To celebrate the release of her debut book The Dream Wife, we got author Louisa de Lange to reveal 10 top facts all about her and the writing process that went into the novel. Find out what she had to say below:
Author Louisa de Lange writes for Female First
1. It took me six years to finish writing The Dream Wife. I had a new baby, a career and a lot of self-doubt. I also started two other novels, now abandoned!
2. The idea for The Dream Wife came about because my best friend told me about an experiment where they tried to get lucid dreamers to meet up in their dreams. I started thinking “but, what if....”
3. I have a little boy, who’s now six. A lot of Johnny’s characteristics in the book belong to my son (no surprises there!) although my son is much more badly behaved!
4. I see the chapter I’m writing in my head as clear as if it were a scene in a film. Then I try to translate that into the page. That’s not always as easy as it sounds.
5. I always imagined Christian Bale as David and Tom Hiddleston as Adam. It made writing some scenes very enjoyable. Others – not so much.
6. I have a degree in Psychology, which comes in handy now for writing psychological thrillers! But originally my career was nothing to do with writing, and I spent fifteen years working in recruitment and HR.
7. I grew up reading a lot of Stephen King, James Herbert and Point Horror books. So my imagination tends to steer to the darker side of a story. Nowadays I try to read as much as possible, although I’ll avoid reading something with a plot similar to the book I’m writing, as I don’t want to get influenced.
8. I lived briefly in Fremantle, Western Australia, selling mobile phones over the phone. I wasn’t very good at it. I spent more time gossiping with my colleagues than I did actually selling anything.
9. I am a keen runner and swimmer and I’ve run the London marathon and completed two triathlons. If I ever get stuck on where a scene is going I go for a run, and it always helps unravel the problem.
10. I have a worrying obsession with Zac Efron and am available at short notice at any time to write his biography, do any interviews, or spend large amounts of time studying his films… Anything. I don’t mind. Really. No? Are you sure...?
The Dream Wife by Louisa de Lange is out now (Orion, £8.99).