We chat with author CJ Leede about American Rapture, which is a scorching new apocalyptic novel, think American Gods meets The Last of Us in this epic and sweeping story about the end of the world as we know it.
Hi, CJ! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hey there! I guess first and foremost I’m a dog mom! My boyfriend and I have rescued and fostered senior and special needs dogs for years, and this year we rescued two puppies for the first time after a lot of loss, and it’s been a joyous chaotic whirlwind! We have a pack of four right now, and they bring so much love to our lives. I love hiking, road tripping, trail running, and exploring America’s backroads, dive bars, and weirdest attractions. Our motley little pack is on the road as much as we can be, and we’re very passionate about experiencing and celebrating these places. I love (of course) writing and reading, and I’m a big time and die hard Trekkie.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve always been a huge reader! When I was a kid I would fake being sick to stay home and read under the covers. I’ll never forget the day I was in the school library and pulled out a fantasy novel from the shelf. It had some kind of knight and dragon on the cover–a mass market paperback– and I took it home and stayed up for three nights reading it. When I went back to return it, this lightbulb went off in my head that the entire shelf, the entire row of shelves, the entire library was FULL of these stories! And they were all just there for us to take and read! It blew my mind, and it was a very formative moment for me, even though I wouldn’t realize that I wanted to be a writer myself until my twenties.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Rainbow Goblins
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Library at Mount Char
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Paul Tremblay’s Horror Movie has taken up a lot of real estate in my head this year. He’s a real master.
Your latest novel, American Rapture, is out October 15th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Sin shame sex midwest hell
What can readers expect?
To take a wild ride and hopefully fall in love (and devastation and horror and despair and rage! *insert smiling devil emoji*) with the characters as they navigate what might be the end times. Sophie, a sixteen-year-old sheltered Catholic girl, comes into her sexual awakening at the same time as America explodes with a violent sexually-propagating virus, and she has to cross the state of Wisconsin to reach her brother (and hopefully stay alive). There’s apocalypse, not-quite-zombie epidemic, road trip, found family, coming-of-age, romance, existential crises, and lots of roadside attractions!
Where did the inspiration for American Rapture come from?
I grew up Catholic and really struggled with some of the ideas taught to us in church, so that’s really a lot of what I was grappling with in the book. I also LOVE roadside America as I mentioned, and my big goal as a writer is to catalogue this country throughout my career and really try to showcase and celebrate what makes these places so special. I could have set this particular book anywhere, but Wisconsin holds a dear place in my heart (largely but not solely having to do with House on the Rock and Spring Green in general), and it was really fun getting to live in those rolling green hills for so long in my head, and to go back for research visits (and Old Fashioned’s).
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
So many! The book is definitely about all the external happenings, but it’s mostly about relationships and Sophie learning how different types of human relationships can play out. There are a couple scenes between her and a cop, Maro, in a farmhouse, and I always loved working on that section. I love a *refuge from the storm* moment and the kind of closeness and wariness that can develop between strangers.
This is your second published novel! Were there any key lessons you learned between writing the two?
So many it’s crazy– this year has been a whirlwind in all the best ways, and I feel like I’m still learning how to navigate it all. But definitely my skin’s gotten really thick with reviews and reader/critic response. You can’t have a book as polarizing as Maeve in the world and not develop a thick skin. But it’s kind of thrilling to have any kind of strong reader response. As far as the actual book goes, I think each book needs to be written in its own way, and you’re kind of learning how to write anew with each new story. At least that’s how it’s been for me. And I think just recently I have vastly improved my signature (which sounds small and silly but ends up being a pretty big part of the job once the book’s out)!
What’s next for you?
I’ve been working on a Colorado book that I’m very excited about. I’m so in love with the two main characters in it (if it’s not conceited and horrible to say), and I’m so excited to see how they play out on the page together. I’m really an outdoors girl at heart, and in my next book I get to really live in that. It’s also going to be my darkest book yet. I really just feel so lucky to have gotten to connect with so many amazing readers and writers, and I’m so looking forward to continuing to celebrate and learn from all of them as American Rapture lands, and then my Colorado book after that. My readers have been incredible, and I’m so immensely grateful.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year, and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays is one for the ages–a new Hollywood (and across the board) classic! Clay McLeod Chapman’s Wake Up and Open Your Eyes will send shockwaves when it lands. Just watch, it’s insane in all the best ways! Liz Kerin’s First Light and Rachel Harrison’s So Thirsty were both absolutely perfect, and I think those women are incapable of imperfection.
Nat Cassidy’s When the Wolf Comes Home is one of the most original books I’ve ever read in my life, and I can’t wait to hear folks talk about it. Literally everything Stephen Graham Jones writes is gold (obviously), and I Was a Teenage Slasher just might be my favorite of his yet! The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim was amazing and the only thing I could think about for weeks when I read it.
Paul Tremblay’s Horror Movie, which I mentioned up above. Chuck Wendig’s Black River Orchard, Eric LaRocca’s This Skin Was Once Mine, Nick Cutter’s The Queen, all incredible. And I was so obsessed with Sarah Langan’s A Better World when I read it that I may have been a little too intense in telling her (many times over) how much I loved it.
I’m currently reading Johnny Compton’s Devils Kill Devils and Theodore Van Alst Jr’s Sacred Folks, and they’re both so phenomenal.
I’m really stoked to read Sofia Ajram’s Coup de Grace, Kemi Ashing-Giwa’s This World is Not Yours, Richard Chizmar’s Memorials, and Hailey Piper’s All the Hearts You Eat.
Also always waiting to see what Cat Ward cooks up next, because she’s truly amazing, and her books are hits every time. I’m sure there are so many I’m forgetting (I read around a hundred books a year and try to keep up as best I can!), but this year has been UNBELIEVABLE with horror so far, and I just can’t wait to see where it all goes!
