Sarah Pinborough is an English author and screenwriter of over 20 YA and adult works. She is known for her thriller,

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and cross-genre novels.

Biography

Pinborough was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1972. Her father was a diplomat, and as a child she moved between various countries, including Syria, India, the Sudan, and Russia. After ten years at boarding school in England, she tried several different jobs before becoming a secondary school teacher. She taught for six years before becoming a full-time writer. Her first publication was a horror story entitled ''Express Delivery''’ in 2001. She began writing novels, and six of these were published by Leisure Books. Moving away from horror, Pinborough then published the trilogy ''The Dog-Faced Gods'' (2010-12). As Sarah Silverwood she penned the ''Nowhere Chronicles'' young adult series. Pinbrough rose to prominence in 2017 with the cross-genre thriller '' Behind Her Eyes,'' which was adapted as a limited series for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2021.

Bibliography

Novels

Leisure Books

Her work has been published within the horror books section of Leisure Books. * ''The Hidden'' (2004, Leisure Books) — amnesia is the start of a new life with hidden horrors * ''The Reckoning'' (2005, Leisure Books) — horrors from teenage years come back to a group of adult friends * ''Breeding Ground'' (2006, Leisure Books) — end-of-the world novel where most of the population is wiped out by giant spiders born of human women * ''The Taken'' (2007, Leisure Books) — ghostly revenge novel * ''Tower Hill'' (2008, Leisure Books) — about a small town in America in supernatural peril of

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

proportions * ''Feeding Ground'' (2009, Leisure Books) — sequel to ''Breeding Ground''; Pinborough's original proposal for this sequel would have been called ''The Brethren'' but this was rejected by the publisher as being too much like

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

for their list. The book as written is intended to be like a "creature feature" movie."Q & A with Sarah Pinbourough," Black Static 16 April – May 2010, page 52

Torchwood

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British-American science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect i ...

is a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

series from the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

. These are TV tie-in novels and short stories in that

shared world A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where one or more writers (or other artists) independently contribute works that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, charact ...

. * ''Into the Silence (Torchwood)'' (2009,

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

) * The story ''Kaleidoscope'' in ''Consequences'' (Torchwood) (2009,

) * '' Torchwood: Long Time Dead'' (2011,

) Pinborough has also written short stories for the Torchwood Magazine. These are: * ''Happy New Year'' Issue 20 * ''Mend Me'' Issue 23

The Dog-Faced Gods series

Published as the ''Forgotten Gods Trilogy'' in the US by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...

. "''The 'Dog Faced Gods' series is set in an alternative world. The Britain of this world isn't a dystopia but it is merely a little crappier and harsher than ours.''" Jim Steel #''A Matter of Blood'' (2010, Gollancz Books) (2013

) #''The Shadow of the Soul'' (2011, Gollancz Books) (2013

) #''The Chosen Seed'' (2012, Gollancz Books) (2013

)

The Fairy Tale Series

Subversive retellings of fairy stories published by Gollancz Books. * ''Poison'' (April 2013 Gollancz Books) — a

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

story * ''Charm'' (July 2013 Gollancz Books) — a

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

story * ''Beauty'' (October 2013 Gollancz Books) — a

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

story

Other novels

* ''The Language of Dying'' (2009, PS Publishing) (2013, Jo Fletcher Books) — a dysfunctional family is revealed around the father's death-bed * ''Mayhem'' (2013, Jo Fletcher Books) — a supernatural murder mystery set in

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the List of largest cities throughout history, largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of Financial ...

and based around the events of the Thames Torso Murders. * ''Murder'' (2013, Jo Fletcher Books) — a sequel to ''Mayhem'' * '' The Death House'' (2015, Gollancz) — bleak lives of children with a 'Defective gene' LondonStone

* ''13 Minutes'' (2016, Flatiron Books) — 'young adult' thriller following a girl being rescued from an icy river * '' Behind Her Eyes'' (2017,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

) — an idyllic life suddenly changes and who can be trusted? *''Cross Her Heart'' (2018,

William Morrow & Co William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The c ...

) — psychological thriller about a liar and truth *''Dead To Her'' (2020,

) — crime thriller involving an outsider marrying into elite society *''Insomnia'' (2022,

) — psychological thriller about a successful lawyer approaching her 40th birthday

As Sarah Silverwood

Sarah Pinborough first published The Nowhere Chronicles, a YA urban fantasy trilogy set across multiple parallel world versions of London, under the pseudonym Sarah Silverwood. The series has since been reissued under the name Sarah Pinborough.

The Nowhere Chronicles

#''The Double-edged Sword'' (2010, Gollancz) #''The Traitor's Gate'' (2011, Gollancz) #''The London Stone'' (2012, Gollancz)

Short stories

* ''Waiting For October'' (2007, Dark Arts Books) – a book of the combined short stories of Sarah Pinborough, Adam Pepper, Jeff Strand and Jeffrey Thomas (writer) * ''Hellbound Hearts'' (2009,

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first Paperback#Mass market paperback, mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and ...

) edited by Paul Kane (writer) and Marie O'Regan – Pinborough contributed "''The Confessor's Tale''" * ''Zombie Apocalypse!'' edited by Stephen Jones (author) (2010,

Running Press Running Press is an American publishing company and member of the Perseus Books Group, a division of the Hachette Book Group. The publisher's offices are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with many of the corporate functions taking place in ...

) – Pinborough contributed "''Diary Entry #1''", "''Diary Entry #2''" and "''Diary Entry #3''" * ''The Compartments of Hell'' written with Paul Meloy in Black Static. A post apocalypse story where the only survivors are those who are high on opiates. * ''The Room Upstairs'' in ''House of Fear'', an anthology of

Haunted House A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...

stories edited by Jonathan Oliver (publishing), (2011

Solaris Books Solaris Books is an imprint which focuses on publishing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy novels and anthologies. The range includes titles by both established and new authors. The range is owned by Rebellion Developments and distribut ...

)

Adaptations

Several of her novels have been optioned or adapted for TV or film. This includes: *In 2012, it was announced that director

Peter Medak Péter Medák (born 23 December 1937) is a Hungarians in the United Kingdom, Hungarian-British film and television director. Early life Born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Med ...

had been attached to direct ''Cracked'', a screenplay based on Pinborough's first novel ''The Hidden'' but it has not been aired. *The ''Forgotten Gods/Dog-Faced Gods Trilogy'' was optioned for a television series in 2014 but has not been aired. *Her teenage thriller, ''13 Minutes'' was bought by

in 2016, with

Josh Schwartz Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series '' The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for dev ...

and Stephanie Savage writing the adaptation. *

developed a limited series based on Pinborough's

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

novel '' Behind Her Eyes''. The series premiered on 17 February 2021.

Screenwriting

Pinborough has written for the

and several other television companies. In 2012, Pinborough wrote ''Old School Ties'', the second episode of the ninth series of the BBC TV crime drama ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

''. On Dec 4, 2023, it was announced that Pinborough will adapt her ''Dog Faced Gods'' novels to television for Red Planet Pictures. In 2024, Paramount+ will release ''

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

'', starring Vicky McClure. Other projects in various stages of development include: * ''M'' (2013)

World Productions World Productions Limited is a British television production company, founded on 20 March 1990 by producer Tony Garnett, and owned by ITV plc following a takeover in 2017. History The company's first major series was the police drama '' Betwe ...

/ ITV Global Returnable Drama Series. *''Fallow Ground'' (2012)

Original 3-part drama. *''Red Summer'' (2012) ''Blind Monkey Pictures'' Feature screenplay. Under option.

Personal life

Pinborough was born in 1972 in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, UK. She is a patron of the Educational Wealth Fund.

References

External links

* *
Story Behind The Language of Dying – Essay by Sarah Pinborough

Story Behind Murder – Essay by Sarah Pinborough

Interview at Gothic Imagination
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinborough, Sarah 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British women writers English horror writers English television writers English screenwriters People from Milton Keynes 1972 births Living people English women novelists English women television writers Writers from Buckinghamshire