Author Stacy Willingham talks to us about her debut novel A Flicker in the Dark and the one book everyone should read.
Stacy Willingham worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies before deciding to write fiction full time. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
Her first novel, A Flicker in the Dark, will be published in February 2022 by HarperCollins. You can also borrow A Flicker in the Dark on our catalogue.
I first starting writing when I was around four years old. My sister actually taught me how to read and write. She’s a few years older than me and I remember being so jealous when she was able to first go to school and I was still too young, so when she got home, she would sit me down and teach me everything she had learned each day. As I result, I was writing little books and screenplays from as early as I can remember.
In terms of heroes, I feel like they evolve as I do! Stephen King has always been a hero because he had a very inspiring publishing journey fraught with rejection and self-doubt, which I thought was both relatable and motivating when I wasn’t yet agented. The Shining was also the first book I read that made me feel afraid in a way a book never had before. When I was done reading for the night, I used to hide it under my bed because it freaked me out just looking at it!
I’ve also looked up to Truman Capote ever since reading In Cold Blood in high school. The idea of a “nonfiction novel” was really fascinating to me, and that book made me want to be an investigative journalist for many years, which I actually still think I would enjoy to this day.
None of my days really look the same, but when I’m in the throes of writing a new book, it typically goes something like this: I spend the first hour or so of my morning drinking my coffee and reading, just trying to ease into the creative process. I’m a believer that your writing will suffer if you’re not well read, so I try to read a lot and often refer back to a lot of old favorites that just have a way of getting my juices flowing.
At some point, I make my way to my laptop and write until my dog starts pestering me and we go for a walk. I do a lot of plotting on those walks, usually spending the entire 2-3 miles thinking about a certain plot hole or character issue and, by the time we’ve made our way home, I usually have a pretty good idea of how to move forward. Then I eat lunch and write until my husband gets home from work. If I’m really into it, I’ll pick it back up again after dinner and write until bedtime, but not always.
And that’s basically it! I don’t outline, and while some people set word counts or time limits, that has never worked for me. If I’m having writer’s block, I don’t force it and do something else: read a bunch, exercise, listen to podcasts or do book research. If I don’t, I basically marathon write for 10-12 hours a day.
Yes! A Flicker in the Dark tells the story of Chloe Davis, a psychologist in Baton Rouge with a troubling past. When she was twelve years old, her father was convicted as a serial killer after confessing to murdering a string of teenage girls who had recently gone missing in their small Louisiana town. Twenty years later, just as Chloe seems to be getting a grip on the fragile life she has since constructed, the past comes crashing back when local girls start to go missing again.
Oddly enough, Chloe seems to be the one part of the book that stayed the most consistent from the original idea to execution. The original story idea was always: “What would it be like to be the daughter of a serial killer, and what would you do if his crimes started happening again?” A lot of things changed in A Flicker in the Dark as it made its way through each draft—almost every other character, parts of the plot itself and even a piece of the ending—but Chloe was always at the heart of it and she always stayed true to the person she was in the beginning.
That’s a great question and I’m really not sure — my next book is actually, in many ways, an attempt to answer that. For me, personally, I’m fascinated with serial killers because I can’t understand them. Their brains are just wired so differently than mine, and because of that, I can’t see myself in them in any way whatsoever. I read about them and watch documentaries about them because I just want to try and understand why someone would do the things that they do… but at the end of the day, there’s just not a logical answer for it. It’s like a mystery that never really gets solved, so our curiosity remains piqued and we keep coming back for more.
I pinch myself and wonder if this is all happening every single day of my life. It’s funny: when I started writing A Flicker in the Dark, everything that is now happening was of course the dream… but how often do dreams really come true? I hoped it would, but I don’t think I ever actually thought it would. Now that it has, I’m just a little stunned. For me, it’s been the ultimate lesson that going for your dreams is always a good idea — you just never know until you try.
Yes! My second book is another psychological thriller with many similarities to A Flicker in the Dark: it’s set in the South, has past and present storylines and has quite a few twists that I hope will take readers by surprise! It also deals with some more heavy themes, like A Flicker in the Dark. While I know thrillers are primarily meant for entertainment, I always hope my stories will cause readers to stop and think a bit, too.
I don’t think it’s possible to pick just one, because art is subjective! But assuming that everyone reading this Q&A is a book lover, I suggest reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It’s not only incredibly creative, which I admire as a writer, but the message behind it is beautiful. I think it will always be one of my favorites.
Hmm, one thing that comes to mind is that I have a horrible phobia of blood. As a thriller writer, as well as someone who loves scary books and movies, that usually comes as a surprise to people. I can write about blood without a problem, but as soon as I see it (or get my blood drawn, or even watch a particularly gory scene in a film), I either have a panic attack or just pass out completely. Doesn’t make sense!
