Author News & Interviews

Interview: John Lutz, author of Pulse: A Frank Quinn Novel

Jul 12, 2012

PULSE, the newest installment in John Lutz's Frank Quinn series, follows the former NYPD homicide detective as he tries to track down an infamous serial killer (or perhaps a copycat killer) whose signature depravity begins to reappear all over New York City after 10 years of inactivity. In this interview, conducted by Bookreporter.com's Joe Hartlaub, Lutz discusses his inspiration for the murderer, why imaginary serial killers are more interesting than the real ones, and whether or not some serial killers are beyond the reach of the justice system.

Author Talk: Dan Stephenson, author of The Underwater Window

Jul 12, 2012

THE UNDERWATER WINDOW by Dan Stephenson follows two best friends --- and rivals --- as they compete for the same gold medal in the Olympics. Archie may be the world’s greatest swimmer, but Doyle is rapidly approaching the end of his career with unfulfilled dreams of glory, and decides to give it one last shot in the 400 meter freestyle, which Archie holds the record for. In this interview, Stephenson talks about how he found time to write this novel, the incomparable sense of mental balance brought on by swimming, and the similarities between lawyers and swimmers.

Author Talk: Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

Jul 6, 2012

People often ask me if I have a writing routine. The answer is: kind of.

Let me start with this caveat. I am not the world’s fastest writer. When I started GONE GIRL, I was not pregnant. Then I was. Then I had a son. Then the son became a toddler. As it turns out, 16-month-olds do not understand the phrase: “Mother is not to be disturbed while she channels her muse, my sweet.” I couldn’t write anywhere around the house anymore. I needed a lair.

Author Talk: Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

Jul 6, 2012

I was not a nice little girl. My favorite summertime hobby was stunning ants and feeding them to spiders. My preferred indoor diversion was a game called Mean Aunt Rosie, in which I pretended to be a witchy caregiver and my cousins tried to escape me. Our most basic prop was one of those pink, plastic toy phones most little girls owned in the ’80s. (Pretty girls love to talk on the phone!) Alas, it was always snatched from their fingers before they could call for help. (Mwahaha) In downtime, I also enjoyed watching soft-core porn on scrambled cable channels. (Boob, bottom, static, static, boob!) And if one of my dolls started getting an attitude, I’d cut off her hair.

Author Talk: Chris Cleave, author of Gold

Jul 5, 2012