I know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen w/Interview

Title: I Know a Secret
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Series: Rizzoli & Isles (Book 12) Interconnected Standalones
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Cop Thriller, Medical, Suspense
Publisher: Ballantine Books/Random House LLC
Release Date: Aug 15 2017
Blurb/Synopsis:

Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles—the inspiration for the smash hit TNT series—continue their bestselling crime-solving streak, as they pursue a shadowy psychopath keeping secrets and taking lives.

Two separate homicides, at different locations, with unrelated victims, have more in common than just being investigated by Boston PD detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. In both cases, the bodies bear startling wounds—yet the actual cause of death is unknown. It’s a doubly challenging case for the cop and the coroner to be taking on, at a fraught time for both of them. As Jane struggles to save her mother from the crumbling marriage that threatens to bury her, Maura grapples with the imminent death of her own mother—infamous serial killer Amalthea Lank.

While Jane tends to her mother, there’s nothing Maura can do for Amalthea, except endure one final battle of wills with the woman whose shadow has haunted her all her life. Though succumbing to cancer, Amalthea hasn’t lost her taste for manipulating her estranged daughter—this time by dangling a cryptic clue about the two bizarre murders Maura and Jane are desperately trying to solve.

But whatever the dying convict knows is only a piece of the puzzle. Soon the investigation leads to a secretive young woman who survived a shocking abuse scandal, an independent horror film that may be rooted in reality, and a slew of martyred saints who died cruel and unusual deaths. And just when Rizzoli and Isles think they’ve cornered a devilish predator, the long-buried past rears its head—and threatens to engulf more innocent lives, including their own.

What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
Fee-charging literary agents.  Your agent should get paid a percentage of your income stream from publishing, not an upfront fee. But to be fair, compared with the film industry, the publishing industry is manned by saints.
How did you break into the publishing world? 
I did it the traditional way, eons ago: I wrote query letters to find my first literary agent and my first publisher (Harlequin.)  I hadn’t gone to any conferences, made any personal contacts, just sent in my queries by the old-fashioned stamp-and-mail method.  Harlequin Intrigue accepted my novel (Call After Midnight) about the same time I landed my agent.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Exhausts me.  There’s no way around the fact it’s work.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
When I’m writing, I know what stops my forward momentum cold: pausing to edit during the first draft.  Perfection should not be your goal during the first draft, because you’ll end up never finishing the manuscript.  Get your story down on paper first, beginning to end, and then go back and revise. There’s great freedom in allowing yourself to write badly during the first draft.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
Suddenly there were deadlines and pressure, and I had to learn to deal with that.  I had a bad case of second-book syndrome, and it took me two years to finish my second book.  When you’re writing your very first novel, you have all the time in the world to polish it.  Once you’re under contract and you know an editor’s waiting for the next manuscript, you have to focus and get to work, even when you don’t feel like it.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have two unpublished manuscripts, and two or three half-finished books.  One day, I might go back and finish those novels. I never throw anything out, so they’re still there somewhere in my closet.
How many hours a day do you write?
If I’m close to deadline, I might write twelve hours a day.  If there’s no deadline, I might not write at all but work in the garden instead.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Unfortunately yes, I do read reviews of my book.  It does me no good but I can’t help myself.  Over the years I’ve learned to deal with the bad ones by simply focusing on writing the next book. Or fantasizing about writing all my future books under pseudonyms so those reviewers won’t be able to find me again.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
If so, it’s purely subconscious!
What are the hardest scenes to write?
Love scenes.  No doubt about it.  How do you describe sex in a tasteful way that’s both erotic and yet won’t seem like purple prose?  It’s a very narrow path, and I admire romance writers who can do it again and again and make it seem fresh and compelling every time.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
I can’t think of a thing.  I’m the writer I am because of the circuitous path I took to get here.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
About a year to a year and a half.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Yes.  I get it with every single book, although I think it’s more a matter of “plot block,” where I don’t know what happens next in the book.  I usually just walk away from the manuscript for a few days or even weeks until I’ve worked out the problem.  Long walks and car trips seem to help me come up with solutions.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
See: “Writer’s block.”  Also, because I write about continuing characters, it’s a challenge keeping the series fresh and unpredictable.
Did you come across any specific challenges in writing “I Know a Secret”?
My main challenge was getting into the head of Holly Devine, one of the narrators.  She’s a strange, strange girl who has many secrets and many quirks and she sees the world in a way most normal people don’t.  She’s both fascinating – and disturbing.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I remember reading the companion book to the Walt Disney “Snow White” record.   And I remember reading a book about dinosaurs every night for about a year.  To this day, I love dinosaurs.




Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.

While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. In 1987, her first novel was published. Call After Midnight, a romantic thriller, was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift”, which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.

Tess’s first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her suspense novels since then have been: Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), Gravity (1999), The Surgeon (2001), The Apprentice (2002), The Sinner (2003), Body Double (2004), Vanish (2005), The Mephisto Club (2006), The Bone Garden (2007), The Keepsake (2008; UK title: Keeping the Dead), Ice Cold (2010; UK title: The Killing Place), The Silent Girl (2011), Last To Die (August 2012),  Die Again (January 2015), Playing With Fire (October2015), and I Know A Secret (Coming August 15, 2017). Her books have been published in forty countries, and more than 30 million copies have been sold around the world.

Her books have been top-3 bestsellers in the United States and number one bestsellers abroad. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon). Critics around the world have praised her novels as “Pulse-pounding fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “Scary and brilliant” (Toronto Globe and Mail), and “Polished, riveting prose” (Chicago Tribune). Publisher Weekly has dubbed her the “medical suspense queen”.

Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

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