Erin Flanagan
Author Interview - Erin Flanagan
Author of Come with Me
Two women. An old friendship rekindled. A growing fear. Not everything is as it seems in a dark and twisty novel of suspense by the Edgar Award–winning author of Deer Season.
Gwen Maner is a widowed single mom, returning to her Ohio hometown with her daughter. And thanks to former acquaintance Nicola Kimmel, this is the start of Gwen’s new and promising life.
Nicola’s secured Gwen a lucrative job, rented Gwen a house on her same street, and won the heart of Gwen’s daughter, but she almost seems too good to be true. She’s so selfless. So charismatic. And so take-charge. Gwen is sure Nicola is yearning only for someone to get close to. After all, according to Nicola, her marriage is falling apart, and her best friend just up and left one day.
But how well does Gwen really know Nicola? What does Nicola ultimately want? As their lives become more entwined, and Nicola’s grip tightens, Gwen begins to think that Nicola isn’t helping Gwen and her daughter but vying for control of every aspect of her life. And the consequences may be deadly.
Author Interview - Erin Flanagan
Author I draw inspiration from:
There are so many! But two writers who I always love and can’t wait to read are Curtis Sittenfeld and Elizabeth McCracken. One way they both inspire me is that they seem to write the books they really want to write. Both of them had great success with their debut novels. I think this could have ended with them being stifled to do the same thing over and over, but it seems instead it gave them leeway to decide the paths of their careers. Nonfiction, stories, novels, historical novels, romcoms—you name it, they’ve written it. I like that both these women writers take risks, and because they’re genuinely excited about the projects, they pay off.
Eligible by Sittenfeld is a fave. It’s a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice that takes place in Cincinnati which is close to where I live. And I also really loved American Wife, which is a fictionalization of Laura Bush. I would not have guessed I would love Mrs. Bush, but here we are. And for McCracken, it has to be The Giant’s House. I read that book straight through to the middle of the night, and I don’t know if it was sleep deprivation or what, but at one point I identified with the main character so much I had the irrational thought, can the author see me right now? I’ll never forget that.
Author Interview - Erin Flanagan | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Reading chair in my office, on my sister’s couch with her reading next to me, or on an airplane in the aisle seat.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
This is such a cheat, but I’ll say Elizabeth McCracken’s unnamed narrator in The Hero of this Book, which is basically McCracken herself.
She is so funny and whip smart and observant. I’d love to be around her, but she scares me too. What would she figure out about me that I can’t see? I would try desperately to make her laugh. I’m guessing she’s a great laugher.
Author Interview - Erin Flanagan | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I remember writing a story in undergrad and really chasing the high. It was that pits damp kind of feeling where I knew the perfect ending for the story was right around the corner, and it was. It felt like nailing the landing after a very complicated gymnast routine, and I wanted to feel it again and again.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I like audiobooks for romance, memoir, and essay collections. I like paperbacks for books I’m teaching so I can take notes, and PDFs of books I’m reviewing so I can search for key phrases and words. But it’s mainly ebooks for everything else. My kindle is never more than two feet away.
I don’t have the upper body strength for hardbacks anymore (laughs). They strike me as unwieldy, and I hate having to use a light in bed rather than the backlit kindle paperwhite.
The last book I read:
This week I finished Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott.
Both were fantastic! Yellowface looks at all the jealously, pettiness, and insanity that writers experience in publishing (which is very different than the writing itself) and every Abbott book is a master class in using every detail.
Author Interview - Erin Flanagan | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer! I am a very messy writer and a very fast typer, so these things combine in me getting a lot of words and pages quickly. When I write by hand, I think too much. It’s better for me to have my hands flying.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Here's the issue: almost all the characters I really love in books are troublemakers--those who stir things up and move the plot forward and aren't afraid to take risks and make a scene. I need a friend who will sit quietly on the couch with me and read these books, not try to get me arrested.
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Someone who organizes things but has little power. In my academic life, those are the service jobs I’m most drawn to. If things need to get done, be on a calendar, be explained, and follow a process, I’m your gal. But I don't want to make decisions that are going to make people mad at me, which is where the "no power" comes in.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I am very happy in this post-COVID yoga pants phase where tennies have replaced heels.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Forth Worth, Texas, where my best friend lives.
My signature drink:
The family signature drink is the Kenneth, named after my father, Ken. It’s a very heavy pour of Lord Calvert Whiskey followed by a splash of Sprite. Clyle drinks these in my novel Deer Season.
Favorite artist:
Rachel Bloom, co-creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. This is my favorite TV show ever, and one of the best explorations I’ve seen of mental health. The main character in the show, Rebecca Bunch, is a great example of a character I love but don't necessarily want to be friends with in real life.
Number one on my bucket list:
I have a very lame bucket list. My husband was in London recently for work and I joined him for a few days. He asked me what I wanted to do and I was like, go to Costco? Which we did, and it was wonderful. They have the hotdog and soda for 1.50 pounds. Really what I want to do is spend my time with family. That’s my bucket list right now.
Anything else you'd like to add:
Thank you so much for hosting me in your interview series!
Find more from the author:
https://twitter.com/ErinLFlanagan
https://www.instagram.com/erinlflanagan/
https://erinflanagan.net/
About Erin Flanagan:
Erin Flanagan is the author of two story collections and three novels including Deer Season, winner of the 2022 Edgar for Best First Novel, and the most recent Come with Me. She is an English professor at Wright State University and a regular book reviewer for Publishers Weekly. For more information about her and her writing, please visit www.erinflanagan.net or say hello on Twitter or Instagram at @erinlflanagan.
