LISA GARDNER WITH ANDREW GROSS ON EYES WIDE OPEN
Lisa Gardner is the NYT #1 bestselling author of fourteen thrillers and mysteries including Live to Tell and Love You More.
Lisa: First, the question I’ve always wanted to ask another author: where do you get your ideas?
Andy: IT'S JUST THAT IF I TOLD YOU I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU LISA, AND YOU'RE SO NICE.... ACTUALLY, AS WE BOTH KNOW, THAT PROCESS VARIES, AND EVERY AUTHOR HAS THEIR OWN PATH. YOU JUST PRAY LIKE HELL THAT THEY COME WHEN YOU NEED THEM!!!!
FOR ME, THIS IS THE HARDEST PART OF WHAT I DO. THE ACTUAL WRITING COMES A LOT EASIER! IN MY LAST THREE BOOKS I TOOK CONSPIRATORIAL HEADLINES FROM THE NEWS-- IRAQ WAR SCANDALS, PEOPLE WHO USED 9/11 TO DISAPPEAR FROM THEIR PAST LIFE; THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN-- AND WRAPPED THEM AROUND MORE LOCAL AND PERSONAL TRAGEDIES-- A HARROWING HOME INVASION GONE WRONG OR A WIFE WHO WAKES UP ONE DAY TO FIND HER DEAD HUSBAND OF EIGHTEEN YEARS WASN'T AT ALL THE PERSON SHE THOUGHT SHE KNEW-- STORIES THAT I THOUGHT COULD ACHIEVE THE EMOTIONAL RESONANCE I STRIVE FOR IN MY BOOKS.
EYES WIDE OPEN, WHICH COMES OUT JULY 12, TOOK SHAPE FROM TWO REAL LIFE EVENTS STRAIGHT FROM MY OWN PAST. ONE WAS THE SUICIDE OF MY YOUNG NEPHEW, A VERY TROUBLED KID, WHO WAS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF A FAMOUS CLIFF IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. AND THEN A CHANCE ENCOUNTER FORTY YEARS AGO WITH NONE OTHER THAN CHARLES MANSON! YOU'LL HAVE TO READ IT TO SEE HOW THESE STORIES LINK.
BLIND CURVE, THE BOOK I'M WORKING ON NOW, SPRANG FROM A CRAZY INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED TO ME LAST YEAR WHILE ON BOOK TOUR-- WHERE I WAS PULLED OUT OF MY CAR FOR A MINOR TRAFFIC INCIDENT, THEN IT ESCALATED AND I WAS THROWN IN CUFFS AND TOLD I WAS GOING TO JAIL. EXCEPT IN MY STORY, THE HERO DOESN'T GET OFF AS EASILY!
SO AS LONG AS THESE EVENTS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME, I'LL BE IN GOOD SHAPE!
Lisa: Your last novel, Reckless, was a “ripped from the headlines” sort of novel, whereas Eyes Wide Open draws from events in your life. What prompted you to pull from your personal experiences this time around, and how hard was that to write?
Andy: IT'S MUCH, MUCH, MUCH HARDER TO WRITE A STORY FROM YOUR OWN LIFE THAT AFFECTS REAL PEOPLE, AND SOME OF THEM PEOPLE YOU CARE FOR. ESPECIALLY AS WITH MY BROTHER, WHO HAVE GONE THRU A REAL TRAGIC TIME, BLAMING THEMSELVES... ON THE OTHER HAND, IT'S A MUCH MORE ENRICHING AND REWARDING STORY, AND IT RINGS WITH THE DETAIL AND REOSNANCE OF REAL LIFE. I WANTED TO WRITE A POIGNANT, PERSONAL TESTAMENT TO MY NEPHEW THAT WAS ALSO A THRILLER, USING A THEME I SEEM TO CARRY FROM BOOK TO BOOK-- A FAMILY HIDING A SECRET PAST, IN THIS CASE, REVOLVING AROUND TEENAGE SUICIIDE, SONS WHO FIGHT AGAINST THEIR FATHERS, THE LA ROCK SCENE IN THE 60'S, AND AN APPEARANCE WITH THAT MANSON-LIKE FIGURE. HOPEFULLY WHAT CAME OUT IS A CHILLING, AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, AND SATISFYING TALE FILLED WITH THE KIND OF RICHNESS AND FAMILY LORE THAT YOU USUALLY FIND IN A MEMOIR. SO WHILE ITS' TOUGH, AND AWKWARD, AND YOU KNOW YOU MAY NOT PLEASE EVERYONE, TO ME, IT BECAME MORE REWARDING IN THE END.
Lisa: OK, so you mentioned that as a child you had a passing encounter with Charles Manson, which helped inspire Eyes Wide Open. Say what?
Andy: OKAY. IT'S KIND OF A HEADLINE, BECAUSE EYES WIDE OPEN ISN'T A BOOK ABOUT MANSON, BUT IT DOES PLAY A CHILLING BACKDROP IN THE BOOK. THE STORY IS MY DAD MOVED OUT TO LA IN THE 60'S AND MY OLDER BROTHER, A WAYWARD SPIRIT TRYING TO BECOME A MUSICIAN, WAS OUT THERE TOO, AND TOOK UP RESIDENCE ON THE SPAHN RANCH, WHERE MANSON LIVED. CHARLIE WAS TRYING TO GET HIS MUSIC PRODUCED AS WELL. SO THE TWO OF THEM CAME UP TO MY FATHER'S PLACE ONE DAY AND TRY AND SELL MY DAD ON ANTEING UP FOR A DEMO. HE WAS GAUNT, QUIET, CREEPY, AND YES, THOSE DARK EYES. THOUGH REMEMBER, CHARLIE MANSON HADN'T BECOME CHARLIE MANSON YET! THE SCENE EVENTUALLY TURNED UGLY-- DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK, AND THEY LEFT ANGRY AND HUMIILIATED. FOR YEARS MY DAD ALWAYS INSISTED THAT THE CLAN WENT UP INTO THE CANYONS THAT NIGHT LOOKING TO PAY HIM BACK FOR WHAT TOOK PLACE, BUT GOT LOST IN THE LA HILLS AND ENDED UP AT SHARON TATE'S. TRUTH WAS, BY THAT TIME MY BROTHER WAS LONG GONE AND OF COURSE THERE WERE OTHER REASONS THE MANSON CLAN ENDED UP THERE. BUT IT MAKES A CHILLING SCENE!
Lisa: Having followed your novels since The Dark Tide, I’ve noticed that you’re drawn to stories involving complex family dynamics. What is it about this theme that resonates so strongly for you, and how has your own experience as a father influenced your writing?
Andy: I DON'T LIKE WRITING STRAIGHT-UP THRILLERS. I LIKE WRITING ABOUT FAMILIES HURLED INTO CRISIS AND DANGER-- SOCCER MOMS AND REGUALR DADS AND HUSBANDS WHO ARE, SAY, HEDGE FUND MANAGERS AND HAVE ONE FOOT ON THE SIDESLINES WATCHING THEIR KIDS AND THE OTHER IN NEFARIOUS COVERUPS AND CONSPIRACIES. THESE ARE THE "REAL LIFE" STORIES THAT INTRIGUE ME AND PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR THE EMOTIONAL COMPLEXITY I'M LOOKING FOR. AND AS FOR BEING A DAD, IT MAKES YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WOULD DO-- BASICALLY ANTHING-- TO SAVE YOUR OWN FAMILY. AND HOW CREEPY AND EVIL ONE HAS TO BE TO BETRAY THEIRS!
Lisa: One thriller writer to another, what draws you to suspense—and what’s your favorite thing about thrillers?
Andy: YOU KNOW WHAT, LISA, YOU CAN MAKE A STRONG CASE THAT THRILLER WRITING IS THE SINGLE MOST RELEVENT GENRE OF FICTION BEING WRITTEN TODAY, BECAUSE IT REFLECTS THE TRUE CONFLICTS AND CRISES AND STORIES THAT WE READ EVERY DAY IN THE NEWS AND THAT SHAPE OUR WORLD. AND THAT THE PEOPLE WHO COME TO OUR CRAFT AREN''T JUST GRADUATE STUDENTS, OR MFA CANDIDATES OR TEACHERS, BUT CIA AGENTS AND JOURNALISTS AND DOCTORS AND LAWYERS- AND THEIR EXPERIENCES IN LIFE INFORMS THEIR WORK. AS FOR SUSPENSE-- I LIKE TO WRITE BOOKS THAT DRAW YOU INTO THE HEROS PLIGHT FROM THE OPENING PAGES, WHERE PEOPLE PUT THEIR LIFE ON THE LINE FOR SOMETHING-- A BELIEF, A FAMILY MEMBER, THE TRUTH. I'M ACTUALLY MORE INTO HEROISM THAN EVIL-- BUT IT'S HARD TO HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER AND WHEN THEIR ARCS MEET--- AND THEY CLASH... WELL, THERE'S SUSPENSE!
Lisa: Without giving too much away, what’s your favorite scene in Eyes Wide Open?
Andy: WELL,THERE ARE MANY, BECAUSE THE CHARACTERS ARE BASED ON PEOPLE I KNOW, BUT WITHOUT DOUBT, MY EVERYMAN HERO, JAY ERLICH, A DOCTOR FROM WESTCHESTER TRYING TO FIND THE TRUTH BEHIND HIS NEPHEW'S SUICIDE, PUTTING HIS SUCCESSFUL LIFE ON THE LINE, GOES TO THE SUPER-MAX PELICAN BAY PRISON TO SEE THE LONG INCARCERTED MANSON-LIKE MURDERER, RUSSELL HOUVNANIAN. . AND THE THING THAT MAKES IT REALLY CREEPY, AND HARD TO WRITE, WAS THAT TO BE CREDIBLE, THIS CHARACTER, HOUVNANIAN, HAD TO BE SMARTER THAN MY HERO, SMARTER THAN THE VERY SMART DETECTIVE WHO ACCOMPANIES HIM, EVEN SMARTER THAN THE READER!!!! OH YEAH, THE AUTHOR TOO. BUT WHEN IT'S PULLED OFF, AND I HOPE I DID, IT'S A KILLER SCENE.
Lisa: You wrote six New York Times bestsellers with James Patterson. Dish. What was it like to work with Jim, and how much more fun is it to control everything yourself?
Andy: HA! JIM AND I GOT ALONG FINE; HE'S AN AMZING IDEA GUY, HIS INSTINCTS FOR PLOT ARE FINELY HONED, AND I THINK HE MIGHT EVEN SAY HIMSELF THAT HE'S A MORE ADEPT EDITOR THAN A WRITER. I ALWAYS DESCRIBE IT AS A MFA AND MBA IN THRILLER MANAGEMENT ROLLED INTO ONE. I LEARNED ALOT OF THINGS ABOUT HOW TO CRAFT A THRILLER THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN YEARS TO LEARN ON MY OWN-- AND HOW TO PUT THEM IN MY OWN STYLE. I'M HONESTLY PROUD OF THE SIX BOOKS WE DID TOGETHER,ALL WHICH WENT TO NUMBER ONE. BUT YES, I'M KIND OF A CONTROL GUY-- HOW DID YOU KNOW???? TO HIS CREDIT, JIM LET ME HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL SHARE OF CONTROL ON THE BOOKS WE DID-- PROBABLY A LOT MORE THAN I WOULD HAVE. HE'S A MUCH MORE EVOLVED MANAGER THAN ME! AND ALL THESE BOOKS LATER, I STILL KINDA MISS HIM, CALLING HIM UP, RUNNING A PLOT IDEA BY HIM.. I MEAN, IS THERE A BETTER PERSON IN THE WORLD TO BOUNCE AN IDEA OFF OF.... BUT I ALSO LIKE IT WHEN THE CHECKS ARE MADE OUT SOLELY TO ME!
Lisa: Now tell me the truth—least favorite part of writing, and you can only choose one.
Andy: EASY-- THIS IS BECOMING A BIT OF A RUNNING THEME HERE: LOSS OF CONTROL! YOU SHAPE YOUR BABY FROM THE INITIAL BIRTH OF AN IDEA; LIVE WITH IT DAILY, WATCH IT GROW LIKE A CHILD INTO A FULLY- DIMENSIONAL THING AND YOU FEEL YOU KNOW IT BETTER THAN ANYBODY.... THEN YOU TURN IT OVER AND PUT IT OUT INTO THE WORLD AND BETWEEN THE COVER, THE MARKETING, THE RESENTATION AT RETAIL AND THE SALES, IT ALL TAKES PLACE WITHOUT YOU BEING ABLE TO CONTROL ITS DESTINY A SINGLE LICK! AND BY THAT TIME, YOU'RE ALREADY HALFWAY INTO THE NEXT ONE ANYWAY!
Lisa: Finally, what do you want readers to take away from reading Eyes Wide Open and congrats on another great novel!
Andy: THANKS LISA. WHAT I WOULD HAVE THEM TAKE AWAY IS THAT EYES WIDE OPEN IS NOT ONLY A THRILLING READ, IT'S ALSO AN ENGROSSING, EMOTIONAL FAMILY STORY-- ABOUT A FAMILY WITH A DARK HISTORY AND THE DEPTH IT WILL GO TO PROTECT THAT SECRET. ITS ALSO ABOUT TWO BROTHERS, ONE WAYWARD, THE OTHER SUCCESSFUL, AND HOW THEY TRY TO BRIDGE THE GAP THAT TORE THEM APART. IT READS LIKE A PERSONAL MEMOIR CHOCKED WITH THRILLS. AND ITS MY FAMILY STORY. SO GREAT TO BE WITH YOU TODAY! I WAS A BIG FAN OF LOVE YOU MORE. IT'S BEEN ALOT OF FUN!!!!
