--> HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I know you can’t see me (luckily) but I am jumping up and down. One of my very favorite authors is visiting today—the brilliant Louise Candlish, whose amazing blockbuster OUR HOUSE made everyone terrified about what they’d find when they returned home.
In OUR HOUSE, our heroine comes home to find a new family moving in! She’s told—your house has been sold, didn’t you know that?
When I read that premise I thought: fabulous! Then I thought: no way she can pull that off.
But she did.
Now I am equally enthralled—and completely freaked out—by her newest and equally sinister thriller THOSE PEOPLE. Where –imagine this—the new neighbors seems to be, well, not quite the people you’d welcome to the neighborhood.
When I read that premise I thought: fabulous! Then I thought: no way she can pull that off.
But she did.
And here's Louise herself to tell us all about it!
HANK: The people who live next-door are always fascinating, but I love how you also reveal we don’t always know what’s going on under our own roof, either. It’s no surprise that shelter is so elemental, but what drew you to—what should we call it—real estate noir?
LOUISE CANDLISH: I love that label - here in the UK, my books have been called property porn lit! Well, we’ve been reading unsettling stories with domestic settings for centuries – as you say, it’s one of those elemental fears, to be under threat in the very place you are entitled to feel safe. What drew me particularly was the 21st-century power of property, especially in affluent cities and suburbs, where values have soared and the home has taken centre stage, earning more that the humans and dictating key life decisions. I also love neighbourhood stories because they’re all about status – all the hierarchies that exist in the working world also exist in our communities, they’re just differently coded.
HANK: Yes, neighborhood codes—driveways, and lawn decorations, and grass mowing and weeds. Lawn signs. Trash. Loud music. Ah. It can be so clear! Now, I know you’ve been asked this a million times, but your plotting is so intricate, and there is a surprise around every corner. Dare I ask whether you outline? Whether you know the ending?
LOUISE: The central idea comes first, then I plot the story, loosely at first, and, yes, always knowing the ending. Then I gradually add layers. I keep timelines and live lists of scenes. I have to say each book is a slightly different process for me because I like to try something new each time and a lot of it is instinct and experimentation. I am lucky to have excellent editors in the US and UK who help tighten the plotting with each draft. Those People got quite bloated and I was advised to lose 15,000 words in the middle, so inevitably that had an impact (I always say, if readers saw our books before editors got involved, it would make their hair curl!)
HANK: Lose 15,000 words in the middle! Ah! You are brave. But wow, whatever you did, all good. We promise we will never reveal any names, but just theoretically, did any of these experiences in THOSE PEOPLE come from real life? We just had a new neighbor move in, then to threaten to cut down much of our beloved 250-year-old sugar maple! It made us feel almost helpless.
LOUISE: That’s awful. I’m afraid cutting down trees without consultation is very common. Just a couple of days ago, someone else told me this happened to them and they were completely bereft. Often, it’s done when the disputing neighbour is away, which is very cowardly.
HANK: Exactly! For days I held my breath every time we turned on to our street, for fear he’d chopped it while we were gone. So far, so good .Anyway. Back to your book.
LOUISE: No single incident in the book is directly lifted from my experience, but I am confident this or something similar will have happened somewhere near all of us, including the deaths. To be honest, my research has shocked me. People will get violent over trivial infractions like parking and fence-building. When I considered ways in which my character might be murdered by a neighbour, I was spoiled for choice. (Here, we don’t have guns, so there’s that, at least!)
HANK: Hear, hear. As you were talking about this book before publication, did you hear other stories of possibly-terrifying neighbors? Because so much of the apprehension is of what someone might do, someone close by so you don’t really know, and whose actions you can only imagine.
LOUISE: Yes, I’ve heard many first-hand accounts of just this, the fear of the unknown, the low-level menace. And, of course, now we know how accessible and affordable spyware is – your neighbour could be watching or listening more closely than you think! To be honest, the party animals and power tool-wielding DIY fanatics are preferable because at least you know what you’re dealing with.
HANK: True! Is the neighborhood where this takes place a real neighborhood? Or based on one?
LOUISE: Lowland Gardens is not a real neighborhood, it’s a composite of several neighborhoods in South London, where I live. It’s not an established ‘posh’ area, but an up-and-coming one, with lots of aspirational families. The residents see themselves as early settlers, setting the tone, laying down the law. But just as they’ve landscaped their paradise and established its social hierarchy, along come intruders with no intention whatsoever of playing ball.
I didn't know the exact ending, as in the final scene, the last line, but I know who is doomed and who might have a chance at resuming normal life!
HANK: And along those same doomed/normal lines—do you ever have bad writing days? (Ha.) What do you say to yourself when that happens?
LOUISE: I think all writers have bad writing days, don’t they? There are more of those than good ones! I have a policy of planning work on a weekly basis, not daily, so if I’m having an off day or simply get distracted by other duties (or pleasures), I can catch up. The key is to never beat yourself up about it. The moment you panic, you risk seizing up.
HANK: Oh, that is such good advice! And it’s certainly working out for you—you and OUR HOUSE just won the British Book Award! (Was it a surprise?) Lee Child won an award as well, and he said: “Half my brain is saying how crazy it is to get a prize for having the best time ever.” Do you feel that way?
And they’re called—Nibbies?
LOUISE: They are – the award is a big golden nib! Though Lee Child and I both won, that’s probably where the parallel ends. He has been living the dream for a long time; he is one of our gods. I think if OUR HOUSE had been my first novel, I’d be thinking ‘Hey, this is pretty easy. Instant recognition.’ But it was my twelfth and so more a case of, ‘Finally!’ I’m a bit of a poster girl for perseverance. I really didn’t expect to win the Nibbie, it was a crazy, wonderful experience.
HANK: THOSE PEOPLE is just out now in the US—hurray! It’s chilling and clever and unsettling and gorgeously structured. What do you want people to know about it?
LOUISE: Thank you so much! I want people to know that when they feel murderous impulses towards a neighbor, they are not alone. These feelings are natural. But please, please don’t act on them.
HANK: More good advice! Thank you, Louise, and congratulations!
Reds and readers, I know we’ve talked about neighbors before (::cough:: tree man ::cough::). But Louise talked about neighborhood codes—have you ever dealt with those? Had someone tell you to take down your plastic flamingos? (Actually, someone did that around here a few years ago—insisted a neighbor take down the flamingos from her front yard. We are all so appalled we all put them in our yards, too. There were hundreds of them. It was pretty hilarious.)
What are the codes in our neighborhood? Stoop sitting—yes or no? Lawn parties? Fireworks? Laundry on lines? Lawn signs?
And a copy of THOSE PEOPLE to one lucky commenter!
(US Only please! I know, it’s awful, but the international postage is more expensive than the book itself!)
***************************
Sunday Times bestselling author Louise Candlish was born in Hexham, Northumberland, and grew up in the Midlands town of Northampton. She studied English at University College London and worked as an illustrated books editor and copywriter before writing fiction. She is the author of twelve novels, including the thriller Our House, winner of the British Book Awards 2019 Crime & Thriller Book of the Year and a #1 bestseller in paperback, ebook and audiobook.
Those People will follow in hardback in June 2019.
Louise lives in Herne Hill in South London with her husband and teenage daughter. Besides books, the things she likes best are: coffee; TV; cats and dogs (equally); salted caramel; France (especially the Ile de Re); Italy (especially Sicily); tennis; Vanity Fair magazine; 'Book at Bedtime'; lasagne; heavy metal; 'The Archers'; driving towards the sea (but not into it); anything at the Royal Opera House; white wine; Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (or, failing that, a Starbar); using parentheses, semi-colons, and Oxford commas.
Find out more online at www.louisecandlish.com, and on Facebook at LouiseCandlishAuthor, and on Twitter at @louise_candlish.
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HANK: The people who live next-door are always fascinating, but I love how you also reveal we don’t always know what’s going on under our own roof, either. It’s no surprise that shelter is so elemental, but what drew you to—what should we call it—real estate noir?
LOUISE CANDLISH: I love that label - here in the UK, my books have been called property porn lit! Well, we’ve been reading unsettling stories with domestic settings for centuries – as you say, it’s one of those elemental fears, to be under threat in the very place you are entitled to feel safe. What drew me particularly was the 21st-century power of property, especially in affluent cities and suburbs, where values have soared and the home has taken centre stage, earning more that the humans and dictating key life decisions. I also love neighbourhood stories because they’re all about status – all the hierarchies that exist in the working world also exist in our communities, they’re just differently coded.
HANK: Yes, neighborhood codes—driveways, and lawn decorations, and grass mowing and weeds. Lawn signs. Trash. Loud music. Ah. It can be so clear! Now, I know you’ve been asked this a million times, but your plotting is so intricate, and there is a surprise around every corner. Dare I ask whether you outline? Whether you know the ending?
LOUISE: The central idea comes first, then I plot the story, loosely at first, and, yes, always knowing the ending. Then I gradually add layers. I keep timelines and live lists of scenes. I have to say each book is a slightly different process for me because I like to try something new each time and a lot of it is instinct and experimentation. I am lucky to have excellent editors in the US and UK who help tighten the plotting with each draft. Those People got quite bloated and I was advised to lose 15,000 words in the middle, so inevitably that had an impact (I always say, if readers saw our books before editors got involved, it would make their hair curl!)
LOUISE: That’s awful. I’m afraid cutting down trees without consultation is very common. Just a couple of days ago, someone else told me this happened to them and they were completely bereft. Often, it’s done when the disputing neighbour is away, which is very cowardly.
HANK: Exactly! For days I held my breath every time we turned on to our street, for fear he’d chopped it while we were gone. So far, so good .Anyway. Back to your book.
LOUISE: No single incident in the book is directly lifted from my experience, but I am confident this or something similar will have happened somewhere near all of us, including the deaths. To be honest, my research has shocked me. People will get violent over trivial infractions like parking and fence-building. When I considered ways in which my character might be murdered by a neighbour, I was spoiled for choice. (Here, we don’t have guns, so there’s that, at least!)
HANK: Hear, hear. As you were talking about this book before publication, did you hear other stories of possibly-terrifying neighbors? Because so much of the apprehension is of what someone might do, someone close by so you don’t really know, and whose actions you can only imagine.
LOUISE: Yes, I’ve heard many first-hand accounts of just this, the fear of the unknown, the low-level menace. And, of course, now we know how accessible and affordable spyware is – your neighbour could be watching or listening more closely than you think! To be honest, the party animals and power tool-wielding DIY fanatics are preferable because at least you know what you’re dealing with.
HANK: True! Is the neighborhood where this takes place a real neighborhood? Or based on one?
LOUISE: Lowland Gardens is not a real neighborhood, it’s a composite of several neighborhoods in South London, where I live. It’s not an established ‘posh’ area, but an up-and-coming one, with lots of aspirational families. The residents see themselves as early settlers, setting the tone, laying down the law. But just as they’ve landscaped their paradise and established its social hierarchy, along come intruders with no intention whatsoever of playing ball.
I didn't know the exact ending, as in the final scene, the last line, but I know who is doomed and who might have a chance at resuming normal life!
HANK: And along those same doomed/normal lines—do you ever have bad writing days? (Ha.) What do you say to yourself when that happens?
LOUISE: I think all writers have bad writing days, don’t they? There are more of those than good ones! I have a policy of planning work on a weekly basis, not daily, so if I’m having an off day or simply get distracted by other duties (or pleasures), I can catch up. The key is to never beat yourself up about it. The moment you panic, you risk seizing up.
HANK: Oh, that is such good advice! And it’s certainly working out for you—you and OUR HOUSE just won the British Book Award! (Was it a surprise?) Lee Child won an award as well, and he said: “Half my brain is saying how crazy it is to get a prize for having the best time ever.” Do you feel that way?
And they’re called—Nibbies?
HANK: THOSE PEOPLE is just out now in the US—hurray! It’s chilling and clever and unsettling and gorgeously structured. What do you want people to know about it?
LOUISE: Thank you so much! I want people to know that when they feel murderous impulses towards a neighbor, they are not alone. These feelings are natural. But please, please don’t act on them.
HANK: More good advice! Thank you, Louise, and congratulations!
Reds and readers, I know we’ve talked about neighbors before (::cough:: tree man ::cough::). But Louise talked about neighborhood codes—have you ever dealt with those? Had someone tell you to take down your plastic flamingos? (Actually, someone did that around here a few years ago—insisted a neighbor take down the flamingos from her front yard. We are all so appalled we all put them in our yards, too. There were hundreds of them. It was pretty hilarious.)
What are the codes in our neighborhood? Stoop sitting—yes or no? Lawn parties? Fireworks? Laundry on lines? Lawn signs?
And a copy of THOSE PEOPLE to one lucky commenter!
(US Only please! I know, it’s awful, but the international postage is more expensive than the book itself!)
***************************
Sunday Times bestselling author Louise Candlish was born in Hexham, Northumberland, and grew up in the Midlands town of Northampton. She studied English at University College London and worked as an illustrated books editor and copywriter before writing fiction. She is the author of twelve novels, including the thriller Our House, winner of the British Book Awards 2019 Crime & Thriller Book of the Year and a #1 bestseller in paperback, ebook and audiobook.
Those People will follow in hardback in June 2019.
Louise lives in Herne Hill in South London with her husband and teenage daughter. Besides books, the things she likes best are: coffee; TV; cats and dogs (equally); salted caramel; France (especially the Ile de Re); Italy (especially Sicily); tennis; Vanity Fair magazine; 'Book at Bedtime'; lasagne; heavy metal; 'The Archers'; driving towards the sea (but not into it); anything at the Royal Opera House; white wine; Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (or, failing that, a Starbar); using parentheses, semi-colons, and Oxford commas.
Find out more online at www.louisecandlish.com, and on Facebook at LouiseCandlishAuthor, and on Twitter at @louise_candlish.
Congratulations on your award, Louise . . . I enjoyed “Our House” and I’m looking forward to reading about the neighbors . . . .
ReplyDeleteWe’ve never had neighborhood codes although when we lived in Alabama we did have someone come over and try to tell us what we could and could not have in our carport. But there was no association, we’d not agreed to anything like that, and the builder told us to ignore the guy. So we did, and that was the end of that. Now we have trees all around us and no one comes around to tell us what we can or cannot plant in our yard, so there are daffodils and lilacs everywhere!
Oh my goodness, ‘Joan! What were the carport rules! Most interesting, what were you not allowed to have in your carport? And where their carport police? :-)
DeleteThe gentleman pretty much said we couldn’t have anything in the carport except the cars. [We had a shelf against the wall on which we’d stored some gardening tools, potting soil in a closed container, that sort of thing.]
DeleteI’m guessing our idea of neat and his idea of neat were worlds apart. Nevertheless, the shelf and the gardening things stayed right where they were . . . . and the carport police never came to call. :)
Things seem to have finally calmed down with my horrific neighbors (after more than a decade of dealing with them). I hope it lasts. Nothing murderous, but complete and total disregard for those of us who have to live near them. And keep in mind I'm in a condo.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there was the different neighbor's ex who beat up one of my roommates. He was drunk and just went after him. No provocation. (And considering which roommate this was, I completely believe he was innocent in it all.) The guy was looking for his ex, who had moved out of the unit above us and left no forwarding address. Gee, I wonder why.
After more than a decade? Maybe you have some fodder for Louise’s next book! Let us know the scoop !
DeleteGood lord, Mark. And I hope you have smoother sailing with your fellow condo residents - why is it boards can work themselves into a frenzy when it comes to policing the potted plants people have outside their doors, but when ti comes to actual, unneighborly, inconsiderate conduct, they don't say a peep?
DeleteCongrats on the British Book Award! I live in an apartment so I'm used to certain rules. Some of my neighbors don't follow them, but it's nothing that seems to bother anyone. For example, the guy across the way has a big German Shepherd. He's definitely over the twenty-pound weight limit allowed but unless he starts attacking people or other pets I don't think anyone cares. Outdoor grills technically aren't allowed either, but nobody seems to mind.
ReplyDeleteIt’s difficult to hide the use of an outdoor grill, isn’t it? So everyone just ignores it?
DeleteYes, and people always try to push the limits, don’t they? Like the 10 items in the eight item grocery yes, and people always try to push the limits, don’t they? Like the 10 items in the eight item grocery line :-)
As far as I know, nobody says anything about the outdoor grills. They haven't gone away, at least.
Delete:-) It's another one of the grill rules--nobody talks about the grill rules. xx
DeleteCongratulations on the Nibbie! I can't wait to read Those People! For the last 15 years we've been living in largely rural areas so no neighborhood code folks breathing down our necks, but before that, when we lived in a small town near Miami - I caught one of my neighbors going through the bags of lawn debris I had put next to my garage. He said he was looking to be certain I hadn't discarded any plastic water bottles with the grass clippings. I said I was flabbergasted he would come into my yard, open, and inspect trash bags! I never caught him again, but I'm betting it wasn't the last time, and I wasn't the only neighbor to fall prey to his inspections.
ReplyDeleteThat is downright bizarre! What do you suppose the person was actually looking for? oh really, they were policing your lawn clippings? That is… Really kind of funny.
DeleteCongratulations! SO much potential to mine for scary stuff right at home (next door).
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky never to have lived in one of those neighborhoods. I hang my laundry on the line when I want to, and they have their barking dogs and fireworks (ugh). But my immediate neighbors all around are good folks and we watch out for and help each other. I'm grateful
What is the deal with fireworks? Every summer we hear them in nearby backyards … Why do people think that is fun? Plus, I’m so cranky, I always think how dangerous it is.
DeleteLouise, congratulations! (And I love using the Oxford comma, too!). I've read about people coming home to find other people living in their home and the nightmares they endure to get them out--how can it take more than a phone call to the police? Strange! I live in the country, so no neighborhood restrictions. And honestly, if I were to move, that's one of the things I'd check out--I don't want to live somewhere that other people are going to try and impose restrictions on me.
ReplyDeleteIt was just a story on TV about a person who got a ticket from the environmental police for having his shrubs be too far out over the sidewalk.
DeleteThere's really no neighborhood codes where I live. Most of us just go about our repetitively inane lives pretty much ignoring everyone else beyond the occasional "Hello" or similar acknowledgement. On top of which, I could care less what others would say. If any of THOSE PEOPLE tried to establish some sort of code for the neighborhood, they'd soon find out what I think of that idea.
ReplyDeleteThere are some parties on the street (never put on by me since I hate the idea of other people being in my house), usually associated with a graduation or a simple summer party. There aren't that many so it doesn't generally rise to the level of bothersome.
The most annoying thing is fireworks going off. Not being a particularly nice person at times, I get very irritated to have to listen to those things going off for a month straight because some local yokel hasn't grasped that they are illegal. I won't go into detail about what I wish would happen to them.
I do love neighborhood street parties, though! What a microcosm, and I always feel very sentimental about them. As long as there are no fireworks :-)
DeleteCongrats on the Nibbie! I love real estate noir. Because I spend an hour every day walking two standard poodles (trowel and bag in hand...and I take my trophy bag home for proper disposal), I'm up on all the neighborhood action: cars parked in driveways (for four years? with four flat tires?), the high school band trailer, the seventy inch flat screen tv left at the curb (the village does offer electronics recycling once a year). I routinely pick up beer cans from the lawn and endure the couple next door fighting in the driveway at 2am, so they won't wake up the kids. They wake us up instead. I ignore it all. Suburban living is grand.
ReplyDeleteOh, that’s a good element for a novel too, the fighting in the driveway! And perfect logic :-)
DeleteLouise, I really liked OUR HOUSE so I am definitely looking forward to reading THOSE PEOPLE!
ReplyDeleteI live way out in the country and not really in any neighborhood at all, but I can tell you that almost anything goes here. Right now with leaves on the trees my house is not only totally private but I can't see any other house either. So you can understand why I really don't care what goes on in the neighbor's yards. But I have heard stories about other places and I know that people can get worked up over the darnedest things.
So true! Someone puts up a silly fence, or ugly shrubs, or paints their house a weird color. It does affect everyone, so it’s a tough call.
DeleteLouise, your books sounds like my cup of tea! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOur neighborhood--Boston suburb--is pretty laid back. Kids play hockey in the street. The only rule I care about is: bring the party indoors at 10. (11 on a weekend)
For years we did have a drug dealer living at the corner with his elderly mother. The worst part was they never put out their trash so rats started to breed... that brought in the health inspector. And a few months later there was a fire and the dd and his mother moved into a trailer in the yard. Tra la. Eventually the house got foreclosed, sold, gutted, rehabbed, and flipped. Now we have new neighbors living there, a young couple with a baby. Nice change.
That must have been so difficult! And so sad ...
DeleteAnd I love the idea of a street so quiet that kids could play hockey. So nice and neighborhoody!
We have more than one basketsball hoop in our street and kids just play away. Very little traffic (but it's a block from downtown so I can walk everywhere). It's nice.
DeleteCongratulations on the Nibbie, Louise!
ReplyDeleteMy brother has always lived in fancy schmancy subdivisions, with most of the houses so identical that I would pull into the wrong driveway every time. That kind of adherence to a rigid "look" is not for me, nor for my husband. My mother, who lives with him, loves it, though, and she is practically a self-appointed arbiter of the rules. Which seem arbitrary to me, in the first place.
We just moved to a new house, on a property owned by our family since 1962. So we are both the "old" neighbors and the "new" ones. My husband has always done whatever he wanted on his own property, so it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction we get from our choices going forward. We know that at least three of our closest neighbors could care less, but one has anxiously come over to quiz us on our plans for the landscaping.
One thing we did not realize was how sound carries at the back of our house to the subdivision next to us. We can hear every word the people closest to us say while they're on their back porch. I hope they can't also hear us!
Oh, that is fascinating! They quizzed you about the landscaping? What a conversation THAT must have been! And yeah, there's always he figuring out of the eavesdropping potential...
DeleteWhere we live we have the freedom of a charming and mature neighborhood which is not bound by rules. I would not be able to live in an area which has rules and regulations. We have been here for 25 years and moving is not appealing.
ReplyDeleteLovely--only the rules of nature, right?
DeleteI'm so glad to meet you and your books through Jungle Red Writers and know I have some wonderful reading ahead! We've just recenty moved, and our neighbors and neighborhood are very friendly. We did live in a townhouse once where we had a nutty neighbor who shared a wall with us. She would bang on it if we did something as mild as put a book on our bookshelf and it touched her wall -- I don't know how she could even hear it (she must have had "spidey sense." It was a relief to move out of that place.
ReplyDeleteWhoa--that is weird. And..annoying. She heard the BOOK? Yeesh.
DeleteHi Louise and congrats on the Nibbie!! And, Hank, I loved the interview! We live in the historic section of our Texas town, so there are restrictions on what you can to existing properties, but otherwise just the usual code things like not letting the lawn get overgrown. But for ten years we lived in a golf course community with a home owners association and all kinds of restrictions. So not my cup of tea!!
ReplyDeleteI am off to check out your books!
Debs, you will LOVE them. xoxo
DeleteAn old school area which is not bound by rules nor silly covenants. I have seen these districts and the strict nature of the rules is bothersome. I love living in our neighborhood which has none of this.
ReplyDeleteLucky you! xoo
DeleteI’ve lived in my condo since the late eighties, and I have wonderful neighbors. When I first moved here, it wasn’t that way. Fortunately, the objectionable neighbors are long gone! We have Rules here, some of which I really don’t understand. The one that I think will need to change is that we MUST dispose of trash in plastic bags, not paper. I understand that this is probably so trash doesn’t leak out through the paper. However, with more and more municipalities outlawing plastic bags, I think this will eventually need to change. A year ago we were sent an updated copy of the By-Laws, and that one still stands.
ReplyDeleteFireworks are illegal here in our town but you would never know it if you spent an evening in the area! We’re a few blocks up from a couple of beach neighborhoods, and the summertime pastime seems to be shooting off fireworks on the beach! They also do it at New Year’s Eve. A friend who lives down there said that a couple of years ago newer people were shooting off guns at the stroke of midnight! Gah!
About twenty-five years ago I worked for a law firm that had clients who were almost hoodwinked into “buying” a house that turned out not to be owned by the person representing himself as owner. (For Sale By Owner.) He did succeed in “selling” two or three other houses this way. Long story short; he went to prison! I am now eager to read Our House!
DebRo
What a scam! We've done stories about hat, too.. I still get holiday cards from the woman whose money I got returned to her!
DeleteThis particular scammer targeted people born in other countries who were looking to buy their very first home in their new country. He counted on them not knowing how things are done here. Very sad. Fortunately, our clients got their money back.
DeleteDebRo
Terrible! But good for you!
Delete
ReplyDeleteHI Louise! Welcome to Jungle Reds!
Hi Hank! Congratulations on the Nibbles award. It's a honor!
This reminded me of a story I read in the newspaper when I was in high school. A family came home from vacation to discover that the wrecking ball had torn down their house! It was supposed to tear out another house on the street and they made a mistake!
Reading about the family discovering that a new family moved in made me think of the Twilight Zone!
Diana
OH NO!! That is astonishing. (I have to admit to a tiny bit of relief every time we turn the corner and see our house is still there.)
DeleteDiana - imagine the call to your homeowners insurance after that one!
DeleteHank, yes, it's a relief to see your house is still there. I can imagine houses in MA being more than 200 years old since MA was part of the Colonies.
DeleteJulia, I can imagine the call to the homeowners insurance! It was a story inside the newspaper!
INSIDE?? Ah. Wrong. Instant front page.
DeleteHank, agreed!
DeleteMy neighborhood is pretty relaxed, no codes or anything. A couple years ago, someone whose property borders the local pool got annoyed at all the cars and tried to "extend" their property line. Fortunately the pool had an assessor's sketch of the lines. Really, people. You bought a house next to a community pool. What did you expect?
ReplyDeleteWe're moving into firework season now. Normally I can just roll my eyes, but this year I'm keeping an eye on Koda. I have no idea how he'll react to fireworks (thunder doesn't bother him).
Liz, where we live, its gunshots (target practice or hunting in season, not violence!) When I was dog-sitting a friend's very urban/suburban hound, the poor thing would FREAK OUT when she heard a rifle shot. My Shih Tzu didn't even notice.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete
DeleteOh people are so funny..CARS? By the POOL? Oh no! who'd a thought!
Julia, we can hear gunshots from the range up at the country club on the next hill. Those don't seem to bother him. I have no idea if they use a "gun shot" to start a dog race. If so, maybe that's why?
DeleteHank, that was pretty much my thinking. :)
We hear gunshots at the farm all the time. Two different places nearby seem to have regular target practice, and of course there are several hunting seasons around the year.
DeleteCongratulations on the award. This book sounds fascinating and struck a chord with me, as I have lately been clipping articles about real estate disputes. Except for love/family, what could be more fraught than the place where "home is castle" meets "money is involved"? Plus, we live just outside the border of a historic district. IN the district, very strict rules about exteriors.And some bizarre buildings were grandfathered. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteTriss, we live in an historic district, which in my experience, just make people more sneaky. One neighbor who moved from Massachusetts (and went back there after two Maine country winters) took a chainsaw to the connector between his 200 year old house and barn! It was gone before anyone could say anything about it. A loss to the historic integrity, and also - why? Why would you not want to walk through to your barn without betting wet or snowed upon?
DeleteTriss--I can see your mind at work! And Julia--did you ever discover his motives? Weird.
DeleteLike Hank, I am a huge fan of Louise Candlish. I've already included THOSE PEOPLE on the Monday BOLO report, but my review of the book will be up on a day or so as well. It's totally spoiler-free, but I can tell you for sure that this is one WILD and ultimately SCARY ride. Such a great book!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it SO scary? Truly haunting. Cannot wait to hear what you think! xoxo
DeleteCongratulations on the Nibbie, Louise! That's fabulous. I have a husband who is a watcher. He knows everyone on our street and monitors behavior - it's hilarious. Our neighbors tease him mercilessly, but he's the first one we turn to when something shady goes down in the 'hood. I can't wait to pick up THOSE PEOPLE to share with him as he is a big lover of suspense and neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteOh, Jenn, he will love it! (and you, too!)
DeleteCongrats on the award. And this books sounds fantastic and scary. You may know your neighbors when you all move in at the same time but once the replacement families start moving in . . . . We don't have any neighborhood codes, made very sure there weren't any of those before moving in, so only the city noise ordnances and the like. But we do have the next door neighbor who has appointed himself Watcher of All That Happens.
ReplyDeleteThe Watcher. Whoa. Does he know Jenn's husband? :-)
DeleteThat’s the absolute worst house nightmare I have ever heard, except that it was reality!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
This was a response to Diana. I have to fight with blogger every single day lately in order to post anything. This one seemed to go well, until I noticed that it didn’t post with Diana’s comment. Unless it DID, everywhere except on my device!!
DeleteDebRo
DebRo--you are SO TOUGH! xoxooo And we are grateful.
DeleteOh, I have been looking forward to Those People coming out. Happy Publication Day, Louise, and congratulations on the Nibbie award! I am late to the party on reading your books, but I do plan on correcting that.
ReplyDeleteWe have had the neighbors from hell some years ago, and it's good that I can control any murderous urges. He was horrible, lied and harassed us. We ended up in court, which wasn't a satisfactory resolution. Finally he and his strange wife moved. What a great day that was. The neighbors that replace him are lovely. Oh, and speaking of unbelievable house stories. I was just reading about the man that had a false deed made up for Halle Berry's house and was having the locks changed on it when he was interrupted by the house keeper. Apparently, this type of home invasion isn't unheard of. Halle was able to get the matter settled, but he had what looked like a legitimate deed to the house. Wow!
Yes, I saw that! Amazing. And is it true he had no idea it was her house? Not hat it matters, stealing a house is stealing a house....
DeleteAnd court, sigh. SO difficult, and so frustrating, and rarely is anyone happy. You must be so relieved that they moved!
The report I saw was that he didn't know it was Halle Berry's house, that he was just stealing the house. Stealing a house!
DeleteI once had a next door neighbor from Hell. She is on my list of people on which to base a future novel. I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading your books, Louise. But have just added them to my list! Thanks!! Janice
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to read YOUR book, Janice! xoo But sorry you had to go through that..what did she do?
DeleteWhen my kids were growing up we lived in the best circle. Every Halloween there was a circle parade complete with costumed kids/adults and noise makers. Then treats and then neighborhood trick and treating!! So many memories!!!
ReplyDeleteThat can be the most wonderful thing about neighborhoods! Lovely!
DeleteWe don't have any neighborhood rules at all, but we do have to follow county ordinances. We got reported once for having a car in our yard without tags - that violated the noise (yes noise) ordinance.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I lived as a renter in a Planned Community, in which everything had to be approved: screen doors, paint colors, how many plants could be on one's deck. It was interesting how easy it was to see which residents found the rules oppressive and which residents adored the rules. Later, I lived in a neighborhood in a beach town in which most of my neighbors were elderly. I didn't worry at all about crimes, major or petty, because the Eyes of the neighborhood were always on us, for our own good. Now I live in a very rural area, on a gravel road. No rules, no restrictions, and right around the 4th of July I wish we had someone enforcing the laws a bit more strictly so that the neighbors don't set the whole countryside on fire.
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