Featured Interview With Joan De La Haye
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m Joan De La Haye, a caffeine-fuelled South African author of dark and twisted fiction. I write thrillers, horror and dark fantasy. I live in South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria, where most of my books are set with my two cats – Midnight and Mogwai.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I come from a family of readers. When I was about five or maybe even younger, my older sister decided she needed to teach me how to read. The usual books for teaching kids to read were way too boring for her, so she decided I would learn by reading The Famous Five and the Nancy Drew books. I’ve loved reading ever since.
As to when I started writing, well … when I was about eight years old, I was sitting in my mother’s office during the school holidays, and she had this lovely fairy poster on her wall. I was bored and probably driving her insane; I found myself staring at this poster and wondering about what the fairies’ lives were like, what their world was like, and the next thing I knew, I was thumping out a story called The Wonderful World of Candyfloss on her typewriter. I still have that story and the rejection letter from the publisher I sent it to. Yes, I was eight when I submitted my first story to a publisher and got my first rejection.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite authors are probably Karin Slaughter, Ann Rice, Jeffery Deaver, Stephen King, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, George R. R. Martin, Dennis Wheatly, and Kathy Reichs, to name a few. You can probably gather from that list that I have pretty eclectic tastes. But I probably read a lot more thrillers than anything else.
I wouldn’t say that just one person inspires me. I am inspired by almost every author whose work I’ve read. To some extent, they all influenced me and taught me something new about writing.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest stand-alone thriller is The Fluttering Cage. I got the idea for the story while I was walking along the road, heading home, one sunny afternoon when a car revved its engine at me, completely freaking me out. I had one of those aha moments that most writers know pretty well. The next thing I knew, I was at home, in front of my laptop, and the words were flowing onto the blank page.
Here’s the book description:
He Thought I Was Weak— He Thinks He Knows What’s Coming.
I didn’t think my life could get worse. No job. No money. No future. Then, a car pulled up beside me, and I ignored every instinct, doing the one thing you’re never supposed to do.
I got in the car.
What happened next shattered everything I thought I knew—about people, survival, and myself. He took me—body, mind, and soul—and tried to cage me.
But he didn’t break me.
I’m still here. And I’ve found allies in the unlikeliest of places. Together, we’re not just fighting to survive—we’re fighting back. He has no idea what we’re capable of.
He’s about to learn how wrong he was.
For fans of Karin Slaughter and Lisa Gardner, this is your next obsession
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