Courtney Psak
Author Interview - Courtney Psak
Author of The Tutor
Letting her into your home was your first mistake…
Rose is a dedicated wife and mother to her husband Grant and her son James. Having recently moved to a grand mansion in Florida, Rose is keen for James to fit in with his new life and hires a tutor.
Isabel is young, smart and beautiful, and not only gets along with James, but she gets results.
But when Isabel starts to get too close for comfort, Rose can’t help but think that Isabel is looking for more than just tutoring.
Can Rose uncover who exactly she has let into her house, or will this lesson be deadly?
Author Interview - Courtney Psak
Author I draw inspiration from:
This is such a tough question because there are so many talented writers out there that Inspire me.
Let's see, I'll start with R.L. Stine for introducing me to the mystery/horror genre. I devoured every book he ever wrote as a kid.
When I got to middle school I read my first Agatha Christie novel, Death on the Nile, that I got to write a book report on. It was the first time I realized there could be more than one bad guy. Needless to say I started reading all of her novels and the rest is history. The woman is a legend.
In high school I enjoyed James Patterson for my beach reads. He took short simple chapters that seemed approachable, but then managed to leave a hook at the end of each one and before you knew it, you had finished the book in one sitting.
For current inspiration, I mean the lists goes on and on. Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, Shari Lapena just to name a few. What I love about all of their novels is they focus on strong female characters who are thrown into unimaginable circumstances and you find yourself rooting for them whether they are trying to solve the murder and or they are the murderer. These women taught me how to dive deep into character development and how much of a difference it makes.
Author Interview - Courtney Psak | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I'm actually a big fan of audio books. When I'm not writing, I'm usually on the go, whether that's running errands in my car, out for a walk, doing laundry or cooking. So I love being able to put my AirPods in and listen to a book. I find myself feeling more accomplished finishing a book I'm listening to rather than keeping my house in order. So it's good incentive to clean. :) But when I do want to sit down for a little, I have a nice glider in our bedroom by the window that's comfortable and has a lot of great natural light.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Hmm, I'd say James Bond from any of Ian Fleming's books. He's always got cool gadgets that could likely get us out of the situation. I would just hope no one was trying to kill us at the same time, which is also likely the case in any James Bond book.
Author Interview - Courtney Psak | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
It's funny how I remember this so clearly. I had always been a ferocious reader and even made the local paper in kindergarten for reading a hundred books from the library in one summer (picture books). So fast forward to second grade and it was library day. We had our usual weekly story time with the librarian and she had read us this book. I forget the title, but it was about a bunch of animals trapped on a boat in the middle of the ocean and they all had to work together using their special skills and talents to get themselves safely back to land. After the librarian closed the book, she had told us that the book was written by a child our age. I was completely blown away. I had no idea that you could be a kid and be writer. I immediately went home, got out my paper, pencils and crayons and wrote a twenty page story about a royal mouse family in the jungle that was captured by a cheetah, maybe a lion? And the mouse prince had to go on an adventure to save them. Then I handed it to my parents and said, "you may publish this."
They were nice enough to go to Staples and get it laminated for me. It wasn't until my twenties when I actually tried to become an author that I realized just how hard it was.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
So I mention earlier, I love audiobook because I devour books and this makes it easy for me to multi-task.
ebooks I use for when I'm reading advance reader copies, mainly because they mostly come in this form.
Hardbacks I love for reading classic novels that I know I'm going to keep forever, or signed copies from amazing authors I now get to meet.
Paperback is great, but I'm a bit of a neat freak and get sad once the cover gets bent and becomes more vulnerable to rips.
The last book I read:
Just finished Ruth Ware's, ARC The Woman in Suit 11, that comes out July 8th, 2025.
It was great, I love pretty much anything written by Ruth Ware.
Author Interview - Courtney Psak | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I used to just use a computer when I wrote. I would drop my kids off at school, come home, make a cup of coffee and set an alarm on my phone for when I'd have to go pick them up because I'm usually just in the zone. But, there's nothing worse when you are in the flow of writing and you have to stop because of well, life. I'd have to stop what I was doing to drive to my kids school and spend twenty minutes in a car line so I could then drive them to tennis or basketball or whatever sport or activity they had that day. Meanwhile, I'd be running scene ideas in my head worried that I might forget them. So I started keeping a notebook with me. One that is the perfect size to fit into my purse so I have it wherever I go. Anytime I had a few seconds, waiting for a bridge, traffic light or even while I'm watching my kids game or practice, I'd pull it out and write out the scenes. This way once I had time again, I could refer back to the notebook and remember the specific details or dialogue that I had wanted to add.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
That's a hard one when you write and read in the mystery/thriller genre. Half of the books are about someone who you think is good turning out to be a murderer! But let me think, I loved the character Ravi in Ally Condie's The Unwedding. He was just such a fun character that broke the tension with his little quips despite being stranded at a hotel in a mudslide with a killer on the loose. In a high stakes situation it's nice to have someone around who can break the tension occasionally.
Author Interview - Courtney Psak | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Directly before this, I was and still am, a stay at home mom. But before that, I was a project manager for Nickelodeon. I liked working in a fun creative environment with all different types of people and my job was to be organized and keep everyone on task. My husband still makes fun of me sometimes when he sees me get into what he calls my checklist mode. And before that, I had some fun experiences working/writing for magazines living out my Devil Wears Prada fantasy.
But no matter where I'd be now, I'd still be trying to pursue a career writing novels. It's a passion that has never really gone away.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Ugh maybe the era when someone could just dress me? I feel like I am fashionably challenged. (Is that a thing?) I ideally wear mostly jumpsuits and dresses because I am not good at coordinating tops and bottoms let alone accessories. When I do find something that works, I wear over and over until it falls apart and need new clothes. I hate shopping!
Place I’d most like to travel:
I love to travel and there are still so many places that I haven't been to, that I don't know where to begin. I like writing mysteries that take place in beautiful vacation settings, like Big Sur or St. Barts. But I love Lucy Clarke and her ability to write adventure thrillers that take you to exotic places like Morocco. So since I've never been to South America, I think I'd want to travel to Patagonia for a ski trip and use that atmosphere to conjure up a good mystery/thriller.
My signature drink:
My body consist of coffee, water or red wine
Favorite artist:
Gray Malin, he's an amazing photographer and he's my favorite because he tends to take amazing photos of places my husband and I have been. It gives the photo that much more meaning. One in particular we have in our kitchen is from Lake Como. It's a photo of a wooden boat, about to go under a stone bridge. We love it because we had spent some time in Lake Como and knew that the bridge was built by romans because we had gone under it in a similar boat and discovered a hidden waterfall, that you can't necessarily see in the picture, but the mist of it's there if you look hard enough. It also features a house that was also not only built by the roman's but friends we had made when we went there, owned it and opened it as a bed and breakfast. So it's little personal memories like that which make his work special to me.
Number one on my bucket list:
Funny story, but my first self published novel, Thirty Days to Thirty, is about a girl who loses everything, her job, her apartment and fiancé a month before her thirtieth birthday. When she is forced to move back home, she finds a list she made in high school of things she wanted to accomplish by the time she was thirty. She realizes she had focused so much on the big picture stuff, that she let the little things, teach herself how to cook, learn to play golf, sing karaoke, etc, all fall to the wayside. She then spends the next thirty days trying to complete the list before her birthday.
So in preparation for the release of this book and my own thirtieth birthday (almost ten years ago now, ahh) I did a similar list and created a blog about it.
So I have to say writing that book and doing my blog taught me to say yes to everything and enjoy life experiences. Thanks to that, I've had the opportunity to do some pretty wonderful things. Like in the question mentioned earlier, there are still places in the world I want to travel to, but for now the number one thing on my bucket list; Become a best selling author. Hopefully you all can help me with that :)
Anything else you'd like to add:
No, these questions were great, thank you so much for featuring me.
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/courtneypsak_author/
https://www.facebook.com/courtneypsakauthor/
About Courtney Psak:
Author Interview with Courtney Psak
Courtney Psak is a mystery thriller writer whose debut novel The Tutor will release August 7th, 2025 with Hodder and Stoughton who she signed a three-book deal with. The Hampton House will be release in January 2026 and The Yacht in June of 2026
