Other works that have had a strong influence include Thomas Harris’s “The Silence of the Lambs” and everything by Karin Slaughter. Her teacher was quite shocked to learn she was reading an adult novel but allowed her to continue reading it.

One of the most influential books she read during this time was “A Patch of Blue” that she once took to school as a thirteen-year-old. Once her mother was finished with her Mario Puzo, John Steinbeck or Stephen King, she would hand them down to her and so by age thirteen she was reading adult fiction and loved it. According to Willett, the biggest influence in her writing career was her mother who was a voracious reader that recounted the stories of the novels she read in such a manner that they would come alive. Having grown up in the isolated lands of Western Australia, writing was a form of escapism that she used to travel to worlds that she created. Writing is something Anna Willett always wanted to do and she started writing short stories as a child. When she is not reading or writing, she loves watching movies, walking the bush and dining out. She currently lives with her husband and children in Western Australia. Since the publication of her debut, Willet has proved prolific as by 2020 she had more than eight novels to her name including a novella.

Her debut novel was “Backwoods Ripper” that she first published in 2016. While she does have eclectic reading tastes, she is drawn to dark tales and thrillers when it comes to writing. After all the years spent in Western Australia, she now feels like she is almost a native and now finds the lands beautiful and wild and safe and dangerous all at the same time. Moreover, the lack of long-standing roots and extended family was also strange for the young Willett and hence she spent much of her early years watching films and reading which still does. Willett grew up in Western Australia, a very isolated place during the seventies and eighties. Her family moved to Western Australia when she was six years old and the move in many ways shaped her future career as an author and as a person. Anna Willett is a psychological thriller author born in the UK but who now lives in Australia.

Cruelty's Daughter by Anna Willett