For his 10th novel, Riley Sager, the pen name of author Todd Ritter, wanted to celebrate all of his work and give back to his fans.
He hopes fans will have fun spotting callbacks to his earlier work in “The Unknown,” but also says it has something for first-time readers.
“I wanted to do something special to celebrate a decade of publishing success,” Sager said during a recent email interview. “My goal was to write the quintessential ‘Riley Sager book’ by combining everything that came before it — themes, plot structure, similar settings, even direct references and Easter eggs — in the service of something new.”
That something new comes from an original story that combines two timelines — one told in the form of diary entries from 100 years ago being read by the current-day narrator, an actress portraying her — to tell the history of an island and its effect on two very different, but similar groups of women.
For the novel, Sager drew on his own fascination with the 1920s Spiritualist movement and inspiration from the Lily Dale residential community in Pomfret, New York.
“I’ve been interested in Spiritualism for years, so I already knew a lot about it just from my own personal curiosity,” he said about the research he did for “The Unknown.”
“There’s a well-known Spiritualist commune in upstate New York called Lily Dale that was very light inspiration for the one in the book,” Sager continued. “I wanted mine to be smaller, creepier, and more remote. Hence, an island on a lake in Vermont.”
Sager also drew on Hollywood and the film industry to shape his tale, which publishes Aug. 4 from Dutton.
“Because most of the actresses in ‘The Unknown’ are very famous in the world of the book, I needed them to feel instantly familiar to readers,” he said. “To accomplish that, I took the mannerisms, speaking styles, and career arcs of many different actresses as inspiration for these completely fictional characters.”
Speaking of Hollywood, there’s been rumblings for years about Sager’s novels being optioned for the big and little screen, but so far, nothing has developed.
“My attitude is if something gets made, awesome. If it doesn’t, that’s fine, too,” he said. “I’m happy with my books simply being books.”
Despite that, the author says he is in talks currently to adapt one of his novels into a screenplay. Beyond that, he can’t comment except to say it’s the story he thinks would make the best leap to the screen.
Find out more about how “The Unknown” came together, how Sager plans out those plot twists, and how Julie Andrews plays a role in his books. These questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. First, can you tell us a little bit about “The Unknown”?
“The Unknown” is about a group of mediums who vanished from an allegedly haunted island in Vermont in 1926. The only traces of them were their dresses hanging in the branches of an oak tree in the middle of the island. A hundred years later, a group of actresses and their director go to the island as research for a movie they’re making about the disappearances. Things very quickly go wrong.
Q. What kind of research went into writing “The Unknown”?
Most of the research I did was specific to 1926. What was going on in the world back then? How would it possibly affect this isolated island? Was this certain technology in use back then? Was that particular word common?
I try to only do research on an as-needed basis. Because I deal in fiction that sometimes contains supernatural elements, I’m less concerned about accuracy than with writing a compelling narrative. I tend to follow that old adage, “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” That’s very true of the film industry aspects in the book. I absolutely know this is not how things are done in Hollywood! But it is in the world of “The Unknown.”
Q. You’ve spoken in the past about drawing from real-life stories, such as Lizzie Borden and “The Only One Left.” What inspired “The Unknown”?
The real inspiration for the book came from a story I found online more than 20 years ago about a tree in the middle of a swamp from which someone had hung several white dresses. No one knew who put them there or why or what it all meant. It was unsettling enough for me to remember it two decades later and put something similar into a book.
Q. Many of your novels feature female protagonists and deal with dual timelines. Is that something that comes to you naturally, or do you consciously like to pair them off with each other?
It comes naturally in the sense that I don’t give it a whole lot of thought. As a reader, I’m drawn to strong, slightly flawed female characters who must reckon with the past coming back to haunt them. When I started writing, I knew that was the sandbox I wanted to play in. That meant female main characters and dual timelines in which we can see the past converging with the present. I’m also lucky in that while writing, I also have a great team of women — my editor, my agent, and an early reader who always reads my work first — that helps point me in the right direction if I’m not getting something exactly right. The advice I give aspiring authors is to write not what they know but the book they’d like to read. That’s exactly what I try to do.
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Q. While you’re known as a thriller writer, many of your plots draw on the potential for the supernatural to be at the root of what’s happening. Have you ever thought about going all the way and doing a horror novel?
I tend to walk that fine line between thriller and horror, which was a complete accident. Again, I was simply interested in writing the type of book that I wanted to read. My novels have been described as scary books for people who don’t like to be scared, which is what I’m usually going for. So, there aren’t any plans to go all-in on horror. That genre is a little darker than what I generally like to deal with. My books get dark, don’t get me wrong, but I tend to give my characters the hope of a happy ending. That’s not always the case with full-on horror. With a few notable exceptions, my books contain just a kiss of the supernatural or leave it open-ended enough for readers to decide for themselves if the spooky elements were real or not.
Q. How do you decide what twists and turns your novels take? Do you go in ahead of time knowing what the outcome will be? Does a twist always work out in the writing?
When I start a book, the first thing I tackle is plot. What is this book about? Then I figure out who’s telling the story, where it takes place, and other world-building elements. Then I plan the big twist, just so I know what to work toward. Along the way, I often figure out more twists and turns as the writing progresses, which is always fun. It’s nice when a book surprises me. And sometimes I get it completely wrong. I have had books where the twist or “whodunnit” just doesn’t land the way it should, and I’m forced to go back and rework everything. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s occurred enough times that I no longer panic when it does.
Q. What do you think draws readers to thrillers and twisting plots?
I assume it’s for the same reason I’m drawn to them, which is that it’s fun to be scared and surprised and on the edge of your seat. I can’t speak for everyone, but my day-to-day life is rather dull. I love the vicarious thrill that comes from reading about people with lives that are far more exciting than mine.
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Q. Are you already working on your next novel?
I’m a book-a-year author, so when one hits stores, I’m already finishing up writing the next one. This year is no different. All I can say about it is that I really want to break the mold with this one. If “The Unknown” is the quintessential Riley Sager book, what comes next is like nothing I’ve done before.
Q. What’s something that you wish people knew about your work? Or is there something no one knows that you can share with us?
As someone who grew up watching the films of Julie Andrews, especially “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music,” I try to sneak a reference to her or her movies into all my books. I doubt readers notice it, which is fine. It’s just a silly thing I do only for me.
Q. And finally, if you could ask your readers one question, what would it be?
Instead of a question, I’d just like to thank them. There are so many great books out there, and so many authors writing at the top of their game. That people have picked up my books when there are so many other options out there is mind-blowing and humbling. There are days when I still can’t believe I get to make a living telling stories. Because of that, I have nothing but gratitude.