We chat with author Catherine Steadman about her latest release Look In The Mirror, along with writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Catherine! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m an author, actress and screenwriter based in London. I’m married and I have two children under 5 plus I’m giving serious thought to adding a dog to the mix, at some point. I’ve written/published 5 novels as well as writing and producing 1 TV series (The Ex Wife, Paramount Plus). And as an actress I (most notably) played Mabel Lane Fox in Downton Abbey.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
At school. I read a lot. I was sent away to boarding school at the age of 7, full time, so I would fill my after-school hours with books. Then, I guess I started writing consciously during my A levels. I remember being incredibly proud that my creative writing mock paper was handed around other classes as an good example of ‘show don’t tell.’ Then I got into drama school and acted full time for 13 years until I freaked out at about 34 that I might only have a few good years of tv/film work left in me and decided to try and write a novel…and the rest is history.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Douglas Adams – Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Oh hard one. Not sure there is one in particular. But authors like: Shirley Jackson, Chuck Palanuick, Stephen King, Angela Carter and more…But for the actual sheer perservance to sit down and write a book, beginning to end, I’d say it was: What I talk about when I talk about running by Murakami.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: House of Leaves – Mark Z Danielewski, I mention this so much I may as well be his one woman press team lol! But it’s brilliant. A found footage style thriller about a house. It contains notes written by a family, and others, who have discovered that the house they are living in is much larger on the inside than on the outside. As you read each person’s notes you discover that each inhabitant tried to map the ongoing space they found beneath the house and they document their findings. Chilling, with the feel of a true crime.
Your latest novel, Look in the Mirror, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Lucy Foley summed it up perfectly in exactly 5 words: ‘An utter white knuckle ride’.
What can readers expect?
A subversion of usual phycological thriller plotting, it’s very fast paced, and very twisty, with an ending I can pretty much guarantee you will not see coming. It does not go in the direction you think it will!
Where did the inspiration for Look in the Mirror come from?
Classic escape/survival game stories: Stephen King’s Running Man, Battle Royale, Hunger Games and the growing and morphing appetite society has for increasingly personality-driven reality competitions. The commodification of identity, in reality programming, and the potentially stultifying idea that we can be pigeon holed by it inspired me.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I think I write as an actor. I need every character I write to have a life outside of the story, a clear and life affirming super objective that the story often only gets in the way of them achieving. I love all of my characters, and I write them so that if they ever get played by an actor there is a lot in there for them to play with.
What’s next for you?
I’ve just finished adapting a #1 Sunday Times Bestseller into a film and we’re currently waiting for news on a lead actress and director. I’m also developing two tv series with production companies and working on my next book.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I’m late to the party on PIRANESI by Suzanna Clarke but I absolutely LOVED it. Her world building is hauntingly beautiful and monolithic – it stays with you. I can’t wait to read her next whatever it is…
Also, I loved BIG SWISS by Jen Beagin, and THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley and BREASTS AND EGGS by Mieko Kawakami.
