Jon & Sarah Interview Author Seraphina Nova Glass

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Book Lisp with Jon Ryan & Sarah Colonna

Episode: Jon & Sarah Interview Author Seraphina Nova Glass
Release Date: December 30, 2024
Guests: Seraphina Nova Glass
Book Discussed: On a Quiet Street

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1. Introduction to Seraphina Nova Glass

In this special episode, hosts Jon Ryan and Sarah Colonna welcome author Seraphina Nova Glass for an in-depth discussion about her acclaimed book, On a Quiet Street. This marks the first-ever author interview on The Book Lisp, setting a precedent for future insightful conversations.

Notable Quote:

• Sarah Colonna [06:37]: "Seraphina, we loved talking to you. You were just delightful, open, and willing to answer a lot of questions."

2. Book Overview and Audience Reception

Seraphina delves into why On a Quiet Street resonated deeply with both hosts and their audience. Sarah mentions the pressure of picking a first thriller book and how Seraphina’s work exceeded expectations.

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Colonna [07:17]: "Our listeners have loved, love, love this book."
• Jon Ryan [07:40]: "I can't put this book down. It was really incredible."

3. Narrative Structure and Perspectives

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the book's unique narrative structure. Seraphina explains her choice to use both first-person and third-person perspectives, offering deeper insights into her characters.

Notable Quotes:

• Seraphina Nova Glass [08:37]: "I use first and third person to provide different depths and layers to the story."
• Sarah Colonna [10:11]: "There were so many things that she knew that we didn't know she knew yet..."

4. Creative Process and Inspiration

Jon inquires about Seraphina's creative process, particularly how she crafts intricate twists and turns without relying on personal experiences. Seraphina compares her approach to that of Stephen King, emphasizing planning and plot development.

Notable Quotes:

• Jon Ryan [10:39]: "Where do you come up with these ideas? They’re so crazy, like twists and turns."
• Seraphina Nova Glass [11:02]: "None of it's ever from real life experience. I play around with plot and see what happens."

5. Character Development and Emotional Depth

The hosts and Seraphina discuss the evolution of key characters, especially Cora. Sarah highlights Cora's transformation from a pushover to a confident individual who stands up against antagonists.

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Colonna [27:21]: "Cora developed so much, from being a pushover to shoving Finn out of the car."
• Seraphina Nova Glass [28:21]: "Readers loved that she changed and gained confidence through her sisterhood."

6. Audiobook Narration Choices

Seraphina shares her passion for audiobooks and the importance she places on choosing the right narrators to bring her characters to life. She recounts her collaboration with narrator Imogen Church and how it enhanced her storytelling.

Notable Quotes:

• Seraphina Nova Glass [34:06]: "I care about the narration because I think I sell more on Audible than in paperback."
• Sarah Colonna [36:35]: "It’s really cool that you get to have a big say in picking the narrators."

7. Future Projects and Upcoming Works

Looking ahead, Seraphina reveals her upcoming book, Nothing Ever Happens Here, set to release on February 11. She discusses her writing commitments, including a four-book deal, and her exploration into different genres, including attempts at romance novels and screenwriting.

Notable Quotes:

• Seraphina Nova Glass [31:34]: "Nothing Ever Happens Here coming out February 11."
• Sarah Colonna [34:19]: "We’ll definitely be reviewing it and talking about it."

8. Adaptations and Media Presence

The conversation touches on the adaptation of Seraphina’s work into a limited TV series. While details are kept under wraps, Seraphina expresses optimism about the project and the collaborative efforts with directors and producers.

Notable Quotes:

• Seraphina Nova Glass [16:42]: "It's looking promising and pretty far along."
• Sarah Colonna [16:53]: "Your TV series will be so fun to see come to life if it happens."

9. Closing Thoughts and Appreciation

As the interview wraps up, Seraphina offers early copies of her upcoming book through NetGalley, and the hosts express their gratitude for her time and insights. Both Jon and Sarah commend her storytelling prowess and express excitement for future collaborations.

Notable Quotes:

• Seraphina Nova Glass [38:28]: "I'm happy to have a choice in picking the narrators these days."
• John Ryan [39:34]: "I'll definitely be going back and reading all your books. It was amazing."

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Conclusion:

This episode of The Book Lisp offers a comprehensive look into Seraphina Nova Glass’s writing journey, her narrative techniques, and the thoughtful development of her characters. Listeners gain valuable insights into the intricacies of crafting a psychological thriller and the importance of audiobooks in modern storytelling. With an upcoming release and potential TV adaptations, Seraphina Nova Glass is undoubtedly an author to watch.

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Stay Tuned:

Don't miss the next episode of The Book Lisp where Jon and Sarah delve into more captivating conversations with authors and explore diverse literary worlds. Subscribe to the podcast and join the weekly book club discussions!

Transcript

[Sarah Colonna]

Hi, I'm Sarah Colonna.

[John Ryan]

And I'm John Ryan.

[Sarah Colonna]

And you're listening to the Book List. The Book List.

[John Ryan]

The Book Lisp.

[Sarah Colonna]

Oh, that's right. You're listening to the Book Lisp. Oh, hi. John Ryan.

[John Ryan]

Hey, Sarah Colonna.

[Sarah Colonna]

Hi. This is Sarah and John. And welcome to the Book Lisp podcast. We have our first ever author interview about to come up. Correct.

[John Ryan]

Yeah. Very exciting.

[Sarah Colonna]

Pretty exciting. I'm excited. Truth be told, we already recorded it with her and we are now going back and recording a little intro. Because we aren't like technically awesome.

[John Ryan]

Gifted.

[Sarah Colonna]

Gifted, that's the word. So we are. We recorded it with her and then we wanted to do a little intro where we just say, first of all, thank you for listening. That fun. And also, I hope everyone had a great holiday. Great Christmas, great Hanukkah, great. Whatever you celebrate. If you had a shitty one. Sorry about that, too. Some people have shitty holidays. Are you one of them, John?

[John Ryan]

I had a great holiday.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah.

[John Ryan]

What did you do, Timer? Hung out with you all day. Got spoiled with a lot of gifts that you got me. We went out with my buddy Logan, who was in town in the morning, in the afternoon, went out with a couple of our other friends on Christmas Eve. So it's been a really good holiday season.

[Sarah Colonna]

It has been. And I have to say, on theme of. On a quiet street, as we have discussed before, John and I are not the most social neighbors that live in the world a little bit. You spy. Remember you talked about how a couple episodes.

[John Ryan]

You. You.

[Sarah Colonna]

You paid to find out what goes on with another neighbor as far as their career. Don't be creeped out by that. Just. It's the thing you can do. But we on Christmas Eve, walked over two doors down. No, Christmas Day.

[John Ryan]

Christmas Day.

[Sarah Colonna]

Christmas Day. When we normally don't even get out of our pajamas. We walked two doors down to our neighbors who we really love. They're so sweet and so cool. And we walked down because they invited us over and went in their house, had a couple. I had a gin and tonic. Who am I?

[John Ryan]

I was surprised by that order. Gin and tonic, little G and T. But you're a wildcard lately.

[Sarah Colonna]

I am. I thought it tasted delicious. And we hung out at their house and met their friends and their family and it was really nice.

[John Ryan]

It was like, that's not normally our. Our go to type thing. I think. I think definitely within like a neighborhood friendship situation to initiate it. We're never going to initiate it. So these people have been very proactive in trying to include us in their. In the group. And I've always had that thing where I always thought that, like, neighborhoods that are really tight, I'm like, upside down, pineapple. These people are all swinging. But it didn't.

[Sarah Colonna]

It didn't.

[John Ryan]

I had to have that theory, but it didn't seem that way. And if it was whatever, just don't include us.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, no, they are just sweet, kind people who invite their neighbors over. And they did come to our Christmas party, too. So, um, from that, I think he said, oh, if you want to come over on Christmas, but Christmas Day, I mean, that's sacred to us. So for us to. I just feel very proud of us. I feel like we're really evolving in our older ages.

[John Ryan]

And it seems like all those people are, like, pretty tight because it was. We met the people used to live in our house. Well, they used to live on our property. They. They're going to. They. Once the developer bought it, they tore it down and built our house. We met their little daughter who was nine years old, and she goes, I'm going to buy back your house and rebuild our old house. So apparently they don't teach economics in third grade, but that's. That's fun for her. But we. We have people that are like, oh, we used to live in this neighborhood 15 years ago, and we just come back for this party every year.

[Sarah Colonna]

So, yes, the. The. The couple that lived on our property before, like John referred to, they moved probably an hour, hour and a half away. And they said they still just come down on Christmas day to attend that neighbor's beautiful little gathering. So it was. It was really cool. So not all neighbors have to be like, they are on is what we're saying.

[John Ryan]

We left right before the food. This guy, he pulled out. Tom pulled out like, a big, like, pot roast or something.

[Sarah Colonna]

I know.

[John Ryan]

Rib roast.

[Sarah Colonna]

I wanted to stick around for that. So he had. They had a lot of really good snacks. They had some stuffed mushrooms that were amazing. And I asked him for the recipe. He goes, I don't have one. Oh, oh, okay. You're one of those people who's just able to cook, are you? I see what we're doing here. Since we had our. We had the Whole Foods dinner that we order every year, because for the two of us, we're not gonna try to figure out anything else. And so when he pulled out that big roast, I wanted to try. It was huge, and I wanted to try it so badly, but I knew that we had our whole turkey dinner waiting for us. So that's when we left. So we ducked out when I got tempted, but we have already. So we're about to introduce Serafina Nova Glass to you. We loved talking to her. I thought she was just delightful and open and willing to answer a lot of questions. I don't think we got to everything, but we got to a lot. We got to a lot of the questions that you guys sent us on Patreon and in the book list spinners group. And don't forget that we do have a Patreon where you can watch all the episodes on video as well as we do bonus content now. So we dropped a bonus. Sarah and John hit record. It's not usually about books. It's just about us having a couple cocktails and hitting record. And then this month or next month in January, it's Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the book. Just as a reminder, and we are also going to do a little bonus Patreon episode. The seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is your regular podcast. Same thing, four weeks. Week four will be all the full discussion, but we're also going to do a little bonus. Freda McFadden has a holiday book out called the Gift. And I didn't realize that. So even though it's January, I still consider that the holidays we're going to do that. It's a short 47. 47, 48 page book. So that'll. That's the kind of stuff we do over on Patreon, too. And thank you for listening. John, anything else you have to say before we say hello to Seraphina?

[John Ryan]

Nope. Enjoy.

[Sarah Colonna]

Okay, listeners, this is what you've been waiting for. Seraphina Nova Glass has very graciously agreed to talk to us about December's book on a Quiet street, which I know many of you loved, loved, loved. And I do want to start off, Seraphina, by thanking you for making me look really cool because this was my first book pick. And John had, he picked the romance novels for our book club and I picked the thrillers. So he had picked 28 Summers by Ellen Hildebrand for our very first book and people loved it. So there was a lot of pressure on me to knock my first book out of the park. And I sure did because our listeners have loved, love, love this book.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Good. Well, thank you.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah. John is not a huge psychological drama book reader. And he was like, I can't put this book down.

[John Ryan]

It was, it was really incredible.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Men are not usually my, like, my audience for the most part. So when a guy likes it, I I just. That's a compliment, so I appreciate it.

[John Ryan]

I absolutely. I absolutely loved it. I'll definitely be reading more of your books because I was totally hooked. I read it and then I went back and listened to it as well, and it was just such a great read.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Thank you.

[Sarah Colonna]

Not only do you have a man that read it, but also he's a former NFL player. I feel like they're probably also not your target audience, but you never know. I think one of the things that was our biggest question for you about this book, because we found it so interesting, was that Paige's chapters were in third person, while Cora and Georgia Nicola were all written in first person. And there's a lot of theories about why that would be, and who better to tell us than the author herself?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

I love that there are theories. I. I would be so interested to know some. Some of them are. You know, it's funny, I get asked that a lot and I'll just get. I don't. I'm not on Instagram much. I try really hard, and then I realize it's like eight months since I posted something and that it exists, but sometimes I'll get pinged on Instagram from some stranger asking me that exact question out of the blue. So it's funny, at the book I'm writing right now about two chapters from finishing it, and it's due at the end of December, so I'm just about done. And I use the same formula. So it's two first person and a third person. You know, I think that I. I feel like it might have been a Lisa Jewel book that flop, flip, flop, povs like that. And I just loved it. And I was like, to me, it was such an interesting way to get not only the multiple perspectives from the three characters, but between first and third person. You just get these. A different depth, I think, in the flip flop. But there's also the reason it was Paige that had the third person is because I think there were things because of what she was doing and the length she was going to, there were things that you really couldn't know. And if she were in first person, I feel like that would make her more unreliable than I wanted her because she'd be keeping so much secret. And so that was my reason, I guess, for keeping her third person, but also just because I like the layers that it offers to have not only multiple narrators, but the third and first. So I hadn't done it again until recently, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I miss doing that. It just does to me, it just kind of adds something.

[Sarah Colonna]

It definitely does. And I have to say that's exactly what I thought at the end. I'm very proud of myself right now. In our, in our full review that came out last week, I said, I think that there were so many things that she knew that we didn't know she knew yet that if she was telling it in first person then we would have, it wouldn't have worked in, in some ways. And so, I mean, you said it a lot smarter than me, but that's what I thought.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

That's absolutely it.

[John Ryan]

Where, where do you, you just mentioned that you're writing a book right now. Where do you come up with ideas for these books? Because I know so many writers, they write from personal experience and I, I really hope these aren't personal experiences that you're going through based on what we just read. But where, where do you come up with these ideas? It just, to me it's so crazy, like twists and turns. It took, it just, it, you had me guessing. So I was wondering like, where does these ideas come from?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

And I, I feel like as much as I get asked that I would have a better answer, but I, I can't. I always say, I think Stephen King was asked that once and he's like, if I effin knew the answer to that, I would bottle it and sell it. No, it's. And I always say it's a lot of staring at walls. I don't, it doesn't just pop into my head. None of it's ever from real life experience. I think I really don't draw from any personal experience or my neighborhood. In that book, people ask me if my, you know, I'm spying on my neighbors. I think it's just, I, you know, like my very, very first book, it was about a radio talk show host and somebody called in for advice. And I used to listen to this many, many moons ago, really hard hitting radio talk show host. And she'd give this shocking advice, like in, you know, two seconds of someone's problem. And I just always wonder what the aftermath of that was. If they went and applied this advice that was really harsh to their lives. And so we kind of sort of the question. That book in particular.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Which is my best example of like I like to kind of take a question and sort of turn it and twist and look at it in different ways and then maybe explore it a little and see what happens. But it's never like lightning strikes or, you know, I often find that people say that they have all this crazy life experience and they want to write a book. I think that, I mean, that's even harder to try to fictionalize these real things that you're really tied to the details of that have happened. So I like to stay away from my real life as much as possible and just sort of play around with plot and see what happens.

[John Ryan]

So Finn isn't based on anyone you know, because you can paint the picture of a giant douchebag better than anyone I've ever seen. You just said, when you describe Finn, you say have him walking into the bar, walking to a bar that's obviously too young for him, wearing a backwards UMass lacrosse hat and using the word damn. I'm like, I hate this guy already. Like, you can really paint the picture. So I hope he's not based on anyone, you know.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Well, maybe a few people I've met in the past. Hopefully I've outgrown the places he hangs out, but I might know a couple of those, you know, many moons ago in my pub days or something.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, yeah, it's. That was actually one of our listeners questions was. Was if you draw from anyone you know, and if they recognize little pieces of themselves in this. So you already answered that for them. And another listener was asking about what draws you to this genre. And I. He basically said, I love a dead body in my book. So I. I don't know what that says about me, but. But I'm the same way. So is it just the. Is it the twists and turns and being able to surprise people that. That made you want to write this genre?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

I think I fell into this genre. It was not. I didn't set out to write thrillers and I'd honestly never read a thriller until 2018.

[Sarah Colonna]

Oh, wow.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

In my life I read one, exactly one. And I said, why aren't I doing this? And then I did it the next week. I just decided that's what I wanted to do. My background's actually really only read a literary fiction deep. James Baldwin, Michael Cunningham, James Joyce. That was my jam. And I come from playwriting and the theater and so thrillers and popular fiction. I mean, now I see my books at the airport, which is very surreal. And I was like. That was never like in my mind to be a paperback in an airport, which is. It's amazing and flattering and just so cool in a lot of ways. But it was certainly never what I set out to do. I just, I think there's something just kind of fun and light in this really insane world. Right now, I know it doesn't seem like it should be light when I'm writing about dead bodies and murder, but to be able to kind of weave a mystery and have a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter and, you know, and I. It's never, it's never too graphic. I never go for gore or for, you know, bloodiness or body counts. It's just not. I don't watch horror. I can't really even my psyche, I feel, is too sensitive for any of that really dark stuff. And so, you know, I keep it domestic because it's. It is on the lighter side most, for the most part. Um, and. And so, yeah, I mean, again, I don't. I think it was sort of an accident. I read it, I liked it, I tried it. And now I'm kind of not like I pigeonholed into only writing thrillers now. I could probably branch out a little, but I have a four book deal and I have to write four more. And so I'm kind of. I'm there for a while at least. Right. So there's not really time for other stuff. But I might try maybe a different genre. I did actually, I did decide to try because I wrote Hallmark movies before this. I don't know if you. You knew that, but six of them did get optioned. So I was kind of in that world for a little while. So I'm like, well, I'll try. Maybe I'll do a romance novel. And I sent the first few chapters to my agent and she said there's just something about your style where even though it's romance, I feel like someone's about to die by chapter two. Like it's just there's a tone or something that made it still a little bit too dark to be a romance novel. So maybe I'll just stick with what I got going.

[Sarah Colonna]

I love it. I think. I mean, I obviously are very talented writer. I'm sure you could write anything you want. But yeah, maybe you were. Maybe your Hallmark movies, they were like, maybe these are more Lifetime with a Murder.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Oh, I know. Actually, yeah, that's kind of like we went to a crossover with where we. Where we send them for sure.

[Sarah Colonna]

That's really funny. I did read. Speaking of that, you have. This is going to be a limited TV series, correct?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah, we're in the works. It's been kind of moving forward for a while. Not really loud. I know it was announced in I think Variety or something.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, I saw it on Variety. I think are deadline.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah, I think That's. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say about the director and kind of like where they are in the process, but it's looking promising. You know, it's pretty far along. When they say it's optioned and it's going to be turned into a series, you're really hoping that it gets set up and that one of the streamers or networks buys it. And we're getting to that point. We're getting pretty far down the line where it's looking good. But, you know, I don't know how much you know about the TV business, but I actually know.

[Sarah Colonna]

I actually know quite a bit. I actually. So I had a book that I sold to NBC, so I know that whole weight and see, and you don't know, mine never made it to air, but. And we never shot the pilot, but I got paid to write the pilot and that was nice. But I know exactly how it works and I know you can't really see, but I do think these women will be so fun to see come to life if, you know, if it. If it happens. If not, we got the book, so we're good. Yeah. People really like their female bonds in this. And there was a question that I thought was interesting. Was there ever a moment where you considered one of these women crossing Nicola and telling where she was, or. We hoped it never happened and you didn't want it to happen. But in your brain, was there ever a moment where they weren't gonna come out of this, all three bonded?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

No. It started, you know, I think female friendship and kind of girl power and vigilante justice and, you know, a little hopeful ending is kind of, you know, sort of the space that I like to live in with these thrillers. Again, you know, you're writing in a. Well, it was funny. I sent my mom, actually, the last few chapters. I'm like two chapters from being done the last chapters today. She's always lovely and reads it right away and gives me feedback. And, you know, she's like, I don't know how you don't. Like, you're not always just full of anxiety and on edge. Like, if I. I don't even want to read this right now. And how are you writing it? And I think sometimes, like when you're in control of knowing what's going to happen, it's not anxiety producing. You're just excited about how, you know, how many rocks you can throw at these people and have them live through it.

[John Ryan]

Right.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

And it's almost fun and it doesn't produce at all the same response that reading it does. And so for me, I just, I keep that in mind. And I just don't like to go too dark. And I really do like to keep kind of the hopeful female friendship. Somebody kind of wins at the end. It's never, ever going to be supernatural or evil or everyone dies. I'm never going to do that. So, yeah, I think I started out with these three pretty strong and definitely knew that that was something that was going to carry the book and was an important piece for me.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, I think we really loved that part about it, obviously. And you love the justice at the end. Was it. There was one conversation that John and I had when we did the review, or recap, whatever you want to call it. Is there ever a point where you felt like Paige sleep didn't have to sleep with Finn?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah. That's so interesting you asked that. I, I, I'm not saying I regret it. I probably would do it different if I did it again.

[Sarah Colonna]

Oh, really?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah. I think that there may be, you know, I think sometimes you can get carried away in your own shocking twist sort of a thing, maybe a little bit. And was it a bridge too far in the betrayal, or did she feel like she, you know, I don't know. I think that I might have had her get the evidence without having gone that far, even though it is sort of like a shocker. And you want that, of course, in a, you know, to turn the pages. But I'm interested to see in the series, like, how they'll handle that, because I'm not, I don't have anything to do with the writing of the series.

[Sarah Colonna]

I'm okay.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

I'm just, you know, I'm staying in my lane as far as continuing to just write the next books and. But I'll really be interested to see if other writers kind of feel the same way, that maybe it wasn't necessary and maybe it made her a little bit more villainous than necessary. I don't know. I think about it, though.

[Sarah Colonna]

That's interesting. Yeah. I mean, I think, I just think it came off as, in my mind, I was like, she's just, she's unhinged in so many ways. Right. And from pain and, um, and. And I kind of felt it was, maybe it was something that you go, oh, I wish she wouldn't have done this. But at the same point, you go, you kind of get it. And she's also lonely and isn't able to connect with her husband right now. And so you kind of just, you know where it's coming from. So you, you forgive her in a way.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

You forgive her a little. Yeah. Yeah.

[John Ryan]

That was kind of my next question.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

And it's kind of hard to say, you know, I don't know if I would do it over, but I do think about maybe, maybe I would maybe even just try writing it differently and see if it has the same impact. Yeah, I don't know.

[John Ryan]

That was kind of my next question that you kind of answered there. But when you are done a book and you hand it in, I'm sure it kind of feels like you're handing over a baby. But when you look back, do you often not necessarily regret, but wish you would have changed some things or changed an ending or changed the character? Do you dwell on that or do you look back that way?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

No, because I don't even want to look at the book again when I'm done with it. It's interesting. I'm so sick of these people. Like, I spent too much time with them. And then when somebody's like, oh, write a series. I'm like, lord help me. I'm just so ready for the next totally new idea. It's kind of the joke. You're working on a book and you're more excited about the next idea than finishing the project that you're on. I don't know if I deal with that too much because you're, you're ready to meet the deadlines at this point. But I think that I revise. I always say I'm such a heavy outliner at the beginning and I know exactly sort of how the book's going to play out to the end, that I'm very revision light on the revisions and the publisher and editor don't, you know, actually push too much for a lot of revisions. So it's usually kind of a fairly breezy process, which I know is never what you hear. It's always like writing is rewriting and the revision is hell. But I think I do a lot of the front loaded work and then by the time I get to the end, I, I love audiobooks. I listen to them all the time. And I love helping to choose who the narrators are for my audiobooks, but I can't even listen to them. Like, even though I want to. It's just, there's just something about, for me being done with it and just never looking back and moving on. Because I think I would do exactly that. If I did, I'd start second guessing myself. Oh, I, you Know, I think there'd be a lot of insecurity and regret or whatever. And so I'm just like, I don't know. I think I just don't let myself do that. I probably would really wallow if I did. So I kind of have a. I take a position on it, and I don't look at it any more than I have to.

[Sarah Colonna]

So, on that note, one of our listeners asked this, and I thought it was interesting because it's something I thought about, too. When you. Did you go in knowing the ending or are. Do alternate endings go through your mind? Because I think some people, you. You go, oh, I kind of want to see Grant and Kora explore this, even though, you know that. That Grant and Paige now have that closure and they can finally maybe get together. But there was something kind of beautiful about the way Grant and Kora helped each other out through this pain. So did that ever cross your mind?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah, I mean, well, I think I went in creating Cora and Grant's relationship knowing that there's something really sort of sexy and intriguing about an almost romance rather than having it come to fruition. And there's always that what if? And it almost hangs heavier in a life, you know, for years to come, that always wondering what if? Sort of thing. And I like leaving it there way more than concluding it, you know, a certain way and leaving the door open for Grant and Paige, because there is obviously a deep love there, even if it's sort of tired and difficult and all of that. I always go into a book knowing the end. I kind of start there. I have to. I don't know what I'm writing, too, unless I know how it's all going to come together. And so I really, really think a lot about that and about outlining and about knowing how to plant things and craft things throughout because of how it's going to end. So it's definitely important piece for me. I lose my mind trying to figure it out and stress right, if I didn't know where I was going.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, I like that. So you pick it and you go, this is where it's ending, and I'm not going to mess with this, but I'm going to throw it.

[John Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

And I'm sure there are, like, I think even just right now, I mean, I might have had one idea for how some things were going to go, and they're taking me in a little bit of a different direction. But the general big twist is usually, you know, pretty close to where I started, you know, conceiving of it. That doesn't change too much. It's just kind of how I get there sometimes, you know, I'll be halfway through an outline and I'll look at it, be like, oh, Lord, this is a disaster. And I'll have to really kind of reshape it. But it's still done in advance, if that makes sense.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, it was. There was so many twists. I mean, we were talking about, like, I did not see it coming at all, that that was going to be Caleb's baby. I mean, I did not see. And a lot of times I love reading a thriller. Even if I think I know where it's going, it doesn't matter. But this one, I. I was. Every turn, I was like, what?

[John Ryan]

Yeah. When I found out it was Caleb's baby, I had to put the book down and kind of like, almost do like. Like a spider web of where everyone was coming from and who's related to who at that point, because it was just. It was such a great twist.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

I have to have charts sometimes myself. But that's the thing, like, I absolutely admire a writer who can not know where it's going, but how. To me, it's like, if I didn't know that twist, the Caleb's baby thing, and that. That was, you know, I'm. I'm setting it up every step of the way, and I think if I wasn't, it would.

[Sarah Colonna]

It.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

It wouldn't have been a surprise because it would have been clumsy and I probably wouldn't have, like, you know, placed these little clues in the right places if I didn't know where I was taking it, you know. So, yeah, it's interesting to me how what they call the pantsers, people who just, you know, right off the cuff, can. Can. Can do that. And it's. It's a dream of mine, but I just. I think I'm a little bit too organized in type A about. About it.

[Sarah Colonna]

Well, I think you have to. With all these twists, right. To keep them straight, too. But one thing I think a lot of people really liked that, that are. That listened to our podcast, but also that John and I both liked was the. The development of Cora, too, from her going from sort of being a pushover and wanting everyone to like her to basically just given the middle finger to Finn at the end and shoving him out of the car. And the couple of moments that she unknowingly put. Put Nicola in more danger, right? Like when she called her husband to tell him that the baby's fine, she's the baby's. Over here. And you're just screaming at the book like, cora. No, but she doesn't have any idea. But I loved. I loved her development, I think the most of all three characters, just because she got this, like, confidence and love for herself and what she could do with this, like, sisterhood. And I thought that was really cool.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah. I don't think I realized how annoying she came off at the beginning until a lot of readers, like, explained that transformation that, to me, I see in hindsight. But I. I really didn't mean to write her sort of as, like. I don't know, like, I think I always say in hindsight, she reminds me of Peggy Hill from King of the Hill for some reason. I don't know why, but she's just so, like, you know, proper and a little bit uptight and sort of interfering with other people's lives and nosy and. Yeah, it's interesting to not necessarily see it as clearly when you're in it and then reading it back and going, oh, wow. You know, it was a little more over the top than I thought.

[Sarah Colonna]

But I actually didn't. I didn't find her annoying. I just liked her development like that. She got her empowerment back, sort of.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Oh, I do hear that a lot. But they loved that she turned, you know, the character arc and all of that, you know, that she changed, and you got to see her change. But annoying is definitely a word that.

[Sarah Colonna]

I. I thought it was more.

[John Ryan]

To me, it was more sweet and innocent. Like, I think at one point she says to Finn, she accuses him of shooting up cocaine. And then I think her daughter talks about Molly, and she's like, molly who? You know, when she's talking about the drug, obviously. So she kind of came across, like, kind of sweet and innocent to me.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

I mean, that's what I was going for. But I guess I could see why people would think it was annoying because she's so, you know, sort of just doesn't always get it. But I think that sweet and innocent thing is definitely the goal in mind.

[John Ryan]

This book was set on the Oregon coast, correct? Is the setting of the book. Is there a reason you set it there, or do you. I'm sorry. This is my first book of years I've read. I'd love to read more. But do you set all them there, or do you take a different setting for different reasons?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

No, they're all set. They're all set in a different place. The newest one that comes out in February is set in northern Minnesota. I'm from Minnesota. And I hadn't set one in my hometown yet. I've sort of lived all over. All over the country, all over the world. And I think it's a part of maybe using setting as a third character sometimes. Not in this book, I'll say this book, I probably use setting the least. It's a backdrop. But it doesn't come into play where this Minnesota book, everything is frozen over. Lakes and ice fishing. You really, really feel the setting quite a bit. And in vacancy in room 10, the setting's kind of everything, right? Yeah, Motel. So generally I really use setting a lot more, and I think a lot about the setting. This one setting was really sort of more an afterthought than usual, but I liked the idea of it might be like the boredom with when the book is over, that could never conceive of a series. I want to move on. I just kind of like to explore, you know, a new place, a new setting, somewhere maybe that I. I think I. You know, I sent the one I wrote after that in Maine, and it's somewhere I've never really spent time, so I was just like, well, I'm gonna. I'm gonna research Maine. I just wanna kind of, like, be here for a while. And so that's kind of how it comes to be.

[Sarah Colonna]

What is the name of the one that's coming out in February? I believe I saw it on your Instagram.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

But yeah, it's called Nothing Ever Happens Here.

[Sarah Colonna]

Right. Yeah, that's it.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Which I forget the title sometimes because it's a. I didn't title it that. I had a working title for so long and it was just changed to that. But yes, February 11, that one comes out.

[John Ryan]

Awesome.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, we'll definitely be reading that the minute it comes out. And did On a Quiet street have a different title before?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yes.

[Sarah Colonna]

Oh, what was it?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

They've all been changed by the publisher, except the very, very first one, but I think they've all been changed for the better from my terrible working title, for the most part. Yeah. I think they. They know what, you know, what connects to readers more than whatever random thing came to mind when I was.

[Sarah Colonna]

Do you remember the original title for On a Quiet street you're Working?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah, it was called. It was funny. It was called the Payoff, and my agent liked it, and she's like, oh, there's this, you know, kind of double meaning because. And now I just think that sounds like. Like it could be like a baseball movie. I don't even know. And the one. The one that's Coming out was called the Oleanders because there's a group of elderly folks at a retirement home and the retirement home is called the Oleanders. And they get very involved in the mystery and trying to help solve it. So it kind of had this, this double meaning. But I can, I can see where you know, my little spark of idea for a title isn't exactly what's selling in the market. And so I'm happy to have a team of people who, who retitle these for me.

[Sarah Colonna]

Well, it's great that you are open to that. I mean, I know some people can be precious about it, some people aren't. It's good, you know, because I think On a Quiet street worked great for this one, obviously. And it, it worked well for you, right? Yeah. In the end. Yeah, yeah.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

I ended up liking it much better than, than the original. I think sometimes, you know, between my agent and I will kind of fight for a title and be like, no, I, this makes sense, I like it. And then they, they present me with a few options like, oh yeah, way better, we'll go with that. So I'm not too precious about it. I think at the beginning I was. But I think in general, editors and publisher has been just so respectful of my work in general. They don't try to strong arm me or change a lot of stuff, but they certainly, you know, have a good team of people who, who, you know, just know what the title and cover should look like for a book. And that's not my world that I live in. So more power to them.

[Sarah Colonna]

You're like, I'll hand you all the content. You figure out that. Yeah.

[John Ryan]

Just one last question. I always read the books and then I'll listen to it after. And you did a really good job of picking the narrators in this book. Sometimes when you listen to a book on audio and they don't do a good job picking the narrators, it's really hard to listen to. But you did a really good job with that. Do you personally pick them or do you. Is it like a tryout process or is a publishers more in control of that?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Well, it's a good question because they used to. I didn't know I had a say. And because I'm such an audiobook freak, the first few books they'd send me a handful of options and I would choose from the options. And I really didn't know that I could have more of a say because I was new. But when I told you like back in 2018, I read my first thriller, I actually listened to it, not Reddit, in the car. And it was that narrator, Imogen Church, who was narrating it. And it was a Ruth Ware book. And I fell so in love with her so unique voice. And I was like, oh, my gosh, like, what a dream to imagine myself writing a book and having her narrate it seemed like impossible at the time. Right. And so when I had a character from England, I was like, holy crap, could we. You know, And I. About halfway through, way before we were set to be Choos voice actors, I emailed the publisher and said, is there any way that we can get her? And then when. When she said yes, I asked for her contact because I wanted to fangirl and just tell her how much I loved. I would, you know, literally choose my next audiobook based on if I could find one that she's narrating that I might like. So we became super chatty over Instagram and she, thank goodness, loved the book and have kind of stayed in contact since then. So it was really, really sort of. It came full circle having that be the first ever thriller and then having her narrate it. And now I do ask in advance. I use the same few for the last couple. Brittany Presley, I just adore. And she narrates Vacancy and is also narrating this next one and the one after that. So, yeah, I really care about the narration because I think I sell more on Audible than in paperback. It's sort of my kind of. Yeah. Where my books do the best. And also, I just love audiobooks.

[Sarah Colonna]

So.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah, I'm happy to be able to have a choice in that these days.

[Sarah Colonna]

Very cool.

[John Ryan]

I was wondering.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah, it's interesting. I didn't know that. And it's interesting that you love audiobooks. Everyone has a different thing. I'm sort of. I'm a big Kindle reader just because I travel a lot and so it's easy to have a lot of books. And I'm. And I tend to read books like yours that are Paige Turner. So I'm going to need a bunch of them because I get all blow through them. But I did just start. John loves audiobooks, and I basically started listening to him a little bit more because of him. And I am like, oh, I see. Sometimes my mind wanders when I'm listening to an audio book.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah.

[Sarah Colonna]

And it's not the narrator's fault. It's my own distraction thing. So that's why sometimes it's better for me to be. To be reading. But I Love hearing that you get to have this big say in picking the narrators. That's really cool.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah. And, you know, I think the reason I hear a lot of people that are really into the physical book, they're nine wanders, they can't concentrate. And I think when you're sitting in front of the computer, so much writing. And also I've been teaching full time still until I just finished my last semester teaching, and now I'm just writing full time. But it was just so much reading and writing and reading and writing. So to be able to just walk my dog for an hour and listen to the audiobook or drive it sort of just turned into that me time without having to be in front of something more than necessary. And then it was like, now I just want every book acted out to.

[Sarah Colonna]

Me, you know, instead of having to read.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

So I still read. But I do enjoy. If there's a book that came out that I really love and I'm excited about, I like to just have that dog walk, audio experience. It's nice.

[Sarah Colonna]

Yeah. Did you. Did you teach screenwriting? Is that correct?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Playwriting.

[Sarah Colonna]

Playwriting. Okay. Yeah. That's awesome. And now you're not. Now you're full time?

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yeah.

[Sarah Colonna]

Just giving us books. Okay.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Too many. There's. There's lots of scary deadlines coming up. So that's. That's my focus now. Yep.

[Sarah Colonna]

Well, we're excited. So your next book comes out February 11th.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Yes.

[Sarah Colonna]

And that's. Nothing ever happens here. I have read vacancy in room 10. I had wanted to pick a book. I've been trying to pick. We've been trying to pick books that people can get access to at the library and whatnot. So something that maybe didn't just come out. So I think we'll probably be doing vacancy and room 10 as well. But I. We may have to just my February. Well, I don't know. I. Probably. We'll see. But I'm definitely going to be doing your next.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

If you want an early copy. If you want an early copy of Nothing Ever Happens Here, I can get it for you on NetGalley. Oh, you can download that on Kindle, the digital copy, if you're interested. I'm happy to.

[Sarah Colonna]

Oh, I would love that. Yeah. Thank you. You heard it here first, listeners. I'm going to have an early copy, but we'll definitely be reviewing it and talking about it. And we. We just really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Such a. Such a great book. And I'm so glad I was able to. To get. Have this as my first pick and make all our listeners very excited to get every book of yours.

[John Ryan]

And I'll definitely be going back and reading all your books. It was. It was amazing.

[Seraphina Nova Glass]

Thanks. I really appreciate it. Thank you, guys.

[Sarah Colonna]

Thank you. We really appreciate it. Thank you. The book list.

[John Ryan]

The book lisp.

[Sarah Colonna]

The book list.

[John Ryan]

The book lisp.

[Sarah Colonna]

The book lisp.