Helene Flood questioned

C: Julie Pike

Who is Helene Flood? Which five words will described you best and why?

If I were to describe myself with only one word, I would say 'yellow'. And then I can add that I am a writer and a psychologist, with a special interest in the dark sides of human functioning. I'm also a bit of a movie geek.


How did you come up with the plot of this first book?

My primary idea was to write about how an everyday person would deal with the shock and horror of having a loved one disappear. In suspense literature, we are often in the heads of investigators, and my idea was to investigate such a case from the point of view of someone like you or me; how it would affect her life, even to the point where she no longer knows if she can trust her memories and her senses.


  ‘The Therapist’ is not a standard thriller where the police investigation is central. You even choose to approach that investigation more from the background. What made you decide to approach it this way?

I think that boundaries are interesting in literature, and basing the whole story on one person, who is not the detective and does not hold the cards in the investigation, creates some boundaries - the whole crime plot must be seen from that one person's point of view. That means that as readers, we are as lost as the protagonist is. We are kind of in it together with her, and when we do not know if we can trust her, there is room to scare the reader a bit.

  In ‘The Therapist’ the presence of psychology and science/the academic is very clear. Did your personal background inspire you to this? Are you aiming towards a specific reader audience?

Well, the book is not meant only for psychologists, of course! A bit of the reason why I did this is probably because I think there are so many fascinating subjects in psychology, and as the protagonist is a psychologist herself, I had the opportunity to use it. I also found it interesting to play with mind and perception - to what extent can any of us trust what we think we see, how we put information together? It fit nicely in the thriller plot, I thought, to point out actual ways in which we often deceive ourselves.

What character in the book has most of you in it?

I think I can recognize something in all of them - but for some, only very little, fortunately. I do feel some connection with the therapist herself, but she is very different from me in many ways, so nothing here is autobiographical - again, fortunately!


The Therapist is your first book and is sold to several countries: how are your feelings about that?

It is such an adventure! I think that the coolest bit about it is that this story that I made up is now being read and experienced by people all over the world. There is something really awe-inspiring about that.

Do you have a writing-routine or any writing rituals, and if so, what are they?

I write best in the morning, so I try to make space for writing when I start my day. No emails, no social media, and my phone way out of reach, just me and my computer. I need isilence and to be undisturbed, and I must have coffee. With that in order, I am good to go.

What was the soundtrack while you were writing? Are your listening to music while writing?

No, I can't concentrate on text while listening to music.

Do you plot out your book from start to finish and then write it down or let you your characters lead the story and see where they take you?

I believe the story comes to life on the page. I have a general idea of where I am going before I start, but I often experience that the story changes during writing, as the characters develop. For this book, I completely changed the ending half way through, for example.

What can distract you from writing?

Life! I have two small children, they are very skilled at distracting me.

When did you discover you wanted to be a writer?

I have written stories from the moment I learned how to write. That does not mean that I necessarily thought I could make it as a author, to be published and sell books, but I always knew writing stories is a big part of who I am.

What kind of books do you like to read yourself?

I like a broad range of literature! Classics, modern, poetry, suspense, non-fiction. Right now I am reading the Vernon Subutex triology by Virginie Despentes, which I really like.

Can you name some books we have to read?

I don't know if there is a book that everyone needs to read - it depends a lot on taste and interests. But if you set out to read 'The history of violence' by Edoard Louis, 'The god of small things' by Arundhati Roy, 'Slaughterhouse Five' by Kurt Vonnegurt and 'Thinking fast and slow' by Daniel Kahneman the next couple of months, you are in for an interesting summer.


Are you already working on a new book?

Yes.

Can you shed some light already?
It will take place in the same kind of universe, with a new protagonist, but with some characters from this book participating. And it will hopefully scare you a bit.