 00:34:31.679
less mystical because they're constantly being sort
of explored and previewed on videos. So
469
00:34:32.199 --> 00:34:36.199
I like the fact I've done that, and was, at what point of
470
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:38.159
the writing process do you think to
do that? Was it already kind of
471
00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:42.440
that's that's when it's going to be. No. I kind of thought,
472
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:45.840
how feasible is it that a house
would remain empty and not be investigated and
473
00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:49.800
not be all over the internet.
And I thought the only way I could
474
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:53.679
do it is to pre internet,
so the news stories didn't go online.
475
00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:59.199
It's a very old manor house,
but there's no connection with royalty or there's
476
00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:02.639
no reason that it would be in
the news. Nobody really knows it's there.
477
00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:07.639
It's in the middle of some woods
and yeah, it's a great concept.
478
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:10.199
Is the house based on a real
house? Yeah, it's based on
479
00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:15.000
well kind of. It's based on
Baddisley Clinton, which is in a National
480
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:17.920
Trust property in Warwickshire, so it's
not exactly the same. But I went
481
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:24.719
there a lot for research and love
that. Yeah, it's great. Luise,
482
00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:29.599
How do you as a writer,
how do you go about making a
483
00:35:29.800 --> 00:35:35.159
house a character's own, right.
There's been a lot of really famous examples
484
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:37.599
like the Heart and Field House and
things like that that have done that.
485
00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:44.920
How do you tackle that? All
this idea came about after I've watched Amateurville
486
00:35:44.920 --> 00:35:51.320
with my son, just that who
would move into a house. It's not
487
00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:54.159
just Burt's family that moved in after
the defas were murdered. It's the families
488
00:35:54.199 --> 00:36:00.239
that came afterwards that were murders.
There's been supernatural stuff going on and they
489
00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:04.840
still and it's all about the house. So I wanted a book that was
490
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:09.840
all about the house. My publishers
weren't super keen to start with, so
491
00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:15.599
it was kind of writing it very
carefully. They didn't want anything really with
492
00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:21.159
a supernatural element. But yeah,
by chapter three I put a ghost.
493
00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:28.719
But they were really good about it
and they've been really supportive. Interesting,
494
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:34.079
So forcing a ghost in there is
clearly something you wanted to do. So
495
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:38.199
is it something that you believe in? Yeah? I do. I do.
496
00:36:38.360 --> 00:36:42.639
I lived in a house where I
think there was supernatural stuff going on,
497
00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:46.480
and until then I'd never really given
it any thought. But a guy
498
00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:50.800
had died in the lounge of this
house, I didn't know that when I
499
00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:54.440
moved in, but I now cigarette
smoke all the time. The temperature would
500
00:36:54.559 --> 00:37:00.840
drop, and then one day a
DVD case just moved across the table and
501
00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:02.960
the radio would have come on off. And I said to the neighbor this,
502
00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:06.280
you know, I feel something a
bit weird in the house. And
503
00:37:06.320 --> 00:37:12.119
he sort of died in that room
where you're feeling him. So yeah,
504
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:15.519
I do. I do believe.
It's really interesting you said about the cigarette
505
00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:17.559
smoke here, because we used to
come into this house and it happens now
506
00:37:17.599 --> 00:37:23.480
and then it smells like cigars,
cigar smoke, and my wife's granddad used
507
00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:27.159
to smoke cigars, and they said, oh, yeah, he's been in
508
00:37:27.199 --> 00:37:30.519
the house. And I'm like,
yeah, okay, you never know.
509
00:37:30.599 --> 00:37:34.159
It could be yeah, you never
know. And that's it. We don't.
510
00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:36.800
We don't know everything, do we
not? At all? Now?
511
00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:42.039
Louis, did you take when when
you had the idea for this book obviously
512
00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:45.320
talked about watching them with a little
horror with your son. Did you just
513
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:49.440
dive straight into it or did you
pick up a couple of books and read
514
00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:52.320
sort of how others have done it
and things like that, or did you
515
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:53.079
just think, do you know what? I'm just going to go with it?
516
00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:59.480
Experience with this now, No,
it took me probably three years from
517
00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:04.800
having the idea to begin writing it
because I initially I knew kind of knew
518
00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:07.000
what I wanted the twist to be, but I needed to know what was
519
00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:10.199
going to happen in part two to
know that it would work. And I
520
00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:15.679
became fixated that the intruders had come
back to find a key, and I
521
00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:19.440
didn't know what the key was for. And for three years I kept randomly
522
00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:23.440
firing questions what could the key be
for? And we went through everything,
523
00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:27.239
and then one day I just thought, I don't need a key. It
524
00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:31.679
just came and then I started writing. But yeah, I had the idea,
525
00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:35.800
and then I wrote two books in
the meantime because I couldn't figure out
526
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:40.000
how to do it. Amazing that
one idea consume your mind. You're like,
527
00:38:40.039 --> 00:38:43.719
yeah, I don't need that.
It drove me crazy, this book,
528
00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:49.599
Oh my goodness, Yes, it's
interesting. The feedback. I've had
529
00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:52.440
a good look on Amazon and the
reviews, and I picked one out.
530
00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:57.920
Do you read your reviews? No, I'm not strong enough. Yeah,
531
00:38:58.079 --> 00:39:00.800
well you shared the goods, so
that now and then I'll ask a question
532
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:05.440
of it. It says what a
book. I absolutely loved The Intruders by
533
00:39:05.519 --> 00:39:07.840
Louis Jensen. I was totally hooked
and couldn't put it down. It's a
534
00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:12.320
real page turner from the start.
It's fast paced, with a tense and
535
00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:15.920
creepy atmosphere. There's a plenty of
twist and turns to keep you guessing right
536
00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:21.239
to the unexpected ending. Just brilliant. So it's really good. Five star
537
00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:23.880
review. There's plenty of them on
there, but yeah, what I like
538
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:29.639
to pick out of this is something
that I'm into is the horror elements and
539
00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:34.400
suspense and creepiness I love to read
about. So with a tense and creepy
540
00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:39.159
atmosphere, how does a writer create
a tent and creepy atmosphere? Well,
541
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:44.840
I just I think it's thinking about
things that would unnerve me if I was
542
00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:49.199
on my own in a house,
if I could hear somebody whispering, or
543
00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:53.119
if something happened all the time,
like the clock always stops at half past
544
00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:58.880
eight at the window, the same
window always opens itself. And it's that
545
00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:02.559
repetitiveness and that I think first you
can question, am I imagining it and
546
00:40:02.599 --> 00:40:07.480
then when stuff starts happening, what
scares me? And then that's what goes
547
00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:13.960
on the page. Yeah. Nice. So Louise, when you've got an
548
00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:16.079
idea obviously like you had, and
you knew what you wanted to do,
549
00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:21.400
how do you populate it with the
right characters? Are you thinking right?
550
00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:25.079
I need a character that the readers
are gonna who would react this way to
551
00:40:25.159 --> 00:40:29.559
a paranormal event. So I need
this type of character, and I need
552
00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:32.199
a James, let's say, or
you know, I want this side as
553
00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:37.199
well with Kat, so I can
have that type of reader as well,
554
00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:39.320
so we get both sides of the
coin. Are you planning it like that
555
00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:45.960
or you just literally writing characters as
they surface. Yeah? That was very
556
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:51.360
purposeful because I completely respect my publishers
saying you write psychological thrillers, you don't
557
00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:55.920
write supernatural, So I wanted to
bring in the supernatural. But also people
558
00:40:55.920 --> 00:41:01.960
that don't believe in supernatural could still
enjoy this book because everything that happens there's
559
00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:07.480
a rational explanation for it, most
of the stuff. So yeah, I
560
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:08.880
did want both sides of the coin, and that was my husband's, the
561
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:13.639
very rational one. So I was
saying, she's in the cell and the
562
00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:16.119
light bulb blows and she's in darkness, and that has to be a ghost.
563
00:41:16.199 --> 00:41:19.199
And he's saying, well, there
could be a power surge, because
564
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:25.679
it's yeah, light's just blown.
Love. No. It's great to have
565
00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:31.239
that kind of play against each other
because you always get someone who's suggesting supernatural,
566
00:41:31.239 --> 00:41:36.719
and you always get someone who's saying, there's there's reasons why this happens
567
00:41:36.920 --> 00:41:40.400
natural reasons. So it's very relatable
for for any reader to try, you
568
00:41:40.440 --> 00:41:44.480
know, to kind of pick on
one of the sides there and just get
569
00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:47.000
involved. So I think it's very
clever and a good way to do it.
570
00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:53.239
There, Andy, sir, she
believes in ghosts too for us,
571
00:41:55.519 --> 00:42:00.800
do you know what I'd love to
I haven't seen anything with my own eyes
572
00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:05.800
that's convinced me. Yeah, I've
heard some really good stories and some really
573
00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:12.360
believable accounts of people seeing stuff.
So yeah, I'm definitely not saying no,
574
00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:16.440
but I'm not saying yes either my
own experience. I think have you
575
00:42:16.559 --> 00:42:22.760
seen Tesla They you know, like
the parking censors Tesla have got if someone
576
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:27.199
walks past your car, you get
like a picture of a like a graphic
577
00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:30.840
of the person walking. Well,
when people it's all over YouTube. You
578
00:42:30.840 --> 00:42:35.920
can look this up. So when
they drive into a graveyard, occasionally they've
579
00:42:35.960 --> 00:42:40.199
seen people popping up walking and then
disappearing on this radar thing. So it's
580
00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:45.920
either it's picking up ghostly people walking
around the graveyard or it's an absolute brilliant
581
00:42:45.920 --> 00:42:57.239
marketing employee from Tesla. I love
it. Yeah, yeah, Okay.
582
00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:00.800
In the minute, guys, we
will be asking ease your questions and some
583
00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:06.039
of our very own random questions.
So if you do have any flowise,
584
00:43:06.119 --> 00:43:08.360
please send them in in the next
minute or so and we will try and
585
00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:13.119
ask those if we have time.
But in the meantime we'll play part three,
586
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:20.119
by the way, before we move
on, when what's next after the
587
00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:22.599
Intruders? Because you mentioned you wrote
two books before this one or around the
588
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:28.480
same time. What's coming next after
the Intruders? That? Yeah, it's
589
00:43:28.599 --> 00:43:32.360
a thriller about a mother that goes
to work one day and doesn't come home
590
00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:37.039
and her two children have to try
and figure out where she is and they
591
00:43:37.079 --> 00:43:45.199
start realizing that their whole lives are
alive. Nice and when would that be
592
00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:50.559
expected next April? Okay, but
there will be an Amelia one before that
593
00:43:50.760 --> 00:43:55.559
hopefully amazing cool, So get your
questions and guys, and part three coming
594
00:43:55.639 --> 00:44:14.800
right up. What I actually wanted
to talk about before I pressed that I
595
00:44:14.840 --> 00:44:19.920
forgot was that some of your books
have been optioned. Can you talk about
596
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:24.679
which ones and what process they're in. The process they're in is three of
597
00:44:24.719 --> 00:44:32.280
them have got to the stage of
studios script all and through. Yeah.
598
00:44:32.440 --> 00:44:39.039
Yeah, The Gift was so close
and then another I think Netflix released a
599
00:44:39.079 --> 00:44:44.079
series about cellular memory. The Gift
is about cellular memory, so the studio
600
00:44:44.239 --> 00:44:49.840
just dropped it. The Sister as
well, and the life we almost had
601
00:44:50.039 --> 00:44:53.920
Miamilia Henley debut had a film studio
last year, the most Beautiful Script and
602
00:44:53.960 --> 00:45:00.599
again it just last minute fell through. It just happened. Yeah. Do
603
00:45:00.639 --> 00:45:02.280
you think that's the case of the
rightest strike, it being a part of
604
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:06.440
it, or perhaps timing, like
you mentioned, there was already kind of
605
00:45:06.440 --> 00:45:07.880
a similar thing out at the time, so maybe yeah. I think sometimes
606
00:45:08.280 --> 00:45:12.079
things come out and then they just
they just don't want to do it.
607
00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:17.599
So okay, well, yeah,
the intruders, that's that's begging. Okay,
608
00:45:19.039 --> 00:45:21.239
thank you for your question, Paul. It's great to see you on
609
00:45:21.239 --> 00:45:23.119
the show as well. We met
Paul at Harrogate in the first year we
610
00:45:23.159 --> 00:45:27.880
went and we interviewed him. Do
you remember Chris, Yeah? Do you
611
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:31.719
Yeah? Yeah, great to see
Paul. I'm sure we'll see Paul says
612
00:45:31.880 --> 00:45:36.400
in your opinion, and I will
hold you to an answer. Who is
613
00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:40.719
the greatest author of all time,
past or present? Stephen King? That's
614
00:45:40.760 --> 00:45:46.360
an easy answer for me. Is
there any any reason to support that?
615
00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:53.079
I like him? Yeah. I
just like the fact. And it's the
616
00:45:53.199 --> 00:45:55.519
level is that, isn't it?
With Stephen King? It's the dream when
617
00:45:55.559 --> 00:45:59.159
you can just write anything in your
head, you don't have to get it
618
00:45:59.199 --> 00:46:04.280
approved and it will be published.
I just like you can tell he's not
619
00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:07.599
writing to fit into what somebody else
wants him to write. He just writes
620
00:46:07.639 --> 00:46:15.480
whatever he wants to. Absolutely different, aren't they. I think I agree?
621
00:46:15.360 --> 00:46:21.239
And I one of the reasons I
love Stephen King is his best silthy
622
00:46:22.119 --> 00:46:24.159
you know, to be able to
write something like The Green Mile and then
623
00:46:24.599 --> 00:46:30.840
The Stand and you Know It,
which is terrifying. And then he moves
624
00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:36.599
into the crime genre and absolutely smashes
out of the park with Bill Hodges series,
625
00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:40.199
and yeah, he's just I love
Stephen King. Romance and before he
626
00:46:40.360 --> 00:46:47.840
before he pops his clocks. I
have to think it'd be brilliant. You
627
00:46:47.920 --> 00:46:55.360
know, I'm going to give well, can do? Yeah? He could?
628
00:46:55.440 --> 00:47:01.079
I think he's yeah, exactly.
I think he's the type that's probably
629
00:47:01.840 --> 00:47:07.480
got a few novels stashed away for
he's gone, you know, because he's
630
00:47:07.519 --> 00:47:10.679
so prolific, isn't he? And
I think he's had a few years where
631
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:16.360
he's gone just stash that, and
you know, I'm excited looking for wouldn't
632
00:47:16.360 --> 00:47:22.519
it be amazing if he released the
novel that was was him telling a story
633
00:47:22.559 --> 00:47:25.679
from the grave. Oh, it
would not surprise me at all if he's
634
00:47:25.719 --> 00:47:31.800
done something like that because a lot
of his books recently he talks about you
635
00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:37.119
know, he has a lot of
writing about writers, and so beyond the
636
00:47:37.199 --> 00:47:40.760
grave type story, it would not
surprise me at all something like that came
637
00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:46.199
out. It'd be great for that, Louise, What have you a favorite
638
00:47:46.199 --> 00:47:52.639
of Stephen King? I think The
Stand? The Stand took me through anxiety,
639
00:47:52.320 --> 00:47:55.519
crying, just everything. All the
emotions are in that book. I
640
00:47:55.559 --> 00:48:01.960
loved it. Yeah, it hasn't
been one I disliked it And the Richard
641
00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:07.000
Backman books I've just I've loved them
all. Okay, well, Paul's got
642
00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:09.800
another one. So we'll ask this
just before we jump into our random questions
643
00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:13.480
Chris, normally we do it the
other way around, but I'm sure other
644
00:48:13.559 --> 00:48:16.440
questions will come in between that.
What do you think is the best book
645
00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:21.119
to screen adaptation that stays most true
to the story or to the book?
646
00:48:22.039 --> 00:48:29.519
Oh? My goodness, that's a
difficult one. I think quite true to
647
00:48:29.559 --> 00:48:34.000
the book. Maybe the personality of
one of the characters have changed, but
648
00:48:34.039 --> 00:48:40.079
I think story wise that stayed quite
That's a tough question to answer. Maybe
649
00:48:40.119 --> 00:48:45.039
we'll try and get an answer to
you as well ourselves on Twitter Monday.
650
00:48:45.960 --> 00:48:52.119
Okay, Chris, kick us off
with our random questions, please. Yeah.
651
00:48:52.199 --> 00:48:54.239
So the first sort of staple question
that we have is if you could
652
00:48:54.280 --> 00:48:59.880
take any character from fiction and make
that character your own, which character would
653
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:07.599
shoes? And why I like?
And so the dog? Have you read
654
00:49:07.679 --> 00:49:14.400
The Art of Racing in the Rain? No? Oh is written entirely from
655
00:49:14.400 --> 00:49:21.119
the dog's point of view, and
it's it's a lovely book. But this
656
00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:23.239
dog has quite a hard time.
He has quite a lot of tragedy,
657
00:49:23.320 --> 00:49:27.119
and he's very responsible for his owner, and he seems to have a lot
658
00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:31.679
of worries, So I would love
to take him out of that book just
659
00:49:32.360 --> 00:49:37.920
show time just being a dog,
running around and having fun with dogs.
660
00:49:38.079 --> 00:49:42.000
It's a really good book if you
get a chance to read it. I
661
00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:45.599
think that film as well, but
I haven't seen the film. Is there
662
00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:50.199
a dog in the Intruders? There
isn't, no no, So would you
663
00:49:50.239 --> 00:49:59.920
fit well into that book? He
might be scared of that weird thing they
664
00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:05.880
speaking My cat was that it would
just stare at It's when a cat or
665
00:50:05.920 --> 00:50:07.800
a dog starts growling at something that's
not there, that you can't see.
666
00:50:07.880 --> 00:50:15.159
I think it's like a no good
answer. That dog you need to hug,
667
00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:19.960
and he says, yeah, he
does, he does. Okay.
668
00:50:20.280 --> 00:50:23.000
If you could take the ending of
anything, whether that be a TV show,
669
00:50:23.280 --> 00:50:28.320
a film, or a novel,
and change the ending, what ending
670
00:50:28.320 --> 00:50:32.679
are you changing your way? I
think there's a film i'd love to change
671
00:50:32.679 --> 00:50:36.960
the end, but I think for
a book. And when I read it,
672
00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:39.119
and I was very very young,
I was just so engrossed in Alice
673
00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:44.239
in Wonderland, all the characters.
I just loved everything. And I remember
674
00:50:44.239 --> 00:50:45.559
when I got to the end and
it was, oh, she woke up
675
00:50:45.559 --> 00:50:52.000
and it was a dream. I
upset that. You know that none of
676
00:50:52.039 --> 00:50:57.159
it was real? So was it? Yeah? I think I would have
677
00:50:57.239 --> 00:51:05.559
changed that. I think I probably
did rewrite the end myself. So you
678
00:51:05.559 --> 00:51:07.599
would make that a real story,
is what your answer would be. Yeah,
679
00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:14.599
absolutely, I'd look like a sort
of an older Alice in Wonderland.
680
00:51:14.840 --> 00:51:22.719
That sort of an Alice in Wonderland
mixed with one flow over the Cookie's nest
681
00:51:19.519 --> 00:51:25.159
that I was going to ask you
a question that we've kind of asked.
682
00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:31.239
There's been stable this season, and
it's we're very much whether on YouTube,
683
00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:37.800
and this recording could probably outlive all
us. So let's say in the future,
684
00:51:37.920 --> 00:51:42.920
somebody's going to take on your body
of work and your estate. What
685
00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:45.480
would your advice be to them?
What would you want them to do with
686
00:51:45.519 --> 00:51:53.159
your characters? With the characters I
don't know, Probably not give them a
687
00:51:53.199 --> 00:51:59.760
happy ending because they used to they
used to stress, But just look after
688
00:51:59.800 --> 00:52:01.599
them and be nice to them.
The characters that on my first book,
689
00:52:01.639 --> 00:52:09.280
they still celebrate their birthdays and very
attacked every November. Do you really I
690
00:52:09.320 --> 00:52:14.840
do? Yeah, I think just
because I felt I felt they saved me.
691
00:52:14.880 --> 00:52:17.280
Actually they saved me from my own
mind. That is the first time
692
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:22.800
we've heard that, and that is
amazing. Yeah, my son's friend came
693
00:52:22.840 --> 00:52:25.840
back from school with him and I've
got this birthday cake and his friends said,
694
00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:29.280
oh, whose birthday is it?
And Finddley said, oh, it's
695
00:52:29.320 --> 00:52:34.320
Grace's birthday, but she's not real. I'm sure that would have freaked him
696
00:52:34.360 --> 00:52:39.840
out. Yeah. Yeah, wow. I wonder if anyone else does that
697
00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:45.760
or something similar, Please let us
know what that's really interesting. Yeah.
698
00:52:45.800 --> 00:52:50.639
Wow. We've heard of people interviewing
the characters to kind of get to know
699
00:52:50.719 --> 00:52:55.719
them, but never given them birthdays. I think more interested than an interview
700
00:52:57.039 --> 00:53:00.079
get more cake. But I don't. I don't know when my characters birthdays
701
00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:02.840
would be. Is that bad?
Ah, you have to give them my
702
00:53:02.920 --> 00:53:08.840
birthday, Chris, have you given
your characters birthdays? No, but they
703
00:53:08.840 --> 00:53:17.400
have birthdays because all about the day
they die. So exactly adult Alison tripping
704
00:53:17.480 --> 00:53:25.239
and Grifting in Wonderland. Yes,
that's the adult version. Yeah, okay,
705
00:53:28.760 --> 00:53:31.079
let me let me ask this question
before we get to the later morbid
706
00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:36.199
questions. Halo says, which of
your characters would you like to kiss,
707
00:53:36.360 --> 00:53:42.639
marry, and kill or kill Adam
from the Life We Almost Had, which
708
00:53:42.719 --> 00:53:45.840
is my deaibut romance. I got
to literally write my ideal man, so
709
00:53:49.079 --> 00:53:55.920
I'd marry him. And who would
I kill? Well, I have killed
710
00:53:55.960 --> 00:54:02.159
some of them. There's somebody in
the fall that I would kill, but
711
00:54:02.199 --> 00:54:06.199
I can't say who because it would
it would give the baddy your way.
712
00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:10.840
Yeah, good question like that?
Cool? Yeah, I'm glad it was
713
00:54:10.840 --> 00:54:19.360
a tame version as well of that
question. Yeah, yeah, okay,
714
00:54:19.920 --> 00:54:22.960
Chris, ask the one about the
space because I can never remember it,
715
00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:27.199
but I like the question. Yeah, if you could send one of your
716
00:54:27.400 --> 00:54:35.760
novels into space with the idea that
a intergalactic grace would find it and read
717
00:54:35.800 --> 00:54:43.320
it, which of your books would
you send to space? And one I
718
00:54:43.360 --> 00:54:46.119
think the Life We Almost Had,
my debut Amelia Henley book I would send
719
00:54:46.119 --> 00:54:52.199
into space because it's a love story
with a difference. It's kind of speculative
720
00:54:52.239 --> 00:54:55.440
fiction, and if they read it, they would think as a human race
721
00:54:55.440 --> 00:55:02.320
had invented something far more than we
actually have. Right now, Luise,
722
00:55:02.480 --> 00:55:06.119
I'm going to ask this question.
It's a bit left field, but as
723
00:55:06.119 --> 00:55:10.079
a romance author, I feel like
you're qualified to answer this Compared to some
724
00:55:10.119 --> 00:55:15.000
of the audience members that we have
on a regular basis. La La Land.
725
00:55:15.599 --> 00:55:21.360
Yes, oh god, is La
La Land a great romance film?
726
00:55:21.400 --> 00:55:23.199
Ah? If I could change the
end of a film, it would be
727
00:55:23.239 --> 00:55:29.280
La La Land. Could we go
back and do that question again? It
728
00:55:29.440 --> 00:55:35.559
is a great romance film. But
goodness, yes, very upsetting. Yeah.
729
00:55:36.079 --> 00:55:39.360
That scene that you're talking about where
you get the montage of the life
730
00:55:39.920 --> 00:55:46.920
that for me is the most is
the most like romantic sort of tragic thing
731
00:55:47.039 --> 00:55:52.000
I've ever seen in film. And
that's why I think it's a great film.
732
00:55:52.519 --> 00:55:57.519
The audience is telling you just stop
it right there, Chris. Yeah,
733
00:55:59.039 --> 00:56:05.519
the romance authors, so she's qualified
the audience. One of the right
734
00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:09.440
romance so you know, write some
sort of romance. But it's a bit
735
00:56:09.519 --> 00:56:15.159
dark. Before we wrap this up, Louise, because we are approaching the
736
00:56:15.199 --> 00:56:17.880
hour, I would love people to
be able to discover your website and find
737
00:56:17.920 --> 00:56:22.760
your books. Where can they do
all that great stuff. It's Louise Jensen
738
00:56:22.840 --> 00:56:27.039
dot co dot uk. And there's
links there to all the books wherever they
739
00:56:27.079 --> 00:56:34.719
are Amazon, Apple, Waterstones.
Yeah, blog regularly. The blog regularly.
740
00:56:34.800 --> 00:56:39.360
I have a blog that's via the
website that is on the website and
741
00:56:39.400 --> 00:56:42.679
the link link for that is in
the description, So if you want to
742
00:56:42.760 --> 00:56:45.599
check that out and save it,
you can do it right now, put
743
00:56:45.639 --> 00:56:49.480
it on there and save it in
your tabs. But before we do go
744
00:56:49.519 --> 00:56:53.360
again, we have another question,
Chris, and you may as well run
745
00:56:53.360 --> 00:56:59.760
with that one. Yeah. I
have one slightly before that, which is
746
00:56:59.840 --> 00:57:02.320
kind of link to the space one. But if somebody had not discovered a
747
00:57:02.360 --> 00:57:08.960
Luise Jensen book yet, where would
you advise them to start? Well,
748
00:57:09.440 --> 00:57:16.039
either with the Intruders or the Stolen
Sisters. I think, okay, yeah,
749
00:57:16.079 --> 00:57:23.320
I'm going with Intruders. I'm getting
this book. Yeah. And then
750
00:57:23.440 --> 00:57:29.599
the morbid question that we have is
you're on your deathbed and you're looking back
751
00:57:29.639 --> 00:57:31.800
at your writing career. What would
you be happy with? What is what
752
00:57:31.920 --> 00:57:38.000
is success to you? Success to
me and my writing career is just being
753
00:57:38.039 --> 00:57:43.119
published, I think. And at
the time I didn't just take a moment
754
00:57:43.239 --> 00:57:45.039
to think, well, I was
told at school I would never achieve this,
755
00:57:45.159 --> 00:57:50.920
but I have. I was always
worried about sales and the next thing,
756
00:57:51.039 --> 00:57:55.039
and you know I never took that
time just to they've done well.
757
00:57:59.599 --> 00:58:04.400
That is great answer, Louise.
All I can say from us is thank
758
00:58:04.440 --> 00:58:07.000
you. So much. You've got
a fantastic, inspiring story, You've done
759
00:58:07.079 --> 00:58:14.000
wonderful with your career, and hopefully
you'll get over that hurdle of adaptation soon.
760
00:58:15.519 --> 00:58:17.679
But yeah, Intruders is out.
The Intruders is out now, so
761
00:58:17.800 --> 00:58:22.400
please go and pick that up.
Will you be attending Harrogate this year?
762
00:58:22.119 --> 00:58:25.760
I will be there probably Friday on
Saturday. I can't own you guys are
763
00:58:25.760 --> 00:58:30.280
doing it all, aren't you.
I just can't hope. We will be
764
00:58:30.320 --> 00:58:32.480
there from the opening to the end. Yes, I did that once and
765
00:58:32.519 --> 00:58:37.599
it broke me. So yeah,
yeah we will. So we will see
766
00:58:37.599 --> 00:58:40.880
you there and we will we will
share a drink againness I'm sure, but
767
00:58:40.960 --> 00:58:45.559
yeah, we're looking forward to that
as well. But yeah, please thank
768
00:58:45.920 --> 00:58:51.079
thank you from us, and please
stay safe everybody and have an amazing weekend.
769
00:58:51.800 --> 00:58:55.039
Have you got any an amazing weekend
plans? Louise, I don't think
770
00:58:55.119 --> 00:58:59.280
so now it's been such a hectic
week. So yeah, I'm just going
771
00:58:59.360 --> 00:59:02.360
to do this. The gardens great
idea. I think we all need to
772
00:59:02.400 --> 00:59:06.079
do that. With the amount of
bring wedad, the grass is about six
773
00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:08.320
foot high, so I'm not sure
I'm going to fix that. Yeah,
774
00:59:08.360 --> 00:59:12.920
everybody, thank you so much for
tuning in spending your Friday evening with us.
775
00:59:12.960 --> 00:59:16.679
I hope you have a great weekend
as well, and as important,
776
00:59:16.719 --> 00:59:21.320
as we always say, look after
yourselves, stay safe, and we will
777
00:59:21.360 --> 00:59:23.719
see you next week with another show
and in between there have a great week,
778
00:59:23.920 --> 00:59:28.519
enjoy your writing, and see you
all very soon. Bye bye, guys.