5 Questions: Cynthia Swanson, New York Times Bestseller

Long before publication, awards or bestseller lists entered the picture, Denver author Cynthia Swanson was already drawn to the quiet thrill of putting stories on the page. What began as childhood play evolved into a vocation, surviving dry spells, life changes and the long, uncertain periods that define most creative careers. Writing, she says, has always been enjoyable, but it has also become the work she returns to time and again, even when it has temporarily slipped out of reach.

Best known for psychological thrillers set in near-history, she has built a career around tightly constructed plots and morally complex characters. Her New York Times bestselling debut, “The Bookseller,” reimagines 1960s Denver through the inner life of a woman drawn to an alternate reality, while later novels continue to blend suspense with deep character psychology. Across her work, Swanson’s focus remains the same: making sure every choice a character makes feels inevitable, even when it’s unsettling.

In this week’s 5 Questions, Swanson talks about how her passion for writing has evolved, what she loves (and struggles with) when crafting psychological suspense and what it’s been like to see “The Bookseller” move toward a film adaptation. She also reflects on working with other writers as an editor and collaborator and how helping others strengthen their stories has, in turn, sharpened her own.

You say you’ve had a passion for story writing since your mother gave you a typewriter when you were seven years old. How has that passion developed since then?

When you’re a kid who likes to write, it’s all about fun. It’s still fun for me—I wouldn’t do it if I felt otherwise. But I began taking myself seriously as a writer when I was in college and knew publishing stories and books was what I wanted to do. There have been times over the years when I didn’t write much (or even at all), but I always came back to it and expect I always will.

“Anyone But Her,” “The Glass Forest” and “The Bookseller” all received a variety of awards for their complex storylines. What part of thriller/mind-bending writing do you find the most enjoyable and difficult?

This genre is rewarding to write because figuring out a story is like solving a puzzle. It requires not just a tight plot but also continually asking and answering the question, “Why? What makes this particular character take this particular action?” I’m always checking and rechecking my characters’ motives. As a reader, my favorite books are those in which the characters are so well developed, I’m never left thinking, huh? That person would never do that! My goal is to ensure that my readers can always say the same about my books.

Your New York Times Bestseller “The Bookseller” is based in 1960s Denver, where a woman, Kitty Miller, dreams of her life in an alternative reality. Why did she seek an alternative reality, and how did your ideas change for how the storyline and characters would turn out?

The idea for “The Bookseller” came to me all of the sudden, after one of those fallow periods I mentioned above—in this case, when my kids were small (three and six), and mothering was sucking all the creativity out of me. The concept for “The Bookseller” was the first story idea I’d had in years that I felt had legs. I knew the beginning and the end, but the middle needed a lot of work! 

“The Bookseller” is set in the 1960s, and originally I set it in the (then) present day. For logistical reasons, an earlier time period worked much better—but I discovered that I love combining psychological suspense with near-history, and I carried that theme forward in “The Glass Forest” and “Anyone But Her.”

“The Bookseller” is becoming a motion picture with Julia Roberts as a producer and possibly in the leading role. How exciting is it for you to see your work adapted for the big screen and are you involved in the production? 

It’s flattering and exciting, and I hope it happens! What I’ve learned is that the movie business is even slower than the book business, and anything along the way can delay or terminate progress. But they continue to move forward, step by step. I’m not directly involved, but the team at Red Om (Julia Roberts’s production company) is zealous about bringing “The Bookseller” to the screen. So…fingers crossed!

Along with publishing your own books, you also provide services to help others edit and create storylines for their work. What have you learned from teaching others that you’ve brought into your own work and development?

Working with other writers is always eye-opening. Helping novelists find the core of their story, as well as the pieces that might be holding them back, also helps me identify these issues in my own work.

On the nonfiction side, I ghostwrite and do content editing for people who have great ideas and might have a draft of a book, but they need help ensuring their book is professionally written. I love seeing how passionate my clients are about their books. It reminds me that there’s space out there for all stories, as long as the writer (and their collaborators, if they have them) put in the work to make the book the best it can possibly be.