We chat with author Claire Rose about The Cove, which is a modern, sea-soaked folk horror debut about fighting to survive, and fighting to be yourself, think Midsommar meets Fear Street.
Hi, Claire! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Claire. I grew up in suburban central New Jersey, but I’ve spent most of my adult life living in the UK. I currently live in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I’m working on a PhD in children’s literature studies. I have at different times in my life been an actor, an editorial assistant, a museum administrator, a barista, and a competitive fencer, because I’m not very good at sitting still. These days, you can usually find me working in a coffee shop or at home with my two very haunted cats, Daphne du Meowrier and Ophelia.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
It sounds cliché, but I’ve been reading and writing as long as I can remember. My great-grandmother gave me copies of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess when I was born, which I think set the tone for everything from there. I was a really shy kid who took refuge in stories, and it didn’t take me too long to realize that I could write them myself. By the time I was in high school, I knew I loved writing, was pretty good at it, and wanted to do this for real. Also my back-up plan at that point was being an actress, which wasn’t any more stable or reliable a career path, so it seemed best to just pick one and go for it.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The one that made you want to become an author: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
Your debut novel, The Cove, is out May 5th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
The Atlantic Ocean is scary. (Does that count? That’s exactly five words!)
What can readers expect?
This is very much a young adult horror novel: it’s scary, gory, tense, a little bit funny, and centered around a lonely teenage girl learning to let her walls down and trust the people around her. Even if she shouldn’t. There’s a little bit of found family, a lot of mysterious cult activity, a healthy dose of religious trauma, and some teenage angst for fun and flavor. This is, ultimately, a book about acceptance and trust, and about the fact that everyone deserves a safe home and a safe community, regardless of who they are or where they come from, who they love, or what they believe in.
Where did the inspiration for The Cove come from?
I’ve always been a bit obsessed with Maine. I grew up spending summers there with family, then going to sleepaway camp, then working at sleepaway camp, and I’ve been trying to find a way to channel those formative experiences into my work for years. I grew up in New Jersey, where everyone was at least half Jewish, and then went to summer camp full of other kids from New York and New Jersey, so I never really experienced the “otherness” that comes with being a minority growing up. I was a weird outcast kid for a million other reasons, but my identity was never part of it. I didn’t realize how unusual or special that upbringing was until I was an adult living in the UK, which is demographically pretty different. Around the same time that I moved abroad, my dad moved to Maine full-time, and he found it very isolating, very WASPy, and very different from the safe summertime bubble I was familiar with.
All of these things were pretty top of mind when Electric Postcard reached out with the pitch for The Cove. I don’t think any of us realized quite how perfectly it would line up with my own tastes and life experiences, but it couldn’t have been a better fit. In a lot of ways, I wrote The Cove for my teenage self, and for kids who have ever felt alien in a place that is supposed to be safe and familiar. Also, for some reason, I’ve never been afraid of the ocean, and I think that’s a superpower I can use to make other people squirm.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Lindsay’s voice came really naturally to me, and I had the best time exploring this world through her eyes. At a glance, we couldn’t be more different—I was very focused on doing well in school and respecting authority, and I’m really close with my family—but I think a lot of her flaws and impulses come from the things I always wished I could say and do. I was really sympathetic towards her, even though she is often horrible, because I can really relate to her. I know what it’s like feel powerless and guarded, to protect yourself with an abrasive sense of humor, and to put up big walls so no one can hurt you. There’s a moment fairly early in the novel where Lindsay suffers a panic attack and tries to ground herself through some really physical breathing techniques like the ones I was taught to control my own anxiety. This scene wasn’t in my original outline, but it felt important to understanding who Lindsay is and part of why she’s so prickly. It was kind of cathartic for me to write, and I’m really proud of how it plays into the larger arc of Lindsay’s character.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
You might think horror writers don’t get scared and just love inflicting suffering on the rest of you, but that’s not the case for me! Living in the headspace of a very stressful book for an extended period of time wasn’t easy, and I really started to feel the tension from The Cove in my real life. I had to take it all in parts, approach some of the horror objectively, give myself lots of room to breathe, pause, take walks, and remember that it wasn’t real and was going to be okay. I also didn’t let myself read or watch anything scary for a while, even though I normally would, to keep some balance going. Only fluffy books while writing horror from here on out, because I need a little light in that darkness.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I can’t believe we’re here already! I’ve been writing my entire life, and I decided pretty young that this was what I wanted to do, so I feel incredibly lucky that it’s happened the way it has. My experience is a bit atypical: I studied creative writing in college, and from there I published a few short stories in online journals, but I actually had never finished a novel until The Cove. I followed some of the Electric Postcard Entertainment team on Twitter (rip), and saw them post an open call for submissions. With absolutely no idea what to expect, I sent in a portfolio of some of my short fiction, immediately forgot about it, went on to get a job in publishing, and got to work on my next novel. About a year later, I got a call asking if I wanted to write The Cove, and I have never said yes faster in my life.
Electric Postcard is an IP company founded by the incredible Dhonielle Clayton, which means they match authors with projects, mentor them through the process, and help find their books homes. I was lucky enough to be matched with horror legend Gretchen McNeil, who couldn’t have been more wonderful as I worked out the teething pains of moving from short fiction to novel-writing. Around the time The Cove went on submission to publishers, I signed with my agent for my adult horror debut, so I’ve gone from having written no novels to having written several novels very quickly. But every time I think it’s all happened a little too quickly, I remember that I’ve been working toward this in one way or another for more than twenty years now, and I’m so grateful to be here.
What’s next for you?
I have an adult novel called Even Your Bones Would Do that’s coming out in January 2027! It’s a sapphic gothic horror retelling of Bluebeard that’s heavily influenced by my love of fairy tales and creepy old houses. It’s very spooky, very strange, and I’m really excited for everyone to get to read it. Other than that, I’m just wrapping up the first year of my PhD program, so probably a lot more academia for the foreseeable future!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I’ve been a bit underwater with academic work this year, so I’m reading a bit less than I’d like to, but I’m committed to working through the enormous backlog of books on my shelf. I’m especially excited about finally getting around to Sargassa by Sophie Burnham and Saltswept by Katalina Watt, and I am so looking forward to the releases of Natural Selection by Clare Edge and A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner.
For books I’ve read recently that I loved! Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart is a brilliant debut, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie absolutely blew me away, Erasure by Percival Everett was even better than I hoped it could be, and Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L; Wang is every bit as astonishing as everyone says it is.
