‘I could not decipher The Twyford Code until I had written it’

When writing a complex, twisting tale which takes the readers on a roller coaster ride with seemingly dead ends which suddenly reveal a new path and a whole set of new suspicions for the readers, all the author has to do is keep on top of the various strands of the story.

Janice Hallett had already produced one of the most clever stories of the year with her debut, The Appeal, and decided to turn the readers into a knot with her second offering, The Twyford Code.

Speaking to The Book Insider, Janice explains how she kept track with the story’s twist and turns and how she hadn’t deciphered the code herself until the moment she wrote it down as she drafted the novel.

Janice said: “I don’t make many notes and tend to delete or throw away Post-It notes as I solve the problem written on them. I do most of my plotting retrospectively – so I’ll write a first draft and then look at the story as a whole, going back to make adjustments at that stage.

“By then I know the story so well it’s not that difficult keeping it all in my head.”

Janice admitted that complex tales can be difficult to remember when promoting the published story and said that she has come unstuck before.

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She said: “A year later, when I’m asked to summarise the plot for a live radio interview, I can guarantee I won’t remember a thing. I’ve blanked on my main character’s name before now, very embarrassing.”

As she writes, Janice finds that the story starts to fit together nicely without having to get the crowbar out to make sure that the flow of the tale works.

Janice said: “Funnily enough a lot falls into place as I go. I didn’t decide what The Twyford Code actually was until I got to it in that first draft. I had no idea at all when I started.

“I’ll occasionally grind to a halt because I need to make a key plot decision – like who’s dead. In The Appeal we don’t find out until three quarters of the way through who actually died.

“I chose the name Edith Twyford because it had some phonetic and visual similarities to Enid Blyton. The two names are now wholly interchangeable in my head – although it’s not as if I can blame anyone else.”

After the success of The Appeal, there was a little pressure to repeat the feat with her second novel but Janice revealed that once she started writing, that pressure soon lifted.

She said: “When I wake up at 3am – [the pressure is] a lot. But as soon as I start writing I’m in my comfort zone and that stress falls away. It’s just me and the blank page… heaven!”

Janice Hallett released her third novel, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels in January 2023.