Kate Gray is a psychological thriller author who was inspired to write her debut thriller The Honeymoon after experiencing a brutal nightmare. Kate has also written commercial women’s fiction as Katy Colins – her previous six novels have been translated into several languages and been published internationally. Kate lives in North Yorkshire, England and juggles her love of writing around her two young children. We are thrilled to interview Kate Gray for The Narrative Q&A, and to ask her all about the unique inspiration for her debut novel.

You were inspired to write The Honeymoon following a brutal nightmare. Tell us about what happened, and how it compelled you to write this story.

I’d never had a nightmare like it – it was so realistic and so terrifying. I was on a white sandy beach and at my feet, as the waves rolled in, was the bloodied body of a stranger who had been ferociously attacked. And, for some reason, despite knowing I was innocent, his blood was on my trembling hands. I couldn’t explain what on earth had happened but I knew the police were coming after me. The thought of being locked up for a crime I didn’t commit, in a country where I don’t speak the language, was utterly terrifying. My husband had to calm me down as I woke, drenched in sweat, jabbering nonsense, reminding me that we were in lockdown. I hadn’t brutally killed a man on a beach in Thailand, I was safely at home. But it felt so real, I could almost smell the suncream and hear the waves hit the sand. I knew then that I had to write as much of this nightmare down and try to capture that intense fear.
I couldn’t get back to sleep and for the rest of the day I couldn’t shake the utter dread and panic of being involved in something so horrible – yet knowing I was innocent. The idea stuck with me. I wondered what would happen if this sort of thing happened on your honeymoon and how you might go about starting married life having to share the darkest of secrets.

You’ve previously published uplifting novels such as Chasing The Sun, how did writing an intense thriller like The Honeymoon compare?

I poured a lot of my heart and soul into the emotional arc of the narrative for my Katy Colins novels. When I wrote How To Say Goodbye, a story about a funeral arranger who goes above and beyond with her clients, I wanted to look at grief and loss as this was inspired by my own personal experiences. It’s very cathartic but also quite emotionally exhausting.
Thankfully, I’ve not murdered anyone, so in some respects I found writing about deadly dark crimes a lot easier as it’s not coming from such a personal place. However, the plotting and structure of a thriller is much harder. Where and when you drop in clues for the reader – and a few red herrings – is really important. I wanted to write a thriller with short chapters, relatable characters and a sense of ‘what would you do in their situation’.

The Honeymoon audiobook has a cast of narrators with Sophie Roberts, Heather Long and Thomas Judd. How involved were you in choosing the narrators, and what do you think listeners will enjoy most about the multiple narratives?

I was given a shortlist of narrators and listened to their previous work to decide who may be best suited to the characters. I think having multiple narratives helps keep it fresh and engaging. The Honeymoon is primarily told from the perspective of two wives who meet, by chance, on the last day of their honeymoon in Bali when they both pick sunbeds next to one another. Erin and Sophia – are from very different worlds so having the different narrators helps to cement this!

What is your writing process? Do you plan the entire plot before you begin, or do you free flow?

I wrote The Honeymoon very fast. I had a completed first draft in two months so there wasn’t much time to plot it out. Instead, I knew where it would start and how it would end but most of the middle was a mystery to me. I would like to be more of a plotter but I also love having the flexibility to go with the characters, even if this sometimes leads me down a dead end!

What can listeners expect from your next novel?

It’s set over the course of just one night, at a really unique location with a bunch of characters who are not who they say they are. I struggled with the first draft of this one as I needed to know where all the characters were and what they would see and hear at all times. It’s a bit of a locked room mystery – a bit like a real life game of Cluedo! But now I’m editing it and it’s all coming together, I’m really excited with what listeners will think! It will be out next summer.

Is there a particular book that has changed your life?

The book that made me want to write was Eat Pray Love, which inspired much of my solo backpacking and my debut series of rom-coms as Katy Colins. I’ve always been fascinated with an exotic destination and how people seem to forget their problems when away from home. It’s something I loved exploring in The Honeymoon – those holiday blues kick in for everyone after a wonderful break but what if you return home faced with keeping a terrible secret? How do you even begin to carry on as normal! I love psychological thrillers which play on our fears and have a sense of ‘what would I do in their situation’. Any books from T M Logan, Louise Candlish and Calire Douglas are always auto buys for me!

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m listening to The Last Passenger by Will Dean. I adore his writing and still think about his previous novel The Last Thing To Burn as he creates characters which really get under your skin!

A big thank you to Kate Gray for participating in The Narrative Author Q&A. You can find The Honeymoon in our Top Picks, and we recommend you can also check out her titles published under Katy Colins on the app.