| By “crossing over,” I’m not talking about shuffling off this mortal coil. This crossing over refers to my upcoming thriller, The New Neighbor (and if you haven’t yet pre-ordered, what are you waiting for? You can buy it here. OK, no more of that). The New Neighbor is my first novel that has a distinct and direct connection to another book of mine, specifically The Dead Husband. Each book is heavily influenced by the other, yet both are standalone stories and can be read independently. However, the crossover between them means that, in reading both, the experience of reading each is vastly enhanced. Was if difficult to write like this? HELL YES IT WAS. So why did I do it? I’d finished writing The Dead Husband and decided I wasn’t quite ready to move on. I wanted to spend more time in the fictitious town of Bury, NH that I’d created. Moreover, I wanted to spend a lot more time at 1734 Rum Hill Road. See, this house–more of a mansion–has a lot of dark history, as any reader finds out as they follow the tortured journey of Rose Yates in The Dead Husband. Rose grew up in that house, moved away after an unspeakable event occurred there, then returned as an adult to confront her family and that house once and for all. Shit gets dark real fast. In planning The New Neighbor (HA! plan), I wanted to return to Rum Hill Road. The idea struck me: what if I featured the same house from a previous book, but a whole new cast of characters? I loved that idea, so that’s how Aidan Marlowe–recent widower and lottery winner–came to move into the creepy house on Rum Hill Road with his 7-year-old twins. It didn’t take long for him to start sensing the malevolent energy in his new estate, nor for the chilling anonymous notes to start appearing in his driveway. We are watching you. I have to say, I had a blast writing a crossover book, and it took a lot of work and suggestions from my agent and editor to ensure the two books were standalone stories. I had to structure each story in a way either could be read independently or out of order from the other and each still be a complete, cohesive narrative. I think I achieved that, but really, you should read both books, because then all your questions about the insidious little town of Bury will be answered (not to mention all the wonderful Easter eggs you’ll discover!) All this is to say I wasn’t ready to move out of 1734 Rum Hill Road. Maybe I’m still not. After all, I do rather like haunted houses. Do you? |
 1734 Rum Hill Road. Come stay awhile. I’m sure you’ll be fine. |
| “A disquieting psychological thriller from Wilson skillfully piles on the creepiness, ratcheting up the tension as Aidan’s world starts spinning out of control.” — Publishers Weekly on The New Neighbor |
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| Making It Up Newly added episodes of my conversation series Making It Up are out! This month I chatted with acclaimed thriller writer Alex Finlay (The Night Shift) and children’s book author and illustrator Daniel Jude Miller (Monsters in Manhattan). All episodes are available on my YouTube channel and wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Check them out now here! |
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| What I’m Reading Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, Mark Seal (Simon and Schuster, 2021) Another non-fiction book for me this month, and it was a great one. Are you a cinephile? Do you love the behind-the-scenes fodder about movie-making? If you answered “yes,” then check out Mark Seal’s wonderful and highly detailed account about the making of The Godfather. Based on numerous interviews and a trove of film and written journals, what emerges is a story of a first-time filmmaker (Coppola) battling major Hollywood forces in order to get his interpretation of the massively successful Mario Puzo novel onto the big screen. Nearly everything that could have gone wrong in making the film did, but the end result speaks for itself. Also, THAT WAS A REAL FUCKING HORSE’S HEAD. |
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| What I’m Watching Inventing Anna (2022, Netflix). Jess and I already knew the true story about the bogus German heiress who wormed her way into the highest echelon of the Manhattan elite, so we were hesitant to watch the limited series. We knew what happened, so why bother? I’ll tell you why to bother. Julia Garner. My god, can this person act. If you love her in Ozark, you will appreciate her range all the more in this compelling rags-to-riches-to-rags story. Anna Chlumsky is also wonderful as the journalist profiling Anna Delvey, but Garner is the one who steals the show (just as her character steals pretty much everything else). Mark this one down as must watch. |
| Photo of the Month Flashing back to 2009, when I took this shot of a little girl dancing around in The Forbidden City in Beijing. |
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| Update from My Kids Sawyer got a chance to fly out to Michigan to spend a few days with his big sister. He got a little taste of college life, including an MSU hockey game. Awww…aren’t they adorable?? |
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| Update from My Cat A victory cry after killing his flopping fish toy. |
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| Book-Love Instagram Post of the Month |
| Love the flowers! |
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 That’s it for now! See you next month.  |
