Rebecca Taylor
Author Interview - Rebecca Taylor
Author of The Secret Next Door
Alyson Tinsdale is giving her son the childhood she never had: a stable family, a loving home, and a great school in a safe neighborhood.
Bonnie Sloan is the neighborhood matriarch. With her oldest son headed to Yale, and her youngest starting kindergarten, Bonnie is now pursuing her own long-held political aspirations despite private family struggles.
When the open space behind some of the most expensive homes gets slated for development into an amusement facility, the neighborhood becomes deeply divided. The personal pressures and community conflicts ratchet with every passing day, but it's when a thirteen-year-old is found dead beside the neighborhood lake that simmering tensions boil over into panic.
Gossip flows, lies are exposed, and accusations are made as cracks run through the community's once solid foundations. The neighborhood's faith in exterior appearances is eclipsed by the secrets every house keeps. And as Bonnie and Alyson fight to keep their children safe and their messy personal lives from becoming neighborhood knowledge, it becomes clear that their neighbors might not be who they appear to be.
Author Interview - Rebecca Taylor
Author I draw inspiration from: How to pick just one? Honestly, I'm inspired by anyone who has the gumption, discipline, and thick skin to pursue this career in earnest. Making the choice to be an author, getting the work done, and putting yourself out there for public consumption is not for the faint of heart. I read widely across genres and feel I have been inspired by a multitude of authors for a variety of reasons. Having said that, I can say that I especially admire the careers of, and book created by: Diane Setterfield, Kristin Hannah, Liane Moriarty, Brit Bennett, Andrew Sean Greer, Riley Sager, Elizabeth Strout, Nora Roberts, Kate Morton, Stephen King, Meg Wolitzer, Raven Leilani, John Boyne, Elin Hilderbrand, Donna Tartt, Jonathan Franzen, Gillian Flynn, Madeline Miller, and more, so many more.
Author Interview - Rebecca Taylor | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: Anywhere it's quiet and I can get comfortable. My bed. A big bathtub. Lounging at the beach or next to the pool under an umbrella with a cold glass of wine. Though I will say that if the book I'm currently reading is one that I absolutely cannot put down, then I don't care where I'm reading it. I have been known to read while walking, standing in line, in a noisy bar, or while others are watching television. If it's a great book, just try to keep me away from it.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I have always had a soft spot for complex, messed up, not especially "likable" characters. And if I'm stuck in an elevator, then let's at least try to make it interesting. So I'll go with Amy Elliott-Dunne from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
Author Interview - Rebecca Taylor | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: There wasn't a lightning bolt moment, but the leanings began to take shape sometime in 2002 while pregnant with my daughter. That's when I started writing my first book. I was twenty-seven.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: All the above. Hardback for when I know I'm going to want to keep around. Paperback if there's a chance it might get wet (bath, pool, ocean, spilled wine). Ebook if I'm traveling or it's an advance reading copy of someone else's book I'm reviewing. Audiobook if I'm trying to do something mindless at the same time as reading (driving, housework, exercise).
The last book I read: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Author Interview - Rebecca Taylor | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Both, but mostly computer. I sometime will handwrite if my eyes and body need a break from the screen. Or if I feel a little stuck, switching to writing out a chapter or two longhand can really help.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Arthur Less in Less by Andrew Sean Greer. He's a failed novelist about to turn fifty...there isn't any way this man and I wouldn't have the best times together. And now that I think about it, I'd like to revise my earlier "stuck in an elevator" answer to include Arthur Less WITH Amy Elliott-Dunne. Additionally, we have at least three bottles of great wine and an egregiously large charcuterie board to share.
Author Interview - Rebecca Taylor | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: A psychologist.
Favorite decade in fashion history: For wearing? Well, in which decade could you still wear Ugg boots in public without others shaking their head? I guess I'm partial to everything they wore on the show Friends. So mid 1990s to early 2000s. For visual appeal and interest factor? Every decade prior to whenever ladies hats went out of fashion. Pre 1969? But personally, I wouldn't want to have to try that hard every day before leaving my house.
Place I’d most like to travel: I've actually done a tremendous amount of travel in my life. These days I mostly enjoy traveling to my backyard with a cup of coffee.
My signature drink: Wine. Red, white, rose...really, whatever you already have open.
Favorite artist: Van Gogh. Yes, still him.
Number one on my bucket list: Spending my summers living in other countries for months at a time (BUT only if the backyard has a good view for staring at while I drink my coffee AND I can take my dogs and cats with me.)
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccataylorbooks/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/RebeccaAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaTaylorPage
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1861799.Rebecca_Taylor
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rebecca-taylor
Author Bio: Rebecca Taylor is the author of Her Perfect Life, winner of the Women's Fiction Writers Association STAR award (2021) and The Secret Next Door (11/9/2021). She currently lives in Colorado with her family.
