The hallmark of a great mystery novel is you stay up too late reading it since you can’t put it down.
Georgia Writers Museum (GWM) is fortunate to host award-winning author Lo Patrick Aug. 6 as its Meet the Author presenter at the Plaza Arts Center.
Patrick is well-known for her “can’t put it down” books. She will present her just-released The Night the River Wept, an edge-of-your-seat story about a bored Georgia woman who uncovers a famous cold case and begins the chilling path to solve it.
GWM recently conducted a brief interview with the author.
GWM: What is it about the mystery genre that appeals to you?
Patrick: There is a mystery in every aspect of life. Some mysteries are worthy of police intervention, while most are run-of-the-mill life experiences, like “What happened to that Target gift card?”
What is fascinating is the point at which an act performed during a routine day becomes a crime. Granted, a missing retail gift card is not likely to become a whodunit, but there are so many small, seemingly insignificant details, aspects of someone’s personality, past choices that didn’t seem particularly meaningful, that play into why things happened the way they did and become crucial to uncovering the truth.
GWM: What factor in your background most encouraged you to become a fiction author?
Patrick: I am an avid people watcher and often come up with a whole background for people I see at a restaurant or shopping at a store. I have almost zero constraints when it comes to my characters, their lives, their history. Fiction allows things to change; the fluidity appeals to me.
GWM: Who is your favorite author, and why?
Patrick: Alice Munro is my favorite. She found all of the nuance, all of the in-between with people and relationships. Munro’s stories are dark and imbued with subterfuge, but that is their magic.
GWM: How would you describe your writing process?
Patrick: I write anywhere and everywhere. I love to find a beautiful spot, put on my headphones, and get to work. I do my best writing and editing when I am listening to music because it puts me in an almost trance-like state, where I can ignore everything around me.
I also write in a very unplanned, unorganized way. I listen to my characters and let them tell me how it should go, or rather, let them tell me their story.
GWM: What surprises you most about your experience as an author?
Patrick: I have met the most wonderful people as an author. It is positively grueling in the beginning when trying to find representation and going through the massively humbling experience of being rejected time and time again, but people who work in publishing love books. They truly love them, and I have felt that passion from day one – even while being rejected!
The GWM Meet the Author event with Lo Patrick will begin at 7 p.m., Aug. 6, with doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 each or $35 each for two or more and will include Chef Brent’s soonto- be-famous Deck River BBQ sliders and sides.
Visit GWM online at georgiawritersmuseum.org, and then click on the "Events" and "Meet the Author" tabs to order tickets.