The Nerd Daily had the pleasure of catching up with bestselling author Gilly Macmillan, known worldwide for her psychological thrillers, as she prepared to release her seventh novel, The Long Weekend.
The premise of this latest work? Three women head away to a very remote area of England for a long, relaxing weekend together off the grid. They even plan to have a night to themselves, a “girls’ night” if you will, before their husbands join them the next morning. But when the women arrive, they find a bone-chilling note from a friend who couldn’t join them on this year’s vacation … A note claiming that, by the time the women are reading it, one of their husbands will be dead.
Read on to learn some of Gilly Macmillan’s great tips for writing consistently and pulling off those twists she does so well, discover what film sparked the idea for The Long Weekend, and find out what American icon she admires for everything from her values to her style!
Hi Gilly! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for The Nerd Daily! To start with, tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
I’m the international bestselling author of seven psychological thrillers and am currently working on my eighth. My books have been translated into twenty-five languages, with one title nominated for an Edgar Award and an International Thriller Writers Award and others optioned for screen. I live in Bristol, UK, with my family and my dog and I write full-time.
I understand you are a former art historian and photographer, both of which sound like amazing careers. How did you make the transition to being a writer?
They were amazing careers. I loved both. Writing came about because I was at the end of a long career break that I’d taken to look after one of my kids, who was very unwell (he’s fine now), and was thinking about getting back into work. Instead of jumping back into the workplace right away I decided to give myself six months to see if I could write a book, setting myself a goal of writing 1000 words a day. I felt as if I had one shot at it because I would never have had the nerve to quit a job to write. Amazingly (to me, anyway) that resulted in a manuscript, which an agent plucked off the slush pile and after a whole lot more work, and I mean a lot, it found a home with some publishers, too, and the rest is history.
Your seventh novel, The Long Weekend, comes out on March 29, 2022 in the U.S and Canada, and is already out in the U.K. For those who may not have read a synopsis yet, can you give a brief rundown of what the book is about?
The book is about three women who arrive to spend a long weekend at a remote barn in Northumbria, one of the wildest areas of England. They’re expecting their husbands to join them the following morning. Waiting for them in the barn is a bottle of champagne and a letter propped up against it. The letter says: ‘By the time you read this, I’ll have killed one of your husbands.’ It’s signed by a friend. The women have no cell reception and no WiFi, and leaving the property becomes dangerous once the weather sets in. Worse, each of them has a reason to worry…
What sparked the idea for The Long Weekend?
I watched a movie called A Letter to Three Wives. It’s a romantic drama written and directed by Joseph P. Mankiewicz and released in 1949. The plot hinges on a letter that the wives receive telling them that by the time they read it, the letter writer, a friend, will have run away with one of their husbands. I couldn’t stop thinking about what a terrific thriller plot that could make if you made the letter darker and set it in the modern day with a new cast.
Playing on the title, the structure of the novel mirrors a “long weekend,” as it is broken up into three parts: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Why did you decide to divide it up this way, having breaks within three longer sections rather than more traditional or shorter chapters?
I wanted the book to be a fast read, because the situation the women find themselves in is terrifying. If it were me in their shoes, my mind would be racing so fast that I would hardly remember to breathe. The flowing narrative structure is supposed to mirror the intensity, claustrophobia and terror of their situation. Dividing the overall story into the three days seemed natural as each nighttime marks a natural end to or intensification of the previous day’s action.
The Long Weekend is full of interesting characters and the storyline hinges on readers having access to each of their perspectives at different times and in varying degrees. Could you talk a bit about how you chose the points of view used to tell this story?
I knew from the start that I wanted the story to be more than just plot. In the film we see fascinating glimpses into the women’s lives and marriages, and I wanted to do the same in the novel. Using multiple perspectives lets me dip into and out of the minds of these different women and the people around them, and offers the chance to give the reader information about how they think about one another, how individuals interpret situations and encounters differently, as well as revealing information about their marriages and intentions that other characters might not know. It’s a great way to build tension and allows the reader to see what’s at stake for everyone as well as to try to figure out what has happened, to whom, and why at the same pace as the wives themselves do.
I always find it fascinating to get a peek inside an author’s writing process, as the approaches can be so varied. Over the years, what are some routines or strategies you’ve found to work well for you when it comes to getting words down on the page?
Making myself show up every day and get words written might sound dull but it’s probably the most important part of my routine. If you haven’t written anything, you don’t have anything to work on. There will be no book. So, I tell myself to sit down, get working, and even if I’m afraid that what I’m writing is far from my best (and there are many days when I feel that way), I know I can improve it later. If all I have are empty pages, I have nothing. In short, show up and hold your nerve is the mantra. But I’ve also learned that there are days when you need thinking time and it’s sometimes important to allow yourself to step away and let your thoughts about the book develop. Concentration can be a challenge for me at home. Sometimes, I’ll take myself out of the house and work in a café or library. I also keep a pair of headphones handy to block out distractions. Chocolate is essential for bribing myself to keep going.
This is kind of like asking a magician how they pull off an illusion – so feel free to plead the 5th on this one! – but I have to ask since you are so good at it: Do you have any tips for writing twists that readers don’t see coming?
Oh, thank you! I know how smart readers are and that’s a terrific incentive to work hard on twists. I think about the reader before I set up a twist, asking myself what they might be expecting, and how I can deliver it in a satisfying way, but also how I can use their expectations to surprise them. After that, it’s about craft and some sleight of hand. I put a lot of thought into structure and characterization as well as what information to reveal, when to reveal it and how to reveal it. You must be bold but also sow seeds carefully for a twist to land well and sometimes it takes a second or third draft to get that right.
If The Long Weekend is the first of your books someone reads and loves, what backlist title of yours would you recommend they read next?!
To Tell You the Truth is another standalone psychological thriller with a strong female lead, a lot of peril and twists and turns galore.
Let’s Get Nerdy: Behind the Writer with 9 Quick Questions
- First book that made you fall in love with reading: I can’t remember! I have a terrible memory. I was an obsessive reader from a very young age, which is probably why. A childhood favorite was White Fang by Jack London.
- 3 books you would take on a desert island: Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, Paradise Lost by John Milton
- Movie that you know by heart: Moonstruck
- Song that makes you want to get up and dance: Another Day of Sun from the La La Land soundtrack
- Place that everyone should see in their lifetime: Iceland
- Introvert or extrovert: Introvert
- Coffee, tea, or neither: Both
- First job: Serving in Mrs. Fields’ cookies. I still have the apron!
- Person you admire most and why: I admire Michelle Obama greatly. For her achievements, her values, her honesty, her bravery, and her style.
