Lake Laps follows a woman trapped in a jail cell whose harrowing tale of familial bonds, mystery, and resilience unfolds as she confronts the shadowy figure known as ‘He’ that plunged her life into despair. What were some sources that informed this novels development?

I wrote this novel when I was at a very low point in my own life. Through commiserating with other families around the bonfire and helping to heal each other’s wounds, we bonded over our own issues that we all were trying to maneuver as our kids were growing up and leaving the nest, some more gracefully than others. A tight knit little family is never prepared for one of their own to fall pray to manipulation, and no matter how strong you may think your family bonds are, no matter how smothering your little blanket of love and protection is, any princess can be lured out of her fairytale if the dragon is cunning enough.

I basically built characters by using scraps of nightmares that were told from one family to another, all of us left standing at a breaking point trying to decide how to hang on and when to let go.

Maxine is an intriguing and well-developed character. What inspired the creation of the complex character Maxine, and how did you navigate her emotional depth throughout the book? 

In truth, Maxine is all mothers if they are pushed far enough. All of us “mama bears” who consider our children to be the center of our worlds, and when we are poked, and their security is threatened… well, watch out.

In creating Maxine, I had to remember that at one point she had it all, the perfect job, perfect family, perfect house, perfect marriage. When she wasn’t paying close enough attention, a monster snuck his way into her world and she was pulled into a deep depression, with only the thought of saving her daughter slowly consuming her soul. Poor Max got very dark, and had to decide who and what she was willing to let go of in her own life in order to salvage the life of her daughter.

The story is filled with dark ambiance and only sporadic moments of levity. How did you balance this mood to keep readers engaged without overwhelming them?​ 

I think that the main goal of Maxine’s story was to really throw a gut punch, a dire warning as to what can happen to even the most seemingly perfect families. By balancing all of the darkness and levity with happy memories of the past, the reader is given a taste of all that Maxine stood to lose and why she was spiraling so far and fighting so hard to keep the family together.

When and where will your book be available?

Lake Laps releases in paperback on January 25, 2024 on Amazon, Amazon UK and Waterstones, initially in paperback, with E-Book and audio versions to come.