Ask the Author: Vicki Pettersson
Answered Questions (4)
Vicki Pettersson
I'm afraid that's a new writer to me. I'll go look him up as a recommendation, though! Thanks!
Vicki Pettersson
Hi Cheron! Thank you for writing. It's good to see your pixels. Actually I'm writing a proposal for my next thriller now and really loving the characters and world. That entails three full chapters and a synopsis and even once it's done he'll have to see it before we can set a date. That's all long tail stuff and something that has to be endured when you do actually take time to hop off the treadmill. You lose all momentum.
In the meantime, however, I did write an entire novel in 16 just to see if I still wanted to, and it got me excited about craft and stories again. I'm going to talk about that on September 9th in my google chat with the Pixel Project (a non-profit that works to help stop violence against women and girls. ).
So if you're able to catch that (6 pm PST) I will reveal all, but even if not you'll find out the next day. I'm super exited about it.
Thanks again for poking me. I've been traveling and hiking and family-omg (what? That's an action word!) and just filling the well in general and now I'm brimming with words, happy to make pages once again.
In the meantime, however, I did write an entire novel in 16 just to see if I still wanted to, and it got me excited about craft and stories again. I'm going to talk about that on September 9th in my google chat with the Pixel Project (a non-profit that works to help stop violence against women and girls. ).
So if you're able to catch that (6 pm PST) I will reveal all, but even if not you'll find out the next day. I'm super exited about it.
Thanks again for poking me. I've been traveling and hiking and family-omg (what? That's an action word!) and just filling the well in general and now I'm brimming with words, happy to make pages once again.
Vicki Pettersson
Hi Cindy--first, BIG apologies for the v. belated reply. I haven't checked in on GR in a while. Second, thank you so much! I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed SWERVE so much. I have the usual recommendations such as Dean Koontz (INTENSITY is v. close in tone to SWERVE--or vice versa, as his came first!) and Stephen King (his short stories are masterful as well!). For voice, DEAR DAUGHTER and LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE are, like, second generation GONE GIRL. Really great reads. Dennis Lehane's Kenzie/Genaro series starting with A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR is mystery rather than psych thriller, but super gritty and dark. Plus, I love the protag. Does that help at all? If you come across something you really love, please let me know! I'm always looking for good, twisty new reads! Best to you!
Vicki Pettersson
Writing SWERVE actually started as a pure technical challenge. I was finishing up my previous trilogy, starting to think forward to my next project, and I thought, Hmm. What would be the hardest book in the world to write? I actually said that to my husband. What would even other commercial fiction authors consider technically hard? I mean, I didn’t have a new contract on the horizon, nobody was waiting for me to write something specific, so I felt like I could do whatever I wanted. After nine novels in which I’d had to do complex world building, fully realized mysteries, and hard action I felt like I could use those tools to tackle something completely new.
So I decided that for me the hardest book to write would be:
1) a big, propulsive thriller, because the reader is looking, almost daring, for you to thrill them.
2) But not just any thriller. I wanted a true edge of your seat, cat-and-mouse, one-sitting read. I wanted it to be a very insular, almost claustrophobic book despite the wide-open desert setting, with essentially only two characters in the entire novel, and the scales tipping back and forth between them from one page to the next.
3) I wanted to put the reader in a chokehold (no offense!), a la Dean Koontz, but I wanted to see a female lead. I wanted her action and agency driving the narrative because that’s what I enjoy reading: strong women.
4) It also couldn’t have any supernatural elements because I’d done that before. If Kristine (my protagonist) was going to prevail, she was going to have to do so as an Everywoman. This was harder than I thought, and not because I couldn’t depend on paranormal elements to augment her skills, but because when you write an Everywoman, then every single woman reading it is thinking, “What would I do if that were me?” So your character’s actions better remain true. If the reader is thinking, “Why wouldn’t she just pick up the phone? Why wouldn’t she just call for help?” then you’d better have a very good reason why that can’t happen.
5) Finally, I’d never written a stand-alone novel, so I threw that into the hopper as well.
As for the plot, SWERVE was conceived while I was driving from Las Vegas to California’s beach cities one summer. The I-15 really is one of the bleakest and most boring drives ever. It’s particularly brutal in the middle of June and July, which is when I generally try to escape Vegas’s heat for the cool kiss of the Pacific. So I was passing through these little desert towns, bored out of my gourd, and I thought, “What could possible make this worse?” And the worst thing I could come up with was having to make the drive while being chased by a relentless killer. I also hate desolate rest stops with every cell of my being. They freak me out and I’ll do anything to avoid them—and my bet is that most women feel the same—so I threw that in there, too.
Between that creative kernel, and the technical challenge, I was ready to write a book.
So I decided that for me the hardest book to write would be:
1) a big, propulsive thriller, because the reader is looking, almost daring, for you to thrill them.
2) But not just any thriller. I wanted a true edge of your seat, cat-and-mouse, one-sitting read. I wanted it to be a very insular, almost claustrophobic book despite the wide-open desert setting, with essentially only two characters in the entire novel, and the scales tipping back and forth between them from one page to the next.
3) I wanted to put the reader in a chokehold (no offense!), a la Dean Koontz, but I wanted to see a female lead. I wanted her action and agency driving the narrative because that’s what I enjoy reading: strong women.
4) It also couldn’t have any supernatural elements because I’d done that before. If Kristine (my protagonist) was going to prevail, she was going to have to do so as an Everywoman. This was harder than I thought, and not because I couldn’t depend on paranormal elements to augment her skills, but because when you write an Everywoman, then every single woman reading it is thinking, “What would I do if that were me?” So your character’s actions better remain true. If the reader is thinking, “Why wouldn’t she just pick up the phone? Why wouldn’t she just call for help?” then you’d better have a very good reason why that can’t happen.
5) Finally, I’d never written a stand-alone novel, so I threw that into the hopper as well.
As for the plot, SWERVE was conceived while I was driving from Las Vegas to California’s beach cities one summer. The I-15 really is one of the bleakest and most boring drives ever. It’s particularly brutal in the middle of June and July, which is when I generally try to escape Vegas’s heat for the cool kiss of the Pacific. So I was passing through these little desert towns, bored out of my gourd, and I thought, “What could possible make this worse?” And the worst thing I could come up with was having to make the drive while being chased by a relentless killer. I also hate desolate rest stops with every cell of my being. They freak me out and I’ll do anything to avoid them—and my bet is that most women feel the same—so I threw that in there, too.
Between that creative kernel, and the technical challenge, I was ready to write a book.
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