Photo from left to right, Georgina Cross and Rea Frey

by Caylah Coffeen

Rea Frey (Nashville), the award-winning author of 4 fiction and 4 nonfiction books, joins Georgina Cross (Huntsville), the author of 6 suspense novels, to discuss her new release In Every Life. Thank you to the South Huntsville Public Library and The Snail on the Wall for hosting this event.

Georgina: So we’re, like, real friends?

Rea: (laughs) Yes, real friends.

Georgina: Well, we first met because we have the same agent. But we just talked for 3 hours at our 3 pm “dinner.” Real friends! Rea was a couple years ahead of me when we met, so she’s someone I’ve looked up to and learned from.

Rea: Well, this is one of the coolest part of being an author – you find your people.

Georgina: Yes! And complain to them, and troubleshoot – we’re still learning from each other. I have 6 books out now, just started my 7^th. And you just released your 8th and are writing your 9th!

Rea: That’s right. I just released In Every Life, out August 6th.

Georgina: So you’re beating me now!

Rea: (laughs) It’s not a competition!

Georgina: So what do you write and how did you get published?

Rea: I write thrillers and women’s or book club fiction. I’m with 2 different publishers for the 2 genres. The first book I wrote, I didn’t even know it was thriller. I just wrote the book I loved and the publisher who gave me the book deal said it was thriller.

Georgina: We both started out similarly – we wanted to write the book we wanted to write. But they try to fit you in a genre once you get a book deal. It’s a business, and it helps them sell your books.

Rea: Yes, so after my first book deal, they wanted me to keep writing thrillers. I had to suddenly manufacture books in that genre. I started in fiction, and didn’t know how to get published. I got published at 22 with a sketchy company and it bombed. So I switched to nonfiction, but it didn’t bring me joy. I finally switched back to fiction and my first book, Not My Daughter, poured out of me in a month. By then I knew enough about the industry to land an agent, then a two-book deal. I hadn’t written fiction in 10 years and suddenly I had really tight deadlines. I dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome.

Georgina: You also wanted to write women’s fiction.

Rea: Well that just came to me too. I was out of contract with my first publisher and fell back into my original process where I didn’t know what genre I was writing. I just wrote. I’ve been chasing that feeling from my debut book – when I had no one telling me what to write, and wasn’t put in a genre box. We feel a huge pressure to market and sell our books. We’re creatives, not marketers. I’m putting out 2 books a year and you wouldn’t believe how little time there is to write – it’s all about everything else. I’m trying to push back against that.

Georgina: We’ve both decided to go back to our roots, writing what we love. My 7^th, your 9^th book. My mind is dark. I’ll always write thriller. But my dad said I’m almost going toward horror. And I don’t want people to say “it’s too unbelievable” if I take a step toward magic realism. I write fiction because I can do what I want!

Rea: Right, can “a story you love” be a genre?

Author Quirks!

Georgina: Well, let’s do a lightning round of questions so the audience can get to know you a bit more before we dig into your new release. Are you a morning or night person?

Rea: Morning!

Georgina: Big city or small town?

Rea: I used to have said big city, I’m from Nashville, but now I’d definitely say small town. I hate the traffic.

Georgina: Crowds or intimate gatherings?

Rea: Intimate gatherings, definitely!

Georgina: What’s your favorite snack?

Rea: You know, I really don’t snack anymore, though it used to be fruit.

Georgina: That’s right, your nonfiction books are about nutrition and you work out a lot. I always have snacks with me in case my blood sugar drops. We were at an event together, and you came up to me and said you were dying, hadn’t eaten all day, and I remember offering you one of my snacks. It was a Cliff Bark and you just gave it a look like, “what’s this?”

Rea: (laughs) Did I even eat it?

Georgina: You were just tearing little bits off! I thought, what a waste of my Cliff Bar.

Rea: It’s just so processed. If you do anything for your health, cut out seed oils, you’ll feel so much better.

Georgina: What do you do to relax?

Rea: I just got a rescue dog, an Australian cattle dog, so not relaxing, because they need so much exercise! But I love movement – swimming, hiking, laying in sun. I’ll also watch a movie with family, go out with friends.

Georgina: If you could only take 2 things from your house if it was on fire, what would you take (aside from your husband and daughter)?

Rea: My dog definitely! Because of my tour, I won’t see my daughter for 8 days, and that’s the longest I’ve ever left her (she’s 12 now). But almost cried leaving my dog today. Otherwise, I’m not very materialistic. I had a tiny home as a writing study, filled with books by my clients (I also help authors get published) and limited edition ones. It actually did burn down and I lost everything!

Georgina: Sorry! Didn’t mean to bring up trauma here!

Rea: Yeah, Georgina! No, it’s okay. My husband rebuilt it simpler, and I actually like it better now. It helps me come up with ideas when I don’t have so much bombarding me. Now, I guess I’d also take the framed photo of Sophie’s first ultrasound, which I don’t have a digital copy of.

Georgina: Okay, you have to describe your morning ritual, it’s fascinating. You’ve scaled it down, right?

Rea: Actually, I scaled it up. I’ve really gotten into fascia lately. So I take a block and move it all over the muscles in my face – there’s so much tension in our face that we don’t realize.

Georgina: …

Audience: …

Georgina: You get up in the morning… and the first thing you do is rub a block all over your face?

Rea: (laughs) Yes!

Georgina: Are you still greeting the sun too?

Rea: Oh yes, I usually get up before the sun rises.

Georgina: I have a damn note on my coffee machine that says “greet the sun” because she told me to do that.

Rea: We’re so out of touch with our circadian rhythm because of technology. So I go outside, get the sun in my eyeballs first thing, and it signals the right hormones to activate. I’ll get my feet in earth too. I dry brush my skin, take a cold shower if can’t take an ice bath, journal, meditate of course – the first hour is for me, then my husband and I have a coffee and chat by the pool. And these days I’ll walk the dog.

Georgina: You dry brush your body every day?

Rea: Yes, it’s great for detoxing.

Georgina: And you still have time to write 8 books!

Rea: Because I take care of myself, take time for myself!

Georgina: I think about greeting the sun, but I still haven’t.

Rea: In a whole year?!

Georgina: I look at the sticky note and think, that sounds lovely, then just don’t?

Book Release – In Every Life

Georgina: Alright, we’ve got to talk about your new book, In Every Life.

Rea: Yes! So it’s about a newly wed couple who’s really happy together, but then the husband gets cancer, and comes up with this crazy idea – he wants Harper to find new love before he dies. And suddenly her old flame who she hasn’t met in 10 years shows up. She hasn’t settled (for second best) in life, but she does live with a lot of what-ifs. Harper wanted to be an artist in New York, wanted to go all in with this guy, but she didn’t. The book takes a magical realism turn when she makes several wishes and wakes up in New York with her ideal life. The book splits into 3 timelines – what is, what was, and what-if. This book was inspired by two friends whose wife was diagnosed with leukemia and their whole life was consumed with survival. Cancer became their whole lives, when they were so joyful and active before. I love playing with time and how one little decision can put us on another path entirely (this theme is often called “sliding doors”).

Georgina: Your book last year had a lost love too. So I’ve wondered, who is Rea’s lost love?

Rea: I had a starter marriage when I was 22, a practice marriage I like to say. After the divorce I had a 6 month steamy connection with a best friend. It was messy. I moved away to Chicago, swore off men and dating. We didn’t really have closure so I have wondered. I had just started dating my now-husband when this flame called me and said he wanted to be together for real. I said no. 15 years of marriage later and I’m happy – I don’t hold on to things like that. Not everyone has “the one that got away,” but it’s relatable.

Georgina: So I know I get super excited to write certain scenes. Which part of the book was your favorite – the what is, what was, or what if timeline?

Rea: The what-if is new, so it’s fun to put myself in that position. The “what is” and Harper having to face the end of a relationship after only 2 years was hard to write but really important, I had to put myself in those shoes, to think of losing someone you’re still getting to know. Her whole world becomes about him, but she has to think beyond him, pre-grieving almost. So I think that’s my favorite timeline.

Georgina: Are you a linear writer? You wrote Ch 1 to the end in that order even with the switching timelines?

Rea: Yes, I write them how they appear, not in different chunks, but in the final order.

Georgina: We’ve both just ended our contracts with publishers – we’re in the same place now. What are you looking forward to next?

Rea: As creatives, we need space, time to process. When I used to think about writing I was in the woods, burning candles. I’d walk for hours and come back, totally immersed in it. In our crazy digital world we don’t even have time to think these days. We fill our time with content, consume so much. I’ve gotten away from that because I can’t come up with ideas otherwise. There’s no WiFi in my writing tiny house. Not even candles now, because that’s what burned it down! It was the goddess of words statue that lit up. I don’t have anything extraneous anymore.

Georgina: I write fiction because I want to make stuff up. It’ll be interesting now I’m a free agent to go to a new publisher and define my own stuff. It’s fun for a story to have unbelievable elements. I want to include some paranormal elements without people saying, “but this is supposed to be thriller.”

Rea: Yes! Harper’s friends from In Every Life give her an oracle deck, tell her to burn some sage and stuff under the full moon and make 3 wishes. She doesn’t believe much in it, till she wakes up in an alternate universe! I even included a full moon ritual in the back of the book.

Georgina: I’m Chinese and we’re super superstitious… so I haven’t tried that ritual.

Rea: Ooh you have to. I swear, if I shuffle an oracle deck, one will fly out randomly. I have friends who say they always pick one that’s just perfect for them.

Audience Questions

Q: How do you determine whether to continue on with a character’s story in a sequel or write a standalone novel?

Rea: Back with my first book, I had to choose between 2 publishers – one wanted a sequel and the other wanted a standalone. I went with the one who wanted a standalone. It could have taken my career a whole different route, if I’d tried the sequel path, but I’m glad I didn’t. Once I’m finished with a story, I’m finished. I always write standalones.

Georgina: I’ve never tried writing sequels. Sometimes I think it’d be easier not to have to restart with a whole cast of characters every time. But I wonder if I’d remember all the details from my first book or forget them. And after ripping your book apart so much in editing, you’ll be happy enough to see a new set of characters!

Q: How do you deal with writers block with such strict deadlines?

Georgina: Ask for an extension!

Rea: So I’ve had some crazy deadlines like 3 months to write a whole book when all I started with was a proposal. I already had writer’s block found a prompt that was really interesting and wrote a 10 page proposal. It was accepted and my publisher wanted it in 3 months! I sat there for a month with no idea what to do. I took a lot of walks. I don’t sit and try to write and force it – I allow myself space for things to come to me. That’s actually my best received book and I had zero attachment to it! Sometimes it’s good to have a deadline or writing a book can drag out to a year.

Georgina: Seriously though, ask for an extension. If Simone Biles can, I can. I called and asked – the worst they can say is no. They weren’t happy. It’s a business – they have a whole line of other professionals and a schedule that gets bumped too. But they granted it. Sometimes things just happen in life and you need to feel a bit freer to get it done.

Rea: Books get written by writing consistently. I tell myself, if write 1000 words a day, that’s a book in 2 months. I’m a fast writer, so I can hit that in 30 min. If I can’t dedicate 30 min out of my day to making this work… I mean, it’s totally doable. If I instead give myself 4-6 months to write a book, I fill that time with other things. I need the specific daily goal.

Q: What was your social media presence like before publishing?

Rea: I hate social media, I think it’s responsible for a lot of mental illness. I’ve always resisted it- I want to be an author without it. I finally got on and thought it was so dumb. When I sold my first book, I picked Instagram, then added Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Then a year or two in said I’m not doing this, and deleted everything but IG. My publishers weren’t happy, and I’m probably not reaching as many people as I could otherwise, but I’m happier. I have met phenomenal readers on Instagram, I’ll say that. I’ve never had negative experiences.

Georgina: I’ve come to terms with it. I don’t think there’s a solution. We unfortunately have to have a social presence. It’s so rare to make it without it.

Rea: But does it sell books?

Georgina: It gets reviewers.

Rea: I’ve worked with authors for 20 years. It’s not the end all be all. Social media can sell but it’s more of an energy sucker, no one can figure out, it regularly changes, and there’s no end date to posting. Publishers want to see 50-100K engaged followers, which is crazy. We’re not designed to have connections with that many people. Publishers have decided the onus to market is on us. But it’s OUR time. That’s not what we signed up for. If we collectively decide “no,” we’re not doing that, things will have to change.

Georgina: I always tell the writers in my writers group, don’t split your brain energy between socials, paying for training, and writing. Step 1: declare yourself an author. Step 2: write. Step 3: finish the book! Don’t worry about all the other things till you finish your book.

Rea: There are other ways. Word of mouth is still the MOST effective sales tool. I think privacy will come back around again. It’s exhausting. I want to be a writer. That’s what I am.

Georgina: Well thank you all so much for coming and please stick around to look at our books!

Support Local Authors!

Support Rea Frey by purchasing her books through Huntsville’s local indie bookstore The Snail on the Wall. Find her on Instagram @reafreyauthor.

Find Georgina Cross’ books online too and follow her on Instagram @georginacrossauthor.

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