I didn’t set out to be a thriller writer. I originally thought I’d become a journalist, and worked as a writer and editor at my university paper. When my kids were small I wrote freelance, and started publishing poems – I even did an MFA in poetry, but it was in that program I started writing short stories and found that fiction is my true love. I’d imagined my first novel (The Devil You Know) would be more of a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a community in fear – my own hometown of Toronto in the shadow of a real-life serial killer in the 1990s – but once I got writing, the story became a thriller almost organically. And now, of course, with I Remember You, I’m hooked.
Elisabeth de Mariaffi
I have a Brady Bunch family. When my husband and I merged our families six years ago, we ended up with four kids altogether – then ages 4, 9, 11, and 14. It felt a bit risky at the time (mine were the older of the two, I barely remembered the pre-kindergarten days!) but our big, raucous family is so much fun, I can’t imagine life any other way.
Every book I’ve written has a dog in it. I love dogs, and I grew up with them. I have an extremely energetic border collie-shepherd cross now.
If I hadn’t become a writer, I would have loved to train as an artisan baker or pastry chef. I love to cook and bake, and we often host dinner parties. I have this secret burning desire to train more formally, and learn to bake things that are both delicious and beautiful.
I live on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic. Where I live, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, we’re about a ten-minute drive from the easternmost point in North America. On a windy day we like to tell the kids to stay low to the ground or they’ll accidentally blow across to Ireland.
Sitting still is the hardest part of my job. I’m a runner and I love hiking in the woods – just like my character, Heike Lerner. I even rent an office on the top floor of a yoga studio, so catching the noon class is always an option.
My family background is actually Transylvanian. My father’s family left in 1944, but we recently got a chance to take my own kids back to see the place where he was born… and yes, I’ve met people who think Transylvania is just a place Bram Stoker made up. (It’s real! And it’s beautiful.)
I have a real weakness for my horoscope. I’m a Sagittarius, with a Sagittarius rising, how about you? (I also save all my fortune cookie fortunes.)
I was a Hitchcock buff before writing I Remember You, but I’d only ever seen two episodes of the Twilight Zone --- because the show scared me as a child. But I knew I wanted to base my character, Leo Dolan, in part on Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling – so I watched every episode in the first four seasons. Research!
I’m not much of a collector of things – except clothes. I love a good vintage shop, and I can’t abide by that “if you haven’t worn it for a year” rule. True fact: I still own dresses that I bought when I was 17. I can’t help it. (Luckily my daughter occasionally relieves me of some of that collected wardrobe.)
