Welcome to my FAQ. Feel free to send questions you’d like to see answered here.
THE BOOKS
Where did you get the idea for The Hunger?
The Hunger is something completely new for me: a joint project with Glasstown Entertainment. The premise–what if there was something hungry stalking the Donner Party–came from the relentlessly creative minds at Glasstown. It’s one of those things that, once you hear it, it seems both natural and inspired genius! It’s hard to believe someone didn’t think of it before.
I signed on to write for a number of reasons, but mostly it was for the opportunity to work closely with writers whose work I admire. Writing is something you mostly do by yourself, which makes it hard to improve. It’s easy to slide into bad habits. This project ended up being a bit more like writing for television, highly collaborative, which is not something you get writing novels. (I have worked collaboratively in non-fiction, though, so I had a some idea of what it would be like.) I joined the Hunger team (and I include my editor Sally Kim at Putnam on that team) in the hope that t he experience would make me a better writer, and I think it did.
What was the biggest surprise working on The Hunger?
Without a doubt, the biggest surprise was how topical it was. You’d think in 21st century America we’re about as far from mid-1800s pioneers, crossing a desolate plain in covered wagons, as you could possibly get. Wrong. Much of the writing was done during the 2016 US Presidential elections and it was uncanny to see how little things have changed: a country being pulled in many directions, religious divides, disputes with Mexico, a leader who is ill-suited for the job, refusal to listen to people who know better, with disastrous results.
29 years in Intelligence? Wow. Does that play into your novels at all? (From Reddit AMA)
You know, I didn’t think so, seeing as I write about magic and all, but an editor at my former publisher pointed out that my characters are all so devious and manipulative, and she wondered if that had something to do with my intel career. What an astute woman! I hadn’t realized it but she was absolutely correct. I’ve worked at a couple intel agencies and they each have their own culture but one—which shall go unnamed—has a culture of complete manipulation. You go around breathing this for eight, ten hours a day, five days a week, year after year… it seeps under your skin and you start to think this is human nature, that this is how people act. Kind of sad but the upside is that you learn to write kick-ass villains.
Would you be interested in making your books into a movie or TV series?
It looks like we may get the chance! We were beyond thrilled when Ridley Scott’s production company picked up the film rights to The Hunger. It happened right after the book was sold. I’m a realist, and the odds against the book making to the screen are pretty slim but it’s nice for it to at least be theoretically possible.
I’m still holding out hope that, one day, someone will pick up The Taker. It took 15 years for George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones books to be made into the HBO series), so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. At least, that’s what I want to believe.
MY WRITING PROCESS
How do you go about the creative process, as in, what steps do you take to take an idea, and make a novel out of it. And how long does it usually take for you? (Reddit AMA)
That’s a great question. One of the hardest things for me to figure out, still being kind of new to thinking about writing as a business, is which ideas are worth investing a year or two to write and which don’t have the emotional or intellectual heft to be viable. Add to that the fact that projects change once they get beyond a certain stage: your editor and/or agent will make suggestions (it’s like a renovation project; you start to remodel the kitchen and suddenly you think, let’s move this weight-bearing wall! It’ll open the whole space up! and before you know it, it’s twice as expensive and difficult as you originally envisioned.)
My first book took ten years to write. I was seized with the idea and the characters, and despite putting it aside many times to work on other projects, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and hence, couldn’t stop working on it. In some ways, that kind of crazy commitment makes it easy. What I’m finding is after you sign the contracts, it becomes less about relying on emotional energy to carry out a project than it does determination and treating it like a job. There will always be emotional ups and downs but if you rely on that to get a book written, you’re toast (I think).
Could you please describe your outlining process? (Reddit AMA)
When I started out, I fancied myself a literary author. I was enrolled in a great writing program and they definitely encouraged more ‘organic’ writing, not so much emphasis on knowing where the story was going but letting it grow as natural consequences to the characters’ actions.
Then I got it into my head to try to write more plot-driven fiction. This was before The Taker was anywhere near done and agents were interested in whether I could write a spy novel. I thought I’d give it a try. You cannot write that stuff without outlining, not unless you like wasting your time and running into dead ends. So I tried outlining, but I can’t say I’m very good at it (for fiction. If I say so myself, I’m good at structure for non-fiction, probably because I’ve written a bajillion intel reports.)
Now I’m more of a hybrid between the two. I like to let the story lead me and surprise me, but I try to have a rough idea of where the story is going. Between you and me, I’m probably still a bit undisciplined when it comes to fiction. Which makes me kind of nervous.
How long did you write before you got published? Like, how many years and how many projects did you go through? (Reddit AMA)
I had a checked writing past. I was a journalist & wrote short stories but quit writing for a long stretch because being in intel, they didn’t like you writing in “the outside world”, getting your name around. I came back to writing fiction in 2000 and worked on The Taker, along with other projects, for ten years before The Taker sold.
Like everyone, I submitted my books to agents before they were ready. With The Taker, there were nibbles but I couldn’t get it to work—I couldn’t fix the problems, because it’s such a complex, unconventional book—until I had more experience as a writer. It took every day of those ten years to make it the book it is.
INSPIRATION
What is your favorite book/author? (Reddit AMA)
Hmm, I love a lot of books and authors, so it is hard to pick a favorite. No one can keep me turning the pages like Hungarian author Sandor Marai. He just knows how to unpack these complex, emotional dramas. A master at understanding human emotions. Also love David Mitchell, would read a grocery list if he wrote it.
Who were your first favorite authors, and which books do you remember falling in love with first?
I was a funny reader as a kid. I read adult books—Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, Alexander Dumas. And fairy tales. One of my older sisters had a huge book of fairy tales. It had amazing full-page illustrations. There were some unusual fairy tales, too, not the usual ones. Both my sisters and I read that book so much that by the time we were adults, it was falling apart. We all loved the book, but the older sister kept it for herself. I didn’t think I’d ever see it again until I found it in my in-laws’ basement. My husband—who wasn’t my husband yet—had never shown much interest in it when he was a boy, so it was in mint condition. I figured it was an omen that we were meant to be together. I joked that I married him to get my hands on that book.
THE BUSINESS OF WRITING
Now that have a few books published, is there anything that has sort of surprised you wasn’t expecting about being an author? (Good/Bad) (Reddit AMA)
The publishing experience has been one big surprise, to be honest. I thought I knew what I’d be getting into, but the reality has been something else. The big thing is: it’s a business. It’s not so much about great writing (and what is that, anyway? completely subjective) but about finding an audience for your work. And that is really, really hard. I have great respect for any author who has been able to build an audience. It is hard work, and about more than just writing the book.
Will you read my/my child’s short story/book?
Sorry, no. I appreciate that you took the time to read one of my books, I really do. However, I get a good number of requests like this and I have to turn them down or I’d never get a chance to get any writing done. Occasionally I will donate a critique or manuscript review for a charity and if you’re interested, I suggest that you follow my Facebook page as it’s where I would announce this kind of thing. Also, there are a lot of online writing communities where you can find other writers to critique your work. Goodreads, Scribd and Wattpad are good places to start. Good luck with your writing.
What’s your position on fan fiction?
I am absolutely thrilled to see that some folks are so immersed in world of The Hunger or The Taker that they want to continue the story. I remember a professor at Hopkins telling me that fiction writing is often mimetic in the beginning: most of us get started writing fiction by trying to replicate a story that we loved. We want to reproduce the thing that gave us so much pleasure. If one of my books inspires you to write, I see that as a great compliment. However, I’m not authorizing any fan fiction at this time; that is, you cannot publish fiction based on characters from my books for financial gain. This seems to be in line with the prevailing position of commercial publishing houses. Also, as much as I applaud your creativity and hope you find great personal satisfaction in your writing, please do not ask me to read your fan fiction as this could cause legal problems should an issue over a story line arise. I hope my readers will respect my position on this.