Peggy Townsend: Letting Your Creative Brain Take Over
Peggy Townsend is an award-winning newspaper journalist who once chased an escaped serial killer through a graveyard in the middle of the night and has met more murderers than is probably healthy for anyone. The Library Journal called her newest suspense novel, The Beautiful and the Wild, “a riveting read of determination and perseverance.” Townsend is a runner, a downhill skier, a mountain-biker and has traveled across the U.S. and Canada in her van multiple times. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Peggy Townsend
In this post, Peggy discusses the inspiration behind her new suspense novel, The Beautiful and The Wild, how the book took shape over the course of two years, and more!
Name: Peggy Townsend
Literary agent: Heather Jackson of HJ Literary Agency Berkley Publishing
Book title: The Beautiful and The Wild
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Release date: November 7, 2023
Genre/category: Suspense, Book Club Fiction
Previous titles: See Her Run; The Thin Edge
Elevator pitch for the book: A cryptic text leads Liv Russo to suspect that her dead husband may actually be alive and living in the Alaskan wilderness. Heading north with her developmentally delayed young son, Liv soon discovers that the most dangerous thing in the wild may not be starvation, cold or grizzly bears but the person you love.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I was at our cabin stacking firewood for winter and listening to podcasts when I heard the story of Billy Sipple.
Sipple was a closeted gay man and former Marine who stopped the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford in 1975. Outed by the media and politicians, Sipple became estranged from his family, his life spiraling into alcoholism and bitterness, and I couldn’t help but think of the wounding power of secrets.
I’d spent my career as a newspaper journalist dealing with secrets, both revealed and concealed. Surrounded by Ponderosa, white fir and Sugar Pine, my mind began to run to thoughts of how far people will go in order to hide their secrets, to the idea of what spouses may keep from each other, and, finally, to a seven-week van trip I took to Alaska, where it seemed like it would be so easy to hide yourself in the wilderness. As it turned out, stacking a cord of firewood gives you a lot of time to think. I wrote the first line in my head and that was that.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It took about two years to go from the idea to publication, and while the core premise didn’t change, the book certainly did. There were first, second, and third drafts. There were plot holes to be filled. My agent and a wonderful development editor I know helped me over the obstacles, as did my workshop group. Finally, two amazing editors at Berkley Publishing suggested I revise the novel using a then-and-now chronology, which was great advice and really made the book come alive.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
I learned that book titles are definitely not something I do well and that I should leave that job to experts, like my editor and the marketing and publicity teams at Berkley who came up with the perfect title for the novel.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I’d done a detailed outline for the novel, but there were surprises every step of the way. One day, the character of a 10-year-old wild child named Rudy suddenly appeared on the page. Where had he come from?
Later, as I was writing about Liv’s dysfunctional childhood, I found myself creating a scene where Liv sees the glimmer of love behind her father’s cold and distant exterior. Who knew that was there?
The ending also turned out to be a complete surprise and different from what I’d planned. I guess I have to give credit to that weird, writer flow-state where you simply get out of the way and let your deep and creative brain take over.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Even though the subject matter is dark at times, I hope readers will be inspired by Liv’s love for her son and her tenacious refusal to give up no matter what she faces. I also hope a reader will come away with a sense of the strength and wisdom that comes from living in nature and not apart from it.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Don’t let self-doubt rob you of your creativity. Write every day, and don’t give up. Persistence and will are what will bring you success.
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