SPOILERS AHEAD: Throughout this episode, Wallace and I discuss numerous topics, any and all of which could be considered SPOILERS for HEAVEN'S A LIE and, as such, I recommend/request that you bookmark this page, go buy the book, devour it, and then come back here to listen to Wallace and I chat about it. The book deserves the freshness of your unspoiled attention.

Presenting: a conversation with novelist Wallace Stroby set against the ambience of barking dogs and my neighbor's riding lawnmower.

In which: we discuss his latest novel, HEAVEN'S A LIE, and, along the way, explore suitcases of money, the void after a work's completion, grief, the process of processing, reading, re-reading, and what, to him, constitutes a good writing day.

About Wallace

Wallace Stroby is an award-winning journalist and the author of nine novels, four of which feature Crissa Stone, the professional thief labeled “crime fiction’s best bad girl ever.” His new novel, HEAVEN'S A LIE, was called "a pure hit of adrenaline" by author Harlan Coben on NBC's TODAY SHOW. Stroby’s first novel, THE BARBED-WIRE KISS, was a Barry Award finalist for best debut novel. For 13 years, he was an editor at the Newark Star-Ledger, Tony Soprano's hometown paper. A native of Long Branch, N.J., he’s a lifelong resident of the Jersey Shore.

Chapters

Intro / Spoiler Warning / Request (00:00)
The first couple of weeks after the release of HEAVEN'S A LIE (02:14)
The void left after The Work's done / diving into false starts (02:42)

SPOILERS AHEAD:

"A position of ... losing the war" (07:00)
"There are no new ideas, really..." (11:04)
"I don't know about that, but I can tell you that I abandoned it twice."(13:43)
A reading from HEAVEN'S A LIE (15:44)
"How sometimes... good memories can turn around and have the opposite effect." (18:47)
"I probably did that on a second run... I had done a draft of the book and it was only 45,000 words..." (22:03)
"I'm comfortable when I can get something to the point where I can pretend it's somebody else's work and I'm the editor." (23:32)
"The beginning of his downfall - because of what he had done..." (25:13)
"You gotta go somewhere before you can come back." (27:39)

SPOILER-FREE:

On re-reading Lawrence Block and Elmore Leonard (31:38)
"Everybody talks about his ten rules of writing... he re-wrote the rules of writing. It was like a breath of fresh air." (35:13)
"Read a lot, write a lot." (36:39)
What do you consider to be a good writing day? (38:52)
Wrapping up / on interviewing Stephen King (41:29)
Outro (46:01)

Linkage

You can connect with Wallace at his website, wallace stroby.com, and on Twitter, @wallacestroby.
HEAVEN'S A LIE at Mulholland Books.
And here's Wallace's excellent 1991 interview with Stephen King.

Author photo by Patrick Millikin.

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