We chat with author Lori Brand about Bodies To Die For, which is a brilliant psychological thriller that will have readers wondering whether the perfect body really is worth dying for.
Hi, Lori! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a lifting enthusiast, group fitness instructor, yoga teacher, and software quality engineer. In past lives, I’ve been a gymnast, dancer, Playboy model, and bodybuilder. My time in the body wars trenches led to my realization that getting strong, rather than shrinking, is the way out. In an effort to spread the word, I’ve had articles published in STRONG Fitness Magazine, T-Nation, Inside Fitness Magazine, D’FYNE Fitness Magazine, and more. Bodies to Die For is my first novel.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve always loved stories and learned to read at a pretty young age so that I wasn’t dependent on anyone else for access to them. In college, I took a creative writing class, which I very much enjoyed, but I didn’t stick with writing once the class was over. It never occurred to me to produce work for commercial release.
Then I read Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn, and I was like, wow, she has something to say. That women and adolescent girls could have a dark side. That they could be violent, sexual beings. That they could be beautiful, powerful, terrifying creatures.
Reading Sharp Objects was when I grasped, in a way I never did in my English classes, that one could use story as a vehicle to challenge cultural norms, to get a message across, to infiltrate the minds of readers. And I was like, I’d like to try that.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- The one that made you want to become an author: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Dietland by Sarai Walker
Your debut novel, Bodies to Die For, is out June 11th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Subversive, satirical, wild, empowering, uplifting.
What can readers expect?
A hard look a social media, the 70-billion-dollar diet industry, and the war on women’s bodies. The wars we engage in with each other. The wars we wage on ourselves.
Where did the inspiration for Bodies to Die For come from?
In January 2020, Jillian Michaels was interviewed on BuzzFeed News. When the subject of Lizzo as a body acceptance role model came up, Jillian said, “Why are we celebrating her body? Why does it matter? Why aren’t we celebrating her music? Cause it isn’t going to be awesome if she gets diabetes.” And social media blew-up. The HAES camp accused Jillian of fat phobia disguised as health concern. The Wellness camp said that we needed to stop normalizing obesity.
Then in May, Adele posted a birthday picture of herself to Instagram, and it was clear that she had lost a significant amount of weight. Immediately HAES zealots criticized her weight loss. People were “hurt” and “disappointed” in her smaller size (as if she owed them her body). They wrote that celebrating her weight loss was akin to saying that there was something wrong with her before. Later, Adele would explain–though why should she have to?—that she had been going through a challenging time, and that exercise helped her deal with it. That it was never so much about shrinking, as about getting strong, both physically and mentally. And that is something to celebrate.
The social media backlash against both Jillian and Adele struck me. How what started as a desire to make the world better–through wellness or body acceptance—could be twisted into making it worse. I wanted to probe that, and BODIES TO DIE FOR was born.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
This book was so much fun to write! I particularly enjoyed exploring the craziness and toxicity of many of the secondary characters. The twenty-year-old guy living in his parent’s basement and posing online as a hedge fund investor. The bodybuilding coach with a roid rage problem. The insecurity of Kylie, a bikini bodybuilder wannabe. Anita, the backstabbing teammate. Rachel, the impatient self-centered magazine editor. Once I had this cast of characters, many of the scenes practically wrote themselves.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
BODIES TO DIE FOR is the second complete novel that I wrote. I was never able to get an agent for the first. From the feedback that one received, it became clear that it would need a significant rewrite to be successful. But I just couldn’t summon the drive to fix it. It was like, now that I had written it, I had worked it out of my system. Looking back, that was a story that I needed to write for me.
BODIES TO DIE FOR, on the other hand, I needed to write for you (it’s dedicated To All Women, Everywhere). I felt so strongly about getting my message of strength and unity out there, that I wasn’t going to stop until I succeeded. If I couldn’t have gotten it published traditionally, I would have self-published it and given it away for free if that’s what it took.
Once the manuscript was in the best shape I could get it in (after beta reader feedback and multiple rewrites), I sent it out to a freelance editor I knew. She was someone I really admired, but her feedback was so off the mark—she wanted me to change something at the core of my story—that I did nothing for about a month. I simply sat with the feedback, unsure if I should rework the manuscript or not. Ultimately, I decided not to make that change and took my chances querying.
Initially, I only queried women, because I didn’t think that a man would be interested in this tale. However, there was one agent, Shane Salerno, who I really admired, though he was very much out of my league. But to quote Wayne Gretzky, You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, so I queried him anyway. And he responded! He wrote that he wasn’t taking new clients (big surprise), but recommended a newer agent, Jackson Keeler, who he thought highly of and cc’d on the email.
Jackson and I connected, and shortly thereafter he signed me. Together, we rewrote the manuscript multiple times and eventually began submitting to imprints in February 2022. We got an offer from Blackstone in May 2022, and BODIES TO DIE FOR, originally titled BODY WARS, will be launching June 11 of 2024. Traditional publishing is a long road.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on a standalone thriller, KNOW BY HEART, that delves into the thorny subject of sex work, specifically OnlyFans. There are so many people that want to tell us what we can and can’t do with our bodies. I want to shut them up.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I read an Advanced Reader Copy of Susan Walter’s RUNNING COLD (out this October), and it was incredible (as all her books are). Other thrillers that I’ve recently read and enjoyed immensely are THE HURRICANE BLONDE (Halley Sutton) and KILL FOR LOVE (Laura Picklesimer).
I’m looking forward to THE BEST LIES by David Ellis (coming this July). His #1 NY Times bestseller, LOOK CLOSER, is one of my favorite thrillers and is a master class in suspense and twists. Another thriller I’m eagerly anticipating is TJ Newman’s WORST CASE SCENARIO (out this August). I loved her FALLING and DROWNING. She is the queen of the unputdownable summer thriller.
