Thrilled to talk to author Kelly Simmons this week about her latest novel, Not My Boy
Author Name: Kelly Simmons
Book Title: Not My Boy
Book Genre: Suspenseful Women’s Fiction
Release Date: January 5, 2021
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Welcome, Kelly–congratulations on your release! Please tell us about your latest book.
Two sisters and their middle-school kids are best friends — until they move in next door to each other. As soon as the moving truck pulls away, a child goes missing in the house across the street, and suspicion falls on both families, pitting sister against sister, neighbor against neighbor.
What sparked the idea for Not My Boy?
Well, let’s just say I have a sister, hahaha, and I always thought it would be awesome to live on the same street and have our families be close. But you have to careful what you wish for . . . .
Ha, so true! If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read your work?
My books are all about good people making bad decisions — and how they come back from the brink of them. That’s fascinating to me — if it is to you, as well, you may like my work. It’s dark, but ultimately hopeful.
What are your interests outside of writing and reading?
When the weather is pleasant, I love to tool around on my bike. Not long serious rides — but joy rides. And I love to knit, which is so similar to writing. It takes sustained small efforts over a long time and the, voila, you have a beautiful thing.
Where can readers find you?
My schedule of events is on kellysimmonsbooks.com, or follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyasimmons/
Thank you, Kelly! Not My Boy releases TODAY.
Not My Boy
“A missing child, a family with multiple secrets, and a cast of characters that are complicated and fully realized…Not My Boy lands the reader in the middle of a mystery that is propulsive and impossible to put down.” —Julie Clark, NYTimes best selling author of The Last Flight
Who will you cross to protect your own?
When Hannah packs up her past and moves to the cottage next-door to her sister, she hopes the luxe neighborhood and close family ties will be the perfect escape for her son and the shadows that trail them. But when a young girl goes missing days after they unload their final boxes and her son is quickly thrown under suspicion, Hannah must do whatever it takes to protect her child.
Even if that means pointing the blame her sister’s way instead.
With investigators swarming and neighborhood scrutiny closing in, the divide between two sisters grows. As one fiercely defends her husband, the other shields her boy from the crime, keeping quiet the secrets that might unravel it all.
And all the while, one young girl has vanished, and someone is to blame.
Author bio:
Kelly Simmons is a former journalist, advertising creative director and the author of six novels sold in a dozen countries: STANDING STILL and THE BIRD HOUSE (Simon & Schuster) ONE MORE DAY, THE FIFTH OF JULY, WHERE SHE WENT, and NOT MY BOY (Sourcebooks).
She teaches in the Drexel University MFA program, and is a member of WFWA, Tall Poppy Writers and The Liars Club, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping fledgling novelists.
Additionally, she co-helms the weekly writers podcast “Liars Club Oddcast.”
She was born the same day as Dorothy Parker. Coincidence? She thinks not.