Writing a psychological thriller was definitely a new venture for me. I love reading them and tucking into a good thriller series on television, and had always been intrigued by the idea of writing one myself, but it was definitely a big step away from the Greek Mythology retellings and romance books I am used to penning. As such, my editor understandably wanted to check I was up to the task and asked to see the first 10,000 words—about five chapters—after I’d written them.
Having spent five years as a physics teacher, a school felt like the most fitting setting for me to choose, and I slowly started building the world and pulling the plot together. I will admit to loving it. It didn’t take long before I was lost in the world of Liz and her colleagues and quickly sent those 10,000 words off to my editor.
The feedback was great, (thankfully!) and there was just one real comment: she wanted me to talk a little more about the school grounds and building. Ensuring the readers knew just what a grand, elaborate setting all the drama was taking place in. As it was set in an exclusive girls’ school, she asked if I could try to invoke more of that old school, stately feel when talking about the buildings. Then, as an add-on, she asked if I had seen Season 3 of the television programme ‘Sex Education,’ as the school where season three is set is what she had envisaged for the type of place where Liz would work and her escapades would unfold.
Now here comes the coincidental part. Whilst I hadn’t seen all of Season 3 of ‘Sex Education’, I knew exactly the school she was talking about. The large manor that houses the boarding school, sits on the outskirts of Tetbury in the Cotswolds and is in fantastic grounds, with its Italian gardens, a lake, various ponds, and fountains, and a beautiful glass camellia house, where the chapel choir used to practice. (And may still do.)
You might ask how I know so much about the school my editor had mentioned, given that I’d never watched to the end of series 3 of ‘Sex Education’, or maybe you’ve already figured that out. Of all the places, my editor Emily had chosen to reference as the type of school where she envisioned Liz’s drama unfolding, and the type of architecture and grounds she wished me to describe a little more, she had chosen the school that I went to for my entire secondary education. Don’t you love coincidences like that?
I know I do, although in a good thriller, is anything really a coincidence?