Ten Terrifying Questions with T. J. Newman!

T. J. Newman, a former bookseller turned flight attendant, worked for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines from 2011 to 2021. She wrote much of Falling on cross-country red-eye flights while her passengers were asleep. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Falling is her first novel.

Today, T. J. Newman is on the blog to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions! Read on …

T. J. Newman (Photo by Melissa Young).

1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

I was born and raised in Arizona in the US (that’s the state with all the cactus and the Grand Canyon) and I went to university at Illinois Wesleyan University, a small liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois which is about two hours south of Chicago. I studied musical theatre.

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and
thirty? And why?

For all three time periods it was the same answer: an actor and/or a writer. Theatre and books are the two things that always brought me the most joy and I figured that if I could spend my life participating in those art worlds, I’d be one helluva lucky girl.

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you don’t
have now?

That mushrooms were gross. What was I thinking?

4. What are three works of art – this could be a book, painting, piece of music, film, etc – that influenced your development as a writer?

1) Music. That sounds generic, but I mean it in this way: I’ll often pick a song or a handful of songs as a book’s “soundtrack”. And then as I’m reading the book, I listen to the song(s) on repeat. They kinda set the tone of my emotional state for that read. So when I write, it’s the same deal.

2) A college textbook (that I read after college) entitled Writing Fiction that broke down writing concepts in a way that clicked in my brain no other explanations had. It’s covered in highlighter and post-it notes and the pages are dogeared.

3) Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer I by Gustav Klimt. I have a massive recreation of it that I painted my junior year of college hanging above my desk. I worked so hard for so long on it and now whenever I get frustrated or tired with what I’m writing, I look up at her and she seems to look down at me and it’s a reminder to keep going. She reminds me that painting – and the book – will eventually be finished if I do.

5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a novel?

Fictional novels are magic. I mean that literally. A writer’s brain creates black and white symbols printed on a piece of paper and entire worlds then appear in the brains and hearts of people the author will never meet. I get chills just writing that – what’s not to love?

6. Please tell us about your latest novel!

144 passengers onboard a flight from Los Angeles to New York don’t know that 30 minutes before their flight, the pilot’s family was kidnapped. The only way the family will survive is if he crashes the plane.

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?

I hope they have a good time. I really just wanted to tell an interesting story and take people on a fun ride. That said, if they turn the last page and find they have a greater respect for pilots and flight attendants—I won’t complain. But it really is as simple as I just want the reader to have fun.

8. Who do you most admire in the writing world and why?

Now that I’ve experienced the whole process –from the initial lightbulb idea to full publication – I can honestly say that any writer who has gone through that whole process is who I admire. I had no clue how much work it would be, and how difficult and frustrating and uphill it would be. So I have endless respect and admiration for anyone who has waged this battle and come out the other side.

9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

I think I’ll keep applying the same goals I had for Falling to any work I’m lucky enough to write in my career. The goals were quite simple: 1) Finish the story. 2) Make it better. 3) Get it published. The only thing I can control is the story I tell and how well I tell it and I owe it to the readers who have been generous enough to spend their time and money on my work to focus on those goals alone.

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Keep going. Ignore that doubting voice—no matter if it’s external or internal—and just keep going. No one knows how to tell the story you want to tell in the way you can tell it. So keep going.

Thanks T. J.!

—Falling by T. J. Newman (Simon & Schuster Australia) is out now.

Falling

by T. J. Newman

You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.

What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight...

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