I couldn’t be more excited and honored to welcome debut author Camilla Bruce to the blog today! In case you missed my rave review last week of You Let Me In, you’ll definitely need to catch up with that. But in the mean time, please enjoy this interview!
Congratulations on your debut, You Let Me In! Can you please tell us a little about the story?
You Let Me In is about a reclusive author, Cassandra Tipp, who, at the beginning of the novel, has vanished from the face of the earth. Left behind in her mansion is one final manuscript that holds the key to her fortune. Her heirs, a niece and a nephew, must read the whole thing in order to get their prize. What they are hoping to find on the pages is a confession; Cassandra has stood trial for the murder of her husband, and has also been suspected in another crime. What they find instead is two stories, intertwined but very different. Both of them look back at Cassandra’s life—and both of them end in violence—but it’s unclear which one tells the truth. Much like the heirs, the reader must decide what to believe: if Cassandra was an unhinged murderer, or a victim of otherworldly seduction.
You Let Me In is a fascinating blend of mystery, thriller and the supernatural. What is it about these genres that calls to you?
What all of those genres have in common is that there is something unknown at their core, and I think that is what I find so compelling. I have always been drawn to mysteries, enigmas and ‘what ifs’, and perhaps it is this love of the unknown that is manifesting in You Let Me In. I definitely found it very satisfying to work across the genres when I wrote it.
It looks like You Let Me In is scheduled to be published this year in three different countries: the U.S., the UK and Germany. How exciting is this for a debut author?
It is very exciting – and perhaps even more so because I am Norwegian, and live in Norway as well (although I write in English, so the novel has not been translated). For someone who is old enough to remember a time before the internet, it is pretty amazing to experience how the world has opened up; how you can set yourself big, hairy – international – goals and actually achieve them.
Did you do much research ahead of time for the book?
I honestly did not, but I have always been interested in folklore, so I had a lot of accumulated knowledge already. I decided early on that, instead of committing to one particular fairy tradition, I wanted to let my creatures rise more organically from what was already in my head. Though I have other projects that require a lot of research, You Let Me In, was very easy in that way; everything fell into place very quickly, and I wrote the first draft over six intensive weeks.
Do you have an established writing routine, or do you tend to write whenever the muse strikes?
When I commit to a project, I slip into a pretty rigid routine with a minimum daily word count and no days off. I have found that the muse tends to show up if I do, and that even on bad writing days, there is usually something of value on the pages.
Besides writing, what sort of things do you like to do in your spare time?
I read a lot, obviously. I also do some – more or less successful – crafts projects, usually connected to my writing somehow, as a way of staying in the zone even if I am not actively typing. While working on my next novel I made a miniature house, complete with main characters and dark secrets.
OK, that is so cool! I understand you have another novel coming out later this year! Is there anything you can tell us about it?
In the Garden of Spite is a historical novel about Norwegian-American serial killer Belle Gunness, who came from the same part of Norway as I do. It is a very different project from You Let Me In, though the novels do have some themes in common. In the Garden of Spite is now scheduled to publish in January 2021.
I can hardly wait:-D Thank you so much, Camilla, and best of luck with your book!
About the author:
CAMILLA BRUCE is a Norwegian writer of dark speculative and historical fiction.
Her debut novel, You Let Me In, will be published by Tor (US) and Bantam Press (UK) in Spring 2020.
Her dark historical, In the Garden of Spite, will be published by Berkley (US) and Michael Joseph (UK) in 2021.
Congratulations to Ms. Bruce on the upcoming release of You Let Me In. I like all three covers, but I especially like the creepy UK cover!
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Thanks Priscilla, and I have to agree, the UK cover is my favorite and also fits the story best, IMO.
Great interview and I can’t wait to read this one. I LOVE that German cover. It’s so pretty. I also think the new book coming out sounds like something I’ll want to pick up as well.
I love the German cover too, they are all so different:-)
Ughhh I NEED this book!
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Yes! I hope you get a chance to read it:-)
Awesome interview, Tammy! I’m looking forward to reading this one. It sounds like my kind of book 🙂
I think you’d love it!
Great interview. And thanks for introducing me to this author, Tammy. I really like the sound of You Let Me In. The whole idea of books about, or within, books has always fascinated me. And I really like that cover for Pepper-Man.
I love the German cover too, it’s very different from the others and makes sense when you read the story.
This is a wonderful interview! And I’m definitely keeping an eye out for In the Garden of Spite, that one sounds like it’s more up my alley, serial killers and all. Says a lot about me, doesn’t it 😛
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Ha ha, yes her next book sounds very different, but boy can she write! I’ll read anything of hers now:-)
Wonderful interview, Tammy! The premise of this book sounds so interesting and I’ve already seen a couple of glowing reviews for it, so it’s great to hear from the author as well.
Thanks Suzanne! I always love hearing authors’ inspirations, especially for a book I loved:-)
I’m sorry I missed this yesterday- it’s a great interview! I love that the author built a house full of dark secrets while she was working on this. What a good way to entrench yourself in your writing.
I love that too, such a creative idea!
I can’t wait to read You Let Me In – it’s one of my next reads and I’m super excited after reading your review.
Lovely interview, I liked the comment about being interested in ‘what if’s’ – it reminded me of my daughter when she was growing up – ‘what if’ was one of her constant things and we used to laugh at what she came up with.
Lynn 😀
Thanks Lynn, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts:-)
Fantastic interview! This is definitely one that is getting added to my wishlist. 🙂
Thanks Lisa, such a great book:-)