Today I am thrilled to welcome Claire McGowan to the blog to talk about her gripping true- crime audiobook, The Vanishing Triangle, which is available from Audible. This is Claire's first non-fiction title and is narrated by Claire herself. Before we hear from Claire, here's a little about the audiobook:
Ireland, the 1990s. Eight missing women. Did a serial killer prowl the vanishing triangle? And if so, were they ever caught?
Between
1993 and 1998, eight women went missing from an area around Dublin that
became known as the ‘Vanishing Triangle’. Was there a link? Speculation
abounded. There were whispers of a serial killer, responsible for some,
if not all, of these cases. But nobody was ever brought to justice.
Twenty
years later, the brutal murder of Jastine Valdez disturbs crime
Novelist Claire McGowan into action. Reminded, like many in Ireland, of
those previous missing women, McGowan brings her skills as a novelist to
the real world, setting out to uncover the truth of the vanishing
triangle. As she digs deeper, she finds something terrible lurking
behind the idyllic image of rural Ireland and the 21st century success
story of the ‘Celtic Tiger’. An incompetent police force, a traumatised
nation and, a rank, murderous misogyny.
But are the disappearances linked? Are they linked with other murders? Was there, is there, a serial killer on the loose.
Length:
5 hrs and 39 mins
Welcome to Books, Life and Everything, Claire!
Would you like to start by telling us a little about
yourself and how you started as a writer?
I always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was little – I
grew up in rural Ireland and there wasn’t much to do except read and dream. I
wrote on and off until my mid-twenties when I decided I had to give it a proper
go – but it still took me almost five years to finish and sell a book.
You write
as Claire McGowan in the crime genre but Eva Woods in women’s fiction. Which
genre do you prefer and how do you separate out these two identities when
planning your projects?
I like writing both, as I like reading a lot of different
types of fiction and even non-fiction. Crime is probably my first love however
as I think I instinctively write with a lot of suspense and twists and turns –
sometimes I have to be reminded that you don’t need so much of this with
women’s fiction, it’s more about characters and emotion. However, I do always
like a bit of a mystery in those books too.
The
Vanishing Triangle is being released as an audiobook on Audible. Please could
you tell us a bit about the audiobook?
It was commissioned as an audio original, which means it
will be out as a audiobook first and for a year, though it will also be a print
book now after that. It’s designed to tap into the huge market for audio crime,
both books and podcasts.
Where did
you get your inspiration for The Vanishing Triangle?
I had come across these cases about ten years ago, when
researching a series of novels about missing persons in Ireland. I was really
shocked that so many women could have gone missing, and there had possibly been
a serial killer, and not only was it not solved, I hadn’t even known about it
before.
The
Vanishing Triangle is set in Ireland in the nineties. What did the research
involve?
I remember quite a lot of it as I was a teenager in the
nineties, but I did a lot of research checking dates and facts, as my memory
was quite hazy on some of it. I read through a lot of articles in the newspaper
archive – this is easily accessed online – and also some more general books on
social shifts in Ireland. I also talked to some of the detectives and other
people involved in the original investigations.
Did you
have any input into the process of recording The Vanishing Triangle?
I was quite surprised to be asked to read the audiobook
myself, as I have no experience of voice acting, but I did a voice test and
they were pleased with it. I spent about three days in a little studio
recording it – I think it was right that I voiced it myself, as it’s a very
personal story in parts.
Thanks so much, Claire.I am sure true-crime fans are going to enjoy this!
About the Author
Claire McGowan is the author of the bestselling crime
thriller What You Did and the popular Paula Maguire series. She has written
several radio plays and TV scripts, and also writes women’s fiction under the
pseudonym Eva Woods.
You can follow Claire here: Twitter | Website
Audiobook link: Audible
About Audible
Among the acclaimed performers who have narrated works of literature for Audible are Zachary Quinto, Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Lily Collins, Emma Thompson and Jesse Eisenberg. Audible Studios has won a Grammy Award, for its production of Janis Ian’s
memoir Society’s
Child, and has also been recognised with the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year, for Colin Firth’s
performance of Graham Greene’s
The End of the Affair.
Audible invented and commercialised
the first digital audio player in 1997, and has since been at the
forefront of the explosively growing audiobook download segment. On
average, Audible members listen to Audible content for 2 hours a day. In
2018, Audible customers downloaded nearly 3 billion
hours of content.
Thanks to Claire McGowan and Amber Choudhary of Midaspr for the interview and a place on the tour.
Check out the rest of the tour!
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