We are delighted to welcome author Jody Gehrman to Omnimystery News today.
Jody's debut novel of suspense is Watch Me (St. Martin's Press; January 2018 hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats) and we are thrilled to have had the opportunity to spend some time with her talking about the book.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead characters of Watch Me. What is it about them that appeal to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Jody Gehrman
Jody Gehrman: Watch Me is a dark psychological suspense novel about a creative writing professor caught up in a dangerous relationship with her charming but psychotic star student. Strangely, this is the first book I’ve ever attempted that features writers as the main characters. My heroines are usually creative, and some of them write, but writing has never been the focus of any of my books.
The relationship between Sam and Kate is a twisted one, but their mutual love of writing is one aspect of their dynamic that’s somewhat pure. Okay, maybe “pure” isn’t quite the right word, but at least it’s less sinister than everything else lurking beneath the surface between them. Telling their story gave me a chance to reflect on my life as a writer, and as a teacher of writing. It gave me a chance to explore the bond only two people caught in the throes of the same creative addiction can share.
OMN: How did you go about finding the right voice for these characters?
JG: The book bounces between two very different voices—the writing professor and her deranged protégé. It’s funny; since I’ve worked as a writing professor for almost two decades, I assumed her voice would dominate the book. Nobody was more surprised than me when her unhinged student took on a voice that just exploded on the page. I guess we all have a bit of crazy in us. I’ve discovered that taking on the point of view of a sociopath is both fascinating and weirdly therapeutic.
OMN: The cover is striking! How involved were you with its design?
JG: I knew St. Martin’s would be handling the cover, but I couldn’t stop myself from playing around with design concepts anyway. Sometimes creating a visual image of the book helps me get clearer about the mood I’m going for. When my editor sent me a rough draft of the cover, I was blown away. It expresses so perfectly the atmosphere of the book—wintry, cold, spooky, sexy.
My agent and I agreed that one aspect of the design could use some tweaking in the original concept; the scary stalker figure at the center was kind of Frankenstein-like at first. It just didn’t hit the right note. I sent an image of a silhouette that fit more with my vision, and the designer ended up using that exact image, so everyone was happy.
OMN: Suppose Watch Me is optioned for television or film. Who do you see playing the lead roles?
JG: Kate Youngblood is Kate Blanchet, no doubt. I even borrowed a bit of her name. She has the acting chops to pull off a character who’s both bitingly cynical and hopelessly romantic. Blanchet’s range is so impressive, and her poise remarkable. She would be the hands-down most elegant choice for Kate.
Sam Grist is a young Wes Bentley, circa American Beauty. Bentley has the creepy-charming thing down pat. Sam must be sexy and also deranged; this is not an easy combination to pull off. Bentley would give him just the right edge, while keeping him weirdly likable.
Those are my primary casting choices. If I could get Patty Jenkins to direct, I’d be in heaven. If you know her you should forward her this blog right now. Ditto for Kate and Wes.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
JG: Top 5 books I'll never stop loving …
1) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Okay, I know this one creeps a lot of people out—and with good reason. Humbert Humbert’s one of the most sinister characters in literature. That said, he’s also compelling and at times even weirdly lovable. The way Nabokov dives into that gray area, crafting this dark tale sentence by sentence, never ceases to amaze me.
2) Dare Me by Megan Abbott. Who knew the world of high school cheerleaders could be so noir? Abbott is one of my favorite authors, and the tension she creates in this lush, evocative novel is off the charts.
3) You by Caroline Kepnes. I listened to the audiobook version of this with my husband, and we became mutually obsessed with the book’s main character, Joe. Santino Fontana narrates it with such a nuanced performance, it will blow you away. It’s simultaneously funny, chilling, and thought provoking. Hats off to Kepnes. As a side note: The sequel, Hidden Bodies, is equally masterful.
4) The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I’m a sucker for college campus settings, and this is by far the best I’ve ever read. Tartt’s depiction of the madness of youth and the power of loners who find themselves part of a tribe never hits a false note. She is one of the most patient, meticulous builder of worlds I’ve ever encountered.
5) In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. What’s not to love about a bachelorette weekend that ends in murder? Ware slices up time and layers the tension so smoothly, it’s impossible to resist this novel’s macabre charms.
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Jody Gehrman has authored eleven published novels and numerous plays for stage and screen. Her Young Adult novel, Babe in Boyland, won the International Reading Association’s Teen Choice Award and was optioned by the Disney Channel. Jody’s plays have been produced or had staged readings in Ashland, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. Her newest full-length screenplay, Tribal Life in America, won the Ebell Playwrights Prize of Los Angeles. She and her partner David Wolf won the New Generation Playwrights Award for their one-act, Jake Savage, Jungle P.I. She holds a Masters Degree in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a professor of Communications at Mendocino College in Northern California.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at JodyGehrman.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Watch Me by Jody Gehrman
A Psychological Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Kate Youngblood is disappearing. Muddling through her late 30s as a creative writing professor at Blackwood college, she’s dangerously close to never being noticed again. The follow-up novel to her successful debut tanked. Her husband left her for a woman ten years younger. She’s always been bright, beautiful, independent and a little wild, but now her glow is starting to vanish. She’s heading into an age where her eyes are less blue, her charm worn out, and soon no one will ever truly look at her, want to know her, again.
Except one.
Sam Grist is Kate’s most promising student. An unflinching writer with razor-sharp clarity who gravitates towards dark themes and twisted plots, his raw talent is something Kate wants to nurture into literary success. But he’s not there solely to be the best writer. He’s been watching her. Wanting her. Working his way to her for years.
As Sam slowly makes his way into Kate’s life, they enter a deadly web of dangerous lies and forbidden desire. But how far will his fixation go? And how far will she allow it?
— Watch Me by Jody Gehrman
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