Send us a text I’m in literary hero territory again … at least this time it’s sunny! My guest is Scarlett Thomas, the groundbreaking writer of PopCo, Oligarchy, The Seed Collectors and the (post)modern speculative classic, The End of Mr Y. She’s one of my favourite writers, who has never seen five or six separate genres she can’t mash together. This time around we are talking “Hot Gothic” in The Sleepwalkers, a darkly playful tale of a vacation–and a marriage–gone horribly wrong. We cover accidentally arriving at a structure, the many ways to build characters from scratch, the dark consequences of sex and desire taken too far – and we agree on how hotels are just inherently creepy. Great book. Great guest. Enjoy! The Sleepwalkers was published on April 9th by Simon and Schuster Other books mentioned: The End of Mr Y (2006), by Scarlett Thomas The Seed Collectors (2015), by Scarlett Thomas Oligarchy (2019), by Scarlett Thomas Open: An Autobiography (2009), by Andre Agassi The Woman in White (1860), by Wilkie Collins The Moonstone (1868), by Wilkie Collins Gone Girl (2012), by Gillian Flynn The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), by Patricia Highsmith Hangsaman (1951), by Shirley Jackson Support Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to [email protected] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.