Zara’s Gothic follows a paramedic who, after a life-altering road accident, retreats to a secluded property where she lives in a handmade van beneath the shadow of an abandoned Victorian house. Where did the inspiration for this novel come from?

I have always wanted to write a gothic novel, being most inspired by Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca and The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions. I was taken by the sight of an old, crumbling house, now in its last stages of collapse. It spoke to me. Maybe the story is a way to preserve the house’s memory.

What drew you to combining paramedic trauma with Gothic haunting?

Although I love the standard repertoire, I wanted a modern theme people could relate to. And, something different, something unique.

Zara’s inner world feels intensely sensory and unstable—how did you approach writing her perception?

It is said that there is a normal. I believe there are other ways of perception. Zara’s on the outside because she’s not like ‘normal’ people. The book is dedicated to Professor Elaine Aron, whose pioneering work on HSP, highly sensitive people, tells us that there is nothing wrong with ultra-sensitivity. It exists in humans and animals; it is not a mental disorder. No more of this “you’re just over-sensitive” rubbish.

If a reader remembers only one image from the novel, what should it be?

Oh, there are many. Without spoilers, it’s when Zara is hit with the reality that the immutable laws of physics no longer apply. Imagine how abjectly terrifying that would be!

​
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Amazon