C.L. Lauder is the author behind The Quelling, a pulsating dystopian thriller set against a backdrop of curfews, body snatchers and alien invaders. To celebrate the release of book one in The Quelling Trilogy on January 16th, What We Reading caught up with her to talk about everything from the inspirations behind The Quelling, 5 a.m. writing sessions, to her love for Donna Tartt!
Thanks for speaking with us! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.
I’m an author and a mother of two, a fantasy addict, and a borderline paranoid survivalist. The writing started early. I grew up in tumbled-down house, propped up by bookshelves. I used to sneak books into my bedroom under my T-shirts, always looking over my shoulder because I knew the tomes I wanted to read were unbefitting for a tween.
Naturally, my reading habits led me to experiment. If other people could invent the Universes I preferred to hang out in, why not me? I wrote my first novel when I was ten or eleven years old. Of course, I had no idea what to do with it. I had all these pages pegged to a rusted old clipboard. My best friend’s mother took pity on me and typed the whole thing out.
I’ll never forget how good those neatly printed pages felt in my hands. It’s a love affair that hasn’t tempered over the years.
Talk to us about The Quelling. What is it about, and how was the process of bringing it to life?
The Quelling is about a nineteen-year-old girl whose world is in the grips of a long-standing alien invasion. Her mother disappeared when she was eight, leaving her in the care of her inattentive stepfather, whom she suspects of murder.
The Quelling exists because I wrote book two in the series and felt like the premise required explanation, so I decided to go back and get to know my characters on a deeper level. The process of bringing it to life was no different to the other books in the series. First, careful plotting, then meticulously following the map I’d crafted for myself, only to land up somewhere else entirely.
I wrote most of it sitting at a small table at the top of a mountain. It was during COVID, so I could jog up a nearby mountain before work and squeeze in an hour or more in the mornings before heading back for a quick shower to start my work day. Writing in nature is freakishly uplifting. I wish I could write all my books that way.
What is the number one goal you want your work to have with readers?
There are a few subtle messages weaved into the Quelling, but mostly I’m hoping it will entertain. Escapism is underrated, and if someone can suspend reality by escaping to another Universe entirely, all the better.
What do you think makes you stand out as an author?
There’s a lot of chatter on the internet about writing to capitalise on market trends. Publishers encourage researching and understanding target markets and writing novels to suit specific niches. There are writers out there who excel at that, but I write for my enjoyment.
I wrote The Quelling because it was the book I most wanted to read. I grew up on a diet of Hunger Games and Divergent. I wanted a strong heroine facing life under a despotian regime. What better premise than a long-standing alien invasion and a villain who wants to extract the ultimate sacrifice?
What would you say has been your biggest success so far?
Probably training myself to wake up at 5 a.m. every morning. There are so many demands on our time that it’s almost impossible to carve out a sliver for writing while living a normal life. If not for setting that intentional habit, The Quelling wouldn’t be hitting the shelves in January, it would likely still be a muddled whisper of an idea in my head.
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
The Secret History by Donna Tartt is my favourite book. Every page is a masterpiece, both rich and complex. I still remember where I was when I first read it, and it’s as if the book planted a flag in time. Every reread takes me back to my early twenties, hanging out in a succession of quaint coffee houses in Notting Hill, totally engrossed in that book.
What’s one tip you would give your younger self if you had the opportunity?
I’d tell myself to stop writing for the sake of writing and learn to plot. Growing up, I read stacks of books on writing, but the authors seemed terrified of providing a simple solution to plotting—no one wanted to be labelled unoriginal or cliqued. Instead, they’d write reams of whimsy around the process—as if plotting required a visit from a mythological muse. Then I read Blake Snyder’s Save The Cat, and suddenly I had a structure that wasn’t limited to start, middle, and end.
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
My immediate plan is to complete the Quelling Trilogy. Book Two is almost there, and Book Three is drafted but needs a lot of TLC. I’ve always wanted to be a published author, and on 16 January, that dream will come true. I’ll enjoy that for a while before setting more ambitious goals.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
