Bookwild - Susan Walter's Running Cold: An Olympic Biathlete, An Eerie Hotel, And So Many POVs

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

This week, I talk with Susan Walter about her new skiing related thriller Running Cold.  We dive into how the Banff Springs Hotel felt like it deserved a murder mystery, Susan's own love for skiing, and how she manages so many POVs.Running Cold SynopsisJulie Adler’s perfect facade is shattered by grief when her husband commits suicide. His death reveals that their luxurious California life was a house of cards, and his secret business dealings have left Julie penniless.As she strikes out on her own, Julie feels drawn to her old stomping grounds in Banff, a charming and isolated ski town where she once trained for the Olympics. She finds work as a housekeeper at a luxury resort, but just as she starts to piece together a new life, an eccentric guest turns up dead. And Julie, the last person seen in her hotel room, is the prime suspect.The evidence is stacked against her, but even in the encroaching blizzard, Julie knows her way around these mountains. She just needs to evade the police long enough to find the truth behind the murder…and before the real killer finds her first. Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

My husband's Canadian and my extended family, we usually spend Christmas in Canada at this town called Banff, where the book takes place. And Banff is just so amazing. First of all, it's dangerous, right? Because you have to go up this windy mountain road and it's set in the mountains and it gets really cold there. And you can get snowed in there. Like there's just something inherently dangerous about it. But also in Banff, at the edge of town, there's this hotel. called the Bam Springs Hotel.

And it's literally a castle. It's a hundred and some odd years old. It's made out of river rock and stone. It has turrets. When you're inside, like there's like gargoyles and the eaves. It's dark. There's all these hallways and you don't know if they go anywhere. Oh, and there was a murder, suicide that took place in the hotel.

That's like kind of on the down low. Like people don't like to talk about it. Like, oh, no, that never happened. and they're like, well, why is that room gourded off? Like, there's just creepy vibes. And then also, a woman got married there and fell down the stairs and died. So they say her ghost haunts the hotel. I'm like, okay, I got to write a murder mystery that takes place in the hotel.

This week, I got to talk with a repeat guest of the podcast, Susan Walter. I guess we could probably start calling those friends of the podcast. We'll see. But if you have heard my interview with... her or ever heard me talk about any of her books. They are so fast-paced and just like hook me from the get-go. And this one was no different. But this one is about Julie Adler. Julie Adler's perfect facade is shattered by grief when her husband commits suicide. His death reveals that their luxurious California life was a house of cards and his secret business dealings have left

Julie penniless. As she strikes out on her own, Julie feels drawn to her old stomping grounds in Banff, a charming and isolated ski town where she once trained for the Olympics. She finds work as a housekeeper at a luxury resort, but just as she starts to piece together a new life, an eccentric guest turns up dead. And Julie, the last person seen in her hotel room, is the prime suspect. The evidence is stacked against her, but even in the encroaching blizzard, Julie knows her way around these mountains. She just needs to evade the police long enough to find the truth behind the murder, and before the real killer finds her first. first. This was, it's action-packed. Like, there's just always stuff happening in like every

chapter. I, in my review, said, like, Susan is the queen of multi-POVs and she just is. It's so cool how she tells a story with four more or more POVs. It's just like, it's a really fun way to experience the whole story. This one was cool. It has the kind of, Olympic athlete vibes to it that we don't have all the time in thrillers, but it's really fun in thrillers. And definitely a, how are we going to catch this killer in a really cool setting. So that being said, I'm going to stop talking about the book so you can hear about it from Susan. So I am super excited to talk about running cold for multiple reasons. Right now, maybe number one is the fact that it's still been in the 90s in Indiana.

So it felt great to read somewhere that was cold. It was like making my dreams go through. But also because you just write, I think in my review I said you were the queen of multi-POV suspense. And you did it again. Man, I love that because how I see a story is not how you're going to see a story. Right. I confess the first book that I read that had multi-POVs was the guest list. by Lucy Foley, which I absolutely loved. And I didn't know it was possible to have so many

characters and so many different pieces. And I'm like, well, if she did it, I want to try it. And that's been my go-to format since then. Okay. So that is a really cool, like, invisible thread here because I'm working on a book right now. And after I read, because I read one, I can't remember, I read over her dead body. first was the first one of yours that I read. I was like, oh my gosh, that was amazing. And then at the time, lie by the pool was about to come out. So then I read that and then that was the one we've talked about. But I remember after I interviewed you and we talked about how you did like the multi-POV, I told my husband, I was like, I think I've been hung up on like not doing it, not doing multi-POV.

But like I was like, I think I actually need all these people with perspectives. And I love how she did it. So like then that made me kind of switched into third omniscient for this one part of the story and like fixed it for me. So a little chain of that going on. Yeah. I mean, another person who does it so well and so simply is live Constantine. Did you read the last Miss. Mm-hmm. Like the first half the book is told in first person, B.O.V and its character going through a thing.

And she's devious and she has a plan and you're like on board for her ride and you're like love to hate her. and then they flip into her the point of view of her antagonist and yes that person also has an agenda and you're like whoa wait a minute and it's like it gave me chills so that's one of my favorite books for how they you think you know the story and you think you know who the bad guy is and then flip yes it's also like I always love knowing that like that would make me want to read a book if you told me that but it's also really fun when like maybe it's just because it's not a book that's been really buzzy. But when you get to that moment, you turn the page and you're

in like the antagonist perspective, there's like no better feeling. You just have to like put your book down and sit for a second and be like, oh boy, this is only half of it. Right? Because when you go through life, it's like, I only know my own narrative. But I'm the villain in somebody's narrative. I know I am. Right. So walk a mile in their shoes now. Right. That's what I think is so interesting. just seeing it, which we went through like, I feel like we went through a renaissance of anti,

like anti-hero characters when like Dexter and Breaking Bad, I feel like that was when people started really talking about anti-hero. But what you're saying, I think is what's fun about anti-heroes or morally gray heroes sometimes is that like when you're in their perspective, though, all of a sudden maybe you understand why they're doing what they're doing. So it is. It's kind of like, we all only know our certain perspective and then it's fun to do that with books as well and flip it. Yeah. Yeah, I read a lot. I read a lot of, I feel like multi-POV now is really caught on. It was new. I had trouble finding a publisher for Good as Dead, which is my first multi-POV book. And some editors were like, no, it's too many POVs. And Lucy's Foley's book had just come out.

And I think it was on the New York Times bestseller list. I think so. But it wasn't accepted as a form. It took a little while. Yeah. I feel like, I think, I hope I remember remembering this correctly, but I feel like Lori Brand said the same thing because hers is also one that is many POVs. Like, I don't even know how many, because there are just some short people, like appearances or whatever. But I feel like she said the same thing.

We're like at first, I think I feel like I had a conversation with this, with her about this. that initially people were saying like I think that's too many points of view and now now currently she's like I feel like I see it more so it is interesting yeah I feel like it works so well for not that it doesn't for other genres but I feel like it works so well for thrillers because then like you still can't always tell who means what based on whose head you're in in the moment so I think it like adds suspense for thrillers at least and also you know it It's a little bit of a crutch because there are things you need to reveal that your main protagonist may not be able to see, may not have access to you.

Yeah. So if you're writing in first person, it takes a lot of skill to just write 350 pages from one POB and get all the information in there. So I think it's easier. Well, I mean, obviously I read a variety. So I'm like always excited. There's obviously been like first person books I've loved too, but yours are so fun because it's like people's allegiances and stuff. Like you think one thing and then you're like, oh, I'm in this person's head now and actually there's something else going on.

I'm not going to talk around spoilers. But all of that being said, was there anything different about writing this novel for you? So Running Cold is the first. time I went into the POV of a detective. So it's not a police procedural. And I didn't plan to go into her POV. And then I got there and I was like, oh, I need to follow the process of solving this case and how the clues are presenting themselves. And so that was a little intimidating because I'm not a detective.

I've written FBI and federal prosecutors in my other books. but never from their point of view. So that, honestly, I read a lot of police procedurals. I read an author called Tessa Weggart. I don't know if you know her. She has a series that's set up in the Thousand Islands that's also cold. So we have that in common. But she writes, you know, she's not a detective.

She doesn't have that background. She writes it so, so well. Her main character is a detective. And I was like, okay, I'm going to read all her books, which I had already read a few of them, but I read more. And just to sort of trust myself that I could think like a detective. But I did a thing where the detective in running cold is inexperienced. So to make it easier for me, but also to make it more interesting because she makes mistakes.

And there's things she doesn't know. And she's never stopped a murder before. So maybe that was a little bit of a cheat, but it worked for me. I liked it. Well, and in some ways, I guess, though. you don't always get that perspective. So it also made it, like, you don't always get the new police officer very often. So it's kind of fun to just experience it that way.

It was kind of funny when she is, like, approaching a crime scene. And, like, I can remember what she thinks it probably is, but, like, definitely not a murder. And then all of a sudden, she's like, wait, I'm going to a murder. But I'm sure that's also, like, a lot of more police officers experience is, like, most of them aren't dealing with murders all the time either. Well, right, and she's also a small town cop, right? And it's a town and it's not something she's ever encountered. And now she's the detective and she has to figure it out. And she doesn't know the protocol.

She doesn't know what to do. And so there's a teeny bit of comedy in that in her inner monologue. Was she like, was I supposed to call the medical examiner or does the chief call the medical examiner? She's like, dang it, I wish I knew what to do here. Yes. But yeah, I had fun with her. And in the end, I just listened to the audiobook. And the narrator for that, I have four narrators because I have four POVs.

And it's great when you're listening to an audio book because you get some variety. It mixes it up. Yeah. Or also, you can really feel when you're in a different POV because it's a different voice actor. She's so good. She's so good. She gets the humor. Oh, that's amazing.

And it's like the audio book. I'm very happy with that. Well, all audiobook people need to listen to it that way now. I might just have to listen to just to hear it. What was your inspiration for this one or what was like the first like thought that like you had about the book? Okay. So two things. My first three books all take place in L.A.

because I live in L.A. And it's just kind of pulsing through my veins. And I know a lot of different parts of L.A. And L.A. is huge. But for this one, my family, my husband's Canadian and my extended family, we, we, we, we, usually spend Christmas in Canada at this town called Banff where the book takes place. And Banff is just so amazing. First of all, it's dangerous, right?

Because you have to go up this windy mountain road and it's set in the mountains and it gets really cold there. And you can get snowed in there. Like there's just something inherently dangerous about it. But also in Banff, at the edge of town, there's this hotel called the Bam Springs Hotel. and it's literally a castle. It's a hundred and some odd years old. It's made out of river rock and stone. It has turrets.

When you're inside, like there's like gargoyles in the eaves. It's dark. There's all these hallways and you don't know if they go anywhere. And I'm like, oh, man. Oh, and there was a murder, suicide that took place in the hotel. That's like kind of on down low. Like people don't like to talk about it. Like, oh, no, that never.

happened and like well why is that room boarded off like there's just creepy vibes and then also a woman got married there and fell down the stairs and died so they say her oh my gosh haunts the hotel i'm like okay i got to write a murder mystery that takes place in the hotel and then so that was one inspiration was just the place because the place is is unique and so so cool and the other inspiration was i don't know if your viewers have seen a movie called The Fugitive with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, but Harrison Ford is accused of killing

his wife, and then he escapes arrest in a dynamic scene involving a train crash. And then he goes on the run and he's like trying to solve the murder while the cop is looking for him to haul his ass back to Jim. So

I thought, I love that movie. I've seen it like five times, but I'm like, it's men. I need to do it with women. and I needed to put it in BAMP in a snowstorm. So I call it the fugitive, but with chicks in a snowstorm. So we have the detective character who's looking for our fugitive, and they're in a bit of a cat and mouse trying to outsmart one another. And so those were my two inspirations, the town.

That is really cool. Sorry, but I did steal a little bit. I'm a thief. That's okay. Yeah. So the location, it was cool that it was real, too, because when it is, then I Google it, and then I can see it even more. So that's all like, it's easier to visualize, basically.

Well, that's, the cover is the actual town. Oh, it's at night. So anything that is been there will recognize. Oh, yeah. That's even cooler. Yeah, I wouldn't have known. Oh, that is so cool. Yeah, I was very happy that they chose that cover.

I don't have any say in the covers. Yeah. The first one, they showed me had a woman's face on it. And I'm like, no. Or we can do the town and they're like, yeah, we have a mockup for that. And then they sent it. I was like, no, that's it. Oh, that's awesome.

Okay. Well, I love that little extra detail for everyone. There's also a map. Oh, yeah. Which is not in the arc. I don't know if you got an arc or really. I don't. I got an arc. Well, I have a net galley.

Oh, so in the really, there's a map, which is the actual town. That's awesome. Well, yeah, it's super atmospheric. And actually, like, everything you were just saying there, I was like, it's actually Gothic. Like, I didn't end up including that in my review. Like, I did, it basically didn't run through my mind until you were also pointing out, like, gargoyles and people have died on their wedding days.

So, like, it's also very Gothic. but it's also atmospheric because, like, you feel that you're in a cold, mountainy Canadian town. There's definitely both of those things going on. But I loved it as a location. And that's, I also love that it's the fugitive, but women. And once you said that, I was like, it is. That is what that, what the tension is, especially in the, like, second act, especially. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's nothing better than seeing two smart women face off against each other. Yeah. And they're both want the truth, right? They both want the same thing. So that's, that was

right. Yep. Well, I was about to say a spoiler. So I'm going to switch directions. So I've, I follow you. So I know I've seen that you've been on a few ski trips yourself recently. So did you already love skiing going into this book? Or were those all your first research trips? No, I've been a skier for many years. I would say I was going to make her just a straight downhill skier. And it was actually my husband, so the main character is Julie, and she's a bi athlete. And so a lot of people don't know the biathlon, but I do describe it in the book. And it's a sport, it's a winter sport where they combine cross-country skiing, so skate skiing for speed.

and then when your heart rate's up and you're sweating and you've just gone as fast as you can you have to plop down and fire at a target and you know your heart rate is elevated it's a it's a it's a unique sport and it emerged from wild yeah no it emerged from once upon a time in parts of the world like that's how they fought wars is if you're on the front line in in a snowstorm and it was like Finland and Russia and um inclement weather and freezing cold weather they had to train to to fire rifles while on skis and so they just created a sport around it which is not the weirdest sport my daughter sent me an instagram reel about um hobby horse uh competitions so oh wow that to me is a little weird that one's special

but it is kind of weird like you're skiing with a rifle and then you yeah down and take a shot but i don't want to give anything away but yes she still knows how to use a rifle and we may bring the rifle back into it yeah actually i loved that so i'll leave it at that what you're talking about um the so the olympic part though so i'm assuming like did you do cross-country skiing yourself or um what like how did you learn about olympic by athletes and like what they do yeah i've been around skiers and my almost my whole life. I'm from Massachusetts and we used to go to New Hampshire in Vermont, Maine for skiing. And then when I moved out west, I married a Canadian and so I'm often in Canada skiing. So I already, you know, I've experienced skiing in my physical body and I've

watched a lot of skiing. And I just think skiing is cool, man. It is. And it's easy thing. You don't see it a lot, right? When you don't see it a lot, right? When you have, when you write and read a lot of suspense thrillers, it's really hard to find a new arena. Yeah. Like how many. It is. Husband, wife, cat and mouse things, have you heard and ex-wife and ex-girlfriend and family stuff and things set in New York or L.A.?

And I was like, I got to try something different. Yeah. I did like that part about it because then it just feels fresh also then just because because it is. But it was actually why, which I just brought up, Lori Brand, but that was like another comp I had because you're right. It's a really unique book. So there's not like tons of literal comps for it of books that I had read, but I included Lori Brand's bodies to die for because it's the same thing where like she told a thriller in the world of like women bodybuilding and also multiple POVs all the way throughout. So there were some similarities. But it is fun

to like read thrillers where like obviously like you had a niche interest because you've done it for so long and then Lori had a niche interest because she had done it for so long. So it's kind of cool to get to like experience other people's worlds through a thriller. Yeah. And another book that inspired me, um, Ali Reynolds who wrote a book called Shiver and she was about a reunion of an Olympic snowboarding squad who yes. There's a mystery of how they kind of fell away. But then they call for a reunion and it's French Alps and it's snowy and someone's trying to get revenge for something that happened in the past. And that was another book that I just really loved what made it original for me was the setting and the fact that they were Olympians. And being an

Olympian, like to perform at that level, like you're intense. If you're if you've competed in the Olympics, you're you're very hardworking you're very focused and it's cutthroat and and it's elevated in that way so that's another reason yeah me and my protagonist a former Olympian because I wanted to exploit those character traits yeah yep I love shiver that was my other comp actually so like in my post those were the two that I brought up but it it that it was that same experience when I read that book where I was like I remember my algorithm, I totally forgot about this until now, my algorithm thought I was like truly into snowboarding because all of a sudden I was getting snowboarding on my Instagram and my TikTok

because Ali Reynolds includes like so many like tricks like actually describes the things that they're doing which have left my mind by now as they're snowboarding. So I would like kind of Google it to see the visual incident for a while all my ads were like for snow gear and I'm like I'm not adventurous. But it's fun. It's fun getting to have stuff that you learn more about. And like you're saying, it felt really original reading both of those books because it wasn't like a wealthy family behaving badly on vacation, which I still love sometimes. But it was really unique.

Did you have a favorite point of view to write? Does that ever happen? Is the one that like you just like? joy. In all my books, I feel like I have one kind of rebellious comedic point of view. So in this one, Julie, the Olympiad, her best friend is Izzy. And Izzy's a new mom and she's kind of stumbling over herself and she likes to party, but she's fun. But she's definitely flawed and she's done some not nice things, but her voice is more frothy and fun. So I feel like in all my books, I do have one sort of comedic relief character in Lie by the Pool. It was probably Sophie.

She's a little bit sassy and rebellious and has a sense of humor. Over her dead body, it was Winnie, right? And she's the sister character and she's got a drinking problem but she's self-deprecating about it. And then in Good Is Dad, I had a 16-year-old girl who is just mouthy.

And those characters for me, I feel like they had some levity and humor in what can sometimes be a really dark journey. And I think, you know, I read Leanne Moriarty. and I love big little lies and I love the humor she inserts in her books. So

in all the seriousness and dread, I do like to have some comic relief and I kind of emulated Leanne Moriarty a little bit when I created those characters. Yeah. I think she did it a lot too and Apples Never Fall. Like I read it a while ago, but I feel like because you were in the POV

of all of the family by the end of it, something like that. And there was like I remember experiencing like humor through the mom's perspective as a mom. And then like there would be something funny in the daughter's perspective about the same situation. And you're like, oh, they're just both experiencing different things. Yeah, like I have to laugh a little bit when you know, it's also very technical writing of murder mystery. Right. Like you have to have the pieces all fall into place.

Like it's kind of like a math problem when to review stuff or puzzle me. Right. better metaphor. So sometimes I just want to like tell a joke. Right. Something funny. Yeah. Yeah.

No, I get that. And Izzy was fun to read. She was funny. Her chapters were great. She really did have some like one-liner thoughts that she kept to herself. But she's also trying to be a better person. Yeah. And I think you can write a really flawed character sympathetically.

as long as they're self-aware, that they hurt somebody by their behavior. I don't want to give it away. But she's not always been a good friend. Yeah. And I felt like I had to have that layer in there to build out the friendship. So it wasn't one-dimensional. Yeah. Did you know who it was going to be as you were writing it?

Or did you surprise yourself with who was behind it all? Okay, I love that question because every time I write a book, every, every, every single time, I have a very loose outline. I mean, very loose, but I'm like, I know who the afflicted is and who the afflictor is, right? And I always change. Always. Every time. I, yeah, so in this one, I did not know who it was. I didn't pick the wrong person in the beginning, but I didn't know how it was all going to come together.

Yeah. When I started writing. But I created stakes for all the characters and emotional components of the characters. Yes. So that you would believe when it rises to that level of murder. Like, how do you get somebody to the level of murder? That's the thing that is always the challenge, right? Because you meet somebody and you want to be sympathetic toward them.

they want to behave like a real person. But murdering somebody is like a big deal. It's going to, you're going to have to push really hard. Love, money, embarrassment. Like, what are the things that are going to drive someone to murder? And so as I write the characters and I try to ground them, I create seeds in all of them, right? Because you have to, as a mystery writer, make more than one person credible a murder. Yes.

So this one I didn't know in my next novel. I even changed who died. I can't talk about that one yet. Still in a very, very early stage. But I thought I was going to kill one character. And then I liked her so much. I'm like, I can't kill her. My readers are going to be mad.

And I don't know. Have you read a book where you're like just really mad that they killed the character that you really like? Oh, yeah. Like downtown abbey. when they just kept killing everybody I'm like yeah they did right and you're like how could you just kill that person

you're like this is down to the abbey right I watched the show and you killed her what no yes yeah that is so strange so I'm trying to think if there's a book that's cool you're saving someone in your next book yeah I'm like I was gonna kill her but no I can't and I may I don't know I may rewrite that book

and go back and kill her but in the moment I can't yeah yeah well so but then with this one what with this one did you say what it was with this one did you know I just didn't decide I wanted to build out the world oh that's what you said yeah and then when I got there I was like yeah I think I know who's gonna yeah yeah but it's fun it's fun to discover as you go mm-hmm that's what I've talked I've definitely talked to people who say it's more fun to surprise themselves as the writing I find if I have it to outline strictly I get bored and the writing gets boring.

I also get into trouble because sometimes the characters just come through in a specific way as in writing them. And then if I've already decided what they're going to do but they're coming through in a different way and that behavior is incredible anymore, then I find myself in trouble. I'm like, wow, the way that's characters coming in, I can't create a bridge to that, behavior. So I actually talked to David Baldacci about that a little bit because he never outlined. And he's

written what 70 books? Not at all. He does not outline. He says how can you make decisions for characters that aren't created yet? You have to live with them. I kind of get that feeling lately. Yeah, because I thought

I would be an outliner like hardcore. I just like assumed because of the way my personality is I'm like I'm going to have to do it. And then it was just keeping me from writing. And then when I just knew like six things to hit, I was just like writing in between it. And then like you're saying, I got to know the characters as I wrote them. Yeah.

I was also, I felt huge relief. I was talking to the author Wendy Walker, who wrote what remains and like she's brilliant. And I was like, oh my God, I'm terrified because I wrote this character. And I was going to make her a murderer. and now it doesn't feel right. She's like, oh, I do that all the time. It's like, I've changed. Wow.

And so now I've got David Baldacci on one hand and Wendy Walker on the other. I'm like, okay, very accomplished writers do five pieces in the same predicament. So I'm not alone and I'm just going to trust it. Yeah. I mean, that's like been the interesting, one of the more interesting things about the podcast is just hearing how many different ways you can write a book. like just hearing everyone's different processes and that like there definitely isn't one try and try true version because people have had success doing it so many different ways

you can kind of feel when something has been intricately outlined um i always say like i read a riley sager book the one about the house on the cliff uh yes the only one left yeah and i feel like there were so many intricately plotted twist in terms that felt like an outlined book to me. I don't know. I don't know. Right. So he may watch this and be like, no, that's, I, I, I still have my instinct too. It was just your experience with it.

But my experience, like that felt very meticulously outlined. I would agree. Things were layered. And that's also, you know, that's a, that's a great skill to have. If you could write that way, I just don't. don't write yeah maybe i have like a little bit of like i get i get bored too easily yeah well and because i think a lot of your chapters kind of end on not like cliffhangers but like reveals like it's there's something you're pointing out by the end so i feel like you're like okay

done with that point move on to the next person so probably like it's just how you like writing it Yeah. Yeah. Well, I loved it. And truly, as someone who is not made for summer, I loved getting to be in winter in September. I love winter. I get a little claustrophobic in summer because if it gets hot, like, I don't want to go out. I don't want to open the door and the heat in.

Like, don't really like air-fishing. Yeah. Like, I feel like it's, I don't know. like fake air i know i may fall fall winter girly for the most part right you can leave the windows open and it's yeah yeah yes snuggle under a blanket with your dog yeah yeah yes oh it's coming you don't really it doesn't get that cool for you though if you're in l.a right it gets in the 40s and 50s and oh okay so nice it's sweater weather i mean yeah it's yeah it's yeah it's yeah Yeah, it definitely is wetter weather.

But it doesn't snow. But we do go to Canada. I still have to go see family in Canada, and I love Canada. Nice. And I do love to put on my winter boots in my hat. Yeah, you made me want to go to Canada. So I'm sure anyone else who reads it will be that feel that way, too. I think we have some reading interest in common from what we post about.

Is there anything you've read recently that you love? that I love. Right now, I have to look at my, my Kindle. I'm reading Chris Whitaker as all the colors of the dark right now. Did you read it? Yeah. No, I need to. Everyone's talking about it. Everyone's talking about it. I'm going to reserve opinion for it because, I don't know, I feel like books take on this, like, bigger than life persona. And then sometimes the expectation is so high. I know. And it's kind of not fair to the author. Like, I just, it's sometimes you love like, like, I didn't know about Allie Reynolds. When I discovered Shiver, I just liked the title. I didn't know anything about it.

And I felt like more excited about it because I got to discover it. Yeah, I know what you mean. And I want to read. I'm going to buddy read all fours by Miranda July, which is not a thriller. all fours. All fours. Yeah. It's like a really controversial women's lit book.

Ooh, okay. And all over the New York Times. I know it sounds familiar. And I feel like I have to read it. Oh, you know what I loved? Love, love, love the audiobook was Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers. Oh, yeah. Did you read that?

I haven't read it. If you're an audiobook person, It is so elevated by the narration. Like laugh out loud funny because of the voice talent. And I, that was one of the most enjoyable reads. And normally I listen to thrillers at like one and a quarter or one and a half time. Yeah. But I so enjoyed listening to that in real time because of the comedic cadence of the narrator.

That book I really, really enjoy. That's cool. Yeah. I read a lot of outside my genre lately. and non-fiction. That's cool. Just to shake it up. I get it. Sometimes you just need to. And I read some arcs like early, early, but that I can't say.

But Samantha Bailey has a new one that I got to read super early. No, she's got a new new one. Oh, a new new one. And it's not even in production yet. And I got to read that. It's so good. It takes place. I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about it, but it takes place behind the scenes. It's a murder.

behind the scenes of a TV show and it's so good. Oh, that's so up my alley. Sorry, Sam, if I'm not allowed to talk about it, but it's so good. I'll put a marker and we'll remove it if we need to. That sounds super exciting. Yeah. It is, sometimes it's fun to switch it up with genres, but then like, sometimes I'm like, oh, why did I do this? It's like 50-50 for me. Like, I still try to read outside it. And then sometimes you're like, oh, I'm just meant to read thrillers. I feel you. Yeah, I go out. Yeah. Like sometimes I'm not against it. I'm just, it doesn't always work for me.

I feel like I want to read the big books. Like all the colors of the dark that everyone's talking about. Yeah. And God of the Woods. Those are the two. Yeah, it was like this thick. I'm like, my children are 300 pages. I'm like, what? I know.

And like, I just somehow didn't hear about them. So I just didn't request them on Nightgalley. And at the time that they came out, I had a bunch, which like I read a lot of great books from NetGalley in that time. But then by the time I was like back to like not reading for podcasts or for NetGalley, then I saw that they're both 500 pages. And I'm like, when am I going to fit these in? What are you reading now? What are you up to? So right now I am reading.

What did I? Oh, no. Well, I just finished it this morning. the return of Ellie Black. Oh. It was a book of the month pick. And it's like a really good, dark, atmospheric missing girl story is like the short of it. Okay.

I loved it. It was very good. To your point about like not wanting to like put too much expectations on a book, I had seen a bunch of reviews that were like, and the twists are. crazy. And I just want to say, I loved this book, and it was dark and atmospheric, and the character work is really great. The pacing is really good. There aren't, like, twist. So don't think you're, the whole time I was like waiting for my mind to be like completely shattered. And I was like, oh, okay, it was some reveals. Got it. Okay. Noted. Yeah. But yeah,

it's really good. She's really talented. Okay. I'll check it out. For sure. Yeah. Well, where should people follow you to say it today on everything? Oh, well, I mean, I'm pretty active on Instagram. So it's Susan Walter author on Instagram. And I have a website too. If you just want to see, you know, read my blurbs and see what books I have. And that's Susan Walter Rider.com. That's mostly for information about like what's coming up or, oh, and I have a newsletter.

You can sign up on my website. And I'm doing some like massive giveaways because I have book coming out in October and then I have another book coming out next spring. There's going to be a lot of giveaways that are announced in my newsletter. So if you, I know, like my inbox is full of newsletters and they're and they're all so delightful. But I could spend all day reading newsletters. And now there's substack and a lot of my friends. And I'm like, there's so much you read. So I know.

respect like if you don't want another newsletter but yes then just follow me on instagram you'll see yeah my dog you can see some pictures of bam and skiing and snow and and it's an audible looks all the time and then you have to read a newsletter which this can be a lot yeah I'm going to go sign up I like them I'm just like oh I'm just looking at my email just like reading everyone's thoughts each morning well I always give away things in my newsletter that you won't find anywhere else so and I And I collect them from other authors. I went to go see Laura Dave yesterday, but they had to be canceled the event last minute. But I was going to get her to sign.

I bought her book and I was going to get her to sign it to give away. So that will be coming. She's going to read schedule. And so that will be coming. So I go and see the big authors. They all kind of come through LA at some point. So I buy their books and get them signed and give them away. Like after I read them.

Nothing wrong with that. But my bookshelts are too full. I don't know to see them, but that, so, I mean, books are meant to be shared. But I do get myself in trouble because I'll read a book and I'll be like so good. And then I want to go look back in it. And I was like, oh, I gave it away. Like, never mind. Someone else has it.

Yeah. But I mean, I feel like as an author, you've got to, you got to, you know, share other author's works, read them. And if you enjoy them, give them to somebody. get it signed by your friends I just did a give away I did a giveaway with Lori Brand or she signed a book and gave it away I did it give me the month before that with Lucinda Barry nice because she's my friend and she's I had some I had two of her books signed and amazing I gave those away through my newsletter and Laura Dave is next if they

rescheduled her event nice hopefully they do