When Librarians Get Murderous! | Laura Sims

Halloween will be here before we know it, and to get into the spirit I’m excited to share this episode with Laura Sims, author of Looker and her newest book, How Can I Help You, which explores the darker side of humanity — all happening within a library which is a delight. Laura masters the art of rotating POV and dialogue in her newest work, so we dive into that and much more throughout this ep. Enjoy! 

Topics Discussed

• Writing characters that are realistic and easy to connect with as writer and reader

• Why Laura chose to shift between two narrators and points of view throughout her book

• Why Laura chooses to not automatically explain her characters, especially the more villainous ones

• Playing with ambiguity as a mystery writer and utilizing a slow burn when developing characters

• The ethics of writing about topics like murder and recognizing your responsibility as an author

• How Laura drew inspiration for her characters f. rom her experience as a librarian

Episode Resources

• Ep. 38 | The Criminal

• Lars Kepler

• Invisibilia

• The SLP on YouTube

• Subscribe to Footnotes

• Support the Show

Connect with Laura

• Website

• How Can I Help You

Connect with Caroline on Instagram: @carodonahue

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