Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf is the Edgar Award nominated, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of ten novels including Everyone Is Watching, out this week. Her debut novel, The Weight of Silence, was an instant New York Times bestseller and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Gudenkauf’s critically acclaimed novels have been published in over 20 countries and have been included in many Best Of lists including Seven Thrillers to Read This Summer by the New York Times, The 10 Best Thrillers and Mysteries of 2017 by The Washington Post, Amazon Best Book of 2022, GoodReads Most Anticipated Mysteries of 2022.

My Q&A with the author:

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

I think the title, Everyone Is Watching, is a sneaky teaser into what the novel is about. It begs the reader to ask the following questions: Who is being watched? Who is doing the watching and why? Readers quickly learn that the story centers around five strangers who travel to an isolated location to take part in a high-stakes competition reality series for a chance to win ten million dollars. And to make things even more interesting, the show is being live streamed worldwide.

What's in a name?

I often find coming up with names for the characters and the settings particularly challenging. I spend an excessive amount of time agonizing over the right name for a character, a city, or a town. For Everyone Is Watching, I knew I needed to create the perfect name for the estate where the reality series One Lucky Winner takes place. I finally settled on Bella Luce, which means beautiful light in Italian. Here, we have this gorgeous Italian villa in the middle of wine country USA, and initially, the contestants are completely mesmerized by its beauty. Little do they know what dark secrets the estate holds.

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

My teenage self would not be surprised to learn that my chosen genre is mystery/thrillers. I have loved reading them since I was probably much too young to do so. I consistently raided my dad’s side of the bookshelf and snagged titles by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jonathan Kellerman, Elizabeth Peters, and John Grisham.

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

I typically have little trouble beginning or ending a book; along the way, both typically go through extensive editing. For Everyone Is Watching, I knew that the story needed to start with each character receiving their invitation to take part in One Lucky Winner – a reality show that had the potential to change their lives. Ultimately, I only included one of these scenes to keep the book's pace moving. As for the ending – I can't remember exactly how many iterations I went through to finally land on the fitting conclusion – lots of versions ended up on the cutting room floor. I've finally come to an uneasy acceptance that this is just how I write – messily and with many false starts and wrong turns. All I can say is thank goodness for revisions.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

While writing Everyone Is Watching, I watched too many hours of reality television to count: Survivor, Alone, The Challenge, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, and so much more! What did I learn? As a society, we are obsessed with fame, notoriety, and competition. As we watch these shows, we begin to feel like we know the contestants beyond the superficial. We sit on our sofa-sized thrones in front of our screens, christen the heroes, and disparage the villains. We choose sides. I explore this idea in Everyone Is Watching, along with the question – what would you do for ten million dollars?

Visit Heather Gudenkauf's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Heather Gudenkauf and Maxine.

Coffee with a Canine: Heather Gudenkauf & Lolo.

My Book, The Movie: Not A Sound.

The Page 69 Test: Not A Sound.

The Page 69 Test: Before She Was Found.

The Page 69 Test: This Is How I Lied.

The Page 69 Test: The Overnight Guest.

--Marshal Zeringue