Creative Whiplash
When They Find Me comes out November 10, which means I’m about to spend a lot of time talking about it. Now I just have to remember what the hell happens in it.
I started writing When They Find Me in June 2024. Back then it was called All Her Fury, and seven months later I finished the first draft. We submitted it to my publisher, and while I waited to hear what they thought, I did what writers do. I started another book.
I was deep into that new story when All Her Fury came back to me. Except now it wasn’t called All Her Fury. It was When They Find Me. And my editor had some thoughts. Some pretty big thoughts.
There are five main characters in When They Find Me, and the edits involved turning three of them into completely different people. Same basic story (trapped cabin, blinding snowstorm, home invasion gone horribly wrong), but new backgrounds, new motivations, new relationships. It was a multi-month rewrite, which meant mentally abandoning the new book I’d been living in and crawling back inside one I thought I’d finished.
That’s one of the stranger parts of being a novelist that I never really understood until I started doing this for a living. You’re constantly moving forward and backward at the same time.
I finished that major revision of When They Find Me, then went through about six more rounds of edits with my publisher. Those get progressively smaller. Big structural changes eventually become line edits, copy edits, proofreading, and finally the stage where everyone needs to stop touching the damn thing. Except you never really stop touching it.
While I went back to writing the next novel, When They Find Me kept following me around.
The cover was designed. I commissioned sketches for the interior. I created a playlist. I wrote a short-story companion piece for a special edition of the book. I started building all the various files I’ll need for the release and promotion. Graphics. Interviews. Marketing materials. Swag. Tour stuff.
What began in June 2024 as one folder containing one Word document now contains 214 files.
And all the while, I was writing the next book. That one will come out in August 2027. I finished the manuscript earlier this year, and just last week I completed my first round of edits with my publisher.
So now that book is beginning the same strange journey When They Find Me started a year and a half ago.
Meanwhile, I’ve started another book. I’m about 25,000 words into that one. It won’t publish until 2028 at the earliest.
Which means this fall I’ll head out on tour for When They Find Me, a book I started more than two years earlier, promoting and discussing characters I created two books ago. I’ll be answering questions about why they made certain decisions and where ideas came from, while another part of my brain is thinking about edits to the 2027 book and another part is trying to figure out what the hell happens next in the 2028 book.
Creative fucking whiplash.
As a reader, I consume books in a nice, orderly fashion. Someone’s book comes out. I read it. Eventually another book comes out.
As a writer, all the stories are piled on top of each other. One book is being written. Another is being edited. Another is being designed and marketed. Another is sitting on bookstore shelves while I’m doing interviews about it. And somewhere in the back of my brain, the first little pieces of whatever comes after all of those are probably already starting to form.
So when you see me talking enthusiastically about When They Find Me this fall, know that I really am excited about it. I love this book, and I can’t wait for people to finally read it.
I just might need to refresh my memory first.
New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:
Episode 249: Robert Thorogood
Sunday Times and USA Today bestselling novelist and screenwriter Robert Thorogood joined me. Robert created the hit BBC murder mystery series Death in Paradise, co-created its spin-offs Beyond Paradise and Return to Paradise, and is the author of The Marlow Murder Club novels, which he adapted for television. We talked about the thrill of seeing your book in print for the first time, writing series versus standalones, and how he channels Agatha Christie when plotting his mysteries.
Episode 248: Joseph Moldover
Author and clinical psychologist Joseph Moldover joined me. Joe is the author of the YA novels Every Moment After and Just Until, with his adult debut, To the End of Reckoning, forthcoming, and his short fiction has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, One Teen Story, and elsewhere. We talked about writing YA fiction, how an online class got him started writing short fiction, and the pressure that comes with receiving a big advance. We wrapped up by making up an eerie story inspired by Matt Goldman’s The Murder Show.
Episode 247: Maria Dong
Author Maria Dong joined me. Maria is the author of Aviary, Psychopomp, and Liar, Dreamer, Thief, and her short fiction has appeared in Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Lightspeed, Nightmare, and elsewhere. We talked about deviating from your original vision while writing, our mutual appreciation for copy editors, and why she actually enjoys reading her negative reviews. We finished by making up an intense story inspired by Alex Finlay’s The Anniversary.
Episode 246: Radha Lin Chaddah
Physician, author, and world traveler Radha Lin Chaddah joined me to talk about how her international experiences shaped her debut novel, And the Ancestors Sing, the fascinating research she conducted while working with the China CDC, and the challenges of getting her book published during COVID. We wrapped up by making up a gripping story inspired by Mailan Doquang’s Ceylon Sapphires.
All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Announcing my tour for When They Find Me! I’d love to see you if I’m in your area, just check the dates and locations below. Also be sure to check my website calendar for all my events and latest updates.
Monday, November 2 at 6:30 PM
BOULDER, CO
Boulder Bookstore
Pre-Publication Event!
RSVP Link to Come
Tuesday, November 10 at 6:30 PM
HOUSTON, TX
Murder By the Book
In conversation with Abby Dunn, @crimebythebook
Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00 PM
DALLAS, TX
Whose Books at Ampelos Wines
In conversation with Chelsea Conradt
RSVP Link to Come
Thursday, November 12 at 6:30 PM
BANGOR, ME
Books-A-Million
Friday, November 13 at 6:00 PM
DENVER, CO
Tattered Cover – Colfax Ave.
Monday, November 16 at 7:00 PM
IOWA CITY, IA
Sidekick Books
In conversation with Heather Gudenkauf
Tuesday, November 17 at 6:30 PM
CONCORD, NH
Gibson’s Bookstore
In conversation with Lisa Gardner
Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 PM
HINGHAM, MA
Barnes & Noble
In conversation with Hank Phillippi Ryan
Thursday, November 19 at 6:00 PM
UPPER ARLINGTON, OH
Storyline Bookshop
With Stephanie Wrobel
RSVP Link to Come
Friday, November 20 at 6:00 PM
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Once Upon a Crime
All Times Local
REVIEWS
On the Page
The Quiet Tenant, Clémence Michallon (2023)
The Quiet Tenant follows a serial killer through the perspectives of the women in his life, including the woman he has kidnapped and held captive for years. It’s a deeply unsettling psychological thriller that manages to make a familiar premise feel completely its own.
Took me too long to get around to reading this book. I absolutely loved it. Clémence’s voice is so powerful and believable, and the entire story drips with angst and raw emotion. There’s a tension running through every page that isn’t just about what might happen, but what these women are thinking, enduring, and hiding. Clémence will be joining me as an instructor at the Unbound Writer Paris Retreat next year, and after reading The Quiet Tenant, I’m even more excited to teach alongside her.
Lucky (Apple TV, 2026)
Lucky follows a con artist on the run after a multimillion-dollar heist goes sideways, pursued by both the FBI and some very dangerous people from her past. It’s not necessarily breaking new ground, but it’s beautifully shot, incredibly well acted, and I was hooked.
Anya Taylor-Joy absolutely makes the show. She’s fantastic, with Timothy Olyphant, who plays her father, a very close second. My biggest gripe is Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s FBI agent, who feels like a character we’ve seen a hundred times before: tough, relentless, obsessed with getting her target, rules be damned. In a show where so many of the characters have interesting shades of gray, she feels surprisingly clichéd.
Still, this is a great-looking, highly entertaining show with a cast that’s worth watching all by itself.
Photo of the Month
Spotted this gal sitting on her own rock on a foggy morning in Acadia National Park.
Update from my Kids
Ili (center) started her second year of law school. Funny, I was just reflecting on how many writers I’ve interviewed on Making It Up who started out as lawyers. Can’t wait to see what drastic career turn my daughter decides to take.
Update from My Dog
Someone quite enjoyed living the rural life for a month in New England.
Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend
Paris Writing Retreat, May 2027
A quick Paris retreat update…
We are sold out! But we are taking waitlist applications and you’ll be first on the list when we open up the next Paris retreat, likely in 2028 if not sooner.
When we started planning this retreat, the goal wasn’t to put on another conference. We wanted to create the kind of experience we’d actually want to attend. Small enough that everyone gets to know each other. Plenty of time to write, ask questions, talk publishing, and discuss what it means to have a career in writing.
I’ll be there along with Alex Finlay and Clémence Michallon, and we’ll also be joined by Riley Sager for a special conversation and Abby Dunn (Crime by the Book) to talk about reaching readers and building a career in today’s publishing world.
If Paris has been on your radar, now’s a good time to take a look. Join the waitlist!
May 3-6, 2027.
Paris.
That’s it for now!
Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…
