January 2024
An interview with Heather Levy, a new cover for The Hurricane Blonde, and a Truman Capote short story
What’s new
Hello again, and happy New Year! This month has been a whirlwind and next month I’m off to FRAAANCE where I will be:
Eating every croissant in sight.
Researching and knocking out a chunk of book 3.
In the meantime, I have this lovely review of The Hurricane Blonde to share from Valerie J. Brooks, and published in Mystery & Suspense. My favorite lines:
Sutton digs deep into the Hollywood story, planting The Hurricane Blonde firmly in noir, where the mystery is solved, but justice doesn’t prevail. A captivating and disturbing page-turner.
Also! The UK version of The Hurricane Blonde has a new cover for its mass market paperback edition, and I love it! All three of the covers I’ve had for this book have been truly gorgeous in their own unique ways—I feel very lucky.
Heather Levy is a born and bred Oklahoman and graduate of Oklahoma City University’s Red Earth MFA program for creative writing. The New York Times called her Anthony-nominated debut Walking Through Needles “a spellbinding novel at the nexus of power, desire, and abuse that portends a bright future” and the L.A. Times called it “a standout for its frank but sensitive exploration of trauma and desire.”
Her novels, including the forthcoming Hurt for Me and This Violent Heart, focus on kink-positive stories centered around complex women. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, two kids, and three murderous cats.
Readers can follow her on X and IG @heatherllevy and explore her website at www.heatherlevywriter.com.
What tabs do you currently have open on your computer?
I’m not big on having a ton of tabs open, but I do have some I keep open all the time, including KGOU, my local NPR streaming station, my kids’ school parent site for notifications, and a custom vintage style dress I’ve wanted since forever on Heartmycloset but have yet to order because *life*.
Right now, the only writing related tab I have open is one I’ve kept for years from when I was researching Scandinavian folklore. My dad’s side is Norwegian, and I’ve always wanted to write a psychological horror based on a huldra, a seductive forest creature, but in the modern world. It’ll happen some day! [Ed. note: Well, now I need this immediately.]
Where do you go to refill your creative well?
Nature, however and wherever I can find it, allows me to stay connected with the world when ninety percent of the time I’m in my head. Nothing is as creative as nature. Whatever I create in life will never compare, which, for some reason, lifts some of the pressure I place on myself to be a perfectionist. Nature helps me see the beauty in imperfection.
Tell me about the last internet rabbit hole you went down.
Oh, I love me a rabbit hole! I can’t talk about my last-last search since it would giveaway a plot point in my next book This Violent Heart, which I’m still drafting. But I can say I typically go down rabbit holes with actors, especially if there’s something about an actor that speaks to a character I’m writing.
My last actor rabbit hole was over Harris Dickinson. I’ve been watching “A Murder at the End of the World,” and his character has this intriguing vulnerability and emotional intelligence, and I see those traits in my character Keaton in This Violent Heart. I’m always interested in switching gender expectations when it comes to relationships and how characters will react in emotional situations.
What's a book or movie or piece of art or other you wish you'd created?
There are way too many books to count I wish I had created, so I’ll go with a movie. When I watched Emily, I didn’t expect much from the movie. I was ill with COVID and it was near Christmas, so I was looking for a film to have on in the background as I lay congested as hell on the couch sipping tea. What I discovered was a movie about resilience and what it means to be a creative person, to be free in a way even if other parts of your life hold you hostage. My snotty ass was a blubbering mess by the end.
What backlist book (published at least two years ago) would you like to recommend?
Paulette Kennedy’s historic gothic fiction debut Parting the Veil immediately made me think of Daphne du Maurier. Her writing is a living, breathing thing, and her subsequent books just get better and better. Her newest, The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, which is out in March, secured her as one of my favorite authors to come on the scene in the last decade. [Ed. note: For real, the way I *ran* to add these both to my cart…]
What would you like to shamelessly plug?
My upcoming sexy thriller Hurt for Me out February 1st! I love the characters in this book so damn much, and it was the most fun I’ve ever had writing a novel.
[Ed. note: I am beyond thrilled to be moderating a launch event with Heather and my friend Layne Fargo for HURT FOR ME! We’ll be doing a virtual event for the Once Upon a Crime bookstore to celebrate Heather’s release on Feb. 1 at 7pm. Join us for free!)
When do you know when an idea has enough juice to become a novel, rather than a shorter piece?
When I start dreaming about the characters and scenes or stay up way too late jotting notes in my phone, I know I have a novel. If I can see it play out as a film in my mind from start to finish, I’m more confident I can make it happen on the page. If I can’t picture it, it’s dead in the water, and I try to let it go and move on.
Which book would you most like to live inside?
Daphne du Maurier’s My Cousin Rachel is lush and ominously seductive. It’s everything I admire about writing and hope to create in my own way within my work.
Backlist beauties
Recommending: The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated) by Ainslie Hogarth
Year Published: 2015
I’m currently reading The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated) by Ainslie Hogarth, who you may know from her book Motherthing that was absolutely everywhere about a year ago. I loved Hogarth’s use of language throughout—sharp, funny, original—and so eagerly grabbed this predecessor, and I am not disappointed.
This book is I believe classified Young Adult, although it definitely feels older, and is straight horror—sort of a take on a found-footage horror novel, with a diary providing clues to an infamous (unsolved? semi-solved?) murder at the Boy Meets Girl Inn. But even within the diary, there’s layers of commentary—first from a detective obsessed with the case, then with a movie producer eager to capitalize on the tragedy.
Very dark, and very, very fun!
My open tabs
This month I am:
Re-reading this Truman Capote short story about murder among the VERY rich in order to prep for that Swans show, the actual title of which I cannot be bothered to look up.
Doing a deep dive into Leonor Fini’s surrealist art and her wild life.
Wishing my mom a happy birthday—today, actually! Kimmy K, the myth, the legend, I love you!
So thrilled for Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow nominated for the Lillian Jackson Braun Memorial Award through Mystery Writers of America! Congrats, Jennifer!
Still obsessed with wrestling, still reading everything about the Von Erichs after watching the movie Iron Claw. The Tiny Sex Chef must’ve gone *straight* from this set to his internet-exploding Calvin Klein ad, yes?1
Considering this great article a primer on the idea that, just because you are oblivious to the harm you perpetuate, does not mean you’re not responsible for it. In this case, this article is about Hollywood’s power abuses, but the idea can be applied quite universally.
Recommending the substack, Cherchez La Femme, to you! (Link below.) Melanie Anagnos created a Substack about the history, and context, of two seminal Playboy magazine issues, using them as focal points to dive into how attitudes about women, sexuality, and feminism have changed—or haven’t—since the 1970s.
Can’t link to it, NSFW. ;)
Love the UK cover for "The Hurricane Blonde” It was a great read. And many thanks for the shout out on my Substack. Very much appreciated.
And so green with envy that you're heading to France, my heart country. Hope you post lots of photos on social media.