Blogaversary Day 17 - Interview with Elle Cosimano

Nearly Gone
by Elle Cosimano
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Release Date: March 25th 2014

Synopsis:

Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next.

Hi Elle! We are truly happy to have you in our Blogoversary event.

Thanks for having me—I’m excited to be here!

I was watching a co-worker read Missed Connections of the personal classifieds during her lunch break. She seemed lonely, like she was hoping one of the ads had been written for her. Nearly’s character and her obsession with the classifieds evolved from that image.

I find that I naturally gravitate toward scary, dark plot lines. Even when I try not to, my stories always veer in that direction. The difficult part wasn’t bringing the darkness, but rather giving myself permission to be as dark and scary as the story wanted to be. There are a lot of voices (both inner and outer critics, feedback from agents, editors, beta readers, etc…) during the creative process, and it’s hard sometimes to stay true to the story we want to tell, for fear that the story might be “too dark” or “too scary” or “too mature”. My agent encouraged me to let go of my own reins on the story, and that’s when it clicked.

I annually attend the Writer’s Police Academy in High Point, NC. This is a four day series of hands-on classes for writers, taught by law enforcement professionals, forensic scientists, and first responders. In preparation for book two of the Nearly series, I had the opportunity to tour Northern VA’s regional crime laboratory with the Director of Forensics. I also did a four-hour night time ride-along with a deputy sheriff.

Tense, engaging, and unpredictable.

The bad guy has to 1) want something as badly as the protagonist, and those yearnings have to collide, 2) have a strong enough motive to support the plot, and 3) in the case of a mystery, has to have the element of surprise. If the readers (or protagonist) see him coming a mile away, he’s not terrifying.

Nearly yearns for a better life. She’s leveraging her skills in math and science for a shot at a college scholarship that could be her ticket out the trailer park where she lives with her single mother. She’s singularly focused on school and lays low to avoid any trouble that could interfere with a better future. But when a killer goes on a spree and students begin turning up dead, trouble finds her…

Reece Whelan is a reformed bad-boy, working as a confidential informant (a narc) for the local police. He’s got a shady past and a tragic back-story, and like Nearly, his future depends on his ability to lay low and stay out of trouble. Together, they manage to find a lot of it, and staying out of each other’s way becomes nearly impossible. ;)

Favorite quote: “There’s always a solution.”

Favorite scene: There’s a scene that take place at a local amusement park I used to frequent as a teen. Writing it took me back to those steamy summer days of funnel cakes and sunburned noses, and riding crazy thrill rides with boys I didn’t have the nerve to kiss. Of course, in my memories, no one turns up dead…

If the cast of Nearly Gone had walk-on music, it would have to be Foster The People’s Pumped Up Kicks.

Yes! Stay tuned… a play list will be released as part of the official Nearly Gone blog tour later this month!

Funny you ask! I just came up with a Nearly Gone dream cast for Hypable. You can check it out here: http://www.hypable.com/2014/04/04/author-elle-cosimano-dream-casts-her-novel-nearly-gone/

The sequel to Nearly Gone is scheduled for release in 2015. The story has a really strong forensic science angle to it, and I think readers will have a lot to sink their teeth into. I have another project I’m really excited about, but it’s too soon to talk about it just yet.

Sounds amazing, right Book Addicts? I don't know about you, but I'm not going to miss Nearly Gone. It's definitely in my TBR and as soon as I have some free time I plan on reading it. What about you?

I write YA mysteries and thrillers. Represented by Sarah Davies of The Greenhouse Literary Agency. My debut YA thriller, NEARLY GONE, will be published by Kathy Dawson Books for Young Readers (Winter, 2014).