Christina Kovac is the author of The Cutaway: A Thriller.From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: You spent many years working in TV news. How much was The Cutaway based on your own experiences?Visit Christina Kovac's website.
A: Every single street I wrote about, I’ve walked on. The newsroom wasn’t one where I had worked, the people weren’t people I worked with, and Virginia certainly isn’t me! But this could definitely happen—this set of circumstances, these types of people. They’re all composite characters.
The story that got me thinking about the politics behind crimes against women was the Chandra Levy case. I did work on that. This isn’t close to that, but it’s an aspect of people using access to further their career. You try to hold onto the humanity of the victim. Those pressures are very real. But no one is real [among the characters in the book].
Q: How did you come up with the idea for your main character, Virginia?
A: I was a young mother and 9/11 had just happened. Tim Russert pulled us into the office and said, We need to plan in case of another attack. My husband is also in TV, and he said, Obviously, you have to take care of the children. I said, I have to work too.
It became clear after all the chaos, missing pickups at day care, that...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Cutaway.
The Page 69 Test: The Cutaway.
Writers Read: Christina Kovac.
--Marshal Zeringue