Tell me about your new novel, This Is Why We Lied (HarperCollins).
It’s a locked-room mystery set in a secluded resort called McAlpine Lodge where Will and Sara are on their honeymoon. Then – murder.
It is partly inspired by the domestic abuse your grandmother suffered?
Like my grandmother, one of the main characters is being abused by her ex-husband, and nobody in her family is willing to step in and protect her, or even acknowledge that it’s happening.
You were born in 1971 and grew up in the era of the Atlanta Child Murderer, who killed 28 people from 1979 to 1981. Did that help make you a writer?
The experience gave me an interest in not only crime, but why people do bad things, and how those bad things can change your world.
Severe allergies kept you indoors as a child. Did that make you a reader?
Absolutely! My dad would drop me off at the library where I would spend hours enjoying both the books and the air conditioning.
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You’ve called your writing “socially conscious storytelling”. Could you expand?
I want to show how one act of violence can have a ripple effect that changes the lives of everyone the victim touches.
You’ve also called it “big commercial fiction”. What makes a story work for you?
I like putting together a puzzle, and making readers excited every time a piece snaps into place.
You founded the Save the Libraries non-profit to support libraries. Why?
Libraries are amazing. The fact that funding is being cut and branches are being shut down is shortsighted and cruel.
How do you deal with violence in your fiction?
I try to give the victims a voice because I know from my grandmother that our silence only ever helped her abuser.
What are the challenges and rewards of writing a series?
Reward: meeting up with old friends. Challenge: coming up with something new to say about them that I haven’t already said before.
How involved are you in the TV adaptations of your work?
The Will Trent writers have been so good about consulting me, plus Ramon Rodriguez, who plays Will, is very invested in getting the character right. I love the cast and the show.
Most of your work is set in your home state, Georgia. Describe it.
Atlanta is an enormously diverse city, and Georgia has a lot of small towns and beautiful mountains. It’s perfect for murder.
What did you make of the TV series Atlanta?
I think Donald Glover is a freaking genius. His writing whether for song or film is so clever.
What was the impetus for your stand-alone novels, include the Edgar-winning Cop Town?
Most stand-alone ideas have different stakes than a Will Trent novel.
I understand there is a sequel in the works?
I would love to take the characters into the 1980s, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
You write between September and February, two weeks every month, alone, in a cabin in the mountains?
I spend a long time planning the story in my head before I feel like it’s ready to be told, so by the time I sit down to write, the hard parts are mostly figured out already.
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You don’t believe in redrafting?
I believe every writer has their way of doing things and no way is wrong.
Which projects are you working on?
My next is a stand-alone I’m very excited about. Then I’ll do another Will Trent. I’ve also got more TV stuff I’m working on that I hope people love.
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
I spoke at Andalusia, Flannery O’Connor’s house. It was really amazing to see where she worked and lived.
What is the best writing advice you have heard?
Write the book you want to read.
Who do you admire the most?
My ninth-grade English teacher.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
Mandatory cupcakes, zero calories.
Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
What You Leave Behind by Wanda Morris; For All Mankind on Apple; Season 3 of Serial
Which public event affected you most?
Covid, but I don’t think I’m alone in that.
The most remarkable place you have visited?
Iceland. I went swimming in the Silfra, which was freezing but also one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.
Your most treasured possession?
My cat, Dexter (but let’s be honest, he owns me, not the other way around).
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
A first-edition copy of Wuthering Heights.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Flannery O’Connor, Mary Shelley, Emily Dickinson, Emily Brontë, and Dorothy Parker so we can make fun of everybody who’s not there.
The best and worst things about where you live?
The heat is the worst, the food is the best.
What is your favourite quotation?
“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have never forgotten this.” -Terry Pratchett
Who is your favourite fictional character?
It’s a three-way tie between Elizabeth Bennett, Jo March and Ellen Ripley.
A book to make me laugh?
Mister Sandman by Barbara Gowdy still cracks me up. She’s amazing.
A book that might move me to tears?
I recently read Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart and wow wow wow. So powerful.
