Catherine Ryan Howard is an award-winning, No. 1 bestselling writer from Cork. This tense new thriller is her 8th book.
Where do your novel ideas come from?
For me, the ideas always tend to come from something in real life. Distress Signals and The Liar’s Girl were sparked by magazine articles – not what the articles were actually about, but little details in them that sent me down Google rabbit-holes. The premise of my latest novel, Burn After Reading, started to form after watching an interview with OJ Simpson’s ghostwriter.
The screen adaptation of your lockdown thriller, 56 Days, will debut on Prime Video next year. What a buzz is that?
I don’t think I’ll actually believe it’s happening until I see ‘based on the novel by…’ on screen. Visiting the set in Montreal last summer was the most surreal experience of my life. It was like meeting my imaginary friends – and finding out that they’d all been hanging out without me!
Are you an avid reader?
I read as much as I possibly can and as widely as I can. Some of my favourites in recent memory were Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka, Liars by Sarah Manguso and The Death of Us by Abigail Dean.
What do you need and not need when writing?
I need a bottomless supply of Intenso Nespresso capsules and I don’t need any distractions. I am a master procrastinator and the smallest thing will pull me away from the desk.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I first read it when I was 11 and I’ve re-read it every year since. I couldn’t believe that someone had taken a blank page and turned it into such a mind-blowing adventure, and that was his job. From then on, I was desperate to make it mine too.
What’s the last book you read and the one you are about to pick up?
The last book I read was Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World’s Most Coveted Handbag by Michael Tonello. It was published back in 2008 but I came across it in an article about the Walmart ‘Wirkin’ dupe. The book was fascinating but also just so much fun. Next up is an early copy of Hazel Gaynor’s Before Dorothy, one of my most anticipated reads of the year. It hits shelves in June.
Recommend us a book you loved listening to on Audible.
I only seem able to listen to non-fiction on audio. My mind wanders with novels. I’d say anything by Jon Ronson because I love his books and how he reads them, but especially The Psychopath Test.
What’s next?
The second draft of what will be my ninth novel is due to go to my editors tomorrow. Answering these questions has been a lovely procrastination activity but now I better go write some words…
Burn After Reading is out now.