HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Okay, I’m not saying a word. Just read this.
Well, okay, I will. Just to say: Nina Simon’s terrific debut novel, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, comes out September 5. And if you ask her, as people always ask authors: where did the idea come from? She has an answer you have never heard before.
FOR ONE PERSON
By Nina Simon
Imagine writing a book for one person. Not in a metaphorical, “picture your ideal reader” sense. But for real. You create a whole novel, a whole world, just for them.
Who would be worthy of all that work on your part?
Who might receive your story with love?
Who would you do this for?
For me, these questions are not rhetorical. I wrote my debut novel, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, for just one person: my mother. I wrote it to entertain, comfort, and distract her, and myself, while she underwent stage 4 cancer treatment in 2020 and 2021.
When my mom got diagnosed, I changed my life to be with her. I quit my job and moved in part-time, driving her to chemotherapy, meeting with doctors, and trying to get her to eat. It worked and it didn’t. We were together, but we were scared. Disease hijacked our conversations, our emotions, even our dreams. We needed an escape, something fun, something that wasn’t cancer.
So I decided to write a murder mystery.
This made even less sense than you might imagine. I had never written fiction before, let alone a novel. I knew nothing about inventing characters and plots. But I knew my mom and I both loved murder mysteries. I knew I enjoyed writing. And I knew we needed a new shared obsession, one that didn't involve protein shakes. So we started to dream up the story that would become Mother-Daughter Murder Night.
The dream enveloped us. We drew flagrant inspiration from our own lives, modeling the main characters after ourselves while cranking up the conflict and body count. We’d spend hours in her hot tub (when she got cancer, we splurged and got a hot tub) inventing victims, suspects, and motives. We read how-to books about craft and twists. We even asked a particularly patient doctor for tips on getting away with murder.
Once the world of the story felt real, I started to write it. I tried to make every scene one that would make my mom smile. She’d sleep through the mornings while I sat on her bed, writing. When she woke, I'd hand her a cup of tea and a draft chapter to read. And then we’d talk. We kept going like that--me writing, her reading, stacks of marked-up drafts accumulating--for weeks.
My mom was both the best and worst first reader. She was unflaggingly enthusiastic, and she was always willing to read another draft. She was a terrific research buddy, but when it came to critical feedback, her scope was limited. She focused on typos, terrible outfits, and most of all, how the main character, Lana Rubicon, was portrayed. She’d say, “people are going to think I’m a b**** if this stays in!” I’d assure her that readers were going to love Lana, flaws and all.
The cancer didn’t go away, but it was put in its place. We had something new to fixate on, something that gave us pleasure and hope. We believed in the dream of the book. At night, I’d tell myself: she’s going to live to see it finished. And later: she’s going to live to see it published. When I’d call her with good news—that I’d signed with an agent, that we got a book deal—she’d say, “now this is something to live for!”
I can’t describe in words how good that felt.
But I can tell you that I’ve been holding my breath, hoping it would be true.
We’ve been very, very lucky. My mom is stronger now, and we are both excited to share Mother-Daughter Murder Night with readers all over the world. But I wrote it for her. I wrote it to keep us whole. And if I had to choose between the intimate process of writing it and the public gift of sharing it, I know what I’d choose: to sit with her in bed, marking up pages and scheming about murder. I’d choose that every time.
If you were going to write a book for just one person, who would it be?
HANK: Told you. I cannot even answer this without crying, so you guys answer.
And do not miss this book!
MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT
High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her estranged adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does. When Jack stumbles upon a dead body while kayaking near their bungalow and quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.
With Jack and Beth's help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they've always resisted: depend on each other.
Coming Sept. 5 from William Morrow.
Alongside her work engaging communities, Nina is an in-demand writer and speaker about community participation in museums, libraries, parks, and theaters. She has sold over 40,000 copies of her self-published books The Participatory Museum (2010) and The Art of Relevance (2016), and for thirteen years, she ran the top blog in the museum industry, Museum 2.0. She has over 25,000 Twitter followers, and she has shared her work as a keynote speaker at over 300 conferences in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, including several state and national library conferences. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, NPR, the New York Times, and on the TEDx stage.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nina now lives in an off- grid community in the Santa Cruz mountains with her husband and daughter. She loves outdoor sports and adventures.
