Tove Alsterdal: On the Subtlety of Scary Stories
Critically acclaimed author Tove Alsterdal discusses why she believes she’s written her scariest story yet with her new crime novel, You Will Never Be Found.
Tove Alsterdal is the author of five critically acclaimed stand-alone novels. Her American debut, We Know You Remember, won the award for Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year as well as the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel.
In this post, Tove discusses why she believes she’s written her scariest story yet with her new crime novel, You Will Never Be Found, her advice for writers, and more!
Name: Tove Alsterdal
Literary agent: Ahlander Agency
Book title: You Will Never Be Found
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release date: January 10, 2023
Genre/category: Crime
Previous titles: We Know You Remember; The Forgotten Dead
Elevator pitch for the book: A man is found left to starve to death in an abandoned house. When another man disappears, police investigator Eira Sjödin has to find him before it's too late.
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What prompted you to write this book?
It's the second one in a series, so half the process was already there—the main characters and the setting in this special part of northern Sweden. The plot is one I've been thinking of for years: A very common theme in the genre is that a young girl is abducted, but what if it is a man? Why would he be locked up in an abandoned house, and what will it do to him?
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
As I wrote it during COVID, it was a rather fast process—it took me a year as there was nothing else out there, no disturbances, no social events. I wouldn't want to go back there, but it was good for concentration, I could spend entire days with my characters, and didn't feel alone.
The ideas always change during the writing process; even though I make plans, I uncover so much more to the story as I go along.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
It came out a lot darker than I expected; I believe it's the scariest book I've written. It's something about the unexpected victims and the fear of being locked up that is more frightening than all those bloody murders you read about.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I always want to give a bit more than just entertainment. This is also a story about a place that has been abandoned by the industries and the state, as well as about people who find themselves abandoned by love. Hopefully readers can relate and will want to spend time with these somewhat tarnished characters that I love.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
To always dig a bit deeper. The timelessness of the COVID period made me write slower, to stop and write downwards and not just fast ahead. I believe it improved my writing.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
