By Elle Marr
I did not set out to write a novel with a brand new baby beside me. And yet, I found myself click-clacking away on my keyboard during the three naps my infant son took during the day, and during the short window I could stay awake once the baby went to sleep for the night. Was I driven by deadlines? Partly. But I was also energized by a need to transcribe the story I knew in my head to the blank page.
My upcoming thriller, The Lie She Wears, and the story in question, features a strained mother-daughter dynamic that becomes worse once the mother, Sally, dies and leaves her daughter, Pearl, a mysterious letter confessing to murder. Though dedicated to her work as an art museum curator in Portland, Oregon, Pearl pursues the clues in the letter, searching for clarity, until a priceless Chinese mask in her care goes missing. Pearl quickly realizes she is caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Someone is following in her mother’s murderous footsteps; and they’re getting closer.
Writing about motherhood fueled me in the final months of pregnancy. I wrote 50,000 words in twelve weeks because I was so interested in how Pearl and Sally’s story turned out. And, while contractual deadlines matter, certainly—the real deadline was bearing down: the baby’s due date. The months preceding his delivery saw me furiously hammering out chapters and reworking subplots, promoting my 2024 releases—The Alone Time, published by Thomas and Mercer in May; and Your Dark Secrets, published by Disney Publishing in July—all while wearing the most stylish maternity jumpsuits I could find (Spoiler: they were not numerous, friends).
When I didn’t make the deadline, and the baby arrived before I had a fully baked manuscript, I was pretty disappointed. The characters and their actions seemed to leap out from my thoughts, but I put writing them on hold. I began the maternity leave that my editor and I discussed, and hunkered down with the babe.
The days were peaceful. The number of photos of my baby doing nothing—but doing it so cutely—exploded on my phone. Although my priority was the baby’s schedule, his needs, his tummy time and his diaper frequency—during the narrow pockets of time I had to myself, I was entranced with Pearl’s investigation and Sally’s elusive and shadowy past. I found that writing their story fed me as an adult, and that balanced the beautiful all-consuming chaos of welcoming a baby.
While I wouldn’t suggest the timing—ha! At all—I feel incredibly lucky now, one year on, to be able to squeeze my son affectionately, and to also hold a copy of my book in hand. I’m still not quite sure how I did it. But I think I channeled some of Sally’s myopic focus on keeping her own baby Pearl alive in the face of a looming threat from her past, and Pearl’s determination to pursue the truth all the way to the end.
In any case, we’ll have to ask my own baby in twenty years his opinion of his first year of life. And whether he can look back on his literary twin fondly or with a binky’s worth of faux-sibling-rivalry.
Museum curator Pearl Davis always had a strained relationship with her mother, Sally. Growing up, she rarely felt her mother’s love. So many things about her mother’s behavior never added up. But when Sally dies unexpectedly, she leaves Pearl a letter from the grave…confessing to murder.
Suddenly, Pearl has even more questions than she has answers. She suspects the letter is just a sign of her mother’s diminished state of mind―until she finds human remains in Sally’s garden. With the help of a friend, Pearl begins searching for the truth of her mother’s actions―and as she does, more cryptic notes emerge. But these letters aren’t just clues behind a confession. They’re a warning. Sally was terrified of something.
When more remains are discovered, it’s clear whatever secrets Sally died with are now Pearl’s to bear. And as darkness closes in, Pearl fears that her mother’s past could be the death of her.
I am amazed that you were SO prolific with a new baby on hand!! Now, I can’t wait to read your new thriller – it sounds amazing. Thanks for blogging for us today!
Thank you for this chance! I loved writing this piece. <3