We chat with author Anders de la Motte about The Glass Man, which is the second installment in his Asker series and follows wayward detective Leonore Asker on a chilling new murder case.
Hi, Anders! Welcome back! How has the past 18 months been since we last spoke?
Thank you! The past 18 months have been quite busy. Besides the Asker series that is published here in Sweden in the fall, I’m also writing a murder mystery series with my wife Anette, published in the spring. So there have been two book releases since we last spoke!
The Glass Man is the second installment in your Asker series and it’s out August 26th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A very captivating, suspenseful thriller.
What can readers expect?
The readers will get more of both Leo Asker and her department of lost souls, as well as Martin Hill who is hired to write a book about a very unusual man with a very unusual back story.
The Mountain King ended with Asker getting a phone-call from her father (and nemesis).
Now the readers will find out what he wants. And it is a very big ask.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I really enjoyed the research about cryogenics, an important part of the plot. Some of it may seem a bit far fetched – but actually most of the things mentioned in the book exist in real life.
Like the fact that when a body is cryogenically preserved, a process called vitrification occurs that turns the tissue into – glass!
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
The challenge for a second book in any series is to try and maintain the things that the readers liked in the first book and still introducing something new. It has to feel both familiar and fresh at the same time, and that can sometimes be challenging. In The Mountain King, I flirted a bit with The Silence of The Lambs, in The Glass Man there is a flirtation with both The X-Files, Frankenstein, and The Hound of Baskerville.
What’s the best and worst writing advice you’ve received?
Best advice for any writer – get started writing. There will be other obstacles along the way but getting started is one of the big ones. One of the reasons is that if you never start, you never risk failure. So getting started takes some courage.
I really haven’t encountered any bad advice, however not all advice works for everyone. Some plan everything in detail, others just write. Some re-write their whole book several times, others hand in the first draft. There are as many methods as there are writers.
But getting started works for everyone!
What’s next for you?
Right now I’m working on the last chapters for the fourth Asker book. The title is The Night Hunter and it is based around an old ghost story from the 1600s and a murder game played by some kids in the 1990s that ties into a present day murder.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
I haven’t read nearly as much as I would have liked this year, since I have a hard time reading when I’m writing, but I really enjoyed All The Colors of The Dark (Chris Whitaker).
I’m also looking forward to finally reading The God of The Woods by Liz Moore, (really loved Long Bright River), as well as the new Stephen King.
