Finley Turner

Finley Turner is a debut suspense author. She made a career change to become an archivist at a university after leaving academia, where she studied cults and new religious movements.

When not producing and consuming all things morbid and dark, Turner can typically be found playing video games with her husband, and occasionally pausing to interrogate her rescue animals about what they're chewing on.

Her new novel is The Engagement Party.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title is very matter-of-fact, which is something I really struggled with due to the lack of creativity. My publisher asked me to come up with ten alternatives, but we weren't crazy about any of them. The only one that I could see working was A Family Affair, because this novel is all about a dysfunctional family, love affairs included. We stuck with The Engagement Party because it does capture the fact that this is a claustrophobic book where none of the characters can leave the site of the party.

What's in a name?

Coming up with character names is one of my favorite parts of writing. I often pick names with the same energy as the characters, so the Sedgemont family names had to sound expensive—Beatrice, Emmett, and Kennedy to name a few.

Meanwhile, the main character Kassandra goes casually by Kass, further separating herself from the Sedgemonts. I named Kassandra after a favorite video game character, Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. I like to sneak in easter eggs for myself. My advice on naming characters is to never name one after your real-life enemies. They don’t deserve to be immortalized—they would love that!

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

My teenage self wouldn’t be surprised at all that I wrote a thriller, but she would definitely be surprised it was published. My mother and I always watched murder mysteries together when I was little, like Poirot, so that’s always been a part of who I am.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

It’s by far the hardest to write endings for me. Thrillers are all about the twist, and this is the biggest struggle for me because of how much pressure there is to surprise readers. With the first two books I wrote, including The Engagement Party, I actually didn’t know who the culprit was until halfway through the first draft. When I took a step back and really figured out what the book was about, which is redemption and revenge, I felt it all click into place.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I definitely see a little bit of Kass in myself. She feels awkward in fancy social situations and much prefers being casual. She falls in love too quickly, and has a bit of a mouth on her. She’s sensitive to being judged, but can hypocritically make snap judgements (don’t we all?). But luckily, there’s much about her that is a world apart from me. I won’t say what those are to avoid spoilers, but hopefully readers know what I’m talking about when they get there.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I absolutely love to play video games, and while most people unfamiliar with them are picturing Mario or Fortnight, I prefer narrative-heavy video games like The Last of Us and God of War. There are some heavy-hitting writers in video games that could easily write a bestselling book, but instead they write stories that players get to live in. It’s the most immersive way to consume a story, in my opinion.

Visit Finley Turner's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Engagement Party.

--Marshal Zeringue