Award-winning journalist and lecturer Lisa Rookes talks to us about her debut gothic thriller 'The Village' and gives us a sneak peak at her upcoming title 'The Empty Cradle' which will be published later this year.
Lisa Rookes is an award-winning journalist and lecturer. She spent the start of her career as a crime reporter and news editor before moving to national newspapers and women’s magazines. Her debut gothic thriller The Village is published by Orion Books in February 2025. You can also find Lisa's books on the Suffolk Libraries catalogue.
There was a library about a twenty minute walk away from my house growing up. I know I sound like Matilda when I say this, but I used to spend all my free time up there from the age of six onwards. As a child member I was only allowed three books but the lady behind the counter always used to sneak me a fourth. I remember the butterflies of excitement when a new Sweet Valley High or Stephen King was on the shelves. I didn’t have the easiest time growing up and it really was a place of sanctuary.
I did a Curtis Brown Creative course about eight years ago - after spending my career as a local newspaper deputy editor and then a national features writer. I was teaching journalism at the time and found I really missed writing, but wanted to flex my fiction chops rather than fact. It was my childhood dream to be an author, but I never really believed it would happen.
Not really. Being a busy full-time working mum of two teenage boys I write whenever I can steal a few minutes here and there. I’d love to tell you I have a Room of One’s Own but actually I write balancing my laptop on my knees at the side of football pitches and in car parks waiting to pick them up. I do have a desk at home and grateful that I live in the countryside so have a wonderful view…when I actually find time to sit down and see it
The book was inspired by an annual feast in my village. We celebrate the end of the plague by having a huge street party. As a child we had a similar festival where we crowned a May Queen. I loved the concept of these old traditions mixed with new, and I always feel there is a slightly sinister edge, especially when night falls and everyone has had a few drinks. The book is about a woman who is crowned All Gallows Eve Queen who then goes missing overnight - at the time the remains of a baby buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard are mysteriously exhumed. Told through the eyes of the missing woman’s best friend, we learn about the secrets of the village and their origins in local legends
Yes. I saw the Wicker Man when I was probably far too young. Always fascinated by horror and supernatural, I also believe the scariest thing is how far superstitions and beliefs can impact on human behaviour. Folk horror is the perfect blend of this!
Only vaguely. I’m not a big plotter because if I work out every little detail beforehand, I get bored too quickly of writing it. Plus, characters become much more vivid in the writing process and take on a life of their own, so scenes and subplots may suddenly feel out of character or unnatural. I like to surprise and scare myself when I’m writing.
My next book, The Empty Cradle will be out later in 2025. This one centres on a woman who moves to a small village to heal from her husband’s infidelity and her difficulties in trying to conceive. But after she befriends the women in the local book club, she suddenly finds out she is pregnant. But the dates don’t match up. And the women seem unusually obsessed with her baby…
Stephen King, C J Tudor, Lisa Jewell, Marian Keyes, Grady Hendrix, Joel Hill. I’m a mixed bag!!
I’m a storyteller at heart, through being a journalist and a novelist. I used to joke there is ink in my veins rather than blood. Being able to share those stories is a huge privilege,
I’ve been held at gunpoint, once had a stalker and still believe in fairies.
