Ask the Author: Edwin Hill
Answered Questions (8)
Edwin Hill
Hi Lee, thanks so much for asking! I have a new novel coming out in January of 2024 called WHO TO BELIEVE. You can read about it here on Goodreads. It's about how a brutal murder affects the lives of six friends whose lives are intertwined in disturbing ways! I chose to tell it over the course of a single evening, and to show the events of the story through each of the main characters' eyes. It's sort of like the TV show THE AFFAIR, or the Kurosawa movie RASHOMON.
I'm working on another manuscript right now, but it's too early to talk about!
Best,
Edwin
I'm working on another manuscript right now, but it's too early to talk about!
Best,
Edwin
Edwin Hill
Hi Patricia, thanks for letting me know. You made my day!
Edwin Hill
I didn't know the answer to this question till recently, but for me, the best thing about being a writer is knowing that people are reading a story I created and enjoying it. And that some of those people aren't even my parents!
Seriously, knowing that something you've written has touched a reader in even the smallest of ways is pretty special.
Seriously, knowing that something you've written has touched a reader in even the smallest of ways is pretty special.
Edwin Hill
Thanks for this question! When I am drafting a novel, it is really easy for me to get distracted by, well, anything, so I name characters very, very quickly - otherwise I can lose hours "researching" on baby-naming web sites. I'll name characters after friends pets or people I know or just random names that come to me in a flash. Some of these names stick, and others I change later on in the drafting process. (For example, Sam Blaine, one of the characters in LITTLE COMFORT, is named after my friend's beagle.)
When I came up with Hester as a character, I didn't know much about her besides that she was a single woman with a child so the first names that flashed through my mine - and this is so pretentious it makes me want to throw up in my mouth - were Hester, for the woman, and Pearl, for the child. I quickly (and I mean the next day) changed the girl's name to Chloe, and then changed it again to Kate. I liked the name Hester, though, and it stuck.
When I first started drafting the series, I thought it would be lighter, more on the cozy side of the mystery spectrum, and I played around with titles based on movies. One of the titles I considered was HIS GIRL THURSBY, and Hester's last name was born. Of course, LITTLE COMFORT wound up being much darker than I planned, a psychological thriller rather than a cozy, and the title no longer fit. But, again, I liked the full name of Hester Thursby and decided to keep it!
When I came up with Hester as a character, I didn't know much about her besides that she was a single woman with a child so the first names that flashed through my mine - and this is so pretentious it makes me want to throw up in my mouth - were Hester, for the woman, and Pearl, for the child. I quickly (and I mean the next day) changed the girl's name to Chloe, and then changed it again to Kate. I liked the name Hester, though, and it stuck.
When I first started drafting the series, I thought it would be lighter, more on the cozy side of the mystery spectrum, and I played around with titles based on movies. One of the titles I considered was HIS GIRL THURSBY, and Hester's last name was born. Of course, LITTLE COMFORT wound up being much darker than I planned, a psychological thriller rather than a cozy, and the title no longer fit. But, again, I liked the full name of Hester Thursby and decided to keep it!
Edwin Hill
The idea for my most recent manuscript - which is not a book yet - came from my first book, Little Comfort. Little Comfort's protagonist is called Hester Thursby. In that novel, Hester raises some questions about both her past and her future that I felt need to be answered in the sequel... and to say much more would be giving away too much!
Edwin Hill
The best advice I can give any aspiring writer is to keep writing, sharing, and listening! Writing is about connecting with other people through words, and the most discouraging times come you share with someone who doesn't quite connect with what you want to say. But those are the times to really stop and listen. Criticism offers you an opportunity to improve and learn. Whatever you do, don't stop. There will be someone out there who wants to listen to the story you want to tell.
Edwin Hill
Writer's block can be a challenge! I have a series of activities that I can use when I am having trouble moving forward. I will outline, write character sketches, or free write. I also set manageable goals - sometimes just a hundred words can feel like climbing a mountain, but when it's done, it's done.
Most importantly, I give myself permission to write badly, because anything can be fixed. Read Anne Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts" for the best advice on writing bad prose!
Most importantly, I give myself permission to write badly, because anything can be fixed. Read Anne Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts" for the best advice on writing bad prose!
Edwin Hill
I am currently working on a sequel to LITTLE COMFORT, another story featuring Hester Thursby. It takes place on an island in Maine and focuses in on a small community where two boys have recently gone missing. It publishes on August 27, 2019 and will be called THE MISSING ONES.
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