What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
I never actually planned to write it. Fixed Point was supposed to be Rachel Quinn’s only book, but she stayed with me after I finished writing it. While each Rachel Quinn novel stands on its own, she’s the kind of investigator who can’t quite walk away when someone needs help. The idea for Not Who She Was started with a veterinary conference in Florida and the concept of a locked-room mystery. Many of the veterinary details came from stories shared with me by someone with firsthand experience in the field. Once I added Rachel to the mix, the story took on a high-concept thriller life of its own.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
If I had to pick theme songs, they would probably be “Where Is My Mind?” by Pixies and “And She Was” by Talking Heads. I don’t really want to necessarily assign them to specific characters because, honestly, by the end, they kind of fit everyone.
What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I love psychological thrillers, horror, and speculative fiction, especially stories that take one impossible idea and make it feel completely believable. So, for the most part, yes, these are also my favorite genres to write. Some of my favorite authors are Kurt Vonnegut, Shirley Jackson, Thomas Harris, and Richard Matheson. I’m also one of those people who watches a TV series and then goes looking for the books. I’ve done that with The Shining Girls, The 4400, FlashForward, Killing Eve, Justified, Dexter, True Blood, and many others that live somewhere between sci-fi, horror, and thriller. So, looking at that list, it’s probably no surprise my own books tend to blend psychological suspense with high-concept speculative twists.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
Right now, my TBR pile includes Bridge by Lauren Beukes, Famous by Blake Crouch, and Cari Mora by Thomas Harris. I also recently bought the entire Sookie Stackhouse series because I couldn’t remember if I’d actually finished all the books, so I’m planning to read them from beginning to end. And I just picked up Anne Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. I read The Witching Hour years ago but never continued, so I’m looking forward to finally reading the whole trilogy.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s a scene where several characters completely lose their composure, and everything just explodes. It was by far my favorite scene to write. Some of the dialogue was inspired by stories I’d heard from someone in the veterinary field, although I fictionalized it quite a bit. It was a lot of fun imagining what happens when a room full of stressed, sleep-deprived people stop being polite, stop filtering themselves, and just say exactly what they’re thinking as loudly as possible!
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
Not really. I don’t have a lucky mug, a favorite playlist, or a specific place or time where I have to write. My only habit is that I write for at least an hour every day. Some days that means a couple of thousand words, and other days it means wrestling with a single sentence. But it always gets done. I do have three cats, though, that I inherited from my dad. For cats, they’re surprisingly respectful of writing time and almost never interrupt.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
I don’t really have a motto, but I’ve always been partial to Kurt Vonnegut’s “So it goes.” Don’t panic when confronting the grim realities of life. Maybe you have more control than you think… or maybe you don’t.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
I’d love for readers to question their assumptions for a little while after they finish the book, still asking themselves what really happened and whether they’d have reached the same conclusions as Rachel. We all like to think we’d know what’s real if we were in Rachel Quinn’s shoes, but I’m not so sure.