In this part of my ‘behind the book’ blog series, I’m diving into Liar, the story of Maisie, a compulsive liar who traps herself in a web of deceit that ultimately leads to her downfall.
The book was released in 2025, but it’s one that’s stuck with me, and I wanted to share a little about how it came to be — what inspired it, what challenged me, and why Maisie’s voice stayed with me long after this book was published.
What’s the book about?
Liar follows Maisie, a young woman who has always craved attention — sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes for the wrong ones. After she exposes a cheating scandal that wasn’t hers to reveal, her relationship with her boyfriend, Caleb, falls apart. Desperate to win him back, she tells a small lie. A harmless one. But when that lie works, she tells another. And another.
Soon, the lies stack too high, and Maisie finds herself trapped in a story she can’t control. Someone is watching her. Someone knows what she’s done. And when the threats she invented start happening for real, no one believes her — not Caleb, not her family, not even her best friend.
With nowhere to turn, Maisie must uncover the truth before it’s too late. But the deeper she digs, the more she begins to wonder whether she was ever in control at all.
What inspired the book?
Most of us knew someone growing up who couldn’t resist telling a few harmless porkies. I had a friend whose dad was supposedly a roadie for the Beatles. And apparently she made out with someone from the boyband 5ive (if you’re British, you’ll know).
But I kept wondering: what if the lies didn’t stop in childhood? What if they grew with her? What if she thrived on them — needed them — until she no longer knew who she was without them?
Meet Maisie… lying comes so naturally to her that she doesn’t know truth from fiction. The lies just roll off her tongue as natural as breathing. I just found that absolutely fascinating.
Was it difficult to write?
Of course! If you’ve read the book, you’ll know the themes tackled are dark. Maisie is, quite frankly, a difficult character. The lies she told were horrific.
We live in a ‘me too’ world, and I fall into that horrible category, so revisiting these themes is never easy. But I refuse to shy away from themes that trigger my past feelings and experiences (that’s my choice, I fully support anyone who feels differently). And this is why Liar was written.
What does my writing process look like?
I’m a plotter, so I like to sit down and plan out my scenes. I spend a day doing this before I sit down and write.
Then, to my horror, I give up at 10,000 words and replan and rewrite. I do this for every book and it comes as a surprise every time. But deep down, I know this is just my process, it’s how I get to know my characters, the mood, the plot.
I write around my part time job and my kids and I make sure I write every single day. If I don’t, my anxiety spikes and I tend to catastrophise and tell myself my writing entire writing career is a failure. It isn’t, of course, but my mind is a fun place to be.
It takes me 8 weeks to plan and draft. Then when the manuscript is with my editor, I start the next book (remember that 10,000 waste of time? That happens now). So I essentially have a constant flow of books on the go. I couldn’t imagine taking time off, I base my whole life around writing and to take a break, I’d be left feeling completely lost.
Writing Liar pushed me in ways I didn’t expect — creatively, emotionally, and personally. It’s a story that challenged me, unsettled me, and ultimately reminded me why I write in the first place: to explore the messy, complicated corners of human behaviour. If Maisie’s journey intrigues you, or if you’re drawn to dark, twisty psychological fiction with flawed characters at its core, you can grab a copy of Liar from my website. Supporting authors through their own stores makes a huge difference, and I’m endlessly grateful to everyone who chooses to dive into my stories. Maisie’s world is waiting for you.
You can buy the paperback copy here or click here for the digital copy. German, Spanish, and French editions can be found on Amazon or click here for the french paperback.