Lisa Unger's Blog, page 19
December 21, 2009
Holiday Greetings
As the year draws to a close, I hope that you are celebrating your
joys and successes surrounded by friends and family. It's a mad rush
during the holidays, but I always try to take a little time to reflect
on the year that has passed and the one that approaches. And I'd also
like to take a few moments to thank you for your faith and support
this year. It has been a joy to connect with you both in person and
online. Your kind messages and efforts in spreading the word about my
work have meant the world to me. Know that I read every email,
guestbook and wall post (even if I don't always have time to answer)
and that I'm deeply grateful for you and all you do.
As we enter 2010, I have a couple updates that I would like to share:
The new book, entitled FRAGILE, will release in August 2010. You can
take a look at the new cover, and even pre-order the book at
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/di...
I am excited about the new look for the cover and very eager to hear
your thoughts. I'll be blogging more about the book in the months to
come. But I will say this ... it's very loosely based on an event
from my own past and it's a book I have been trying to write in one
way or another for more than twenty years. So stay tuned. But in the
meantime, I hope you'll let me know what you think about the stunning
jacket.
I have written a piece for the NPR.org "Three Books..." series. And
I’m excited to announce that it will be posted at the beginning of the
new year. So, keep checking here
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st.... It's
probably something you wouldn't expect from me. But these books
changed my life and I have a feeling you might enjoy them, too.
Thanks again, my friend, for everything. Here's to you ... have a
happy, happy holiday and may the year ahead bring you every happiness
and success.
joys and successes surrounded by friends and family. It's a mad rush
during the holidays, but I always try to take a little time to reflect
on the year that has passed and the one that approaches. And I'd also
like to take a few moments to thank you for your faith and support
this year. It has been a joy to connect with you both in person and
online. Your kind messages and efforts in spreading the word about my
work have meant the world to me. Know that I read every email,
guestbook and wall post (even if I don't always have time to answer)
and that I'm deeply grateful for you and all you do.
As we enter 2010, I have a couple updates that I would like to share:
The new book, entitled FRAGILE, will release in August 2010. You can
take a look at the new cover, and even pre-order the book at
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/di...
I am excited about the new look for the cover and very eager to hear
your thoughts. I'll be blogging more about the book in the months to
come. But I will say this ... it's very loosely based on an event
from my own past and it's a book I have been trying to write in one
way or another for more than twenty years. So stay tuned. But in the
meantime, I hope you'll let me know what you think about the stunning
jacket.
I have written a piece for the NPR.org "Three Books..." series. And
I’m excited to announce that it will be posted at the beginning of the
new year. So, keep checking here
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st.... It's
probably something you wouldn't expect from me. But these books
changed my life and I have a feeling you might enjoy them, too.
Thanks again, my friend, for everything. Here's to you ... have a
happy, happy holiday and may the year ahead bring you every happiness
and success.
October 16, 2009
Prix Polar International 2009
Just discovered that Black Out (French version "Memoire Trouble") has been shortlisted for the French award, Le Prix Polar International. Previous winners include Elmore Leonard, Ian Rankin and Peter James.
July 3, 2009
Today Show
DIE FOR YOU was featured on the Today show this morning!
See a summary of the segment at Today online.
See a summary of the segment at Today online.
June 23, 2009
Family Affair
Today, I was featured in the New York Times "Frequent Flier" column. Naturally, it's exciting for a lot of reasons. But the thing about it that thrills me the most is that without Jeff and Ocean it wouldn't have happened. The three of us do most things together, go most places together. And while this is not always easy (sometimes messy, crazy-making, and chaotic), it's always funny, interesting, and most of all loving. This article really sums that up, made me think about those very first days on a book tour with my four-month-old, breast-feeding baby, husband and parents -- and how insane and wonderful it all was. It's still all that! When you check out the article, you'll also notice that the photo credit belongs to Jeff.
Read the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/bus...
Read the article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/bus...
June 19, 2009
Prague
My brilliant and wonderful publicist Sarah Brievogel asked me a series of questions about the trip to Prague that inspired DIE FOR YOU. She used this for the press kit when review copies went out. A few weeks ago, Oline Cogdill wrote a little bit about my trip to Prague after I had a chance to chat with her about it before a panel we were on together back in April. But I thought you might enjoy seeing this interview, which offers a broader picture of the experience. Enjoy!
----------------
While your novels are all different with a variety of protagonists, one of the central themes that runs throughout is the importance of place. Beautiful Lies and Sliver of Truth both took place in New York. Black Out focused on the seedier side of Florida. Your new novel, Die For You, takes place in New York and Prague. Can you tell us more about how you choose the location for your novels?
LU: Like so much about my process, it's more as though the place chooses me. I lived in New York City for 13 years before leaving for Florida. It was only after I'd been gone for a couple of years that I fell in love with it again. When I started writing BEAUTIFUL LIES, Manhattan was just very naturally Ridley's home. And that book turned into a sort of love letter to my time there, to all the places I knew well, to all my memories - good and bad -of living there.
When I wrote BLACK OUT, Florida had fully seduced me. After years of exploring the state -- from clubbing in Miami, to kayaking in the mangroves, from diving in the Keys to trekking though the Everglades -- I started to perceive this dark and wild heart that people rarely mention when they write about Florida. People seem to find the state kind of funny, the crime that goes on here is treated with a very light hand in most fiction novels. People see Florida as a kind of kitschy, vacation-y place - and of course it is that in some ways. But it has a feral center, a dark underbelly that really inspires and fascinates me.
DIE FOR YOU was inspired by the place I was in - that was a big difference for me. I spent time in Prague, planning to vacation with my family, be a tourist, and recuperate from writing BLACK OUT, which was such an intense writing experience for me. But the city just blew my mind with its surreal beauty and fascinating history. I just couldn't stop myself from writing.
You spent five weeks in Prague while writing this novel. How did the change in locale affect your writing/creative process?
LU: In the summer of 2007, my family and I conducted a home exchange with a Czech family. We stayed in a lovely apartment near Malá Strana, just a short walk from the Charles Bridge and Old Town Square. We had never done a home exchange before and I had never spent so much time in another country, so it was a totally new experience -- and not a completely comfortable one, at first.
We didn't speak the language - at all. And in spite of our efforts to learn, we really never did. Czech is a West Slavic tongue and I found it almost completely inaccessible. But living there for five weeks - with a toddler - meant that we had to grocery shop and do our laundry and all the non-tourist type things one must do when living somewhere. We had to learn to get around.
We arrived in Prague with a ton of laundry, since we'd been to London and New York prior to arriving in the Czech Republic. I immediately assessed that the small washer and drier in the apartment were definitely not going to meet our needs. So I did what any child of the millennium would do. I Googled. I found the website for a laundry service, all text written in perfect English, to my excitement. So I called to arrange for service, but the people who answered spoke only a little English. In my hideous Czech, I tried to make myself understood. The man on the other end knew only one English sentence: "Text your address!" And he gave me a number, which I mercifully understood. So I texted him my address, and an hour later a gentleman showed up in a white unmarked van and left with all of our clothes. I watched him go, wondering if I'd ever see him again. But he returned the next day, with everything washed and neatly folded. Success!
So we found our comfort zone and a routine pretty quickly. We were always up early, so we often found ourselves wandering very quiet streets at sunrise, looking for an open cafe. We would all eat together, and then my husband and daughter took off for a bit, while I sat to write. It was effortless writing there. I was just soaking up all this energy from the unspeakable beauty all around me. The pages just flowed. I was away from the normal responsibilities of home, in some ways, so my days were just about my family, my writing and exploring a truly inspiring place.
If you had one day in Prague how would you spend it?
LU: Oh, I'm Prague-sick just thinking about it. I would rise early and walk the Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) as the sun rises. It's the only time of day that the bridge, which connects the Little Quarter to Old Town, won't be completely packed with tourists and vendors. I could literally feel the energy of centuries through the soles of my feet.
After the bridge, I would have breakfast at Bohemia Bagel (in Malá Strana at Lázeňská 19) just steps from the Charles Bridge. We stumbled upon this place because it was the only open restaurant at 7:30 AM, but wound up going back almost every day for the friendly service and yummy scrambled eggs. It was a little bit of home in a very foreign place.
After that I'd head to Old Town and wind through the random network of streets, viewing the historic buildings, visiting quaint shops. Is it time for lunch yet? Noon is a great time to stop in Old Town Square and have a bite at one of the many outdoor cafes or watch the Astronomical Clock in the Town Hall mark the hour with its march of apostles and other moving figures.
Of course, I'd have to visit Prague Castle, which is a city in and of itself, commanding every view in the city from high above the Vltava River. My favorite sights within its high walls are the stunning St. Vitus's Cathedral, a gothic wonder, and the picturesque Golden Lane lined with artisans' cottages.
For dinner, The Allegro restaurant at the Four Seasons is one of the best in Prague. It's a beautiful place with a wonderfully romantic atmosphere and magnificent views.
Or for a traditional Czech meal - which basically consists of a giant platter of roast meat and vegetables or goulash with dumplings, and a Pilsner Urquell (traditional Czech beer) bigger than your head - I'd visit Pivnice U Glaubicu. This fun and casual restaurant, located at Malostranské námestí 5/266 is built into a 700-year-old wine cellar. It can't be beat for atmosphere and hearty food.
We had the best mojitos we've ever had at La Bodeguita del Medio (in the Jewish Quarter at Kaprova 5). This eclectic, funky place serves a blend of creole and Cuban food, great steaks, classic cocktails and, of course, Cuban cigars into the wee hours. It was allegedly an Ernest Hemingway haunt.
I could go on for pages but suffice it to say, I'd go back in heartbeat, stay for another five weeks and never be bored!
Black Out was set in Florida, but not the sunny/touristy side of Florida most of us know and love. It was a darker, more dangerous part of the state. Did you find Prague had a similar darkness to it?
LU: Oh, Prague has a magnificent dark side. First of all, it's ancient. All those fairy tale rues and the towering Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge with all its moaning saints - the perfect fodder for a dark imagination.
But like Florida, the city was packed with tourists from all over the world. They wondered over those old cobblestones, eating ice cream cones and buying "Praha" teeshirts. It all seemed so sunny and peaceful, but just around the corner from the main drags there are tiny dark streets, and narrow staircases leading below the city, secret courtyards.
I felt like Prague was a city of secrets, so lovely to look at, but having borne witness to so much history. What was she hiding? I wondered. What stories could she tell? It was this fascination that inspired DIE FOR YOU.
Any destinations you haven't been that you're thinking of visiting for inspiration?
LU: Last summer we spent five weeks in Paris and it definitely ignited my imagination - how could it not? I just kept thinking about Ridley and all the trouble she could get herself into there!
This year we'll spend three weeks in Australia when I visit for the Brisbane & Melbourne Writers Festivals. I can only imagine what experiences I'll have Down Under and how I will be inspired. The places I have been and the things I have seen in my travels are truly extraordinary, have most certainly informed my fiction in all sorts of ways. But it's really the wide open experiencing of life that offers the most inspiration, no matter where you find yourself.
----------------
I hope you'll check out the new page on my website that features other writings, including essays both published and unpublished. In the months ahead, I'll be posting a short story that will appear in FLORIDA HEAT, an upcoming anthology edited by Michael Lister and published by Bleak House. So, stay tuned!
What I'm reading:
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
What I'm listening to:
Regina Spektor/ Far
Ocean's Favorite Book:
Moon Rabbit by Natalie Russell
----------------
While your novels are all different with a variety of protagonists, one of the central themes that runs throughout is the importance of place. Beautiful Lies and Sliver of Truth both took place in New York. Black Out focused on the seedier side of Florida. Your new novel, Die For You, takes place in New York and Prague. Can you tell us more about how you choose the location for your novels?
LU: Like so much about my process, it's more as though the place chooses me. I lived in New York City for 13 years before leaving for Florida. It was only after I'd been gone for a couple of years that I fell in love with it again. When I started writing BEAUTIFUL LIES, Manhattan was just very naturally Ridley's home. And that book turned into a sort of love letter to my time there, to all the places I knew well, to all my memories - good and bad -of living there.
When I wrote BLACK OUT, Florida had fully seduced me. After years of exploring the state -- from clubbing in Miami, to kayaking in the mangroves, from diving in the Keys to trekking though the Everglades -- I started to perceive this dark and wild heart that people rarely mention when they write about Florida. People seem to find the state kind of funny, the crime that goes on here is treated with a very light hand in most fiction novels. People see Florida as a kind of kitschy, vacation-y place - and of course it is that in some ways. But it has a feral center, a dark underbelly that really inspires and fascinates me.
DIE FOR YOU was inspired by the place I was in - that was a big difference for me. I spent time in Prague, planning to vacation with my family, be a tourist, and recuperate from writing BLACK OUT, which was such an intense writing experience for me. But the city just blew my mind with its surreal beauty and fascinating history. I just couldn't stop myself from writing.
You spent five weeks in Prague while writing this novel. How did the change in locale affect your writing/creative process?
LU: In the summer of 2007, my family and I conducted a home exchange with a Czech family. We stayed in a lovely apartment near Malá Strana, just a short walk from the Charles Bridge and Old Town Square. We had never done a home exchange before and I had never spent so much time in another country, so it was a totally new experience -- and not a completely comfortable one, at first.
We didn't speak the language - at all. And in spite of our efforts to learn, we really never did. Czech is a West Slavic tongue and I found it almost completely inaccessible. But living there for five weeks - with a toddler - meant that we had to grocery shop and do our laundry and all the non-tourist type things one must do when living somewhere. We had to learn to get around.
We arrived in Prague with a ton of laundry, since we'd been to London and New York prior to arriving in the Czech Republic. I immediately assessed that the small washer and drier in the apartment were definitely not going to meet our needs. So I did what any child of the millennium would do. I Googled. I found the website for a laundry service, all text written in perfect English, to my excitement. So I called to arrange for service, but the people who answered spoke only a little English. In my hideous Czech, I tried to make myself understood. The man on the other end knew only one English sentence: "Text your address!" And he gave me a number, which I mercifully understood. So I texted him my address, and an hour later a gentleman showed up in a white unmarked van and left with all of our clothes. I watched him go, wondering if I'd ever see him again. But he returned the next day, with everything washed and neatly folded. Success!
So we found our comfort zone and a routine pretty quickly. We were always up early, so we often found ourselves wandering very quiet streets at sunrise, looking for an open cafe. We would all eat together, and then my husband and daughter took off for a bit, while I sat to write. It was effortless writing there. I was just soaking up all this energy from the unspeakable beauty all around me. The pages just flowed. I was away from the normal responsibilities of home, in some ways, so my days were just about my family, my writing and exploring a truly inspiring place.
If you had one day in Prague how would you spend it?
LU: Oh, I'm Prague-sick just thinking about it. I would rise early and walk the Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) as the sun rises. It's the only time of day that the bridge, which connects the Little Quarter to Old Town, won't be completely packed with tourists and vendors. I could literally feel the energy of centuries through the soles of my feet.
After the bridge, I would have breakfast at Bohemia Bagel (in Malá Strana at Lázeňská 19) just steps from the Charles Bridge. We stumbled upon this place because it was the only open restaurant at 7:30 AM, but wound up going back almost every day for the friendly service and yummy scrambled eggs. It was a little bit of home in a very foreign place.
After that I'd head to Old Town and wind through the random network of streets, viewing the historic buildings, visiting quaint shops. Is it time for lunch yet? Noon is a great time to stop in Old Town Square and have a bite at one of the many outdoor cafes or watch the Astronomical Clock in the Town Hall mark the hour with its march of apostles and other moving figures.
Of course, I'd have to visit Prague Castle, which is a city in and of itself, commanding every view in the city from high above the Vltava River. My favorite sights within its high walls are the stunning St. Vitus's Cathedral, a gothic wonder, and the picturesque Golden Lane lined with artisans' cottages.
For dinner, The Allegro restaurant at the Four Seasons is one of the best in Prague. It's a beautiful place with a wonderfully romantic atmosphere and magnificent views.
Or for a traditional Czech meal - which basically consists of a giant platter of roast meat and vegetables or goulash with dumplings, and a Pilsner Urquell (traditional Czech beer) bigger than your head - I'd visit Pivnice U Glaubicu. This fun and casual restaurant, located at Malostranské námestí 5/266 is built into a 700-year-old wine cellar. It can't be beat for atmosphere and hearty food.
We had the best mojitos we've ever had at La Bodeguita del Medio (in the Jewish Quarter at Kaprova 5). This eclectic, funky place serves a blend of creole and Cuban food, great steaks, classic cocktails and, of course, Cuban cigars into the wee hours. It was allegedly an Ernest Hemingway haunt.
I could go on for pages but suffice it to say, I'd go back in heartbeat, stay for another five weeks and never be bored!
Black Out was set in Florida, but not the sunny/touristy side of Florida most of us know and love. It was a darker, more dangerous part of the state. Did you find Prague had a similar darkness to it?
LU: Oh, Prague has a magnificent dark side. First of all, it's ancient. All those fairy tale rues and the towering Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge with all its moaning saints - the perfect fodder for a dark imagination.
But like Florida, the city was packed with tourists from all over the world. They wondered over those old cobblestones, eating ice cream cones and buying "Praha" teeshirts. It all seemed so sunny and peaceful, but just around the corner from the main drags there are tiny dark streets, and narrow staircases leading below the city, secret courtyards.
I felt like Prague was a city of secrets, so lovely to look at, but having borne witness to so much history. What was she hiding? I wondered. What stories could she tell? It was this fascination that inspired DIE FOR YOU.
Any destinations you haven't been that you're thinking of visiting for inspiration?
LU: Last summer we spent five weeks in Paris and it definitely ignited my imagination - how could it not? I just kept thinking about Ridley and all the trouble she could get herself into there!
This year we'll spend three weeks in Australia when I visit for the Brisbane & Melbourne Writers Festivals. I can only imagine what experiences I'll have Down Under and how I will be inspired. The places I have been and the things I have seen in my travels are truly extraordinary, have most certainly informed my fiction in all sorts of ways. But it's really the wide open experiencing of life that offers the most inspiration, no matter where you find yourself.
----------------
I hope you'll check out the new page on my website that features other writings, including essays both published and unpublished. In the months ahead, I'll be posting a short story that will appear in FLORIDA HEAT, an upcoming anthology edited by Michael Lister and published by Bleak House. So, stay tuned!
What I'm reading:
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
What I'm listening to:
Regina Spektor/ Far
Ocean's Favorite Book:
Moon Rabbit by Natalie Russell
June 16, 2009
What's In A Name?
In DIE FOR YOU, I did something I've never done before. A few months before I started writing it, a librarian in Pittsburgh contacted me, asking if I would be willing to auction off a character name in my next novel. The proceeds would benefit The Friends of the Library, one of my favorite organizations. It seemed like a strange thing to do. But I knew my good friend Tess Gerritsen had done this before. And when librarians ask me to do something, I find I can't say no. So I agreed. Just before I started writing, the librarian got in touch to let me know that a woman named Linda Book won the auction. I sort of filed the name away in my subconscious and didn't really think about it again.
Oddly, the name wove itself into the manuscript and turned up as the married name of Isabel's sister. And, to be honest, I forgot while I was writing DIE FOR YOU that I hadn't made the name up myself. By the time the book was finished, I had forgotten about the auction altogether! Sometime in the revision process I remembered, and then frantically started searching though old emails for the contact information for this poor woman whose name I'd stolen for my book. I was also a little freaked out because I realized that Linda has some pretty racy scenes in the book and that her marriage was in terrible crisis. I wondered if Linda would be offended when she got to reading.
But then, finally, the library who had arranged the auction got in touch, and Linda and I connected. She was lovely and just thrilled to be a part of the book. She was so thrilled, in fact, that she drove from Pittsburgh to New York City to attend my event at The Mysterious Bookshop. It was great fun to meet her in person.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette thought this was an interesting enough concept that they ran a feature about Linda, who also happens to be a councilwoman.
What I'm reading:
The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
Ocean's favorite book:
Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (author) and Scott Magoon (illustrator)
Most recently viewed film:
Che: Part One
Starring Benecio Del Toro
Directed by Steven Soderberg
Oddly, the name wove itself into the manuscript and turned up as the married name of Isabel's sister. And, to be honest, I forgot while I was writing DIE FOR YOU that I hadn't made the name up myself. By the time the book was finished, I had forgotten about the auction altogether! Sometime in the revision process I remembered, and then frantically started searching though old emails for the contact information for this poor woman whose name I'd stolen for my book. I was also a little freaked out because I realized that Linda has some pretty racy scenes in the book and that her marriage was in terrible crisis. I wondered if Linda would be offended when she got to reading.
But then, finally, the library who had arranged the auction got in touch, and Linda and I connected. She was lovely and just thrilled to be a part of the book. She was so thrilled, in fact, that she drove from Pittsburgh to New York City to attend my event at The Mysterious Bookshop. It was great fun to meet her in person.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette thought this was an interesting enough concept that they ran a feature about Linda, who also happens to be a councilwoman.
What I'm reading:
The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
Ocean's favorite book:
Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (author) and Scott Magoon (illustrator)
Most recently viewed film:
Che: Part One
Starring Benecio Del Toro
Directed by Steven Soderberg
May 26, 2009
On The Road
It's with the usual mingling of excitement and dread that I prepare to head out on the road for DIE FOR YOU this coming weekend. I'm excited because the release of a new book is always wonderful, because I love hanging out with readers, booksellers, seeing the friends and family that turn that out for events. I dread it too because putting an author on the road is like throwing a cat into water. We can survive it, but it's not pretty -- lots of hissing and back-arching. Most of us would rather be in a hobbit hole somewhere making up stories. If we weren't naturally introverted, borderline hermits, semi- agoraphobic, we would never finish our books.
Because I go everywhere with Ocean, going on the road requires the mobilization of a small army. My husband, of course, and my parents all head out with me. It gets a little hairy, but I am so glad that everyone is willing and able to be a part of this. And Ocean still finds it all very fun and exciting -- which I guess will change as she gets older. She'll say, "Mom! I have a life, you know." But now she says every day, "Guess what? We're going to NEW YORK CITY!" Of all the places she's been, it's her favorite.
This year, in the ultimate surrender to technology I'll be "tweeting" from the road. So if you're interested in how things are going, sign up to follow me on Twitter. I'll admit to being new to this and a little reluctant to do it. I am worried that the constant stream of information -- from cell phones, email, social networks, television news feeds -- is frying our brains. But, hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
Naturally, I'd love to see you when I'm out and about. Click here for the most up-to-date list of appearances. Some of the events will be readings followed by a question and answer session. And at some stores -- like at the Bookmark Shoppe in Brooklyn and the Clinton Bookshop in New Jersey -- I'll just be stopping by to hang out with the bookseller and sign their stock. At any of the stores I visit you can pick up your signed copy, whether you can make it when I'm there or not.
Today, it is exactly seven days to the release of DIE FOR YOU. I look forward to seeing you and hearing from you. And if you do plan to buy the book, I'd be thrilled if you bought it next week. Those numbers in the early weeks mean a lot for the overall success of the release. Pre-orders count, too, of course! So thanks again to all of you who have already done that.
Hope to see you in June!
What I'm reading:
Drood by Dan Simmons
What I'm listening to:
Lily Allen/ It's Not Me, It's You
Most recently watched film:
The Girlfriend Experience
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Because I go everywhere with Ocean, going on the road requires the mobilization of a small army. My husband, of course, and my parents all head out with me. It gets a little hairy, but I am so glad that everyone is willing and able to be a part of this. And Ocean still finds it all very fun and exciting -- which I guess will change as she gets older. She'll say, "Mom! I have a life, you know." But now she says every day, "Guess what? We're going to NEW YORK CITY!" Of all the places she's been, it's her favorite.
This year, in the ultimate surrender to technology I'll be "tweeting" from the road. So if you're interested in how things are going, sign up to follow me on Twitter. I'll admit to being new to this and a little reluctant to do it. I am worried that the constant stream of information -- from cell phones, email, social networks, television news feeds -- is frying our brains. But, hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
Naturally, I'd love to see you when I'm out and about. Click here for the most up-to-date list of appearances. Some of the events will be readings followed by a question and answer session. And at some stores -- like at the Bookmark Shoppe in Brooklyn and the Clinton Bookshop in New Jersey -- I'll just be stopping by to hang out with the bookseller and sign their stock. At any of the stores I visit you can pick up your signed copy, whether you can make it when I'm there or not.
Today, it is exactly seven days to the release of DIE FOR YOU. I look forward to seeing you and hearing from you. And if you do plan to buy the book, I'd be thrilled if you bought it next week. Those numbers in the early weeks mean a lot for the overall success of the release. Pre-orders count, too, of course! So thanks again to all of you who have already done that.
Hope to see you in June!
What I'm reading:
Drood by Dan Simmons
What I'm listening to:
Lily Allen/ It's Not Me, It's You
Most recently watched film:
The Girlfriend Experience
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
May 9, 2009
Inspiration for DIE FOR YOU
How well do you really know the man you married?
My new novel DIE FOR YOU was inspired by the five weeks I spent in Prague during the summer of 2007. I went for a vacation with my family, intending to take some time off between books. But I was so inspired by that magnificent city, that the pages just started flowing. I had this sense of Prague as a city of secrets, a place of great beauty but with a dark past. And it was that vibe that inspired DIE FOR YOU.
In DIE FOR YOU, I introduce a new character named Isabel Raine. She's a successful novelist, happily married for five years. She and Marcus, a brilliant inventor of high tech games, live an enviable life on Manhattan's upper west side. She considers herself happy and her marriage is a good one, if not a perfect one. Then one wholly ordinary day, Marcus leaves for work and disappears into thin air. In the desperate search to find out what happened to him, Isabel realizes that the person with whom she shared her life was a stranger. She doesn't even know his real name.
Everyone in DIE FOR YOU has a secret heart, a facet of his or her personality that they hide even from the people they love and trust the most. DIE FOR YOU carries on a theme that I have found running through my work, a thread of domestic danger: The person who has the most to hide, the one from whom you have the most to fear is often the person sleeping beside you. It asks the chilling question: How well do we really know the people we love?
Isabel's race to learn the truth about her husband takes her from bustling, glamorous New York City, to the twisting, murky streets of Prague. In her search, she is forced to confront shocking things about her husband -- and herself.
I hope you'll enjoy getting to know Isabel as much as I did. And I hope DIE FOR YOU will keep you up well best your bedtime, turning the pages. And, as always, thanks for reading.
My new novel DIE FOR YOU was inspired by the five weeks I spent in Prague during the summer of 2007. I went for a vacation with my family, intending to take some time off between books. But I was so inspired by that magnificent city, that the pages just started flowing. I had this sense of Prague as a city of secrets, a place of great beauty but with a dark past. And it was that vibe that inspired DIE FOR YOU.
In DIE FOR YOU, I introduce a new character named Isabel Raine. She's a successful novelist, happily married for five years. She and Marcus, a brilliant inventor of high tech games, live an enviable life on Manhattan's upper west side. She considers herself happy and her marriage is a good one, if not a perfect one. Then one wholly ordinary day, Marcus leaves for work and disappears into thin air. In the desperate search to find out what happened to him, Isabel realizes that the person with whom she shared her life was a stranger. She doesn't even know his real name.
Everyone in DIE FOR YOU has a secret heart, a facet of his or her personality that they hide even from the people they love and trust the most. DIE FOR YOU carries on a theme that I have found running through my work, a thread of domestic danger: The person who has the most to hide, the one from whom you have the most to fear is often the person sleeping beside you. It asks the chilling question: How well do we really know the people we love?
Isabel's race to learn the truth about her husband takes her from bustling, glamorous New York City, to the twisting, murky streets of Prague. In her search, she is forced to confront shocking things about her husband -- and herself.
I hope you'll enjoy getting to know Isabel as much as I did. And I hope DIE FOR YOU will keep you up well best your bedtime, turning the pages. And, as always, thanks for reading.
May 7, 2009
USA Today Summer Books Calendar
DIE FOR YOU is featured in the USA Today Summer Books Calendar. See Online
April 25, 2009
New Paperback Release
The paperback version of BLACK OUT hits the stores this week ... Check out the trailer
