Bookwild - N.A. Cooper: Ripple Effect

Episode Date: August 5, 2022

On this episode, I talk to N.A. Cooper about her though provoking psychological thriller Ripple Effect.You can also watch the episode on YouTubeAuthor LinksInstagramGoodreadsCheck out the book hereRipple Effect SynopsisA long-ago illicit relationship continues to upend lives in this taut psychological suspense novel . . .Fifteen years ago, teenage Erin had an affair with her teacher that led to tragedy and changed Erin’s life. Today, she’s a married woman who keeps to herself and stays close to home, still scarred by the experience.When she’s attacked while running in the park, Erin doesn’t tell her husband—but she does confide in Nick, the man who came to her rescue. Then letters start to arrive, making references to her past and leaving her even more unnerved. When a neighbour reports that someone’s been watching her house, Erin’s world starts to crumble.Erin has worked hard to distance herself from her past. But her life may be in mortal danger, and as she’s plunged back into trauma, she might finally learn the truth about what really happened all those years ago . . . Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Hi, my name is Kate and I love to read. Like, I was carrying books around with me before Kindles were a thing. So I decided to start a podcast where I interview the authors of some of my favorite books, ask them all of my questions so that I can read between the lines of the books. Welcome back to another episode between the lines. Today, I'm here with N.A. Cooper, who is the author of Ripple Effect, which is, or the fantastic book that I got to read recently. So thank you so much for being on the podcast. Thank you for having me. So before we talk about the book, I did want to get to know a little bit about you.

So when did you know that you wanted to write a book or when did you know you wanted to be an author? So I've always enjoyed reading and writing. It's always something that I've done as a hobby. Some of my earliest memories are writing short stories as a child. and I think what took me a while was to find that belief in myself that I could write a book. And I think once I was able to stage myself, you know, I can do this. It was more about the time.

And when, you know, the lockdown restrictions came into place through the pandemic, I suddenly found myself at home, you know, a lot more. And I really tried to utilise that time. And that was when I really thought, you know, I can do this. I can actually finish a book. Yeah, that's really cool. I do feel like it's like such an ambitious thing to be like, I'm going to write a book.

Yeah, that makes sense. Having the time was what made you like, okay, let's do it. Oh, absolutely. You know, I tried so many times before to write a book, you know, right back from, you know, being probably in my teens, I'd tried to complete one. And, you know, I'd really struggle with the momentum of being able to keep going because other things obviously got in the way.

So, yeah, it was definitely a lot of different things happening at the same time that allowed me to be able to do that. That is really cool. So what is your writing process like? So did you, like, know exactly what the story was going to look like? Did it kind of unveil itself to you as you wrote it? How did that work out? Yeah, it was definitely more as the plot developed. I'm not a planner.

I start off with kind of an idea. I know probably the start and usually the end. How I get there is more just let's keep writing and see what happens. I get to a certain point where a certain degree of planning is needed to make sure there's no loose ends and to really be able to get down the key scenes and how they're all going to pan out in the end. I find the act of planning quite overwhelming.

I've tried to do it a couple of times and sitting down and, you know, just thinking to myself, how am I going to get from A to B is always quite daunting to me. So I've not actually done it, but I continue to try. Yeah, I mean, if it works for you that you don't have to plan, though, like it's not it's not necessarily bad if you can always pull it off just kind of like yeah yeah i guess it can it can get to a point where it feels quite stressful when i've got you know a lot of things to tie up and i'm not really sure what's happening but yeah i mean it's

worked so far but yeah i keep saying to myself next time i'm going to try and and plan at least have you know a rough overview of of the book but i'm yet to do it yeah Well, we'll just have to see as the next one's coming out, how it progresses. So what about your characters? So do you mostly know who they are, or do you kind of, like, detail them before you get going? Yeah, I think my main character, I have a pretty good idea about before I start writing. I think I do character profiles for all of the characters in the book, but they can be quite basic. you know they can just literally be characteristics

so you know what do they look like in hair colour and what's their relationship to the rest of the characters what's their job where do they live things like that and they'll tend to grow more as the as the plot develops I'll just keep updating and adjusting and and sometimes they you know they can change as well and but yeah I always like to feel a bit more of a connection to my main character before I jump in and start writing That makes a lot of sense.

It is like what's driving the biggest part of the story. Yeah. Yeah. So how would you describe ripple effects in a couple sentences? So I would say that ripple effect essentially explores the aftermath of a 15-year-old girl's illicit relationship with their teacher. And it looks at how, you know, 15 years later, that trauma continues to have an enormous impact on her life. So other than the fact that you were in lockdown and have the time to do it, what prompted you to write this story?

What was your inspiration for? I think I wanted to explore the idea of consequences, and that's really how the idea began. I wanted to look at how the ripple effect isn't always fair or proportionate and not all consequences or immediate, as you see with ripple effect. and I find it really interesting the idea that our lives could be completely different if we'd done something differently at one moment in time or made another choice at some point in our lives and that's what you see with Erin and something happens that changes her life and her future and continues to affect her 15 years later and I just found the premise of that really interesting yeah it was fascinating definitely explored

all sides of what you just explained. So we are going to talk about the book now. And so I always tell people that haven't read it yet to go read it and then come back and you keep listening. But if you are here because you've already read it, obviously just keep listening. So at the beginning of the book, Aaron is attacked and it's pretty brutal. But as she's crying, she thinks, I want to shout and tell him that he is not allowed my tears, the man who's attacking her.

They belong to regrets in my own life, if you can call it that. A half-life may be a life unlived and avoided life. So that really sets the stage for how Erin has lived for life since the trauma happened in her teen years. So did you know, it sounds like you kind of did, going into it that you specifically wanted to explore, like how small people can make themselves when they internalize someone else's guilt? yeah I think I wanted to explore the ways in which we can often you know withdraw from friends or from society in general in order to protect ourselves and the quote which you just read actually was an important one to me and I actually considered using a half-life as the title

of the book at one point because oh wow I think you know that's exactly what I mean does she she leads a half-life and she sacrifices so much of her life in order to to feel safe. And she talks about these internal set of rules that she has and she lives within the confines of them in order to, you know, keep her world small but risk averse. Yes. Yeah. That really describes it so well.

And then in her, kind of in like, she is always trying to avoid unsafe situations. And at one point she's reflecting and thinks there are no unsafe places, just unsafe people polluting the world around them. So do you think that distinction was kind of how like Aaron kept herself from not totally shutting down? So like maybe if I can predict unsafe people, I can still go places. Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, Erin feels connected to nature and mainly that's because it helps

her feel connected to her dad. But I think she's able to make that distinction in her own mind because you know there's the distinction between people who are able to cause her pain and places which can have the opposite you know they can help restore her calm and in the book she talks about feeling connected to the ocean and when things get really bad for her that's where she goes she goes to the ocean to clear her mind and i think that making that distinction has been necessary for her for her sanity and it's helped her in her adult life when people have continued to fail her She kind of continues to be like in the present really frustrated when people do ask her questions about her past.

And so she thinks, what is it about people needing to know where everyone has come from? Why can't people be satisfied with where we are? And she obviously would like really love that the present was the only thing affecting her life. But that hasn't been the case for her. So where you kind of try to depict like her own inner struggle with being able to be in the present? Yeah, I think a big part of why Erin keeps their distance from people

is because she knows that inevitably getting close to somebody comes with questions and opening up parts of herself which she just isn't willing to do and that's why she's in an unhappy marriage because they don't communicate well. It's the marriage of convenience and it allows her to keep those barriers in place.

And the internal struggle that Erin has is that she's like, lonely but the thing she craves is also the thing that she fears and you know that's connecting with people yeah it was pretty powerful near the end when she was realizing that as well how like she fell in love and like so many people got hurt because of it so she's just kind of like eternally scared of it yeah absolutely it's almost ironically Danny um the man she has the relationship but is the one who kind of teaches about the ripple effect. And explains, like, when an initial disturbance causes a series of other disturbances,

usually unintentional, but inevitable. Every action has a consequence. And so a large part of Aaron's story is definitely the grappling with the fact that she feels like she caused all of the terrible ripple effects from this relationship with him and everything happened after it. do you think his inability to take responsibility for his action since he was the adult in the situation is part of what like cons her to absorb all of the guilt for it yeah i think you know she she was she was failed by a lot of people and as a vulnerable 15 year old girl whose world was

turned upside down she yeah she absolutely absorbed the guilt and she carried that with her for so long that it just became part of her of who she was. Yeah. And, you know, the fact that other people in the community shunned her and turned against her dad as well, only exacerbated those feelings and made them feel more real. And, yeah, as the years passed and she adjusted her life to account for what had happened,

it only made it seem more necessary to continue doing so. By the end of the story, though, she really confidently ends up defending herself. And so she's thinking about it. She's like, for the first time, I realize I believe in what I'm saying. I believe in my innocence. In the face of being told I'm to blame, I realize the unfairness of it. I'm not blameless, but nor was it my fault.

So do you think she kind of like had to get to the point of defending someone or defending herself to someone else for her to finally kind of like defend herself against her self-hatred that she has for herself. Yeah, I think she had to let her guard down and I think it took having someone that she cared about, voicing those things that she'd always believed. And it made her question them and the unfairness of it all. And it was, you know, the first time in her adult life

that she'd been pushed that far and pushed to question those voices in her head. And in that moment she finds, finds this strength that I don't think she realized that she had. You know, and she becomes, like you say, she's very insistent that she finally believes in their innocence. And it's what hopefully, you know, the reader knows all along and wants her to have this moment of, you know, I am innocent. And she is, she is a victim. And I think it did take that moment for her to really realize that. you mentioned like the ocean is always where she went when she wanted to feel calm and she actually does return to her hometown and she returns to the ocean there as well and remembers how her dad told her no matter how many thousands of miles they travel they've always returned to the beach where they hatched and I love that metaphor as like at least the time interpreted it as an example of like reintegration for her

and being able to return to and accept all of the parts of herself. So did you know when you started writing the book that you wanted to use kind of like everything that happened in the present timeline to help her feel okay about the past? Yeah, I knew I wanted her to have an ending that, you know, felt like a beginning for her, a new beginning. And I think most importantly, I was mindful that I wanted to portray the, that strength can look different to everyone.

And for Erin, you know, she doesn't believe that she's strong. She hasn't got that belief in herself. She thinks she's weak and scarred by what's happened. But, you know, actually she has considerable resilience. And she's found a way to survive. And I wanted that resilience and everything she's had to endure to feel like it led her to a point where she can finally start again. And, you know, she can, she has that belief in herself now.

yeah I just thought like I loved the ending because sometimes endings can kind of be whatever but it felt like even though we don't technically know what's going to what's going to happen now for her yeah it was cool to see it like full circle that she was able to go back at least yeah and I think for me it always needed to be something that was um you know on her terms that she's done it and you know she has she has been given money she's been given the check And the amount of people that said to me, I wouldn't have torn the check up. I would have took the money. You know, that she wants to do that on her term.

She needs it to be something that she's doing on her own because she believes in herself. And yeah, for me, that she needed that moment to finally believe in herself and take, like, you know, she pulls over as she's driving back into her hometown. And, yeah, she, you know, tears up the check and she feels as though she's welcomed home by the ocean. And I think she needed that moment on herself to kind of breathe and, you know, realize this is, you know, this is my decision and I'm doing this on my terms now. Although, you know, she's been pushed to do it. She's still doing it on her own term. She's not using, you know, someone else's money or she's going back and it's all on her. Yeah.

It's kind of like that would be, it's like the main way you are going to feel empowered again is that like you had the agency to do it yourself. Absolutely. Yeah, and I wanted it to end on, you know, a moment where you could make up your own mind because I think sometimes they're the best endings to books where you're not delivered every single answer at the end of a book. You are left to think, you know, what happens with her and her dad and, you know, where she goes from there. Yeah, I agree.

There's like resolution for her. But then, yeah, we can kind of just like imagine what her. like you like after yeah yeah yeah definitely so what i've been asking everyone like the end um what book what other what book have you read recently that you have loved i've just finished um hostage by claire mcintosh really yeah really enjoyed that because it was something a bit different um yeah yeah i hadn't read anything um like that before I guess so so I enjoyed that and there's been a there's been a few that I've read recently that have probably been you know older books that I've found or

classics that I've read that I've really enjoyed that have obviously passed me by before I like him digging out some of some of the old ones as well or been rereading a few recently as well I reread um where the chord I'd sing I reread that because of the film coming out that's one of my favorites. It's so good. So beautiful. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that's definitely one of my all-time favorites. Yeah. Have you seen the movie yet? No. So if we read it because I was going to see it, have you seen it? Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. No. I'm going to.

I just, I have this thing with them, things being turned into movies when I've really loved the book, where I'm quite apprehensive about going. That's, I know. I'm a little bit nervous about it too. I'm like, I want it to be as good as the book. Yeah, I've heard really good things. From friends of mine, I've loved the book just as much. And they've said the movie was really good as well.

And yeah, really quite brilliant. So, yeah, fingers crossed. No, I'm going to go to school tonight. Where can people find you to follow you so they can kind of stay up to date with everything you're putting out? Just kind of put whatever. Yeah, so I'm on Twitter and Instagram. I don't know if their handles off the top of my head.

That's okay. Thank you. Yeah, so yeah, I do maybe more on Instagram. I think I'm on more. I love the whole bookstagram community, and that's where I get a lot of my recommendations from as well. Yeah, so, yeah, you can find me on there, yeah. And I have a new book coming out in October, so hopefully I can pop some stuff on about that.

That's exciting. That's awesome. Yeah. So yeah, I'll put all those links in the show notes so that everyone can find that. And thank you for being on the podcast. Well, thank you for having me. I've enjoyed it. Thank you.