Q&A: Kate Moretti, Author of 'The Spires'

A troubled woman becomes consumed by a past she’s desperate to forget in this unsettling psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year.

We chat with author Kate Moretti about her latest novel The Spires, along with writing, and book recommendations, PLUS we have an excerpt to share with you at the end of the interview!

Hi, Kate! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I’m a mom first and foremost — I have two daughters aged 13 and 11. I have a day job working for Johnson & Johnson as a technical writer and in my spare time (haha) I write books. I am fascinated by the idea that good, average, normal people will do abhorrent things to protect themselves and the ones that they love and almost every one of my novels seems to center around this idea. I suppose it’s a byproduct of living in a suburb — everything seems so idyllic… until it’s not.

When did you first discover your love for writing?

I’ve written since I was a child. When I wasn’t writing I was acting out elaborate plays and movies in my backyard alone. After I graduated college, got a job, got married, had kids, checked all the “adulting” boxes, I forgot how much I loved to write. Home on maternity leave with my second child, who slept constantly, I hammered out a terrible first draft of what became THOUGHT I KNEW YOU. After that, I could never quiet the previously sleeping beast.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

A book I read as a teenager that I still, to this day, think about is Time and Again, by Jack Finney. Something about those 1800’s descriptions of New York City were dreamlike and I could always just imagine everything so clearly.

**Your new novel, The Spires, is out September 21st 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?**

We only need each other.

Or maybe So close, it’s almost toxic.

What can readers expect?

Hmmmm lots of atmosphere and toxic relationships. Some love/hate dynamics and jealousy. Also a giant fire and of course, someone dies. Is it an accident or murder? I had a lot of fun creating the tensions between the five friends, and I hope it comes through as sort of delicious fun.

Where did the inspiration for The Spires come from?

I’ve always wanted to write a novel about those intense friendships in your early twenties. It sort of felt like practicing for a real family later, but hopefully with less drama. I loved the atmosphere and mood of THE LIKENESS by Tana French and felt inspired to write my own version of that. I knew I wanted to set the group into an atmospheric house and settled on a renovated church largely because I knew one growing up and loved it. I love houses — old, unusual, churches, barns, castles. I think it’s tied to the stories a house could tell about it’s inhabitants. It always just explodes my imagination when I think about that.

Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?

Well, I wrote and revised the Spires during the early part of the pandemic when everything was so uncertain. My kids were home, we had no idea for how long or what the future would hold. Was this a dystopian end of the world or just a short inconvenience? Turned out to be somewhere in the middle — a very long inconvenience, not to mention tragic for a lot of people. To say I was distracted would be an understatement. I actually went on several writing retreats — rented cabins at Highlights Foundation. They had impeccable safety procedures and I barely left my room. But I could focus. I could stop thinking about the end of the world. Even if for a few short days.

Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I love love love Willa. In the past chapters and the present. She was a delight to write — flawed and messy and human and calculating and alternately cold and warm. She was the opposite of me, which is always fun to slip into. Someone unpredictable and wild and uneven. I loved writing the dynamics between the five. The exchanged looks, and toxic little jabs. The undercurrent that you don’t understand until later. Sidelong glances. It was all just enormously fun.

This is your eighth published novel. Are there any lessons you have learned between then and now?

Hahahahahaha. Oh, you’re serious. Okay. Every new book is like the first book I’ve ever written. I suspect we all feel this way — like I should be better at this by now. I should have a list of lessons learned and it should feel like old hat at SOME POINT RIGHT? I’ve never in my life done something for ten years and not felt like it was getting easier. I think I’m a better writer. I think the lessons are small (what show don’t tell really means, how to put emotion on the page without exhausting all your adjectives, also maybe lay off the adjectives). I’d be hard pressed to enumerate the large lessons. I have no idea.

What’s next for you?

I’m slowly — very slowly — picking at a book that is not currently under contract. I’ve been calling it my Flowers in the Attic book because there may or may not be children locked in a barn for years. There might be some religious zealotry. I’m excited about it but hesitant to say much more.

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

Tons and tons of recommendations! I just read WE WERE NEVER HERE by Andrea Bartz and loved it. This summer I really tackled my TBR and some of my favorites included: THE LAST FLIGHT by Julie Clark, BAD HABITS by Amy Gentry, THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley, STRANGER IN THE LAKE, by Kimberly Belle, MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.