Lisa Unger's Blog, page 4

Loved talking to Emmy award-winning anchor Linda Hurtado. Click above to watch the feature on WTVT Fox 13 News Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay Area is rich with sports and entertainment from the Tampa Bay Lightning to performances at Ruth Eckerd Hall. But when COVID-19 hit and we had to social distance, many people turned to reading for entertainment and escape. This week we take a look at a few of the local authors living among us. And how living in Florida has affected their writing. Tonight I am introducing you to New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger.

Lisa Unger weaves Florida into some of her psychological thrillers. And she shares some of her favorite local places to write, along with a few of her favorite authors who also call the area home, including Michael Connelly and Lori Roy.

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is named one of the “13 Best Mystery Series To Read Right Now” on BookBub. Honored to be included on this list of stellar series along with some amazing authors, including Stephen King and Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).

“Most mystery book series focus on central characters — the detective who solves the crime, or someone in their circle who observes and reports. Unger has taken a different approach, making the pivot around which everything happens a place — the Hollows, a fictional upstate New York town. Characters recur in these novels, but even the local detective, Jones Cooper, is only a main character in the first novel, Fragile, and is relegated to a supporting role in later books. That leaves Unger free to bring new characters to the fore each time, expanding The Hollows and deepening its history. The result is a unique approach to mystery that doesn’t skimp on the surprises.” (From BookBub)

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I recently gave this talk to a group of creative professionals at about ways to stay creative during chaos.  This is also a topic that some of my author pals and I have touched on during our weekly #Authortalks chats on Twitter. When I was preparing my points, I was reminded of a New York Times Book Review I read about author Jenny Offill. She asks “Can you still just tend to your own garden once you know about the fire outside its walls?” This was back in February — which seems distant now. She was talking about climate change, and the suffering planet. But her question is also relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, as we creatives try to find space in these times of global flux.

Here are six tips that may help you find your creativity:

Write, compose, paint or work early (or late). Write before your kids get up, or after they go to sleep, before you’re tempted to ingest the brain candy of social media, or drink from the well of toxic sludge that is the news, or after you’ve had so much that you can’t possibly consume any more. Find the quiet space and use it. Sleep another time.
Remember that creativity is the place that you can go to escape chaos. You might have to run a whole new gauntlet — Zoom meetings, homeschooling, cooking for many people, many times a day — but once you’re there, on the page, you are in control. Maybe no place else in life will you ever have more control than you do when you’re creating something.
Breathe. Nothing of quality ever came forth in a panic. Believe in your craft, in your gift, in the power of story. If you show up and open up, the ideas will come.
Observe the madness, the world, yourself. Everything you are feeling, experiencing, fearing, hating, loving, everything that hurts, that brings joy will at some point find its way into your work. When we live authentically, paying attention, and being present, all the texture and experiences of our lives make us more creative. This moment is like no other. Be present for it.
Anything you do creatively right now is a win. Anything. A sentence, an idea scribbled on a paper towel, a character sketch, a craft you do with your kids, a pie you bake. Count your wins. Cut your losses. Everyone gets a pass right now. Here’s a funny article about
Scheduling. This one is especially for parents who are now, suddenly, working from home — and parenting all day, and maybe homeschooling. Okay, that’s a blender without a lid. And I know, because I have been doing it for fourteen years (not the homeschooling part, though helping with school work is always a parenting responsibility.)

Managing a schedule is an ideal. Because with kids, things are always changing. So, first, be patient — with yourself, with the kids. If there are two of you, I suggest dividing the day. One person works in the morning, while the other works in the afternoon, switching off the primary parent role. This won’t always work — but it’s a start. More important than this, is to set a schedule for the kids. Here’s how my husband and I have done it: Wake up, breakfast (all together), mom or dad goes off to work (hopefully in a separate space), morning activity (might be school work, might be a walk around the block, or a dip in the pool), snack, screen time, or independent/assisted craft, (here maybe the on parent gets to check work email), lunch (all together maybe), parents switch — repeat morning schedule. Then dinner, bath time, story, bed. After kids are in bed, couple time.

The important part about this is that both parents respect the other’s work, enjoy their time with the children, and honor the schedule. Kids do way better when they know what to expect, when parents are calm and in control, and set understandable, predictable boundaries. And if you manage to set and mostly honor a schedule that offers creative blocks — guess what? You’re teaching your kids to be creative adults, who can honor a schedule and get to work in times of crisis and chaos.

And when it all goes out the window? Kids have a melt down? Siblings acting like rival gang members? YOU have a meltdown. Hey, you know what, there’s a global crisis right now and nothing was ever going to be perfect anyway and especially right now. So take a break, do something you all like, even if that’s just watching television for a while, and start again when everyone is a little calmer. The loving time, peaceful, happy time you share with your kids right now is so much more important than anything else, even if you’re worried about work. Because they’re struggling, too. And the world seems like a scary place to them — because it is. Make a safe place for them at home if you can.

Remember that the problem of finding space to be creative is a luxury — if you’re home, safe, healthy, and not worried about feeding your family and paying medical bills, you’re one of the lucky ones. Gratitude is in order. Kids can be taught that, too.

The truth is that life — normal life — will always conspire to rob you of your creativity. Chaos is frequently knocking on the door. Your sleep will be disrupted. Your child will get the flu. You’ll have a fight with your spouse. There’s a normal day-to-day gauntlet that we must run to get into the zone. At my house, we call it the runway — sometimes there are obstacles that impede flight. But the fact is that with tenacity, self-discipline, scheduling, and a deep breath you can get yourself there often enough to accomplish your creative goals — while being present for your family, and staying sane. Most of the time.

Suggested reading: by Cal Newport

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I’ve been thinking about how I can help my readers, my writer pals, and booksellers during these days of isolation and uncertainty. I have come up with a few ideas. Here we go:

Readers

A lot of my author pals have had to cancel their book tours this season. Obviously, in the scheme of things, this might seem like a luxury problem. But we all work so hard on our novels, and then head out of the road to connect with readers and booksellers. It hurts the industry when business as usual comes to a halt. If there’s an author you love and want to support, go online and visit his or her website to find out where you can get a signed copy. This will help stores, authors, and ultimately YOU, reader pal and lover of books.

Meanwhile, speaking of support, I take my blurb requests very seriously. But I literally cannot read everything that comes across my desk. Or sometimes I blow a deadline. Here are a couple that got away, but that I wanted to share with you.

THE GIRLS OF BRACKENHILL by

Kate was kind enough to send me an early copy of her stellar new book. And it did finally find its way to the top of the queue — unfortunately too late for her jacket deadline. Love a good ghost story? This one’s for you. Here’s what I finally wrote after a cracking read!

“A looming castle, a woman haunted by her sister’s unsolved disappearance, and long buried secrets clawing their way up to the surface — Kate Moretti deftly weaves it all together in a gripping gothic ghost story of the first order. GIRLS OF BRACKENHILL is full of chills, thrills, and dark surprises. You won’t stop turning the pages until the stunning end — and even then you’ll be sleeping with the lights on. Don’t miss it!”

NO BAD DEED by

Unfortunately, I have not yet read this one about a mother desperate to find the connection between her stalker and her missing husband. When I missed Heather’s deadline, I had to go on to other books in my pile. But it just came out to rave reviews and I plan to read it just for myself — now that there should be PLENTY of time to catch up on reading. Lisa Gardner calls it: “A twisty, jet-fueled thriller… Don’t miss it!” and Liv Constantine says that Chavez has “constructed the perfect thriller.” Looking forward to this one!

DON’T LOOK DOWN by

The wonderfully talented Hilary Davidson is also a lovely, kind person. I’m sad that I have not yet had a chance to read her latest, DON’T LOOK DOWN. The second in her Shadows of New York series, this promises to be a smart, twisty thrill-ride, and it’s earning rave reviews. I can’t wait to dive in.

Writers

Wow, it’s hard to be creative during this madness! In addition to what’s going on outside our doors, many of us have our children and spouses at home for the foreseeable future. And though we love our little angels and our amazing soul mates, they are generally not the best writing buddies. Some of my author pals and I did some chatting about staying creative during this wild times. If you want to find the thread, it’s here on Twitter. But here’s my prescription for staying in the work when the world has gone haywire:

1. Write before they wake up — your kids, your spouse, the world. I have always been a big advocate of the early morning to get work done. You might be a night owl and find your space after your family has gone to sleep. That’s great, too. The key is to find a quiet, sacred space where you can lose yourself in your story.

2. Be kind to yourself. That page count you strive for may serve during normal times. But right now it’s going to make you hate yourself. And self-loathing is the enemy of creativity. Definitely DO connect with your story, your characters every day. Do some research, or some daydreaming about the book, read the pages you’ve already written — anything to keep your heart and mind in the story. But if you’re not making your page or word count, that’s fine. Whatever you can do right now is a win. And if it’s nothing, try again tomorrow.

3. The page is an escape hatch, a refuge. When you disappear into your story, you are in a world that you have created. It’s a gift to be creative enough to write. This is your craft, your passion, your happy place. Remember that it’s right and good to go there whenever you can. Writing — my characters, my stories — have carried me through the worst moments of my life. Let it do the same for you now.

4. Pay attention. What’s happening to us right now — on a global scale and on a personal one — all of this will inform your work later. Take it all in, even the worst of it, definitely the best of it. We learn so much about ourselves and about others in a time of hardship. You’ll never get a better lesson in human nature than you will right now. And truth is the lifeblood of good fiction.

5. Catch up on your reading. All writers are readers first. We all fell in love with story within the pages of other people’s books. And reading great books is a tremendous source of inspiration — you’ll learn, be transported, and get more excited about your own words. Don’t just mindlessly surf the web, obsessively watch the news, or binge watch reality TV shows. Return to the page, your first love, and let it inspire you.

Booksellers

Bookstores are such an important part of our community, and, of course, small businesses will be the first to suffer the effects of people staying home. Though many stores may have closed their doors for the time being, they are offering expanded online and delivery options. Here are just a few:

has a downtown delivery service and curbside pickup for people in St. Petersburg, Florida, and is happy to take phone or online orders and ship. I spent some time on the phone with the lovely owner Alsace Walentine, brainstorming about how we could offer programs when their events have been cancelled for March and April. Stay tuned for more on that.

is offering free media mail shipping on all offers over $50 and curbside pickup for Houston-area folks. They’re also happy to make recommendations over the phone.

in New York is open, but with a reduced staff. They’re taking orders through their website, email, and phone, though.

Also, check your local indie bookseller websites to see what they may be offering. There are way too many to name them all, but here are some other faves:

Tampa, FL

Key West, FL

Vero Beach, FL

Delray Beach, FL

Hockessin, DE

Brooklyn, NY

Austin, TX

Denver, CO

San Francisco, CA

Ridgewood, NJ

Asheville, NC

Phoenix, AZ

Seattle, WA

Portland, OR

Pasadena, CA

Plainville, MA

San Diego, CA

Orlando, FL

So, if you’re looking to catch up on your reading during these trying times, please order from your favorite bookseller — these or others. And don’t forget, though they don’t get a lot of love, our larger booksellers are important, too. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million continue to provide books in all formats. So, as long as you are reading, no matter where you are getting your books, that is a helpful thing.

I’ll be brainstorming with author pals to try to come up with some innovative programing — online chats about creativity, more ways to stay focused and productive in this difficult times, book recommendation chats, etc. Stay tuned for information on how you can be a part of that. And, of course, if you have any ideas for on what you would like to hear from authors, let me know at lisa@lisaunger.com.

We are blessed to be readers and writers, because we can always lose ourselves for a little while in a good book. But don’t disappear altogether! And don’t forget to keep reaching out. Isolation doesn’t have to mean disconnection — stay in touch with loved ones, friends, and neighbors. You never know who is scared or needs to hear your voice. And if you’re scared, feeling alone or depressed or afraid, do reach out to someone you love and ask for help. Stay safe, stay sane, and keep reading!

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What a gorgeous cover reveal for my upcoming October 2020 release CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 from the amazing Crime By The Book! Abby is one of my favorite people in the business so I am over the moon! Click on the photo below and check out her for an exclusive excerpt!

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I am deeply honored to be featured in 100 New School Alumni: Celebrating 100 Years of Bold Change-Making Leaders in Culture, Commerce, and Civic Life, with luminaries such as Kevin Kwan, Tom Ford, Dr. Ruth, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan and more.

My time at Eugene Lang College (’92), the undergraduate liberal arts college of The New School, was significant and transformative in my life as a writer. Here, in sunlit classrooms in the West Village of Manhattan, brilliant, engaged teachers, such as Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, award-winning journalist Eleanor J. Bader, highly-regarded novelist Marina Budhos, and acclaimed poet Mark Statman opened doorways into creativity, research, and craft. I carry that place and time, the lessons learned with New York City as my classroom, with me even now (almost 30 years later). I was a sophomore at Lang when I started my first novel — which would be the first of my 18 novels to publish.

Throughout our centennial year, we reflected on our university’s illustrious history and celebrated 100 alumni who changed the world, shaped our culture, and reimagined the century ahead. Meet some of the world’s most influential thought leaders, creative minds, cultural influencers, and pioneering scholars and activists.

Learn more about each of The New School’s featured powerhouse alumni, .

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Wow! Sarah Michelle Gellar talks about my books, including THE STRANGER INSIDE, in New York Magazine! What an amazing way to start the new year!

Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

“I’m an obsessive book reader; I’ll pull out a book wherever I can. I travel so much, too, and I used to carry all these hardcover books in my suitcases. Now, to be able to have so many selections [on my Kindle] is such a gift. I just discovered a new-to-me author, Lisa Unger, and I’ve been going through her works. I love a good psychological thriller, and I like that her books have an underlying theme and pose a question that she argues both sides of. I always think it’s interesting when an author can make me hear a side of something that I totally disagree with, but understand the logic and reasoning behind. I also just read The Stranger Inside. It’s a really interesting dissection of the cycle of violence.”

—Sarah Michelle Gellar

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J.T. Ellison started her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, finally finding her way back to her first love – creative writing. She went on to become a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with millions of copies in print, her books published in 16 languages and 28 countries. J.T. is also the Emmy Award-winning co-host of “A Word on Words” on PBS TV in Nashville, Tennessee.

But that’s just her stellar, super-impressive bio. Beyond that…she’s a fun, loving, open-hearted friend who is so generous with her time and support of fellow authors. I felt like I already knew her before we met. And when we did finally connect, we were instant friends.

During my 2019 book tour, I was lucky enough to spend some time with her in Nashville. We had so many deep and ongoing conversations that I thought I’d keep it going here. I especially wanted to discuss her wickedly dark and riveting new thriller , which just released yesterday, December 30. ()

Lisa Unger: For me, there’s always a germ, a moment when a new book begins. That spark can come from anywhere — a news story, a piece of junk mail. Is that how it works for you? If so, what was the germ for GOOD GIRLS LIE? If not, how did it begin?

J.T. Ellison: This was such an organic story for me. I was watching International House Hunters, and the family was moving to Surrey, England so the father could teach at a boarding school. I looked it up—I believe it was Cranleigh—and the lovely red-brick buildings were so reminiscent of my own alma mater (Randolph-Macon Woman’s College) all my spidey senses went off. I looked at my husband and said, I have always wanted to write a boarding school mystery. One of these days…

I thought about it for ten seconds, wrote a teensy blog about it so I’d have the idea if I wanted to return to it, then went back to work on the book I was currently writing. But it wouldn’t let me go. I had started a short story for another project, and I realized hey, this could be an explosive ending to a novel, instead. I married the gothic all girls boarding school setting with the ending, and then all I needed was a character. Ash Carlisle came to me while reading an article in Yoga Journal, of all places. We were heading to England at the time, so I decided to make her British, from Oxford, and that was it, she was alive, it was alive.

I’m curious, how do you manage these errant thoughts about other possible stories while you’re writing a book? Do you write them down, or do a treatment? Or are you disciplined enough to make them wait?

Lisa Unger: I love that story. It so perfectly illustrates how the writer’s mind works — taking pieces of things from our experiences, inspiration for a story or character that come from places you’d least expect. That’s why it’s so important to always be open-hearted and paying attention. You never know where that next moment of inspiration is hiding.

I don’t have a lot of ideas, actually. I don’t see something and think — oh! I want to write about that. It’s more like I might hear something or read something that sparks a curiosity or an obsession in me to learn more about a particular subject. Then I start reading and researching, and if it’s something that maybe connects with other things going on with me, I start to hear a voice. And I follow that voice, or voices through my manuscripts. If I have other thoughts, other voices during the writing of a novel, I generally just let them pass. I don’t keep a journal, or write many things down. I feel like if it comes back to me — the thought, the curiosity, the voice — then it’s powerful enough to explore. For it was the Jungian concept of the splinter psyche, which knocked around in my head for a while from the research for another novel. The germ for THE RED HUNTER was twenty-five years before its writing. There’s usually something nagging at me though as I’m finishing up the book I’m working on. There might already be another voice with something to say.

Speaking of voices — I love the shifting perspectives in GOOD GIRLS LIE. For me, there’s rarely a choice. I’m hearing an urgent first person voice — or I’m hearing multiple voices who all want to tell their side of the story. Each story seems to tell itself it’s own way, and there’s not a whole lot I can do about that. What about for you? Is it a clear choice? Is there a way that you prefer to write? How does your relationship to character change based the POV?

J.T. Ellison:  Hold up — you don’t keep any sort of journal or notes? That’s the Stephen King method of creation, right — if the idea is good enough you don’t need to write it down? I think all my best ideas fall into that category — sometimes it feels like the ones I write down lose some of their magic. Their urgency. I don’t tend to return to them after, either.

I used to write series, so the voices were established. Taylor or Sam would start talking and I was just the receptacle sharing their thoughts. When I started writing standalones, all that changed. Different voices started to speak, and they wanted to tell their stories their own ways. It took me several runs at several books to realize the voices had altered, and I had to alter my writing style to go along with them. Which, for GOOD GIRLS LIE meant writing a first person, present tense narrative, something I’d never done.

Writing close third feels slow and awkward and distant to me now, so much so I’ve just taken a new book out of that POV and moved to first present. I’m realizing the basis of the story is dictating the voice I tell it in. So now… meh. I write them all, see what feels right, and go with that. This new book has first present, close third past, and omniscient third. When I get to the point of writing a single, first person narrative, maybe I’ll be back to square one.

In all the conversations we’ve had about writing and voice recently, I get the sense that you are a wee bit more in control of the process than I am. What is your process? I know you aren’t a big outliner, but how do you take the voices from mind to page? What’s your daily grind look like?

Lisa Unger: I do have a notebook that I carry with me everywhere. But it’s not for notes as much as it is for writing long hand — which I do a lot. I am an early riser, usually at my desk between 5-6 am. My golden creative hours are from 5 am to noon, and I work in my office at home. But I can write anywhere, anytime — which I think is a product of writing when I had another full-time job. But I wouldn’t say I’m in control of the process. Quite the opposite. In many ways, I feel more like the story is already there, I’m just trying to find it. I guess it’s more about being present for it, then controlling it. When I hear those voices, I just sit down to write and the story evolves for me on the page, much as it will for the reader. So, no outline, no idea who will show up and what they will do day-to-day. I’ve written every one of my eighteen novels this way.

I know what you mean about having established relationships with series characters. I feel that way about the people who populate my books set in The Hollows. When I hear those voices, it feels so familiar, so comfortable. In GOOD GIRLS LIE to which of your characters did you feel most connected?  Who surprised you the most?

J.T. Ellison: I was very connected to Dean Westhaven, right off the bat. When I was in school, I too would stare out over the Blue Ridge Mountains and dream of being a writer one day. So much of my creative spine was developed at RMWC. Other than the professor who told me I wasn’t good enough to get published—which, at the time, was probably accurate, but still, mean!—I found the environment incredibly supportive. It was gothic, loaded with female drama, ripe for writing about. Strangely enough, it was my main character Ash who I had the most trouble with—until I switched to first person and found her waiting for me. Becca Curtis, though… the head girl, head of the secret societies, the real power behind the girls of Goode. She was so intriguing, and fun to write. She surprised me over and over again. And she wouldn’t conform to the plans I had for her.

Has that ever happened to you —you have a character mapped out, you know their role, how they’re going to play it, and then they walk onstage, start ad-libbing, and then you have to let them take it away from you?

Lisa Unger: I definitely know that feeling. I don’t have a lot of plans for my characters. In fact, I almost experience them as people that I meet. I am constantly surprised, sometimes annoyed or even horrified by their thoughts and actions. I know it’s me. That every character is an amalgamation of my ideas, my observations, my imagination, my prejudices. But it really doesn’t feel that way. I’m sensing a theme here. There’s a lot that’s outside of our control! I think that’s where all the magic resides. Do you agree?

GOOD GIRLS LIE was a smart, twisty, absolutely riveting read — deeply involving from page one. It kept me company when I was on the road. And I was so deep into reading YOUR BOOK when we were together in Nashville that I was late meeting YOU for tea!  I know it’s getting rave reviews from readers and the trades alike! Is there anything you most especially want readers to take away from this book? A core theme or message?

J.T. Ellison: I do agree, the magic of writing lies in allowing the story to create itself. When we push it too hard, it goes up in smoke.

On GOOD GIRLS LIE, female empowerment is one of my core values, and this book in particular has that message sewn into the story. I took so much away from my single-sex education that I wanted to show the power it has to transform the lives of these girls. It may not have ended up for them as it did for me, but it’s still something quite important to shed light on. Education is power, in my mind. Our school motto––Vita Abundantior (Life More Abundant) fits both me and the book perfectly.

I could go on and on and on chatting with you!!! Thanks

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Wow, wow, wow! THE STRANGER INSIDE is featured in The New York Times Book Review today!

“Female-focused crime fiction like you’ve never seen before…There’s something reassuring about sliding into the hands of a seasoned professional like Unger. You know what you’re getting: in this case another well-crafted psychological thriller in which the torments of the past return to wreak havoc in the present. You know you’re going to get a solid plot, and characters with enough feints and flourishes to keep the pages turning themselves…toward a juicy climax…readers will certainly appreciate what she does outside the whodunit plotline…There is something unexpectedly brilliant in THE STRANGER INSIDE.”

—New York Times

I am so honored and thrilled to be included in this stellar review round-up from Ivy Pochoda!

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Sometimes you just meet someone and know there are martinis and lots of laughs in your future! The fantastic Lynne Constantine, half of the dynamic author duo Liv Constantine (with her sister Valerie), and I met at Thrillerfest this year. We shared a signing table and then spent a little time chatting. When she later asked me to do a guest blog for her site , I jumped at the chance to turn it into a pen pal interview. It’s such a great way to get to know someone.

Since then, I’ve dived into her bestsellers and – both gripping, layered, and involving thrillers that dig deep into complicated female relationships. I love the way Lynne and Valerie think, and their process is fascinating.

Why don’t you eavesdrop on our conversation about twisted characters, obsession, and process?

Lynne Constantine:

First of all, your book is AMAZING! I loved it so much that I didn’t want it to end. The characters were so well drawn and the tension! So, for my first question:

In , Rain struggles with what she sees as two conflicting desires: to be a good mother and to successfully pursue a career. Is this a struggle that you’ve had as a mother and successful author, and do you think society still puts unfair pressure on women to be the primary caregiver in the family?

Lisa Unger:

Thank you so much for all the kind words about THE STRANGER INSIDE! I’m so glad you loved it. I’m deep into THE LAST MRS. PARRISH and it’s twisty, smart, and totally engrossing. I’m hooked.

Rain Winter is a former investigative journalist, turned stay-at-home mom. She left her career behind for a number of reasons—she wanted to be present for her child, the injustice she saw in the world was grinding her down, and it was an agreement in her marriage that someone should be a full-time parent. But the work she chose was meaningful to her; it defined her. And she chose it because she was looking for answers to dark questions from her own childhood trauma. So, when the work calls her back, she finds it impossible to resist. However, her adoration for and commitment to her daughter Lily has not diminished. So, she engages in a fairly chaotic—and in her case dangerous—juggling act.

Of course, nothing in fiction is autobiographical—and everything is! I do relate to this struggle, as I’m sure will any mom who has an involving career. Before my daughter was born, nothing ever rivaled my desire to write. But when she was small, the conflict was painful. When I was with her, I was often worried about deadlines, and the pressures of the publishing world. When I was writing, I often just wanted to be with her. But, with the help of my husband, I found my way, learned to work around her schedule, be present when she needed me, be present for the work during the scheduled time. I have always been a writer. And I love being a fully-engaged mother. Those are two big, all-consuming, creative enterprises. So, even though the juggling act can be quite stressful, I feel blessed to have two things that I love so much. (And my poor husband! I love him, too! And he’s my partner in this and in all things.)

I think there is external pressure—this idea that not only can we have it all, but, in fact, we MUST have it all. I know I put a lot of pressure on myself, as well, holding myself to impossible standards and then face-planting. I think it’s all slowly changing. Women are making choices. Leaning in, maybe, or choosing to stay home, if they have that option. Finding balance, supporting each other, relying on spouses, if they’re fortunate enough to have that kind of marriage. At ALA last year in New Orleans, I heard Michelle Obama speak and she said something that made a lot of sense to me: You can have it all, just maybe not at the same time.

In THE LAST MRS. PARRISH and THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU, you dive in deep to twisting, complicated female relationships. (And I know you write with your sister, which must be twisty and complicated—at least some of the time!) What fascinates you most about the dynamics between women?

Lynne Constantine:

Female friendships have always been emphasized in my family. I remember my mother admonishing me to never lose touch with my girlfriends and stressing the importance of these close relationships. I think in some ways the intimacies we share with our close women friends can be at times even greater than those we share with our partners. Women have such an amazing capacity for supporting and empowering each other while at the same time, the ability to do the complete opposite when rivalry is at play.

In THE LAST MRS. PARRISH we wanted to explore the ways in which the lack of a close female friendship could make someone vulnerable to a predatory female while at the same time turning the idea of the man being the prize on its head. Daphne has a great void in her life—the loss of her sister who was her best friend. When Amber comes on the scene and pretends to have also experienced the same loss, it bonds the women and makes Daphne blind at first to Amber’s manipulations. In THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU we delve into the dynamics of a broken friendship and how those wounds never fully heal, exploring whether or not you can truly forgive someone who has deeply hurt you and if a friendship can be repaired and restored. The relationship between Kate and her mother Lily is also one the book examines and how that foundational relationship influences the way Kate sees herself as a mother.

My sister Valerie and I are extremely close even though fourteen years separate us. Fortunately, the most complicated aspect is just syncing our schedules. As we now approach our fifth book together, we’ve developed a sort of ESP where we can anticipate what the other is going to say, or both come out with the exact idea at the same time. We joke that we might be turning into one person.

Another aspect of relationships that it seems all of our writing encompasses is trauma. In THE STRANGER INSIDE three best friends’ lives are forever changed by a single incident. Despite Hank and Rain surviving, they are never able to recapture the closeness they once had, a source of heartbreak for both of them. What do you think it is that allows some survivors of a joint trauma to emerge more bonded than before while for others it essentially ruptures the relationship?

Lisa Unger:

Even though I don’t have a sister—and what a special relationship you have with yours!—my female friends, colleagues, and mentors have always held such an important space in my life. I value that closeness and support, that special way women have of tag-teaming problems, supporting each other through the rough patches, and celebrating successes. It’s a theme I touch on a bit in UNDER MY SKIN in the relationship between Poppy and Layla, life-long friends that are as close as sisters, there for each other in a way that their families can’t be. Their relationship was forged in childhood—but of course there’s another side to that, too.

In THE STRANGER INSIDE, Hank and Lara have that special bond of childhood friendship until extreme trauma tears them apart. When Tess and Lara (later in the book, she calls herself Rain), are attacked by a violent, mentally ill man, Hank tries to save them. Rain escapes, but Hank and Tess do not. Tess doesn’t make it home at all, and Hank returns altered by his experiences. One of the many losses of that day, as you say, is their friendship.

Extreme trauma is a crucible. And every person reacts to its pressures differently. It makes some people stronger; it tears other people apart. The psyche might split—Jung calls this a “splinter psyche”— stronger aspects of the self emerging to protect weaker. Hank and Lara have dissimilar experiences that dark day, and their responses are not the same. Lara seeks to forget. Hank can’t move on. It’s those different responses to trauma that sunder their friendship, rather than the trauma itself. And, yet, they remain bound by what happened—though not in a healthy way.

My research into psychology, biology, trauma, and addiction is ongoing. Questions about the human psyche, and what makes us who we are is a bit of an obsession for me. I’m constantly reading, watching, listening, learning. If I weren’t a writer digging deep into these subjects, I’d probably be a psychiatrist. What type of research do you do for your novels? Do you have any obsessions that you find yourself exploring again and again in your work?

Lynne Constantine:

I feel the same way about how fascinating the human psychological makeup can be. My undergraduate degree is in Human Development and for a long time I thought I wanted to be a therapist. My favorite class in college was Abnormal Psychology, and I find myself continually drawn to research on personality disorders and the complex factors that contribute to the way we relate to others and how we react to situations. It was only after I examined my own subconscious drivers and became more in touch with who I was that I decided I didn’t want to spend my life listening to other people’s problems. So, now I spend my life creating problems for my characters! I am a bit obsessed with understanding sociopathic behavior and drawn to writing characters with varying degrees of sociopathy. I do a lot of reading on the subject and interview a good friend of mine who has a PhD in psychology to make sure the profiles I create are authentic. I find the more flawed the character, the more I enjoy writing him or her.

In your writing, do your characters drive the trajectory of the story and do they surprise you, or do you know from the beginning the path they will take and how the story will develop?

Lisa Unger:

All plot flows from character. Each story begins with a germ—it might be a news story, or a line of poetry, a photograph. In one case, it was a piece of junk mail. This germ usually leads to some kind of an obsession with a topic, a swath of research. And, then the best way I can explain it is that if all of that connects with something deeper going on within me, I start to hear a voice, or voices, and I follow those voices through the narrative. I write without an outline. I don’t know who is going to show up day-to-day, and I don’t know what they’re going to do. I certainly don’t know how the book is going to end. I write for the same reason that I read—because I want to know what is going to happen to the people living in my head.

I’ve always been fascinated about how writers work together on a book. How does it go for you and your sister?

Lynne Constantine:

We work in a manner similar to you in that we start with a basic idea—sometimes we know the twist from the start as with THE LAST MRS. PARRISH and other times it begins with a theme. We don’t outline but rather write our way into the story. After we’ve developed the setting, characters and basic story, we assign each other scenes and email them to each other every day. We FaceTime in the afternoon and discuss what’s been written and give each other our marching orders for the next day. We often don’t know the ending and in THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU, the killer changed in the third round of revisions. We also brainstorm quite a bit and often an idea that was thrown out as a joke turns out to be something we end up pursuing. It’s a very fun collaboration and we’re both continually surprised by where our characters take us.

This has been so much fun! I look forward to when we can sit across from each other and have a conversation in person!

Lisa Unger:

Me, too! Hopefully over martinis!

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