Interview with Mike McCrary, Author of For You
05 Oct 2022
What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write For You?
With every book it’s different. Sometimes it starts with a character or maybe a great setup or a cool jumping off point. With For You it was all of those. I was thinking of what I wanted to do next and was circling around, digging into various ideas and one really struck me. The idea of someone random in your life being so obsessed with you that they’d kill. What would that look like? How could that happen? Then in that same moment the character of Hannah Rush really came together. It’s rare that the core idea and the main character of a book comes together like that, but I’m pretty happy it did.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of For You, what would they be?
That’s hard. Not because I don’t have any, but because there’s so many. I create playlists for every book and For You is no exception. I’ll pick three… Last Man on Earth by Wolf Alice. I’m Afraid of the Internet by K-Flay. You Ask for This by Halsey.
What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I read a lot of thrillers and suspense books of all kinds and that’s what I write as well. But I’d add that “thrillers,” in my mind, encompasses all kinds of stories. They can be psychological, mind-bending rides with wild twists and turns. Pulpy, gritty crime thrillers are an old favorite of mind. Character-driven domestic tales of terror. All of it. Thrillers and suspense is a big, wide-open place to roam and play.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
It’s a mix. I’m reading Tana French’s The Witch Elm. Fantastic. Something Bad Gone by the great Eryk Pruitt is next. Just read Blake Crouch’s techno-thriller Upgrade as well.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
Favorite scene? There’s a moment between Hannah Rush and her sister in a coffee shop early in the book. It might seem like something small but there’s soooo much that’s revealed between them and the bubbling danger that’s on the horizon. I love the back and forth between them, but I also love that it’s the only time in the book that the reader knows more than the main character. Kinda fun.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
I get up early to write. Like really early. I listen to music, sometimes ambient stuff like BrainFM, I guess that’s not that quirky, but I do like to do writing sprints. I have a spreadsheet that tracks word count and I use a timer. Usually 25-minute sprints for the first draft. I find the gamification thing works for me. All that and coffee in morning and bourbon at night.
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
Not really a motto. There are several quotes from movies and things I cling to here and there. I guess the one I’ve come back to recently is from Charles Bukowski. “Find what you love and let it kill you.”
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
That they had a good time. The pages turned and they enjoyed the ride. I write with the intent to entertain. Boring is death.
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