1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Your best friend killed someone. She needs your help to dispose of the body. You love – and owe – her. A friend in need is a friend indeed…
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The story’s set in Glebes Bay, a charming coastal town in the Pacific Northwest, like where I grew up, on Canada’s Vancouver Island. A lot of the action takes place in Winderlea, a Scottish Baronial seaside mansion, home to one of the main characters and her family.
4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
The story’s about two best friends, one a struggling single mom and the other wildly wealthy. I’d hang out with both of them in real life, BUT …
In any sentence, it’s what’s after the ‘but’ that matters.
In many ways these women are admirable – smart, strong, and determined, but they’re also manipulative and self-serving.
5–What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Jo: Loyal, resourceful, and wily.
Dana: Elegant, artistic, and convincing.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
This is gruesome so look away if you’re squeamish. I learned that at least 20 detached human feet have washed up on the shores of the Salish Sea – in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA, since August 2007. Most of the severed feet were still in sneakers, which helped them float.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A bit of both. As I reread, if awful writing jump-scares me I can’t not attack it. But the real work starts when the story’s structure is fairly solid.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I eat dark chocolate daily. This isn’t an indulgence. We’re meant to enjoy life. Dark chocolate and strong coffee make every day better.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
I live near a tropical beach in Central Vietnam and work on a big covered balcony. There’s a view over a pool, palms, a pond, and a mango tree. I’m not gonna lie – it’s pretty idyllic, except there are drawbacks. Hurricanes hit most autumns. Recently, termites decimated my bookcase. I had to toss dozens of beloved books. It’s so humid that leather and paper rot. Luckily, I’ve got a waterproof Kindle.
10–Who is an author you admire?
There’s a long list, but today I’m going to choose Joshilyn Jackson, whose Domestic Suspense novels are sharp, fast, and darkly funny, plus jam-packed with insights about human nature.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
I used to read mostly Literary fiction—you know, Man Booker prizewinners about Serious (with a capital S) topics. In an airport, I bought A Simple Plan, Scott Smith’s brilliant novel about some friends who find a bag of cash in a crashed plane and decide to do the wrong thing and keep it. I stayed awake for that entire trans-Pacific flight and emerged from the plane an obsessive Crime reader.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
The good news came at the perfect time, during Covid, when, like everyone else on the planet, I really needed cheering up.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, and Noir.
14–What’s your favorite movie?
Kung Fu Hustle. It’s a comedy about a wannabe gangster who sets out to terrorize a poor housing estate, unaware that three elderly martial arts gurus live there. It’s full of surprises and dark humor.
15–What is your favorite season?
Summer, summer, summer. I swim daily.
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
A day spent reading on the beach and an evening beach bonfire with friends and family sound perfect.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Hosted by two academics, the podcast Women and Crime does an excellent job of examining issues around female crime victims or perpetrators.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I’m that person who genuinely loves fresh green vegetables. Steamed, boiled, sauteed, raw. Even as a kid I loved spinach.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
I read, walk my dogs on the beach, and swim.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
More page-turners about resourceful women getting in and out of trouble.
A FRIEND INDEED by Elka Ray
Twisty and ingenious, A Friend Indeed is an engrossing psychological thriller perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Ruth Ware.
When single mom Jo Dykstra was at her lowest—jobless and penniless—her childhood friend Dana McFarlane helped her out bigtime by securing her a teaching job and thus an opportunity for a new life in the affluent Pacific Northwest town of Glebes Bay. So, when Jo gets a frantic late-night call from Dana, sobbing and desperate for help, it feels like a chance to help her friend in return.
The last thing Jo expects to see when she arrives at Dana’s oceanfront mansion? Her friend’s handsome and wealthy husband, Stan, dead, sprawled face down on the floor. Dana admits to killing her husband following years of secret abuse and begs Jo not to call the police. For nearly two decades, Dana’s marriage and family had looked picture perfect. Who’d ever believe that pillar-of-the-community Stan was a monster? Determined to cover up her husband’s killing and shield her kids from scandal, Dana convinces Jo to help her dispose of the body.
But the cover-up starts to crumble when a blackmailer threatens to expose their crime. Hounded by gossipy neighbors, ill-fated lovers, and zealous cops, truth and lies are laid bare between Jo and Dana, putting their families in danger and threatening to shatter a thirty-year friendship. Shocking and fast-paced, A Friend Indeed is a riveting tale about the power of friendship and the deadly weight of lies.
Thriller Psychological [Blackstone Publishing, On Sale: May 14, 2024, e-Book, ISBN: 9798200960194 / eISBN: 9798200960194]
Buy A FRIEND INDEED: Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Elka Ray
Elka Ray is the Canadian author of Divorce Is Murder. Born in the UK and raised in Canada, Elka divides her time between Central Vietnam and Canada’s Vancouver Island and sets her fiction in both locales, to include Saigon Dark, Hanoi Jane, a short-story collection, What You Don’t Know: Ten Tales of Obsession, Mystery & Murder in Southeast Asia and a series of children’s picture books published in Vietnam.
Elka is also a freelance editor for Heritage, Vietnam Airlines’ inflight magazine, based in Hanoi, Vietnam; a designer and editor for MaiGuppy, a producer of picture books, greeting cards, and souvenirs in Hanoi; and a freelance writer and copywriter, whose clients include Vietnam Tourism Administration and the Four Seasons Resort.
When she’s not writing, drawing or reading, Elka is in the ocean.
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