May 2023

The Blonde goes abroad, an interview with E.A. Aymar, and does Jude Law really act better when he smells like 💩?

What’s new

I’m so thrilled to share that The Hurricane Blonde will be published in the United Kingdom by Allison & Busby on August 8! And with that publication comes a gorgeous new cover, that I’m so excited to share with you in this cover reveal video (how fancy, UK, I see you!).

Also, the first trade review for The Hurricane Blonde is in from Publisher’s Weekly and they liked it!

“Sutton’s gritty sophomore effort…immerses readers in the underbelly of Hollywood…[The] atmosphere, plus intriguing true Hollywood lore about Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate, and other stars who’ve died tragically, keeps the pages turning. This is an acid-washed treat for fans of L.A. noir.”

The full review will be available in the 6/12 issue of the publication.

Also a reminder you can request a digital galley of The Hurricane Blonde on NetGalley here. And if you’re feeling extra supportive, here are steps to requesting your local library stock a book.

Interview with E. A. Aymar

Anthony Award-nominated E.A. Aymar’s most recent thriller, No Home for Killers, received praise from the New York Times, Kirkus, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and was an instant Amazon Bestseller. His previous thriller, They’re Gone, was published to rave reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus (starred), and named one of the best books of 2020 by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

He is a former member of the national board of the International Thriller Writers and is an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Sisters in Crime. He runs the DC Noir at the Bar series, was born in Panama and now lives and writes in, and generally about, the DC/MD/VA triangle.

What was the last piece of art—book, show, movie, whatever—that made you want to create something?
Absolutely no one is going to relate to this, but I was doing a deep dive of some of my favorite posse cuts from rappers (songs where rappers each pass the mic from person to person, usually after 16 or so bars, is anyone still reading???), and I found myself longing to collaborate on something cool and unusual.

I once co-edited and wrote a story for this project called The Night of the Flood, where a bunch of writers each wrote a story after a flood hit a small town, describing the chaos and mayhem from different POVs, and I really loved it. I'm ACHING to do a cool project like that again, but it's really hard with schedules and deadlines. But I love both the competition and companionship that comes with collaboration - how both are intertwined and extended and, with The Flood, there was such a cool vibe of working with kickass writers. I see projects like Young Rich Widows and I'm envious. I want to build a castle in a sandbox like that. [Editor’s note: Now I do, too!]

Anyway, if you want an example of a cool posse cut, check out this entrypoint from the Hamilton mixtape, especially the verse from Snow tha Product.

What factors have to come together for you to feel your most creative?
My favorite rapper has this line he occasionally revisits - "life, love, stress, and setbacks." And fans of his often have the words tattooed down their arms and shout it out at his concerts and, because of that and because of the simplicity of the words, it's taken deeper resonance to me. I don't think each of those four elements is necessary, simultaneously, for me to produce my best writing, but I will say that my best writing has often come when one was present.

What do you think people would be most surprised to discover you're obsessed with? 

Lemax Christmas Villages. I know people see me as this bad-boy sex-symbol, like most 48-year-old married dads, but I have an unironic love of decorating and celebrating Christmas. And I have this Christmas Village that I painstakingly arrange every year on our fireplace hearth. My wife doesn't find this remotely charming, and doesn't buy my argument that it's a better hobby than, like, fentanyl. Especially since the Christmas Village is probably more expensive and there is no cure on the horizon.

What are you craving to see (or see more of) in books, movies, tv, or other art?

I'm going to sound very pervy saying this, at first, but I need more well-written sex in crime fiction. I've been such a fan of the character-driven stories by writers like May Cobb and Jennifer Hillier and you [Editor’s note: Flattered!], where sexuality isn't an embarrassment or a minor plot detail.

I was talking with my friend Eliza Nellums about it (another great writer) and I think this is part of the welcome change in crime fiction that's bringing new voices from women and writers-of-color and queer writers and other people who have been marginalized. It's about identity, and more focused on character than the crime itself, and I think writers daring to discuss sex and sexuality is part of that.

I hate when writers "pull the camera away" as characters kiss. Sex is revealing in so many ways, and it's a disservice to our readers and our characters when we're afraid to show it (especially when it's written well which, again, tends to come from women or queer writers, rather than straight men).

Which book would you most like to live inside? 

Definitely not one of the books I write, or that my friends write. That's for damn sure. I guess at the risk of sounding Christmas Village-y, I think I'd want to live in some sort of childrens' book? Like a lot of writers, I lost myself in books as a kid, and they offered this gentle safe space that I returned to (and reread) countless times.

I remember loving these "Myth" books by Robert Asprin or an "Adventure" series of books by a guy named Willard Price, and I read those books until the glue came loose and the pages fell out. And I loved the Peanuts cartoons. I remember how scared I was the night before I started high school, and I pulled the covers over my head and pulled out my flashlight and read those cartoons for comfort. I especially loved the neighborhoods — quiet with houses in the distance and sidewalks and spots of grass. I know that type of world isn't real — or if it is, only in moments. But those are lovely moments.

My open tabs

This month I am:

• Reading the true story behind the Dead Ringers reboot.

• Contemplating a beautiful poem and mortality and also, the death machines that are lawn mowers.

• Still never surprised by Method Acting insanity and also very glad that film is not an olfactory medium.

• Loving The Marginalian, as always, and especially this entry on enchantment and making art by W.H. Auden.

• Going down a Twitter thread rabbit hole on the making of The Shining.