1) NEPAL CYCLE TRIP
One of the most rewarding and difficult things I’ve ever done was to cycle the 16-day (nine days on a bike) Annapurna Circuit in Nepal.
It was my second time in Nepal, one of my absolute favourite countries. The hardest day was when we went over the 5416-metre-high pass.
We started in darkness at 3am, in temperatures of -12C, with a five-hour climb (carrying our bikes and belongings) ahead of us.
The bike frames were too cold to touch, the high altitude made it hard to breathe, and the only light came from our head torches.
In the thick blackness, the steep ground below our feet and the weight in our lungs were the only indicators that we were ascending.
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A low point came after three hours, the cold spreading through my body like venom, when the sun rose on the other side of the pass, leaving us in the shade, and I spotted a dead horse.
I stopped, my throat clogged with tears, and my boyfriend hugged me and said, “Just walk towards the sun”. So, I did.
And, two hours later, when we reached the summit – blue skies, hundreds of colourful prayer flags, and not a breath of wind – my heart burst with happiness. The 1400m descent on glorious uninterrupted single track that day remains some of the best hours of my life.
2) TRAVEL
For as long as I can remember, I have yearned to travel. At a young age, rather than a bedroom postered with Disney Princesses, my room was decorated to look like Africa. As soon as I could, at age 17, I left home and went to volunteer in East Africa.
I will never forget waking one night, in my mud house, with no windows or electricity, to the feeling of a sharp needling all over my scalp, like someone was tweezing the hairs from my head.
My friend let out a scream too, and we fumbled to light candles. When we looked around, the floor and our beds were black with a carpet of safari ants. Ants, we knew, could eat a tethered cow alive within several hours.
One of the locals heard our yells and came running. He then proceeded to splash petrol all over the house to kill the ants while we were still holding our candles. How the whole place didn’t go up in flames, I will never know.
3) WRITING
When it comes to writing, I am more of a panster than a planner. I don’t have a detailed plan or a wall covered with Post-it notes. I like to start with a blank page and a character, and see where they take me. I also like the idea that, if I don’t know where the story is going, or how a scene will end, then hopefully the reader will be in the dark too.
I treat writing a novel like climbing a staircase that’s too steep to see what is at the top. I focus on writing/dragging myself up one stair at a time; the not-knowing and the intrigue about what might be on the last step being what makes it exciting.
4) A YOUNG ADVENTURE
When I was 15, I got on a train in Stonehaven with two of my girlfriends, and we went north, with no real plan (just like my writing!), and we got off at a station near Carbisdale Castle (which was also a youth hostel then).
We were told we were too young to stay in a youth hostel without an adult (ironic given the name!). But they could hardly kick three minors out in the middle of nowhere.
So, instead, they gave us a whole wing of the castle to ourselves, which we snuck out of and spent the evening snooping in the attic, before getting caught and told off!
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The following day we decided, with almost no experience, to go kayaking. A man drove us out to a remote loch, Loch a’ Choire, then left us there with one kayak and a phone (“in case you girls drown, just gi’ us a call from the bottom”) and drove off. Oh, the wild good old days.
5) A BOOK DEAL
I had been chasing the dream of becoming a published author for about 10 years before I got a book deal. In that time, I wrote three manuscripts that never quite made it. Each failure was accompanied by tears and self-doubt, but I kept picking myself up and dusting myself off – because, in truth, not writing didn’t feel like an option.
Then, wonderfully, manuscript number four sold and is now up for two awards at Bloody Scotland and named a “best thriller of 2025” by the New York Times. I think it is important to highlight both the highs and the lows that come with being a writer because this industry can be hard sometimes and it can be lonely. So, if you would like an honest behind-the-scenes peek into the writing journey, you can find me on Instagram @zoerankinwrites
6) A SURPRISE WIN
In 2012, I surprised myself by winning a five-day mountain bike race across Nepal. Doing Trans Nepal was one of the most incredible experiences, and Nepal is undoubtedly one of the warmest and friendliest countries in the world.
I was there over the Christmas and New Year period, and I will never forget that New Year’s Eve, dancing on the tables in a full-to-bursting Nepalese pub and singing until my throat hurt.
7) BEING NUMBER ONE
My debut novel, The Vanishing Place, was first published in New Zealand, where it went straight to number one in the charts and stayed in the bestsellers list for five months!
I am still in disbelief. Readers and booksellers truly are the best of humans, and I am so grateful to each and every one.
8) SYRIA
Despite having no natural ability for learning languages, I studied Arabic at the University of St Andrews.
Largely, I did it so that I could spend half a year living in Syria and studying at the University of Damascus. And what an amazing half-year it was!
While I loved my time in Syria (the people, the food, the parties, the desert), I was there in 2009, and the building tension could be felt through the city, largely in the things that people weren’t saying. I joined a gym, and rule six on the gym card said: no talking about politics in the gym.
9) NATURE-CENTRIC THRILLERS
I write nature-centric thrillers where atmospheric setting and complex characters are just as important as a suspenseful plot.
With The Vanishing Place, I wanted to write a book that bridged the gap between crime thriller and literary fiction.
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I hope with The Vanishing Place that readers find a book that both scares them and makes them want to rip through the pages, but also demands reflective reading and makes them ask questions about the human condition.
I love reading thrillers, like Wild Dark Shore and The Great Alone, that are gripping and addictive while also being character-driven and focusing on deep introspective themes. So, this is the genre that I try to write.
10) BEING A SCOTTISH KIWI
I was born in Scotland, grew up there, and I miss it a lot. But years ago, my boyfriend (now husband) and I sold everything we owned and left Scotland with nothing but a rucksack and a bike each.
After six months of biking in various countries, we arrived in New Zealand. We were dirty, scrawny, broke, jobless, houseless and without a plan, excited to start from scratch.
At times, it was hard, and I questioned what on earth we were doing, but we have built a second home in this beautiful country and we recently became citizens. So, I am now proud to call myself a Scottish Kiwi.
The Vanishing Place by Zoë Rankin (Viper) is nominated for The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. The winner of both awards will be revealed at the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival in Stirling, September 18-20. Tickets at bloodyscotland.com.
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