1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE BODY NEXT DOOR
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
THE BODY NEXT DOOR is a fast-paced thriller with an uncanny twist. It’s about Hannah, a young, affluent wife whose life is turned upside-down when a body is dug up in the lot next-door to her weekend house. When Hannah catches her husband Allan in a tiny lie, she embarks on a quest to find out what he’s hiding - and what she’s been hiding from herself about her own traumatic past.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
On a family vacation to Orcas Island, Washington, I was intrigued and inspired by the beautiful, mysterious landscape. I knew I had to set my next story there.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
It depends! Hannah changes significantly in the course of the story. Beginning-of-the-story Hannah has so many issues she needs to resolve, but I’d enjoy hanging out with end-of-story Hannah.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Vulnerable. Grieving. Brave.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I read a lot about PTSD so I could understand and write about Hannah and her child.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wait. No point in editing a scene that might get thrown out in a revision!
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I actually daydream about the peppercorn steak at el Gaucho in Tacoma, Washington.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
These days I mostly write at my kitchen island. I drink a lot of tea while I’m working, so I need to stay close to the kettle!
10--Who is an author you admire?
I admire writers like Patricia Highsmith who seem to magically convey intensity and drama with the fewest possible words.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
THE OBESITY CODE by Dr. Jason Fung totally changed my life and my health.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I had published two romance novels and ten mystery novels previously, but since THE BODY NEXT DOOR is my first thriller, in some ways I felt like I was starting over. I always seem to get important calls while I am driving one of my kids somewhere, and the call from my agent saying that I had an offer for THE BODY NEXT DOOR was no different! I was so excited I had to pull over.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I don’t have a single favorite genre. I read broadly in fiction and nonfiction. For me it’s all about what flavor I’m in the mood for, so at any given time I’m in the middle of four or five different books.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I actually dislike my birthday. Is that weird? It just reminds me of my own mortality. So I always hope people won’t remember, but because I have sweet people in my life, they never do! Chocolate, though - that gets me through the day.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I loved Bodkin on Netflix. It’s about a motley trio making a true crime podcast in an Irish village and it’s an absolute treat.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I love to eat, so I really can’t pick one! If it’s fresh and well-seasoned, sign me up.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I love to hike, and I also love to bake. I FINALLY figured out how to make flaky pie crust, so I’ve been doing fruit pies and tarts lately.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I just finished writing another domestic thriller with an uncanny twist about a woman who suspects that her tradwife momfluencer neighbor is linked to a series of gruesome occult crimes.
A Novel
They buried their secrets, but not deep enough…
Hannah McCullough’s life is far from perfect, but you’d never know it by looking at her. Instead, you’d see a beautiful young mother wholly devoted to her two children and a docile wife utterly besotted with her self-made millionaire husband, Allan. You’d see the designer clothes she wears, the luxury car she drives, the dewy-eyed au pair she employs.
You wouldn’t see the dark secret she carries.
But when a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can’t seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep, in places she knows she shouldn’t.
As the police investigation into the gruesome discovery deepens, the facade of Hannah’s picture-perfect marriage starts to crumble, and she soon finds herself on a dire hunt for answers. And Hannah’s search takes an unexpected turn after she crosses paths with three strangers with shocking secrets of their own.
Thriller Domestic | Thriller Psychological [MIRA, On Sale: August 6, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780778310419 / eISBN: 9780369749536]
Maia Chance writes historical mystery novels that are rife with absurd predicaments and romantic adventure. She is the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal series (SNOW WHITE RED-HANDED, CINDERELLA SIX FEET UNDER, BEAUTY BEAST AND BELLADONNA) and the 1920's New York-set Discreet Retrieval Agency series (COME HELL OR HIGHBALL).
2016 titles include Discreet Retrieval Agency #2, TEETOTALED. Maia lives in Bellingham, WA, where she shakes a killer martini, grows a mean radish, and bakes mocha bundts to die for.
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