When I started thinking of a plot for The Midnight Side, I knew I wanted to write a ghost story...but a ghost story with a difference. I tried to steer clear of luminous apparitions gliding up and down the staircase and strange howling noises outside the window and looked for something fresh to contribute to the genre. So even though The Midnight Side is a tale of revenge and obsession, I have attempted to reinterpret these classic gothic elements within the thoroughly modern framework of stock exchange manipulations and corporate intrigue.

But The Midnight Side is still very much a ghost story. Many years ago, as a teenager, I read an article about people receiving calls from relatives no longer alive. Whereas I'm not altogether sure that a ghostly apparition will have the power to terrify me, I am pretty certain that a phone call from some-one I know to be deceased, will just about scare me witless. Years later, when I started thinking about an idea for a ghost story, I thought it might just be a good way to start a book: A phone call in the early morning hours from a beautiful woman who has died mysteriously ...

I also decided to incorporate the phenomenon of lucid dreaming into the plot. Lucid dreaming is the rare ability to consciously manipulate and interact with the events in one's dream life, thereby allowing the dreamer to explore in full consciousness his or her own inner psychic labyrinth. In The Midnight Side two cousins, Isa and Alette, grow up side by side and at night, they inhabit the same dreamscape. Walking hand in hand through their dreams, the two girls discover at an early age that they are able to dream lucidly. Many years later, when Alette dies violently, this ability helps Isa to unravel the events that have led to her cousin's murder.

I had enormous fun writing The Midnight Side and certainly hope you will enjoy reading it.