I’m writing this at my desk in my office-slash-guestroom, so there is a bed to my right, which is very tempting when work is going badly. I’ve done a whole lot of other jobs, from waitressing to bookselling, and much as I loved them, my dream was always to be an author, and I was so glad when I was finally able to make that happen.

Right now, I’m a full time writer, and I feel very lucky to be able to type that. The truth is that barring a few obvious overlaps (Nora in In a Dark, Dark Wood is a writer, Isa in The Lying Game is a parent) the biggest autobiographical element of most of my books is that the main characters are generally intolerant of bad coffee.īut if that doesn’t bother you, let me fill in some of the gaps and tell you a little bit about where I am today, and how I got here. If I was faced with half the set backs my characters encounter, I’m pretty sure I’d pack up and go home. Of course they’re also brave, defiant, dogged and occasionally very selfless – much more so than me, actually. I’m often asked which of my characters most resembles me, and I’m never quite sure how to feel about this, since my main characters are usually complicated, conflicted, lonely, spiky and sometimes downright criminal. But possibly you’ve already read that paragraph on the back of one of my books, and you’ve come here, as per the last line, to “find out more”.Īt this point I should probably admit that by far the most interesting thing about me is my books, which are full of murder, family secrets, toxic friendships and things that go bump in the night, in contrast to my own very mundane, peaceful existence. If you’re writing a festival programme or presenting to your reading group, perhaps that’s all you need to know. Ruth lives near Brighton with her family. Her books have been optioned for both film and TV, and she is published in more than 40 languages. Her thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs Westaway, The Turn of the Key, One by One and The It Girl have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times. Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Here is the paragraph that my publishers put on the back cover of my books: So I guess if you’ve clicked on this page, you’re interested in finding out more about me.

Ruth ware the death of mrs westaway