1--What is the title of your latest release?
WRONGFUL
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Ten years after the literary festival at which a horrible event occurred, a woman returns to the site to discover what really happened and who was responsible. It’s a twisty mystery where people are behaving badly. And it’s for anyone who has found themselves being wrong repeatedly and is anxious to forgive themselves.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I needed a location with a lush, wooded area. The state where I live now, Pennsylvania, seemed perfect. Also, sink holes—or the prospect of sink holes—is a feature of the location and of parts of Pennylvania.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes! I had to hang out with her for many pages already. She’s a great companion.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Persistent, loyal, haunted
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned a bit about entertainment agents and how they book acts.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I try not to do line edits until I have completed several pages of the draft, but then I keep going back to edit through multiple revisions. Generally, I write many versions until I finally feel there’s no more I can learn from the manuscript.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Chocolate!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I sometimes write at the dining room table—which is the same table I first wrote on as a child. I also write in my office at home. And sometimes I set up a table in the living room to enjoy the light there.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Iris Murdoch—for her absolute brilliance
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Emily Dickinson’s poetry was life-changing and life-affirming. Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac and Rachell Ingalls’s novel Mrs. Caliban were both inspiring when I began to hope I could write novel-length fiction—and they continue to inspire me.
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.
Jacob Smullyan, the intrepid publisher of Sagging Meniscus Press, contacted me through email after I sent him the manuscript of Wrongful. I’m forever grateful for his support.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Literary fiction with comic or supernatural or thriller elements
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Bertolucci’s 1900 and Hitchcock’s Vertigo are two favorites
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn, when so much is ripening and changing
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Going out to dinner with my family and thinking about what new writing project would be intriguing to pursue
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The novel, The Safekeep, by Yael Van Der Mouden. An absolutely beautiful, pitch perfect novel with the most gorgeous, evocative prose. I also admire Fine by John Patrick Higgins. It’s a very funny novel, with the most telling and sometimes devastating reflections on loneliness and ambition.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Belgian chocolates!
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I like to dance—not in front of anyone. Alone. In my room.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
WRONGFUL is out in May 2025. In 2026 two of my novels will be published: TABITHA, STAY UP, a sequel to my 2024 comic novel TABITHA, GET UP; and THE WITHERS, literary fiction that’s also a thriller—about a woman attempting to save her friends from roving bands of organ traffickers. That sounds grim, but THE WITHERS is also about love and includes one of the world’s best dogs. My other novel, TABITHA, STAY UP, came about because I missed writing in the voice of Tabitha from my first novel, TABITHA, GET UP Tabitha is a character who tries hard to get out of bed and be useful and who creates for herself plenty of trouble. I had such fun writing in her voice that I couldn’t deny myself that pleasure again.
When the famous novelist Mira Wallacz goes missing at the festival devoted to celebrating her work, the attendees assume the worst—and some hope for the worst. Ten years after the festival, Geneva Finch, an ideal reader, sets out to discover the truth about what happened to Mira Wallacz. A twisty literary mystery dealing with duplicity, envy, betrayal, and love between an entertainment agent and a self-deprecating former priest, Wrongful explores the many ways we can get everything wrong, time and again, even after we’re certain we discovered the truth.
Mystery Woman Sleuth [Sagging Meniscus Press, On Sale: May 1, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781963846218 / eISBN: 9781963846225]
Lee Upton’s poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Poetry, and in many other journals as well as three editions of Best American Poetry. She is the author of books of poetry, fiction, and literary criticism.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy