HALLIE EPHRON: As authors (particularly of crime fiction), we're wont to say something to the effect: Writing this book is going to kill me. Especially as we wade through writing the mushy middle.
Joani Elliott goes one step further and imagines it happening, because if you die in the middle of a book, who's going to finish it? Say the word "literary executor" to one of your colleagues or offspring and they're likely to run screaming from the room.
Today we're happy to welcome Joani talking about the inspiration for her brand new debut novel, THE AUDACITY OF SARAH GRAYSON. Joani is giving away a signed copy of her new book to one lucky commenter. (Don't you love that cover?!)
JOANI ELLIOTT: THE AUDACITY OF SARA GRAYSON centers around the death of a literary icon and her dying wish that her daughter finish the final volume in her wildly popular best-selling series. There are plenty of missteps and mysteries along the way for Sara who is horrified at the prospect of stepping into her mother’s shoes.
My book’s premise has also generated some interesting conversations with my own daughter, Lexa, who happens to love writing, but still looked at me one day with pleading eyes and said, “Please swear that you will never do that to me, Mom.”
“Do what?” I asked.
“Go and die and then ask me to finish your book.”
I smiled at her. I believe she can do anything. “Define swear,” I said.
At age twenty-one, Lexa is still a master of the eye roll.
I have made no promises about unfinished manuscripts to my daughter, but it does raise interesting questions as writers. Who would you trust to finish one of your books? Is there anyone? And if so, who would that be?
The beloved fantasy writer Robert Jordan died before he could finish his epic Wheel of Time series. With awareness of his coming demise, he asked his wife and editor, Harriet McDougal, to choose someone to finish his series after his death.
(Photo by Jeanne Collins, licensed under CC BY 3.00
McDougal kept her promise and chose author Brandon Sanderson. He was young and accomplished, but he had never even met Jordan. Sanderson was so overwhelmed by the task that he almost didn’t do it. When it came down to making the final decision, Sanderson explained in a 2010 interview with “Fast Forward: Contemporary Science Fiction,” that of “all the people out there…I would screw it up the least.”
Sanderson had read his first Jordan book when he was fourteen. Can you imagine taking on the task of finishing the series of someone you idolized? Would you do it? Sanderson did finish the task, breaking up the last book into three successful volumes.
Michael Crichton died of cancer with more than one unfinished manuscript. His widow and his assistant chose Richard Preston to finish a book that was already one third complete, but Preston had to write a proposal first and then he had to closely follow Crichton’s voice and style to make Micro a success.
Stieg Larsson, author of the famous Millenium trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.) died suddenly of a heart attack at age fifty with no will, so his longtime partner was left out of the decision making all together while his family chose another Swedish writer, David Lagercrantz, to continue the series. Despite the initial uproar among Swedish fans and the press, the series sold millions of copies.
Then there is the beloved author Sue Grafton who died before she could finish her final book, Z is for Zero, in her famous Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series. So close! In a post on Grafton’s website after her death, her daughter explained that Grafton was adamant that a ghost writer would never complete her work.
With Grafton’s last published work, Y IS FOR YESTERDAY, her daughter wrote, “As far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y.”
Even as I neared completion of my first Sara Grayson draft, I found myself asking, would her mother, Cassandra Bond, have a back-up plan? Since Bond had cancer and a little time to plan, would she have stashed a draft of the book somewhere just in case her daughter didn’t come through? Would she really trust Sara to finish her work? I’ve asked myself how I would feel about placing my own unfinished work in someone else’s hands.
I’d love to know your thoughts and I’m giving away a signed copy of my novel to a lucky commenter. Would you ask someone to finish one of your stories or would you prefer your unfinished projects to remain that way?
ABOUT The Audacity of Sara Grayson What happens when the world's greatest literary icon dies before she finishes the final book in her best-selling series?
And what happens when she leaves that book in the hands of her unstable, neurotic daughter, who swears she's not a real writer? Sara Grayson is a thirty-two-year-old greeting card writer about to land the toughest assignment of her life. Three weeks after the death of her mother--a world-famous suspense novelist--Sara learns that her mother's dying wish is for her to write the final book in her bestselling series.
Sara has lived alone with her dog, Gatsby, ever since her husband walked out with their Pro Double Waffle Maker and her last shred of confidence. She can't fathom writing a book for thirty million fans--not when last week's big win was resetting the microwave clock.
But in a bold move that surprises even herself, Sara takes it on. Against an impossible deadline and a publisher intent on sabotaging her every move, Sara discovers that stepping into her mother's shoes means stumbling on family secrets she was never meant to find--secrets that threaten her mother's legacy and the very book she's trying to create.
ABOUT Joani Elliott: Joani grew up with six sisters which means that she can shower fast and do her makeup using the kitchen toaster as a mirror. You should never pick her for your dodgeball team or any team sport—but she does have a rather excellent cartwheel. Joani has taught writing at the University of Maryland and Brigham Young University. She is the mother of two adult daughters who feel sorry for Sara Grayson and believe authors should finish their own damn books.
