Hi Lauren,
Thank you for joining us here at YALC. We would love you to introduce yourself?
Hi! My name’s Lauren Wilson, and I’m the author of The Goldens!
Can you give our readers an overview of your YA debut novel ‘The Goldens’
The Goldens is a sapphic thriller with dark academia vibes, which follows eighteen-year-old Chloe Hughes as she starts her first year at Dern University and becomes friends with Clara Holland – a famous influencer who hosts incredible parties at her family’s mansion. Their friendship gets intense pretty quickly, and Chloe even moves in with Clara. However, after Clara invites more of her devoted followers to live with them, things change – Clara starts behaving strangely, her parties get weirder, rumours begin to fly, and the media calls her following a cult. And when a girl goes missing, Chloe realises she needs to escape from Clara’s influence…or she may be next.
And, if you had to do it in just 5 words or less, what would they be?
An influencer starts a cult!
Who is your favourite character to write and why?
I actually loved writing Clara! She’s outwardly super cool, amazingly dressed, a total party girl – but at times she’s actually quite vulnerable, and she has a hidden vicious streak.
Your book has been described as ‘Dark Academia with Gossip Girl vibes’, did you watch gossip girl for inspiration?
Firstly, that’s such a major compliment! I actually hadn’t seen Gossip Girl when I wrote The Goldens, but I’d seen references around – I vaguely knew who Serena and Blair were! I suppose there are some similarities between Serena and Clara (they’re both blonde, gorgeous and popular) – but I’d definitely rather be friends with Serena.
Did you have to do much research before writing ‘The Goldens’
I did! I read a lot about cults and cult leaders, including the more famous ones from the eighties that people might recognise – e.g Charles Manson and the Manson family murders, Jim Jones and Jonestown. I also looked into what a ‘modern’ version of these cults might look like, particularly in the social media era.
I also scrolled through a lot of influencer profiles to try and get an idea of how they built their enormous followings, the kinds of things they post, the brands that they work with, and how they engage with their followers.
Basically, I wanted to identify some potential similarities between a charismatic cult leader and an influencer, and how Clara could escalate her everyday, influencer behaviour into something far more sinister.
What inspired you to write about the impact/ dark side of social media?
When I first signed up for Instagram when I was eighteen, the concept of influencers seemed to just be beginning. Now, they’re just a part of day-to-day life! They arguably hold significant power and influence, and some influencers even have audiences of millions of followers – but what do we really know about them? I find it really interesting that all we know about our favourite influencers is what they choose to show us, and thinking about this led me to imagine what it might be like if a major influencer’s glossy veneer cracked and their dark side was exposed.
Where do you write?
I wrote the entirety of The Goldens between my sofa and my local Tesco Café! However, we’ve recently moved from a flat to a house so now I have more options – the spare room, the dining table, and lovely local cafés. I still end up writing mostly on the sofa, though.
Are Chloe or Clara based on anyone you know?
Chloe is based a teensy bit on my eighteen-year-old self – she’s a northern, aspiring writer who really wants to fit in when she gets to university! But that’s pretty much where the similarities start and end. And Clara’s absolutely a figment of my imagination!
What made you want to get into writing? Was there a specific book you read which inspired you?
It sounds cheesy, but I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I used to devour books as a kid, and was always writing stories – to the point where my teacher used to call me Jacqueline (because my surname is Wilson!). I wasn’t sure I’d ever be an author, though, because I’d read how hard it could be to get published.
After I graduated from university with a degree in Journalism, I realised I wanted to take my writing more seriously and pursued an MA in Creative Writing. While I definitely don’t think you need any qualifications to be a writer, my MA really boosted my confidence and encouraged me to try to finish a novel. And here I am!
What is your favourite genre to read?
This is a tough one, because I love reading all sorts of books! Some of my all-time favourites are Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, The Girls by Emma Cline, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, and The Raven Cycle books by Maggie Stiefvater.
Have you read anything brilliant recently?
I really loved The Lamb by Lucy Rose (content warning for cannibalism), and I’m currently reading Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé which is fantastic!
Where can our readers find you on social media?
I’m on Instagram, X and TikTok as @laurenwauthor!
Finally can you give us your favourite quote from a novel (it can be yours!)?
I really enjoy this quote from Emily St John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility – it’s strangely comforting to me, especially when our world is as tumultuous as it is today.
‘I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now, after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world.’