Where did the idea for psychological thriller The Party come from?

​I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked this! So here goes…

My novel The Party opens at a Christmas Eve party. A group of old school friends get together every year at one of their houses to celebrate the festive season. 

Many still live in the same place as they grew up, but the protagonist (Ruth) has moved away and comes back to spend Christmas Eve with her childhood friends and Christmas Day with her parents, who still live in the same city. 

While at the party, Ruth holds a friend’s new baby, Dylan. She’s sat on a bar stool next to the kitchen island and perches the baby on her lap. Ruth has had a couple of drinks and is merry, but not completely drunk, and she takes one hand off Dylan to take a sip of her drink. Dylan squirms and the unthinkable happens – he tumbles over Ruth’s knee and lands on the floor. 

That entire scenario – apart from the falling bit – happened to me a few Christmases ago! I was holding my friend’s baby and she squirmed and jerked just as I was reaching for my drink. She lurched and thankfully, with my one hand still on her, I held her back from falling. Her mum dove forward, hands out, ready to catch her baby, but she didn’t fall.

However… This sparked an idea off in my mind! In a fictional scenario, what would’ve happened if the baby had fell. And if there were injuries on the baby that the fall couldn’t have caused. What terrible chain of events would it ignite?

And that was it – I plotted out the book, developed all the characters, thought of all the terrible things that could befall poor Ruth, and set about writing The Party.

Since it was published, I’ve had quite a few readers tell me that dropping a baby is one of their biggest nightmares and that they could really relate to what happened to Ruth. 

This is often how my book ideas start – with one key event that is the trigger for a bigger, more intricate plot. And then I like to ask myself What if…? And try to imagine all the possible things that could happen next. 

The Party is available as ebook, paperback, audiobook and is in Kindle Unlimited. Here’s the link to Amazon and here's the blurb:

This will be a party to remember. For all the wrong reasons. 

Ruth loves her life in London – she has a high-powered career and a handsome and successful fiancé.  This Christmas she’s bringing him back to her home town to meet her family and school friends, one of whom, Holly Murphy, has a new baby. 

But, as the Christmas Eve party is in full swing, the unthinkable happens – Ruth drops the baby, injuring the little boy.

Or did she? 

Ruth becomes convinced she didn’t cause the baby’s injuries, that they were inflicted before the party, that the Murphys are not the lovely family they appear to be.

Determined to discover what really happened to the child, Ruth digs for the truth. And won’t stop even when she’s shunned by her old friends, alienated from her fiancé, and sacked from her dream job. 

But are her suspicions justified? Or is she in the grip of a deadly obsession that threatens to utterly destroy her perfect life?  

About Nora

​​Hi, I’m Nora Valters, the author of five gripping, fast-paced, twisty, jaw-on-the-floor psychological thrillers.

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