To celebrate the launch of her new novel, “The Reappearance of Rachel Price,” the New York Times bestselling author Holly Jackson embarked on a book tour in North America, where she discussed both the book and her other novels, and conducted book signings for fans.
Holly Jackson began the tour on April 2nd, in Massachusetts. The tour saw her visit many states such as New York, New Jersey, California, and Texas before concluding the book tour in Canada, at ‘Hot Docs Cinema’ in Toronto.
Each event was hosted by a different author, and I attended the Toronto event which was hosted by award-winning author Nita Prose, who writes the The Maid series.
The event was sold out, and there was a line around the block of hundreds of fans waiting to get in, all firmly clinging to copies of various Holly Jackson books which they were going to get signed after the show.
Holly and Nita took the stage, and Holly said that she has been having a wonderful time on tour, although it has been a real trial and as she has changed time zones so many times, “time is now a loose concept to me.”
Holly gave an ‘elevator pitch’ explaining the story of “The Reappearance of Rachel Price.” She also gave insight into the title of the book. She noted that she is a big true crime fan, and a lot of the true crime documentaries she watches are about the disappearance of someone. That gave her the idea of writing about the reappearance of someone. It was fascinating hearing the process of this, and how she came up with the title and concept then worked backwards.
She joked that the hook kind of comes with the title, and that she wishes she could just write titles all day long. In her wry British accent, she joked that “oh no – I know you all want content in your book. It’s so rude!”
Holly also mentioned that she really wanted to write a book about a mother-daughter relationship, and how many books deal with parents by having them head off on vacation or being killed off so the teenagers can get up to all sorts of things in their absence, and so she really wanted to write a book that would delve into those family dynamics.
Holly discussed the location of the book, Gorham, New Hampshire. Although she had never visited there, she joked that she could tell you the names of every store and where the McDonald’s is located thanks to Google Maps.
Holly next discussed the TV adaptation of Good Girl’s, and promised fans it would be airing in Canada, although she couldn’t provide details at that time. She also talked about the casting of Emma Myers and how perfect it was. She had just watched her in the TV show Wednesday, and knew as soon as she was mentioned that she would be perfect for the role.
Holly also mentioned a fun little tidbit when it came to autographed copies of books; they don’t ship all of the books to her house. They just ship the front page that she is to sign, instead of the entire book.
In regards to the TV show adaptation, Holly Jackson confirmed that she makes a cameo in episode 4 and she may not be too easy to recognize as they have to put her in a bit of a disguise. She also said that there was meant to be a second cameo but it was cut out as she was just a bit too distracting in the scene, which was the party.
Holly talked about inspirations and growing up, mentioning that when she was nine years old she would read novels by Harlan Coben and joked “nine-year-olds should not be reading those books.” She would also sneakily watch Lost, and was a big fan of the Tomb Raider games, and told some humorous anecdotes related to that.
Holly talked about how the initial Good Girl’s guide book was intended to be a standalone. However, when “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” started doing well, she was approached about writing a sequel. She talked about the tough writing process for “Good Girl, Bad Blood” where she planned it out in four weeks and then wrote it in just six weeks.
While writing it she planned to do a trilogy of the series, which is why things that take place in the second book would then play into the third book. Holly also writes a cathartic release she has when she finishes writing one of her novels, as she will type out “The End.”
One audience question was what her Google search history looks like after writing the latest book. She joked that she “probably have my own FBI agent assigned to me” due to that. She also said that the worst thing she has probably Googled is What Does Human Flesh Smell Like.
Once finished with the talk, Holly Jackson then signed books for everyone. People were able to get three books signed, with one personalized. There were literally hundreds of people lined up, and Holly Jackson was polite and friendly with every one of them, without making any of them feel rushed.
It was a very entertaining talk, and if Holly Jackson comes to your city it’s highly recommended you attend. She is friendly, funny, down-to-earth, and very well-spoken.
Congrats to Holly on completing her book tour, and for the release of The Reappearance of Rachel Price.
Holly mentioned during the talk that she had been working on her next book, although there were no specifics. However, head on over to our Holly Jackson page, click that big blue +Follow button, and we’ll notify you when that book is available for pre-order.