Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: It’s a thrilling day today! We’ve got Cheryl Peña here to tell us about her three novels, The House of Wynne Lift, Descent of the Vile, and The Blood Hotel. Cheryl, can you tell us a bit about your creative works?

Cheryl: Most of my work is science fiction that deals with common themes of perception versus reality and issues related to starting over later in life.  As a writer who debuted at 50 years old, I feel like older protagonists are often left out of genre fiction.  They’re often side characters, but rarely the main character.  Therefore, most (but not all) of my protagonists are older, at least thirties, but often more.  I feel that people are never too old to contribute to society or make a difference.

Sabitha: I completely agree with that! Can you tell us what inspired you to write your most recent book?

Cheryl: The latest novel is The Blood Hotel, which is a sequel to my first novel, Descent of the Vile.  I got the idea for it when my friend, author Hermione Lee, suggested there could be more to the story, as I’d originally thought it would be a standalone novel.  But there was a lot of room to add to the narrative, and it came together very quickly.  I already had a title that sounded right, so I created the plot around the title.

Sabitha: Was there any music that inspired you while you were writing?

Cheryl: Definitely.  I usually write to classical music, so I played Ludovico Einaudi and Stephan Moccio a lot.  I also listened to Bryan Ferry and Franz Ferdinand when the mood was a little more up-tempo. 

Sabitha: Do you have a “fan-cast” – do you have actors you’d cast as your main characters?

Cheryl: Descent of the Vile was inspired after watching all three films in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy back-to-back and having a nightmare that night.  The dream became the opening sequence for the book, which featured Simon Pegg (naturally) as Jackson Riley, having a really bad day.  So, he’s the person I pictured as I wrote the books.

Sabitha:  Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Cheryl: I had to figure out how to relate to Jackson as the books were told from his point of view.  Although my first book, a suspense thriller novella called The House of Wynne Lift, featured an all-male cast, I wanted to portray Jackson as realistically as possible.  I did a lot of research writing the novella, but I did even more for the novels to understand the male psyche and how it differs from others.  I also took acting classes, which helped me learn to internalize the role I was writing so that I could imagine myself in that character’s place.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Cheryl: You can find me at my website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. My books are on Amazon—you can find The House of Wynne Lift, Descent of the Vile, and The Blood Hotel.