Roz Nay questioned

Credits Lisa Seyfried

 Roz Nay’s debut novel, Our Little Secret, was a national bestseller, won the Douglas Kennedy Prize for best foreign thriller in France, and was nominated for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Mystery and the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award. Roz has lived and worked in Africa, Australia, the US, and the UK. She now lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her husband and two children.

Could you describe yourself in five different terms or words? 

Adventurous, fun-loving, easygoing, busy, tired

In Hurry Home, your latest book, one of the sisters works at child protective services. You did that work yourself. Why did you choose this profession? What was the beauty of this job? And what was the hardest thing about it? 

I continue to have a day job in Child Protection, and it's rarely a happy story. I do their admin, so it wasn't a specific career choice for me--more that I couldn't teach high school in Canada without retraining, so I needed to look for a different job. The best days in my job are when you know a child will be loved and supported in a new adoptive home. The worst days are when you know that same child is going to be so confused by being moved in the first place. So the best days and the worst days are usually intertwined. It's a very complicated job.

Before that, you were a teacher. What was your specialty? What kind of teacher were you?

I taught high school English for eight years in the UK (where I grew up) and in Australia (where I lived for 5 years, got married, and had a baby boy). I think I was a fun teacher? I really enjoyed the banter with the kids, and knowing that every day would be different.

With your debut, you won the Douglas Kennedy Award. How proud were you and how did you celebrate? 

That was the best thing ever! My publisher in Paris (Hugo Editions) flew me out there and I had 7 days in Paris on my own, being treated like somebody special. I ate the nicest food of my life and hung out with the most awesome people. It was a super cool way to start a writing career, and I felt very lucky...

Did that award put extra pressure on you while writing your second book?

 I think second books are notoriously difficult anyway. Definitely there's more pressure--people are waiting, you can't just fiddle about with the story at your leisure, and I found that just because I wrote one book didn't really mean I knew how to do it all over again. HURRY HOME took me a long time and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I feel like it was kind of where I grew up as a writer. My third book (THE HUNTED, out in North America this summer) came out so much easier.

What kind of writer are you: are you working out the whole story beforehand so that you just have to write it? 

I used to be what people call a 'pantser' - flying by the seat of my pants, winging it. But with THE HUNTED (new book, out soon), I planned it meticulously and found that it was a much more efficient way of doing things. So I'm naturally a pantser but have forced myself to become a plotter :)

Or are you the type of writer where the story takes shape during writing?

 I think that, even though I do plot now, there are parts of the story that emerge as I go and I'm like 'oh, nice, go ahead and do that, then' when characters know who they are and make moves that surprise even me. That's the exciting thing about drafting a story, though: at some point, you're really just telling it to yourself.

Are you a reader? 

Yes, very much so. I grew up reading as much as possible, then did an English degree, then taught English, so reading has always been part of who I am. These days, I read more crime genre than I used to, but I need to see what all the geniuses are doing :) 

What book that you've read in the past would you recommend to others?

 Favorite books ever would include ELEANOR OLYPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE, STATION ELEVEN, NOTES ON A SCANDAL. More recent hits for me have been THEN SHE WAS GONE, THE GIRLS and THE TESTAMENTS.

You're Canadian. Everyone has a certain idea of the people that live in other countries. How would you describe Canadians?

 Burly, outdoorsy, super polite, helpful to the point of running on crosswalks so they don't hold up any traffic.

What is your vision of Dutch people? (Don't hold back!)

 I went to Holland when I was 20 as part of a varsity basketball team. I'd never played a single game. I loved it there! The Dutch people I met were friendly, quite frank, resilient, and really cultured. Big drinkers, though, or perhaps that was just because everyone was 20... I remember them doing flights of beer in bars before that kind of thing was trendy...

Were you ever in Holland? 

See previous answer! I was in Rotterdam and Amsterdam with my university basketball team, although I've no idea how because I was a tennis player. I'd love to go back. I remember being amazed in the Van Gogh museum.

Van Gogh museum

How did you find the name Willem?

I wanted Pim, and found out that it was a shortener for Willem. I had Van Ness as a last name right from the first day, although I can't really say why. It was fun getting some Dutch heritage into the family, though.

Chase is a pretty (too pretty) self-centered model. How long could you live together with someone like that? 

Aaaah Chase. At the start, he was meant to just be a bit of an airhead, no match for the sisters. But as I started writing, I began to grow quite fond of him. I think he develops - by the bus depot scene quite near the end, he's worked his way into my heart :) My husband thinks I based his looks and general physical perfection on him. Let's not tell him.

Do you have a copy of all your books, like the Dutch version?

 I have a copy of OUR LITTLE SECRET (NIET VERDER VERTELLEN) and I think they'll send me HURRY HOME (MIJN ALLER LIEFSTE ZUSJE). My publisher, Xander, does a fantastic job with covers and has always been very supportive of me. They were the first overseas publisher ever to sign me! They're currently reading my next book (THE HUNTED), so we'll see if that one comes out in Dutch, too.

Can you shed some light on your next novel? 

THE HUNTED is about an American couple who take a job overseas in Africa on a secluded island. They meet and befriend another couple, quickly teaming up into a foursome - like you do when you're traveling - only to figure out that their new best friends are not at all who they say they are. It's told in two voices, the girl from couple A and the boy from couple B. It's a creepy travel thriller, with themes of dark secrecy, obsessive love, and stalking....