Beth Lewis on her writing process, literary favourites, and fascination with cults

A massive talent in British fictionFiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places in ways that are imaginary or inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories.[4][5] More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games...., we catch up with Beth Lewis to chat about everything from her writing process to her favourite characters and desert island reads… Having just released her fourth novel, Children of the Sun , Beth Lewis's storytelling is complex and finely crafted, combining twisting plotlines, intelligent dialogue and ambiguous characters, all skillfully brought together in an epic climax. A self-professed wilderness junky, Beth was raised in Cornwall's wild coastal countryside and has always been happiest outdoors. Having travelled extensively to the wildest places on the planet — encountering black bears, killer whales and great white sharks — her debut novel, The Wolf Road , was an Amazon Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the inaugural Glass Bell Award. Her third book, The Origins of Iris , was shortlisted for the Polari Prize in 2022. For fans of Stranger Things , Station Eleven and The Girls , Children of the Sun transports the reader to a 1980s cult deep in the North American wilderness where the seductive and charismatic Sol has gathered over 300 followers, all hoping for a second chance. The cult believes that their final ceremony: “The Opening of the Golden Door” will open up a portal to another world allowing each member to leave their own flawed lives behind and start over. But before that can happen, investigative reporter James, and former cult member Eve are intent on bringing down the cult from within before it's too late. A literary thriller with a speculative twist, Children of the Sun explores both the power and danger of hope and is inspired by the true stories of the Star Trek obsessed Heaven's Gate Cult – who believed their souls would inhabit a UFO trailing behind the comet Hale-Bopp when they committed suicide in 1997 and the Jonestown Cult that saw 300 Americans commit mass suicide in the jungles of Guyana in 1978. Read on for our interview with Beth… Did you always want to be a writer/author? Always. When I was a child, I'd write stories and make them into little books. […]