Huge congratulations to Amanda Brittany on publication day of The Island House, her stunning new contemporary thriller.
Welcome Amanda. Tell us what inspired you to write The Island House?
I’ve always been a huge fan of Agatha Christie, and it’s fair to say the queen of locked room mysteries inspired me to write The Island House.
Visiting Burgh Island in Devon was the inspiration for the setting for The Island House – although Flynn House in the book is a Gothic residence, rather than Art Deco like Burgh Island Hotel. When writing the scenes on the actual island, Burgh Island Hotel was never far from my thoughts.
The locations of Whitby and the Suffolk coast are places I love to visit. I remember being in Whitby a few years ago when the Gothic festival was on, and thought then that I must include it in a novel one day.
And when did you start writing seriously?
I’ve loved writing and telling stories since I was young, and always had a good imagination. I dreamed of writing a book one day, but it wasn’t until 2006, when I was in a serious car crash, that I thought, ‘If I don’t try now, I never will.’ I studied Literature and Creative Writing with the Open University, and subbed my first story to My Weekly in 2008. 200 published stories later, my first novel Her Last Lie was published by HQ/HarperCollins in 2008.
What do you love most about being an author?
I love hearing from readers who have enjoyed my books. It really is the icing on the cake.
Can you tell us what you’re working on now?
I have three projects on the go at the moment. I’ve just finished the first draft of my sixth psychological thriller, am working on the outline for my seventh, and Karen Clarke and I are presently writing out third co-written novel, which is always great fun.
What do you hope readers will take away from The Island House?
I hope that The Island House will entertain readers, that they will enjoy trying to work out the twists – and will hopefully be surprised by some of them.
More about the book
A DARK FAMILY SECRET
When Alice’s father dies after a tragic hit and run, his death stirs up unanswered questions about her childhood. Who was her mother, why did her father never speak of the past, and why can’t she remember anything before the age of seven?
AN ISLAND CUT OFF
But when she receives an anonymous letter containing a photograph of a refurbished gothic guesthouse surrounded by water, and an invitation to stay, old memories fight to resurface.
Alice has visited before. She is certain of it.
WHO WILL SURVIVE?
Convinced the clues to her past lie at the hotel, she checks in. But once on the island, a wild storm rages, waves crash violently into the rocks, and the house is cut off by the roaring sea.
Then two guests are found dead. And the hotel owner is missing. Will Alice ever uncover her secret past?
And will anyone leave the island alive?
Where you can get it
Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon US
Kobo | Google Play | Nook
More about Amanda
Amanda Brittany is the best selling author of five psychological thrillers Her Last Lie, Tell the Truth, Traces of Her, I Lie in Wait and now, The Island House.
Her debut, Her Last Lie is being made into a film supported by Creative Scotland, and she has raised almost £8500 for Cancer Research UK from her eBook royalties, in memory of her sister. (Huge congrats on this too, Amanda!)
Amanda lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and a crazy, cute dog. When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with her family and friends, travelling, walking her dogs, reading & sunny days. Though, since childhood, she has loved the snow, which features in Her Last Lie and I Lie in Wait.
She also writes psychological suspense novels with Karen Clarke. The Secret Sister and The Perfect Nanny are out now, and the writing duo are presently working on their third novel.
Follow Amanda
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All the best with publication day, Amanda!
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