Clara van Houten is an introvert at heart. She found her peace in a small coastal town close to the equator, where the days move more slowly and waves do not crash but soothe. There is nowhere she would rather be than at her desk, working through whatever story is currently keeping her up at night.

She writes psychological dramas and thrillers about the people we love and the parts of them we never quite see coming: the subtle warning signs, the things left unsaid, the moment devotion tips into fear. She is drawn to characters who mean well and still cause harm, and to the question of how much of that is choice, and how much is something they never had control over at all.

When she is not writing, she is usually on the beach, quiet with her dog (who has never once cared about her deadlines), watching the white sand arrange itself against the salt sea.