How do you pronounce your last name and what origin is it?

The name ‘Rijks’ is Dutch, as in the Rijks Museum. It means ‘Richard’s’ or ‘State’, which isn’t a great surname to have! My husband is Dutch.

I pronounce it to rhyme with Likes, although the proper Dutch way is more like Reyks to rhyme with Rakes. It’s very difficult for English speakers to pronounce the ‘ij’ properly so I don’t even try!

Shortly after we got married, I attempted to learn Dutch. Unfortunately my teacher fired me for not trying hard enough! I’m not a natural linguist and it’s extremely difficult to learn a language when you’re not living in the country. And when we went to Amsterdam everyone replied in English to my questions in Dutch… That’s my excuse, anyway!

Do you ever get scared by your own stories? How real are they to you?
YES! All the time. Most of my books address at least one of my fears (I’m a very fearful person!) and whilst writing about them helps me work through my fear, at the same time I do freak myself out. When I first start writing about a scary thing, I’m living it, but the more I develop my characters the less frightened I become.

For instance, I used to be terrified of fire and it featured in a recurring nightmare, probably due to a barn burning down on my parents’ farm when I was a kid. When I first featured a fire in a book, that nightmare returned after many years, but having described the scenes in detail, I no longer have the nightmare. Writing is great therapy!

If you could spend a day as one character from a book of yours, who would it be and why?
I’m not sure that I want to be any of my characters! You’ll be relieved to hear that I don’t have psychopathic tendencies, so I can’t be a baddie. And I don’t really want anything horrible to happen to me, so that eliminates all my main characters! If I have to choose, then it would be Dr Pippa Durrant, from my Fatal book series. She’s a psychologist and works with the police to solve mysteries.
Which books or authors have had the biggest impact on your career?
When I was younger I used to read books by John Fowles, Milan Kundera and Josephine Hart. They taught me to love literature and appreciate good writing. These days I’m much more low-brow! I’m a voracious reader of psychological thrillers and I’m looking for quick, easy to read books that will have me racing through the pages. The authors who got me hooked on the genre were Mark Edwards, Gillian Flynn and Shari Lapena.
Does something you read or see ever spark a story idea? Do you ever take ideas from real life?
Yes, absolutely! All my ideas come from little nuggets of real life, whether that’s something I’ve read in the news, a place I’ve visited or something I’ve overheard. (I’m a terrible eavesdropper!)

The idea for the book I’ve just finished writing came from an article I read about a celebrity who ranked her friends. I’m going to let you into a BIG secret…. My main character created a spreadsheet ranking her friends and that list got leaked. The fall out from it is devastating…! Hopefully this book will be published in November, so you don’t have too long to wait.

Have you written any books that start with an opening escape attempt scene, or something that is filled with tension? I love those type of books!
I try to start all my books with something shocking that happens to an unknown person. The prologue normally involves someone dying, blacking out or something equally scary – that’s certainly the case in Violets Are Blue. In You Can Trust Me, we see one of the characters killing her mother. Yikes – this all sounds horrid!!

Every Breath You Take is a little different as it launches straight into Chapter One and involves a girl who thinks she’s drowning, being pulled out and then losing consciousness. Yup – equally horrid!

What common themes do you prefer exploring in some of your novels?
I like writing about families and friends and how they interact with each other. Most of my books are in domestic settings. I try as hard as I can to keep things real, writing about scary things that could happen to ordinary people.
How much have you grown as a writer since your first book? Did writing get any easier for you?
I hope I’ve grown as a writer but I’m probably not the best judge of that! I’m never confident about my writing and always worry that my latest book isn’t good enough. The process of writing has become slicker over the years. One of the reasons is I have such a good relationship with my editor and the team at Inkubator Books.

Hopefully I’ve got a clearer understanding of what does and doesn’t make a good thriller. I aim to give my readers relatable characters, heart-pounding moments, a fast-paced story and one or two decent twists. But is it any easier writing book 27 rather than book 1? Probably not!

Do you play any word games? If so, what?
Yes, I occasionally play Wordle and I also play a game on my phone called Classic Words which is a bit like Scrabble. I play it when I’m waiting for appointments or on public transport!
In school, did teachers recognize your writing talent? Were your friends telling you, "Write a book!"?
Yes, my teachers did encourage my writing. I was looking through my school books recently and I always got top marks for story telling. I did A Level English and was told by a careers advisor that I should work in publishing or become a journalist. Sadly, I ignored that advice and studied Law at university (I didn’t enjoy Law but did enjoy university!). I did a Masters in writing in 2010 as a mature student, but I didn’t start writing fiction properly until 2018. Goes to show that it’s never too late!
Do you have any children and what are their ages?
I have one completely awesome daughter who is 28 and a professional musician.
And a black Labrador dog!