A young woman agrees to star in a filmmaker’s latest project, but soon realizes the movie is not what she expected in Melissa Larsen’s chilling debut novel! We had the pleasure of chatting with Melissa about her novel Shutter, writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Melissa! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi hi! I’m a writer obsessed with the sea, movies, and the power dynamics in relationships. When I’m not writing, I’m usually upset with myself for not writing, and probably doing yoga, hiking, reading, knitting, or teaching writing. I’ve been home with family in the Bay Area for the pandemic—I came back for knee surgery in 2019 and by the time I could walk again in 2020, the world shut down—but I’ll be returning to New York very soon.
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!
The first book I can remember reading on my own is The Ghost’s Dinner by Jacques Duquennoy—a ghost hosts a dinner party for his ghost-friends, and during each course, their bodies take on the texture of whatever food or drink they consume. I was both terrified and delighted (which explains a lot about me, I think). I’m not sure I have a book that made me want to become an author, but the book I cannot stop thinking about is Tommy Orange’s There There. This one has taken over my life. It is so singular.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
In my junior year of college! I signed up for a class that was called Editing a Manuscript (something like that), thinking it was about publishing because it was taught by Barbara Jones, an executive editor from Macmillan. I was wrong. It was a writing workshop. The first thing Barbara told us was “Normally I don’t let anyone into this class without a full manuscript written, but this semester I’ll accept the first 60 pages.” When I say I had nothing written, I mean it. I had nothing. It honestly never crossed my mind to drop the course, though—I wanted to see if I could do it. For the next few months, I wrote in a breathless panic, and I loved it, every second of it. Which also explains a lot, I think!
Your debut novel, Shutter, is out June 15th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Be careful who you trust!
Where did the inspiration for Shutter come from?
Some of it is inspired by personal experience (looking at you, men!) but it is mainly a love letter to my favourite films, horror movie tropes, and people in my life. The Norton Island Residency for Artists & Writers was also an enormous inspiration. My time in Maine was an eerie (and absolutely wonderful) experience, because it felt as though I had wandered into my own book. At this point, I had already sold Shutter and was working on revisions for my editor, but it was there that my book truly came to life. I changed the setting from a remote estate in Upstate New York to an island in Maine, and everything clicked into place!
If it’s not too spoilery, were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Oh, this is tough. I’ve spent roughly four years with Shutter, so every scene and every character has become a dear friend. I do have to say, though, there is one person whom I just adore: Mads. You should know that whenever he is in a scene, even if he’s just somewhere in the background, I was thinking as I wrote, “He’s an idiot and I love him.”
But my favourite will always be Betty. She was originally a supporting character from the novel I started in that panic-filled college class. I finished that novel in the first two months of my MFA and decided the only thing I liked about it was Betty. Betty and Anthony (who was the original main character). I was intrigued by Betty—I wanted to tell her story. It might sound cliché but getting to know her and finding her voice really helped me get to know myself and find my own voice.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
The best: Write what frightens you. This doesn’t mean write out your fears or only write thrillers, but often I find myself afraid to write something, because I don’t feel comfortable with it or I don’t think I can pull it off, and those are almost always the breakthrough moments. It’s how I made it through Shutter. Also, for drafting and for revision: Write the boring sentences. Get the character from point A to point B. Not every sentence has to be a superstar (this motto really helps to calm my perfectionism).
The worst: Write x-number of words a day. Hemingway had his famous 500 words a day, and good for him. This, however, is my own personal hell. It’s important to figure out your own writing process and this just isn’t mine. I really prefer Marissa Levien’s take on this (found on Twitter): “something must happen to move the story forward.” I tend to do something very similar when I’m struggling, and it’s a much more organic process for me, much more plot-oriented, so I’m holding myself accountable to the story rather than just pounding out words.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Yes! So many! For literary fiction: Possession by AS Byatt. Please read it and please someone come talk to me about it because it’s so beautiful my heart aches. There There by Tommy Orange and Divide Me By Zero by Lara Vapnyar, for the same reason.
For some thrills (fear-based or otherwise): Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg, Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier, Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka, My Husband by Rumena Bužarovska, The Sea of Lost Girls by Carol Goodman, The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante, and Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips.
For deeply satisfying non-fiction: An Ordinary Age by Rainseford Stauffer and Want Me by Tracy Clark-Flory.
For the books that inspired Shutter, as in the three books I have nearly completely memorized because I have read them so many times: The Likeness by Tana French (you might want to read In the Woods first), Night Film by Marisha Pessl, and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
