She once deleted a character she genuinely loved — a warm, likeable hippie who was lovely in every scene — because \"lovely\" was all he ever did. His lines worked better coming out of someone else's mouth, so out he went. It's the kind of ruthless edit that separates a hobbyist from someone with fifteen-plus years and dozens of books behind them, and it's exactly the mindset this week's guest brings to every draft.
Catherine Cavendish writes suspense fiction steeped in the supernatural, paranormal, and gothic — ghost stories that make you check the locks twice. Her new novel, Ghost of Chantelands, arrives via Flame Tree Press on 18th August 2026, joining a catalogue that includes Dark Observation, The Haunting of Henderson Close, and her Nemesis of the Gods trilogy through Crossroad Press. Her path started with typewriters, carbon paper, and parcels of manuscripts posted off to publishers decades ago — and she's still hitting a 2,000-word daily target on first drafts today.
We get into her no-outline \"pantser\" process (where the first draft runs to 70–80,000 words and functions as her actual outline), the real otters and a Country Life property listing that became the seed for Ghost of Chantelands, and why she believes a good ghost story needs the haunted place to function as a character in its own right. We also talk about her decades-long relationship with editor Don D'Auria, why she refuses to write happy endings, and her genuine, unfiltered love of Rosemary's Baby.
🎙️ What we get into:
Links & Resources:
Subscribe to The Writer's Chair
If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow writer.
📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@willcocksauthor
🎧 Listen on your favourite app: https://pod.link/1829723468
🖥️ Find out more: https://danielwillcocks.com/thewriterschair
📚 About Catherine Cavendish
Catherine Cavendish writes suspense fiction steeped in the supernatural, paranormal, and Gothic — the kind of ghost stories that make you check the locks twice.
Her new novel, Ghosts of Chanterlands, lands via Flame Tree Press 18 August 2026, joining a haunting catalogue that includes Dark Observation, The Haunting of Henderson Close, and her Nemesis of the Gods trilogy, published through Crossroad Press.
When she's not writing, Catherine wanders Neolithic stone circles and explores old haunted houses — research that clearly bleeds into her fiction. She lives with a long-suffering husband and a black cat who still expects to be worshipped.
","author_name":"Daniel Willcocks"}