You can’t hide from yourself.
Something an author is often asked is, where do you get your ideas from? For me, it’s simply people and the whole gamut of emotion that comes with them. I’m fascinated by the internal and external influences that shape people. Most of us, I think, have had situations where we’ve had to psych ourselves up to present the best possible image of ourselves. Walking into an interview, for instance, where our outer persona is going to be immediately judged. Hopefully, as well as appearing competent and confident, your personality will shine through, and you will land the job. An interesting concept when toying with the initial premise for The Invite was ‘what if’ the persona you present to the world could never be the real you? What if, whether by choice or because your career demanded it, you’ve lived your life as someone else? Excited by this idea and all the spin offs if might have, I began to research the subject of stolen identities, consulting with Stuart Gibbon, a former UK Detective who offers advice on all things police procedural, as I did. I found myself drawn to the idea
of writing a story around people who become other people, looking at the psychological impact on someone who’d lived a large part of their life as a lie and how that would impact on the people around them, as well as the family of those whose identity they’d stolen: the parents of deceased
children whose identities had been used to create aliases, the partners or spouses who might become involved with such a person, only to discover their whole life is a lie. How would a woman living with someone who isn’t who they claim to be deal with the lie as it begins to unravel? If such a woman had been embroiled in a previous controlling relationship, would she ignore the signs, telling herself that because of her past experiences she’s being paranoid? Would she confront her fears? I suspect that might depend on her individual traits and the influences that shaped her. Often we can be affected by our formative years, sometimes negatively, which can impact on our lives into adulthood, resulting in a negative view of ourselves. Low self-esteem can be so emotionally crippling, a persistent little voice in our heads that tells us we are not worthy – of love, of respect – and we might back away from confrontation. Sometimes, when emotionally damaged, we can view
ourselves through other’s eyes, as does my female protagonist until she learns to trust her own instincts.

Could this also be true of the antagonist? Might they also be damaged by their formative years? Is a person who appears to be seeking to manipulate someone truly bad or could they be misunderstood in some way? It’s true that authors have to explore their characters, grow to know them, who they are: where they come from, what they do for a living, what drives them. We have to learn what their weaknesses and strengths are and, through that, what inner or outer conflict they might have to overcome. The narrator is the driving force of the story, which brings me neatly to narrative voice and which one we should use. Many thrillers are written in third person with shifting points of view, which, I feel, adds to the interest of the story. However, in giving your antagonist a voice, are you in danger of revealing traits that will take away the ‘wow’ factor and spoil what could be some juicy cliffhangers? Personally, I find two pieces of advice I picked up somewhere – and I honestly can’t remember where – invaluable. Firstly, “Maintain a sense of dread”. Whatever drives your antagonist, be it childhood demons or just plain badness (bearing in mind our thriller is going to be a bit insipid without an immoral or terrifying villain) don’t give all his traits away. The reader needs unforeseen shocks and twists to keep them turning the pages. Secondly, when starting a chapter, “Who has most at stake?” I find keeping in mind who might have the most to lose helps me decide whose voice I’m writing in.

So, is my antagonist fundamentally bad, or is the badness a product of his upbringing? This, of course, explores the nature vs nurture conundrum. Is badness in the genes? Is it brain function or childhood experience that creates a monster? A combination of all three?

IS he or she lying? That’s the crucial question.

Find out in The Invite, published February 22 with Bookouture.

Bestselling Author, Sheryl Browne, writes taut, twisty psychological thriller. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. Sheryl has also obtained a Certificate of Achievement in Forensic Science and – according to readers – she makes an excellent psychopath. Sheryl’s latest psychological thriller THE INVITE comes to you from BOOKOUTURE. Her previous works include the DI Matthew Adams Crime Thriller series, along with contemporary fiction novels, The Rest of My Life and Learning to Love. To find out more about Sheryl. go to www.sherylbrowne.com