Q&A with Abbi Waxman

 

 

Abbi Waxman is the author of the new novel One Death at a Time. Her other novels include Christa Comes Out of Her Shell. She lives in Los Angeles.

 

Q: In your new book’s acknowledgments, you write that it “was over a decade in creation.” What was its journey to publication?

 

A: One Death at a Time started life as a TV pilot, which got a small amount of traction that then petered out (which is extremely common in Hollywood).

 

I really fell in love with the characters, and wanted to spend more time with them, so I turned the pilot into a novel, which then sat on my computer for a long time while I wrote another novel (which went nowhere) and then the novel that eventually became The Garden of Small Beginnings.

 

Periodically I would ask my editor and agent if I could publish a mystery and they weren’t super keen, as the rom-coms were doing well. But eventually I wore them down (and mysteries came back into vogue) and it got a chance.

 

Q: How did you create your characters Julia and Mason, and how would you describe their relationship?

 

A: I’ve always had a soft spot for cranky older women, and have three Gen Z daughters, so I wanted to write that combination. They start off by irritating each other but then, in time-honored tradition, develop a grudging mutual respect and then, over time, affection

 

I’m hoping these books become a series, and I can write their relationship as they age and grow. 

 

Q: Why did you include sobriety as a theme in the novel?

 

A: I’ve been sober myself for 28 years and wanted to write characters who were sober, but in a book where sobriety wasn’t the main focus. It’s not about getting sober, or even about living sober, it’s a detective novel where the detectives happen to be sober.

 

And sober people are interesting to me, because they handle their lives under an additional burden but also with a huge advantage (in my opinion) because they’re always trying to be the best version of themselves. They’re flawed, but working on it.

 

Q: Oprah Daily said of the book, “Waxman’s mystery is a sly female bonding manifesto: It’s Thelma & Louise without booze or Brad Pitt.” What do you think of that comparison?

 

A: I think it’s fantastic, and if I could have worked Brad Pitt into the story I definitely would have.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I just submitted the second book in the series to my editor, so I’ll be working on that for the next few months.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I really hope people enjoy these characters, and I get to write about them for a long time!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Abbi Waxman.