She wrote her first story when she was about 6 years old. Nowadays she does nothing else and works as a thriller writer Linda Jansma (1967) steadily working on an extensive oeuvre. In her latest thriller Undercurrent, water plays a major role.
You write thrillers at a steady pace. What fascinates you about this genre? And what keeps you glued to it?
“I really enjoy creating a puzzle – bringing out a lot of separate facts that all come together in the end. This may also be because the first books I read independently when I was about 4 were the books by De Vijf. Thrillers for children, so to speak. And I also like puzzles, both jigsaw puzzles and crosswords and cryptograms.”
Your thrillers are psychological and often have a social theme. Where do you get the inspiration for your books every time? From the newspaper?
“That could come from anywhere. Indeed from the newspaper, a headline or an article. Sometimes a scene on television, or a person in the supermarket. It is often a place that evokes a certain emotion. As before Undertow – for years I drove past a sailing school and saw the water and the boats, the lessons that were given. Then I knew that one day I wanted to write a book set at a sailing school.”
Why do you think readers characterize your thrillers as lifelike?
“I often hear that my stories are written quite cinematically, as if the reader is there personally. I think that gives it that lifelike quality.”
Your latest thriller Undertow is about Hester. Her daughter Insa has been murdered, she has difficulty crawling out of the valley. Then two years later another girl is murdered. What does that do to her?
“Hester is thrown back into the past; she relives just about everything surrounding Insa’s death. She is afraid that this whole situation will have negative consequences for the sailing school, which is just starting to flourish again. She tries to look at it soberly, but still suspects that Insa’s murderer is back, for whatever reason.”
Hester has a sailing school. The murdered girls are found in the reedbed in the water. Water plays a major role in this Undertow. Do you have a thing for water?
“I’m a nature person anyway. I love forests, heaths, hills, mountains and everything that lives in them. Water has a special place. At an early age I was in the sea scouts – the water scouts, so to speak – and later as a teenager my parents had a boat on which we went away a lot. I love the calming effect of water.”
You make a lot of use of flashbacks, memories of Hester. What function do they have in the story?
“The flashbacks show how Hester saw her daughter, the relationship Insa had with the rest of the family and with those around her. This gives the reader insight into the mutual relationships.”
The plot is surprising, as a reader you are constantly misled. Do you think this all out in advance or do you also let yourself be surprised?
“I am regularly surprised by my own characters. When I start a new story, I rarely know more than the title, the names of the main characters, and the setting. Of course I know what the story is about, but often the perpetrator is not clear and all the events that lead to the denouement are not clear even to me – all that only emerges during the writing.”
How do you build a strong attention span? Do you have a proven method?
“To be honest, I never pay attention to that. I write my story and in the end everything just falls into place. The tension naturally arises from this.”
When did you discover you could write?
“Already when I was very young. I wrote my first ‘story’ when I was about 6 years old – it was based on something I had dreamed. My real full story dates back to 1976. I was 9 at the time. It took place in the Wild West.”
What does the writing process for a thriller look like for you? And do you plan your books?
“Being a full-time writer means I can write whenever I want. Often that is just every day. I used to sometimes go out in the evening, but I banned myself from that a few years ago. I had no free time at all. Nowadays it’s just during the day that I write. I don’t have a special process. I sit down at my laptop and write. I don’t make plans, I leave that to my publisher. I do apply the unwritten rule that I submit two books a year, although personal circumstances have slowed down in recent years.”
Is there anything you would still like to achieve as a writer?
“Not really. I won the Shadow Prize with my debut, was on the longlist for the Golden Strop and the Diamond Bullet, was nominated for various awards and won the prize for the Best Women’s Thriller. I am completely satisfied with that.”
About the book
Beneath the surface lie the greatest secrets. And the most dangerous… The violent death of her daughter Insa has almost completely destroyed Hester’s life, her marriage has failed and her sailing school has fallen into financial difficulties. When, after two years, all courses are finally fully booked, Timo, a good friend of Insa, returns for sailing lessons. And he is not alone, Timo’s father has also come along and it is clear that he has a crush on Hester.
Then a girl is murdered nearby and a second seriously injured, and Hester begins to suspect that Insa’s killer has returned. Or never left…
(Undercurrent, De Crime Compagnie, € 21.99)
About the writer
Linda Jansma (1967) writes psychological thrillers with a social theme. She has fifteen titles to her name, including the bestsellers Vulnerable and Broken. Her debut Vulnerable won the Shadow Prize, was longlisted for the Golden Strop and has been translated into English. Houvast and Verbroken were on the longlist of the Diamond Bullet and Shelter was named Best Women’s Thriller 2013. The film rights to Verbroken have been sold. Linda also wrote the three-part thriller series Circle of Evil. Her latest thriller is Onderstroom.
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