My forecast is that we clear our schedules and settle in for a good winter's read. But this is not Elizabeth's first much-lauded novel, and here she is to tell us what it's like to have a new book when you've taken a break from publishing. (Not that's she's counting...)
ELIZABETH LITTLE: Five years. Six months. Twenty-two days. That’s how long it’s been since I last published a new book.
By any non-George R.R. Martin publishing measure, that’s a pretty long time. And in crime fiction, it’s an eternity. So you’d better believe I’ve tossed and turned my way through more than a few sleepless nights as I get ready to launch my newest thriller out into the world. What if I’m out of practice? What if I’m out of touch? What if I’m not able to discuss my work in anything but the hypothetical?
What if I don’t know how to do this anymore?
It’s sort of like going back to the gym for the first time in forever (unless you count that time you tried barre but couldn’t even make it through the trial session, you just collapsed to the mat halfway through in a sweaty heap of lycra and shame). Except I’m not scared I’m out of shape. I’m scared I’m out of personality.
But then, the strangest thing: This week, as I’ve been gearing up for Tuesday’s release, I’ve realized that I’m not out of practice. I’m not out of touch. Sure I’m still awkward and anxious, but that’s just my default state. In all the ways that matter, it doesn’t even feel like I’ve been gone.
And I think that’s because even when I was between books, I never stopped being part of the book community. I kept up on industry developments and attended conferences whenever I could. I read widely and deeply, revisiting old favorites while also actively seeking out and supporting exciting new voices that expand our understanding of what crime fiction can be. And I volunteered, too, donating my time and energy to organizations like Mystery Writers of America and Pitch Wars, doing my best to become a better literary citizen.
But most important of all, I never stopped loving books—and I never stopped believing in them. In their ability to change a person’s day, a person’s perspective, a person’s world. So even though I may not remember how to pace my readings or target ads or even access my Facebook author page, I have no trouble speaking from the heart about everything books mean to me. Which means I’m confident I’ll be able to connect with readers—because I know they feel the same. Thank you so much for hosting me today!
Readers, what’s the last book you read that turned your day around—and what’s the last book that taught you something new?
Elizabeth Little is the Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of the Strand Critics Award–winning Dear Daughter and two works of nonfiction. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. In Pretty as a Picture, a "fun and fast-paced thriller loaded with cinematic flourishes" (Kirkus), a shy but gifted film editor travels to an isolated movie set only to wind up embroiled in a murder investigation. Available Tuesday, February 25 in print and audio from Viking Books.
DEBS: Here's more about PRETTY AS A PICTURE:
A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Book of 2020
An egomaniacal movie director, an isolated island, and a decades-old murder--the addictive new novel from the bestselling author of Dear Daughter
Marissa Dahl, a shy but successful film editor, travels to a small island off the coast of Delaware to work with the legendary--and legendarily demanding--director Tony Rees on a feature film with a familiar logline.
Some girl dies.
It's not much to go on, but the specifics don't concern Marissa. Whatever the script is, her job is the same. She'll spend her days in the editing room, doing what she does best: turning pictures into stories.
But she soon discovers that on this set, nothing is as it's supposed to be--or as it seems. There are rumors of accidents and indiscretions, of burgeoning scandals and perilous schemes. Half the crew has been fired. The other half wants to quit. Even the actors have figured out something is wrong. And no one seems to know what happened to the editor she was hired to replace.
Then she meets the intrepid and incorrigible teenage girls who are determined to solve the real-life murder that is the movie's central subject, and before long, Marissa is drawn into the investigation herself.
The only problem is, the killer may still be on the loose. And he might not be finished.
A wickedly funny exploration of our cultural addiction to tales of murder and mayhem and a thrilling, behind-the-scenes whodunit, Pretty as a Picture is a captivating page-turner from one of the most distinctive voices in crime fiction.
Congrats on the new thriller. Sounds intriguing. I hope you do indeed find that promoting it is like riding a bike, it comes back to you as you do it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Mark! (Although it's been so long since I've written a bicycle, who knows if I can do that either!)
DeleteCongratulations on your new book, Elizabeth . . . it was already on my want-to-read list and now that I’ve read this little synopsis, I’m even more anxious to read your story.
ReplyDeleteI hope I’ll always find something new when I read a book . . . but there’s lots of new in Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time.”
Thank you Joan—I hope you enjoy it! And A Brief History of Time—what an extraordinary book. I actually just bought the first of Hawking's kids books (George's Secret Key to the Universe) for my son!
DeleteCongratulations on hanging in there and getting a next book out! The premise sounds fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI formerly wrote user guides for Avid Technology, so I know a bit about film editing. Thelma Schoonmaker came in and talked about the business once. It was so cool to meet her. Have you worked as film editor, Elizabeth?
You met Thelma Schoonmaker???! That's incredibly cool. I definitely mention her name in this book. I'm not an editor, but I am married to a director—I definitely did a fair amount of research by shouting questions at him from my office!
DeleteWelcome to Jungle Red Liz! I'm struck by how the reviews describe your new thriller as funny, which is not how I think of dark books. Tell us about how you make those two work together?
ReplyDeleteHi Lucy—and thanks so much for having me! I definitely think of myself pretty explicitly as a comedy writer, which surprises a lot of people considering some of my subject matter. I think it's possible to be funny while also giving serious issues their due because humor is such an innate human defense mechanism. So I can have my characters respond to something awful in a pretty believably funny way without making light of the crime itself. It's certainly a very specific tone—Knives Out might be a good recent comp?—but it's what I love to do!
DeleteCongratulations on your new book! Almost every book I read teaches me something new, even if it's only a new word or phrase.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judi! And I love collecting new words from books—my husband, too. In the evenings, when we're reading, he'll always announce whenever he comes across a new word (and then we'll take a couple of minutes to be like "how hadn't we known that before!").
DeletePretty as a Picture sounds great. Like Lucy, I found the mentions of humor intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI recently read Sarah Addison Adler's The Peach Keepers and I can't stop thinking about it, so I guess it would qualify as having turned my day around. I was not familiar with this author before, but if you're a fan of Alice Hoffman (as I am) then I would highly recommend her. I'm eager to read another of her books to see if they are all this wonderful.
Susan, thanks for the recommendation. I'll be looking for this book--the title alone makes me want to know more.
DeleteOh, I love Alice Hoffman—I will definitely have to check this one out. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
DeleteLiz, let your insecurities come along for the ride--you've got this, clearly! Love everything about the premise of this book and will be seeking it out. I don't read many thrillers per se, but the repeated mentions of the humor in this book means it will be going on my TBR pile for sure.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your vote of confidence! I go back and forth on it—when I wrote this obviously I was feeling pretty positive. But later today I will almost certainly once again want to crawl into a bunch of blankets in a dark room and never come out. And yes, it is definitely not a super thrillery thriller! More of a squishy funny mystery with some action thrown in. I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteThis book sounds good— another one for my TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy—I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteCongratulations on your new release!
ReplyDeleteMartin Walker's Bruno books are like eating a good meal; in fact, food of the Dordogne is an important component of the books.
I've been struggling with deep POV. After I read Eleanor Oliphant, I finally understood how and when to add passages.
Thank you! And oh you raise a great point—books can be delicious, too. I just added Bruno, Chief of Police to my TBR pile.
DeleteYou had me at "wickedly funny"! Looking forward to reading PRETTY AS A PICTURE.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hallie! I hope it lives up to at least like 10% of that promise!
DeleteThis sounds fantastic! I am in the video edit booth almost every day, and I deathly understand how much difference even one frame a video can make— And how you can change a story in editing. So… What a fabulous metaphor for a book! Cannot wait to read this. Last book that turned my day around? Lori Rader Day’s THE LUCKY ONE— Because the final twist was something that I absolutely never thought about, and it made me really rethink how we rely on assumptions in our lives. I know that’s cryptic, but more I cannot say! Off to find your book now… congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Hank! And yes, it was such a fun job to get to play around with both practically and thematically. Plus I got to make fun of directors, which was maybe the real impetus for writing the book. (Also—I read THE LUCKY ONE last weekend, so I definitely know what you're talking about. What a stunner of a book!)
DeleteCannot wait to read this book, Liz, and congratulations! Love the whole premise but am especially intrigued by "wickedly funny." I read Heather Chavez's No Bad Deed earlier this week so am on a thriller roll.
ReplyDeleteAs for recent books that have made me see things differently, I finished Girl, Woman, Other, the Booker winner, which I absolutely loved. I'm still thinking about all the interconnected women and their lives. It's a profoundly feminist book, and a joyous one.
Thank you again so much for inviting me over! Also, even though my TBR pile is very nearly at the point where it's going to come to life and attack me in my sleep, I absolutely must make GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER a priority. I have only heard the most extraordinary things. I'm so happy it resonated with you!
DeleteLiz is on west coast time but will be dropping in to chat!
ReplyDeleteI would've been here earlier but I was comically unable to figure out how to post comments. Another thing I had to remember how to do, clearly!
DeleteCongratulations on what is sure to be a great comeback! The book sounds like fun. And the last time a book turned my life around? Oh, probably yesterday. I'm an escapist reader. I have a fairly stressful, extremely busy life, and I am an introvert, so any time I can open a book and escape into another world for a few minutes, or an hour, or a whole Saturday, is a win for me. Out here in reality I'm juggling so many balls I've lost count. But inside a book all I need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Thank you for creating a new escape hatch I can explore!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean—one of the things I love best about ebooks is I can sneak a minute or two on my phone whenever I need to duck out of the real world for a second. I have definitely been guilty on occasion of running the shower so my family leaves me alone ... and then sitting in the bathroom and reading instead. I hope you can carve out some quality introvert escapist time this weekend!
DeleteAs a once-upon-a-time actor, I love the line, "even the actors have figured out something is wrong." You know things are bad if the actors notice!
ReplyDeleteAs for gaps in publishing, mine will be six years and six months, so I have all the sympathy in the world, Liz. It's scary getting back into the saddle. The nice thing is, the crime fiction world is a warm and welcoming place, and readers always seem happy to see an author return.
I love so much that you picked up on that line! It still makes me giggle, to be honest. I poke quite a lot of fun at actors in this one—although to my surprise, one of my favorite characters ended up being one of the actors! He was only supposed to be in a scene or two, but then he just kept stealing them. That's one of my favorite things as an author—when my own creations surprise me.
DeleteIt's so scary, isn't it—especially when you see your colleagues keeping up their regular, incredible pace! But also ... speaking as someone who has been recommending IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER to anyone who will listen for years, I'm pretty sure everyone else is as excited for your next book as I am. I wish you all the best of luck!
Yasss. I'm so excited for this book. Dear Daughter was everything and although this is definitely a much different book and character, it shows Liz never missed a step.
ReplyDeleteEasier to never miss a step when you have the greatest writer friends to walk alongside......
DeleteShalom Reds and fans. Congratulations on the new book Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteThe book is called Seven Sisters and a Brother. The authors are black Swarthmore College alumni and were to participate in a panel discussion yesterday about the book and sign copies. The book tells the story of a sit-in demonstration and a standoff between the many of the few black students on campus and the administration of the college. The students had planned to occupy the administration building for one, perhaps two days. However, it was nine days before anyone blinked on the most important demand that the students were making.
I was a black student there 3 years after these events. I knew a bit of the legend but sit-ins seemed like a dime-a-dozen in those years and I was pretty self-absorbed in those days. In the almost fifty years since, I have visited the campus only 2 or perhaps 3 times. Knowing that I was planning to go yesterday, I should have bought the book earlier and read it, as preparation but no, I left it till the last minute to buy the e-book copy on Amazon and try to read as much as I could on the 2-plus-hour of the train ride there.
Swarthmore is a small northern liberal arts college started by Quakers in the midst of the Civil War. It has a reputation of being “woke”. I was more than a bit surprised to hear the details of the condescension and arrogance with which they treated the students. An attitude which sadly still in many ways remains the same today.
It helped that the sun was shining yesterday. It helps that even in winter the college has a beautiful campus. It helps that the president of the college now, is a young black woman who did take the opportunity to apologize on behalf of the school. It helps that I have pictures of my white mother participating in a sit-in at her college (CCNY) for similar reasons 20 years before the events at Swarthmore. I will finish the book and I will enjoy the riches of approaching seventy.
Thank you so much for sharing this, David. I'm thinking back on my own college days now, and how uncritically I accepted so much about the way things were. I remember that students occupied the president's offices while I was there, fighting for fair wages for campus staff—I would walk past them on my way to my philosophy seminar. Astonishing that I didn't stop to consider the irony. But I guess there's no quicker path to knowing nothing than assuming you know everything.
DeleteI think this post will be sticking with me today. Thank you.
Welcome back, Liz! PRETTY AS A PICTURE sounds perfect for me. My oldest is currently in film school, planning to go into the production side of the industry. I'll be sharing this with him!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenn! And best of luck to your son—there are times, I admit, when I find the movie business utterly infuriating, but one of the best things about living in LA is getting to be around so many other passionate movie lovers. I hope your son gets all of the good and none of the annoying!
DeleteLiz, your new book sounds like a great read. I enjoy so many different kinds of mystery/crime reading, from traditional to thriller to cozy to whatever tells a good story. Humor and wit in mystery/crime writing is always a good mix for me. Some of my favorite authors, books, and series employ it. Wendall Thomas, Rhys, Lucy, Kellye Garrett, and Catriona McPherson to name a few. So, I'm really looking forward to reading Pretty as a Picture. And, as far as getting back into the game of promoting your book, I think your passion about your writing and the mystery/crime genre will always carry you through successfully.
ReplyDeleteBooks that have turned my day around seem to happen all the time, since I'm usually reading an author or a book that I've been looking forward to. I will say that my recent read of Allen Eskens' Nothing More Dangerous was what I consider an important read, not just for me. It dealt with racism in Missouri in 1976, and it reminds us in its timeless application that we must always be aware that it still exists and we must continue to take a stand against it. It's one of those books that, as a former high school English teacher, I'd like to see become a combined read (or stand alone read) with To Kill a Mockingbird. I say a combined read because showing the racism of 1930 and then its existence in 1976, thirteen years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, would be a good comparison. Of course, I'd look for a book with a recent setting of time, too, to include in the unit of study. (Always a teacher.)