Andrea Bartz is a Brooklyn-based journalist and author of The Lost Night, The Herd and We Were Never Here (the Reese Witherspoon book club pick for August 2021!). Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, Martha Stewart Living, Redbook, Elle, and many other outlets, and she’s held editorial positions at Glamour, Psychology Today, and Self, among other publications.
Today, Andrea Bartz is on the blog to take on our Ten Terrifying Questions! Read on …
Andrea Bartz
1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?
I was born outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in America’s Midwest. I went to Northwestern University in Chicago, and then I moved to New York City to work as a magazine editor. I worked at a handful of different magazines (including Glamour, Martha Stewart, and Psychology Today) before becoming a freelance writer—and focusing on my fiction!
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
I always wanted to work with words in some way; at 12, I probably wanted to be a poet. But in university I fell in love with magazine journalism, so by the end of college I desperately wanted to be a magazine editor. I made that happen, but by Age 30 it was clear the era of glitz and glamour was over for magazines; publications were laying people off and shutting down left and right. So I switched my focus to finishing my novel, getting an agent, and finding a publisher. And my debut, The Lost Night, came out when I was 32!
3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?
At 18 I was pretty sure grown-ups knew what they were doing—everyone seemed so confident as they went about their jobs and bought houses and raised kids. “Adulting” seemed so intimidating! Now that I’m an adult myself, it’s clear that everyone is just doing their best and wondering when their peers will recognise they have no idea what they’re doing. It’s soothing to think about—we’re all making it up as we go along!
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?
I read Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing as a teenager and was blown away by the idea that I could just … start a story, with nothing but a spark of an idea, and follow it to figure out where it would lead. I’d always thought writers had to map out where their books were going, so it was freeing to get the green light to just start telling stories without any idea where they’re going. It’s still how I write my novels today!
I remember where I was when I first saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the movie moves me to tears even now. I was blown away by how the writer/director blended these complex characters with a nutty speculative-fiction premise and poignant, gut-wrenching emotions, with big gobs of humour and wit. I revisit it whenever I want to shed a tear and remind myself what great art can do, and I try to blend a comedy and universal themes into my own page-turners.
I read Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series one after another back in 2014, and when I got to the last one, I said, “I’m going to write a murder mystery.” I loved how she combined beautiful writing with rich character studies and set it all against drumbeat suspense, and I wanted to try my hand at doing the same. I just needed a premise—and soon, I had the hook for The Lost Night: After a wild night at a Brooklyn warehouse party back, there’s a dead body on the floor.
5. Considering the many artistic forms out there, what appeals to you about writing a novel?
It’s the only art form I’ve ever been any good at! Recently, I was home in Wisconsin, and I found a massive plastic bin stuffed with notebooks I’d filled up as a kid—thousands of pages of poems, short stories, quizzes, made-up newspaper articles, even a few impressively lengthy attempts at novels. I’d eventually love to try writing in different formats (screenwriting sounds excellent, for example!) but I love reading novels, so writing one seemed like a no-brainer.
‘I’ve done a lot of traveling myself, and I’m always hearing comments like, “You’re so brave!” or “I wouldn’t let my daughter travel to XYZ country on their own.” I wanted to turn the idea that women should always be afraid of violence on its head by making women the perpetrators.’
6. Please tell us about your latest novel!
We Were Never Here is about two globe-trotting best friends who kill a backpacker in self-defence during their holiday through Chile—and, terrifyingly, it’s not the first time one of their trips has ended in bloodshed. The two women head home and attempt to go back to their normal lives, but with the walls closing in on their coverups—and their friendship stretched to the limit—they soon find they can’t outrun their shared secrets. It’s the Reese’s Book Club August pick and here in the US, it was an instant New York Times bestseller. It’s been such a thrill watching readers connect with the story!
7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?
I’ve done a lot of traveling myself, and I’m always hearing comments like, “You’re so brave!” or “I wouldn’t let my daughter travel to XYZ country on their own.” I wanted to turn the idea that women should always be afraid of violence on its head by making women the perpetrators—and exploring how that would play out in the aftermath. I hope this book inspires some conversations about the violence we heap upon women without ever expecting them to dish it back. But most of all, I hope it’s a fun and entertaining read!
8. Who do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?
Gillian Flynn (the author of Gone Girl) wrote three fabulous books and then adapted two of them for the screen and co-wrote a heist thriller screenplay. She became a show-runner on a sci-fi drama and wrote a comic book story. I absolutely love how she refused to be pushed into one box and I hope to follow in her footsteps down the road!
9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?
I don’t have a strict five-year plan because things can change anytime; for example, when I started my career in magazines, I was convinced I’d be a magazine editor for life, but look at me now! My goals are to continue pushing myself and trusting my instincts, and to tell more stories about women’s friendships, shame, internalized misogyny, and strength.
10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?
Just write! Don’t start worrying about how you’re going to sell it or what reviewers will think. None of that matters until you’ve written a draft. Let the first draft be terrible (you can always fix it later) and focus on getting words on the page!
Thank you for playing!
—We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.
We Were Never Here
Emily is on holiday with her best friend, Kristen, in the stunning mountains of Chile. It's heaven on earth - until, on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find it covered in blood.
Kristen claims a backpacker attacked her. She shouted, but no-one heard. She struggled, but he was too strong. She had no option but to kill him. With no evidence of the assault, Emily must help her hide the body. But, as the walls close in on their cover-up, Emily asks herself- can she really trust her closest friend?...
Read the first chapter of We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz
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