The only rule I have in how I let characters tell stories is that they must always tell the reader their version of the truth. No one likes being outright lied to, even in fiction. Sarah Pinborough More Quotes by Sarah Pinborough More Quotes From Sarah Pinborough The unreliable narrator is an odd concept. The way I see it, we're all unreliable narrators of our lives who usually have absolute trust in our self-told stories. Any truth is, after all, just a matter of perspective. Sarah Pinborough truth-is trust perspective truth We all love a bit of 'true love conquers all,' and when I started on 'Poison,' 'Charm' and 'Beauty,' that was one rule of the fairy tale formula that I didn't want to break. Sarah Pinborough true true-love beauty love The strange thing about living somewhere for a couple of years and then moving on and not returning is that those locations become ghosts of themselves in your mind. Sarah Pinborough moving-on strange mind moving I think in some ways, you end up with more interesting storytelling with series, because if you've written yourself into a corner with something in book 1, you have to be cleverer to get out of it. Sarah Pinborough yourself think you book I'm not a natural researcher, and I don't get bogged down in it, but I think if you get it right in the first half, people will forgive you, and then you can move on with the story. Sarah Pinborough down think you people I wrote my first five horror novels while I was teaching. Sarah Pinborough first five horror teaching I've seen a range of children's personalities, so it's easier to write about them without patronising them, I think. Sarah Pinborough i-think without think children I'm a lot less travelled as an adult than I was as a child, but I think living in far flung places gives you a perspective on the world and people that adds flavour to your writing. Sarah Pinborough you perspective people world My first six books were horror, I think because when I was young I loved Stephen King. John Wyndham, Daphne Du Maurier, and it's natural to try and emulate the books you first loved. Sarah Pinborough king loved think you Basically, I just write whatever story grabs me rather than considering the genre. Sarah Pinborough whatever story just me Monsters don't scare me at all; I think creepy is scarier than gore. I tend to read more thrillers and mysteries than horror, though. I like a good whodunnit. If I want scary, I tend to reach for a movie. I think it's a great medium for horror. Sarah Pinborough great good think me The Thames Torso murders almost fell into my lap. After deciding to use a real historical crime as the focus for the book, I went to Google and searched for unsolved murders in Victorian London, and they basically popped out at me about halfway down the first results page. Sarah Pinborough down me focus book I don't mind a narrator who's self-deceiving, but the clues for their truth have to be there for the reader to see. Sarah Pinborough narrator see truth mind Never trust a narrator whose opening gambit is to insist he's not mad. Sarah Pinborough never opening mad trust I always found the witches and wicked stepmothers far more interesting than the 'heroines' - at least they actually did something. Sarah Pinborough more something always interesting Maybe even at six or seven, I knew that, sweet as they were on the surface, all fairy tales needed a feminist shake up. Sarah Pinborough maybe up fairy sweet Anyone who has to have the word 'charming' in their name probably isn't - just take a look at any dating site where men use 'prince charming' in their description. Sarah Pinborough name look dating men I would quite like to become a mainstream thriller writer, obviously, because I enjoy writing those stories, and it is the best way to secure your career. Sarah Pinborough best enjoy writing way I hate it when it is all about the twist and when the ending comes out of nowhere. I think you should be surprised and shocked, but you should also think, 'Damn, I should have seen it,' because there are clues all the way through. Sarah Pinborough ending think you hate I know it's dangerous to say you want to do something different with a genre because people always take that as an insult to the genre. Sarah Pinborough know you insult people
