Today I am very happy to welcome Kimberley Belle to the blog and thank you to her for allowing me to question her all about her novel, The Marriage Lie. Details on the book follow and its a good ‘un!
The Marriage Lie explores themes of love, trust and how well we actually know those around us much like your previous novels. Tell us what it is about that side of people that fascinates you.
I build my stories around themes of love and trust because these are emotions that are universally relatable. Everyone knows what it feels like to love, and everyone knows what it feels like to have your heart crushed. The same goes with trust. I think every reader can relate to believing in someone who in the end proves us wrong.
But emotions aren’t always logical; we see what we want to see. In The Marriage Lie, it took Will’s sudden death for Iris to see the man she’d been living with all these years for who he really was. Yes, the action is suspenseful, but for me, the real meat of the story is around Iris’s emotions–her grief and denial and feelings of betrayal. This is what makes the story interesting.
Iris is an emotionally resonant character who even in her grief is determined to find the truth. One of the things I was particularly taken with in The Marriage Lie was the way you walked the line between portraying grief realistically but also allowing it to move the mystery elements along. How hard is it to keep authenticity yet still entertain the reader?
There’s nothing more frustrating for a reader than a character who acts, well, out of character. I work really hard to get in my characters’ heads and to justify every decision they make. This is a big part of the reason I gave Iris the profession I did, as private school counselor. She understands grief both logically and academically, and then she’s forced to live through it emotionally. I liked the push-pull this gave her experience, the way her emotions were often at odds with her rational thinking.
In every story I write, I try to strike a balance between the thrill of the action and the emotions the action conjures up. How does the drama affect the people involved? How do they respond, and why? This is what makes a story come alive for me, the human emotion that comes as a result of the action, and the action that happens as a result of the emotion. The action and the emotion go hand-in-hand to move the story forward.
What does your writing day look like? Forward planner or go with the flow?
I’m a planner, but I don’t plot every chapter out beforehand. When I start out with a story, I have a good handle on the characters, the conflict, and the major plot points along the way, but my story doesn’t really fill in until I start writing. This means I sometimes fumble around until I’ve hit on the right voice and tone, but it’s part of my discovery process so I try not to sweat it. I’m very disciplined, though, and hyper-focused when I’m writing a story. I’m generally behind my computer for a good eight hours each day. I even dream about my stories sometimes and, if I’m lucky, wake up with ideas or solutions to plot problems I’ve been obsessing over.
As a reader as well as a writer what type of novels are your “go to” when you are looking for that bit of escapism?
I am always, always in a book. I love suspense, of course, but I’ll read pretty much anything—from women’s fiction to historical to paranormal romance to memoir. Do I need a laugh or a good, hard cry? My “go to” depends largely on my mood when I pick up the book.
And everything I read has an influence on my writing, from how the author builds suspense to their tight and fast-moving plotlines to the clever ways they lighten up dark subjects with humor. It’s every writer’s affliction; I read with an eye to writing.
Are you able to tell us anything about what is next for you?
Absolutely! My next story is about the disappearance of eight-year old Ethan, who vanishes from a cabin in the North Georgia mountains while on an overnight trip with his second-grade class. At first, police assume his disappearance is an abduction, until another mother receives a mysterious call demanding ransom for her son, a little boy who’s safe and accounted for. Both mothers are thrust in a race to save Ethan, where the greatest dangers turn out to be not in the threats of an anonymous stranger, but the everyday smiles of people closer to home.
Thanks so much!
Thank you for having me!
The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle is out 29th Dec (HQ, £7.99)
About the book:
Are you ready to question if everything in your life is really as it seems?
When a plane crashes, Iris Griffiths watches the news unfold with horror…and then relief. Her beloved husband Will had just flown out from the same airport, but he was on a different flight. So why is his name on the list of victims? Surely there’s some mistake – her husband would never lie to her. Would he? But wading deeper into the truth of her husband’s deception, Iris begins to think the unthinkable. Maybe she’s glad that he’s dead…
Read my review on GOODREADS
Follow Kimberley on TWITTER
You can Purchase The Marriage Lie HERE
Happy Reading!
