Books Around the Corner Q&A: Kat Rosenfield, author of No One Will Miss Her'

Books Around the Corner Q&A: Kat Rosenfield, author of No One Will Miss Her'

"The bond between author and reader has always fascinated me. Without the reader's imagination, an author's words are dead in the dark. Only when you open their book do you make them come alive. It's like a spell. And you spread that magic because you talk about the book, post about it, or give it away to someone." - Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Hex & Echo.

Our next author featured in our series is Kat Rosenfield. I thought I'd leave it to a writer to explain why I am doing this series of author interviews and I couldn't have said it better than Thomas Olde Heuvelt above. 

You can order No One Will Miss Her and preorder You Must Remember This on our website HERE (support indies). I hope you all enjoy this interview as much as I did. I am always pleasantly surprised by the Lightning Round.  

Stephanie Rose: Can you take us through your writing process for No One Will Miss Her? How did the writing process differ from your other work?

Kat Rosenfield: I always start with a loose plot map and then write in order, beginning to end. What was different about this book is that I got the first spark of an idea for NOWMH -- the twist -- in 2015, and I spent a long, long time letting the story take shape in my head before I ever wrote a word. I've never done that before and probably won't have the luxury of doing it again, but it was very satisfying. 

SR: What character do you most identify with and why?

KR: There's a little bit of me in all my characters, but in this book I connected a lot with Bird. (This is a common conceit among crime writers and it's probably completely delusional, but because I spend so much time writing about murders I've started to think I would be pretty good at solving them!)

SR: If you could only recommend one of your books which would you choose and why?

KR: Purely for strategic reasons it would have to be You Must Remember This; I always have to be trying to promote whatever the newest thing is!

SR: Do you listen to any music when you write? If so what kind?

KR: No One Will Miss Her was actually inspired in part by a song called "No Children," by the Mountain Goats, so I listened to that a LOT while I wrote it. But generally I can't write to music with lyrics, so I have a playlist on Spotify called "Depressing Classical" that I turn to when I need to feel properly moody and creepy.

SR: What is the best piece of life advice that you've received?

KR: I bought my first home a couple years ago and my agent told me, "Don't renovate your kitchen." I'm sure she had her own reasons for giving me this advice but seeing as I did not (and do not) have the money to renovate my kitchen, I really appreciated being given permission to not do this.

SR: Can you tell us what you're currently working on?

KR: An erotic wilderness thriller. This is not a joke and I will be offering no further information :)

SR: Any recent books, films, shows, or podcasts you want to recommend to our readers?

KR: I loved Severance on Apple+ -- very weird, very darkly funny. For books, I'm currently working my way through Tessa Wegert's Shana Merchant crime novels, which are quick reads with great New England wintry vibes.

Lightning Round | Altered and Borrowed from James Lipton

SR: What is your favorite word?
KR: Lugubrious.

SR: What is your least favorite word?
KR: Tummy. (I feel gross just typing it)

SR: What is your favorite mystery/thriller movie?
KR: A Perfect Murder -- it's a Hitchcockian thriller with a peak 1990s cast and amazing NYC setting.

SR: What is your favorite mystery/thriller book?
KR: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.

SR: What sound or noise do you love?
KR: A far-away train whistle.

SR: What sound or noise do you hate?
KR: Fingernails on upholstery fabric, which I hate so much that it's actually more like a phobia.

SR: What is your favorite curse word?
KR: "Motherfucker." (it's just got a great rhythm to it)

SR: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
KR: Detective!

SR: What profession would you not like to do?
KR: Dentist.

SR: If you knew you were going to die and only had a chance to read one more book what would it be?
KR: 100 Years of Solitude - which I've read before, but I know it's great, and I'm definitely not going to risk my last book on earth being a disappointing one!

SR: You plan a movie night and can watch one movie with any one writer. What writer and what movie do you choose?
KR: Dorothy Parker and I will be watching M. Night Shyamalan's Signs; I'm pretty sure she'll love it.

SR: What author dead or alive would you want to spend the day with and in what fictional place?
KR: This was a really tough one but... I'm taking Friedrich Nietzsche to Hogwarts.

About Kat Rosenfield
KAT ROSENFIELD is a freelance pop culture and political writer and the Edgar-nominated author of AMELIA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE (2012) and INLAND (2014). A former reporter for MTV News, her work has appeared in outlets including Wired, VultureEntertainment WeeklyPlayboy, Reason, and Unherd.
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