Hi there, Michelle,

I hope you’re doing well and that with the ever-nearing release date for RAINFOREST, you are getting as much rest as you can before you are facing the public! I am very excited to about this novel and have been wanting to receive a new Michelle Paver novel for some time. It’s always an event when a new book by you is released in my household, and almost everything gets put on pause for me to read it. My poor family despair when there’s a new book by you out in the shops, since they know they won’t be seeing me for at least a week!

But my question concerns the writing of horror fiction; it is very clear that you are a fan of the genre, and that notion is written very much in the DNA of your three horror novels, WAKENHYRST, DARK MATTER, and THIN AIR. It is also clear that there is an influence of the great Gothics in there, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, etc. The questions are this: at what point in the plotting or the planning did it become clear what kind of ghost story or horror fiction the books would become? Did it come naturally, during the process of writing, or was there a moment of “This, this is what the book is going to be!” I have heard you plan in very great detail and outline everything that’s going you happen in the book, but where there moments when you were writing that surprised you, during the inception and the action of the book? The bear post scene in DARK MATTER is one that I’ve read to people time and again when I have said “you need to read this book”, and it is the scene that freaks them out most. And I love that. And when they read it, they message me (sometimes rather angrily) that they have been incredibly freaked out by the book as they are reading it, but they love it all the same! No friendships have ended because of it!

I am longing for RAINFOREST to hit the bookshelves, since I know I am going to be there almost instantly and picking mine up. I will also be purchasing the audiobook, and what en excellent choice, if I may say so, of Richard Armitage as the narrator. I love his work narrating books, particularly those of Angela Carter (alongside Emilia Fox, when they read THE BLOODY CHAMBER together), and Charles Dickens. He did a wonderful narration of DAVID COPPERFIELD some years ago.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and apologies for taking so long to get round to the point! I hope RAINFOREST receives all the praise and every commendation, as it definitely deserves it. May I also say, thank you for giving Dark in WOLF BANE the ending he deserved, and thank you entirely for that validation. Wishing you the very best this approaching spooky season, and I cannot wait to hear of more stories of yours being written!

Kindest and warmest regards,

Ryan Petrie
Edinburgh

Dear Ryan, thank you for your marvellous, funny message – and for your enthusiasm for Rainforest and all things Gothic!  (Thanks too for spreading the word about Dark Matter; I’m so glad that no friendships were hurt while you did!)  You asked great questions.  My idea for the haunt in each story comes at the start, along with (crucially) the emotional and mental problems which my protagonist is facing.  With Dark Matter and Thin Air I knew at the outset that we’d be dealing with a ghost (either real or in the protagonist’s imagination, it’s for the reader to decide) – although with Wakenhyrst, though I knew there’d be a demonic element, the other supernatural element came during the writing. But even with relatively “straightforward” haunts like the first two books, the plan always changes, a lot, during the writing.  So for instance, the bear post took on far more importance in the writing, which wasn’t something I’d expected at all.  And in Wakenhyrst the “watery” element of the haunt (I’m avoiding spoilers here) wasn’t something I’d planned either.  So as you can see, it varies a lot.  That’s part of the fun.  Anyway, I hope that gives you an idea – although it must seem rather imprecise.  But then, so much of Gothic fiction concerns the unconscious; that’s the nature of the beast!  Thank you again for writing in – and I really hope you enjoy Rainforest when you get your hands on it!  With best wishes, Michelle