Simon Toyne

Simon Toyne is the author of the internationally bestselling Sanctus trilogy (Sanctus, The Key, and The Tower), The Searcher, The Boy Who Saw, and Dark Objects, and has worked in British television for more than twenty years. As a writer, director and producer he’s made several award-winning shows, one of which won a BAFTA. He lives in England with his wife and family, where he is permanently at work on his next novel.

Toyne's newest book is The Clearing, his second suspense novel featuring forensic expert Laughton Rees.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The Clearing was not the first title for the book. For most of the first draft it was called The Cinderman which refers to the urban legend of a forest dwelling bogeyman who is supposed to haunt the ancient Forest of Dean in the west of England where the book is set. The Cinderman, as I reveal in an origin story within the book, was a charcoal burner whose daughter vanished, driving him mad and cursing him to roam the forest in search of young women to replace her. In the “now” of the story women are going missing in the forest and the local police don’t seem to be that bothered about it. My lead character, however, Dr. Laughton Rees doesn’t believe in ghosts and legends so when another young woman goes missing she heads there to try and find out what is going on. Her investigation centres around an off-grid community at the heart of the forest called The Clearing.

I always liked The Cinderman as a title, but my editors in the UK and US were both worried it might read more as a horror story than a thriller. Calling it The Clearing definitely grounds the book as something taking place somewhere specific, and I think readers like that. They like to know that the story is anchored somewhere and a forest clearing can be both welcoming and sinister. Lots of the most gruesome fairy-tales take place in forest clearings. That’s where witches tend to live and I’ve got a real-life one of those in the story too.

What's in a name?

My main character is called Laughton Rees, which is the bane of her life as no-one knows how to pronounce it (For the record it’s LAW – TUN.) Names are so important, especially for series leads, because they really need to fit and do quite a lot of heavy lifting in terms of framing the character. Laughton has a very fraught relationship with her father and it was he who gave her the name, calling her after Charles Laughton, the director of his favourite film Night of The Hunter, which you absolutely must see if you haven’t already. It’s Robert Mitchum at his sinister best as a conman preacher with Love and Hate tattooed on his knuckles. She is also a criminologist and academic who is obsessive about rules and protocol, so having the word ‘Law’ in her name, even phonetically, seemed very fitting.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Having just finished a book a few hours before writing this I can absolutely say, with the blood still fresh on my fingertips, that endings are hardest. I actually quite like writing beginnings because they’re like taking the first, optimistic step on an exciting new adventure. Endings are more like crawling to the summit of some God-forsaken peak, with no food, no energy and a dwindling air supply. Having said all that I always tend to know what the ending will be, I just never know how it’s going to get there. Starting is easy, finishing is hard.

Learn more about the book and author at Simon Toyne's website, Facebook page, Twitter perch, and Instagram page.

The Page 69 Test: The Clearing.

My Book, The Movie: The Clearing.

--Marshal Zeringue