-[narrator] This program is brought to you by the generous support of The Secular Society, advancing the interests of women and the arts in Virginia and beyond.

♪ Every day, (every day) every day (every day) ♪ ♪ Every day ♪ ♪ Every day I write the book ♪ -Welcome.

I'm Rose Martin and we are Write Around the Corner in the Paradise Springs Winery Tasting Room.

How cool is that?

I'm here with Tara Laskowski, and Tara is the award-winning author of atmospheric suspense novels.

Now, if you don't know what that means, we're gonna find out from Tara.

The Weekend Retreat is her book, and it's set in a lush winery.

It's isolated.

There's no cell phone service, and it is the perfect setting for murder.

You may hear some glasses clinking, but it's all part of the winery experience.

Hi, Tara.

-Hi.

-[Rose Martin] Welcome to Write Around the Corner .

-Thank you.

Thank you so much for having us.

-[Rose] This is such a cool location.

Why did you choose this?

-Actually, this is where I had my book launch for The Weekend Retreat, so it was perfect.

When you guys asked me, I was like, oh, I have the perfect place.

-Right.

And of course, it goes perfectly with the book.

So there's a little bit of history with this winery too.

Like, understand it was the late 1700s, and they have a cabin on the property that was renovated by a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, so it's really got some history from the area.

-It does and the barn room, I think, is where I held my launch.

Beautiful chandelier that they restored on the top level.

So it's--yeah.

It's a great place.

-So it's a great place.

Now I should let everyone know we're in Clifton, Virginia, which is Northern Virginia.

So in case people are finding out where this winery is, that's where we are today.

-Yeah.

-All right, so I understand that you love puzzles and that you have a recurring dream that kind of goes along with your suspense novels, and you're smiling right now.

Do you have any idea where I'm going with this?

-I think so.

-[Rose] Your recurring dream of committing murder?

-Yes.

-Okay.

What's that dream, and why do you think you keep having it?

-I don't know.

I have had this dream for years where I... I have killed somebody and, like, buried them under a shed or, you know, somewhere where, like, people can't find them.

But because, like, there's no statute of limitations on murder, I'm, like, constantly worried and guilty in this dream that, like, someone's gonna find this person or--it's awful.

And then I wake up and I have to actually take a few minutes to remind myself that this did not actually happen, right?

Like, I have not killed someone.

It's pretty terrifying.

I mean, I think it's funny to tell the story, but it's actually a pretty terrifying dream.

-You know what?

It does sound terrifying.

When I was reading about you, I'm like, she likes, like really luxurious dark places.

She likes creepy houses.

She likes places with weird energy.

-Yes.

-So has that been something ever since childhood that has been something that fascinates you or that was just in your writing that you're kind of attracted to it?

-Not entirely.

I was like kind of a scaredy cat kid.

I'm born on Halloween.

-Mm-hm.

-So-- -That's why it's your favorite time of year.

-Yeah.

So it is my favorite time of year, and I love like spooky stuff.

But when I was a kid, I was a scaredy cat.

So I don't know when exactly my fascination for, like, houses and energy and stuff, but I do feel like, especially really old houses have a certain energy and, like, you know, things have happened in those walls.

And I feel like it retains some of that.

That was part of my first novel was based on a beach house, like an old beach house that where something terrible had happened.

And I felt like it was really interesting to explore the idea of an old house and, like, just having those echoes of things in the past.

-And what the walls retain, right?

And all that-- -And it stays with you.

-Yeah, yeah.

Right?

-So... -So I understand that your son actually created-- when we get to The Weekend Retreat -- an amazing map about the estate and the grounds and everything.

-Yes, yes.

-Now was that your idea or he's like, "Mom, we've got to do something."

-That was my idea and I was coaxing him into free labor basically.

-[laughter] -He wants to be an architect, so I told him I could be his first difficult client.

-Nice.

Well, he did a beautiful job.

The inside of the book is great.

-Thank you.

-So it's kind of funny.

I understand that you have a no-spend January.

-Oh, you've done your research on me, haven't you?

I do, yes.

-And you're a fan of bourbon, and you make an old fashioned new cocktail every week and you guys keep them in a journal?

-Yes.

Yes, that was our New Year's resolution is to do a different one every week and just try to find like different versions of it.

It's my favorite cocktail, so.

-Mm-hm.

And you're still doing it?

-We are, but we kind of laxed off a little bit, so it's not every week, but when we do come across like a cool recipe, we always say like, let's try that one.

-Yeah, let's break it out and try it.

-Yeah.

-Okay.

So another thing that I understand about you is you put ketchup in your soup.

-[laughs] -[Rose] Is that true?

-Yes.

-Okay, and you-- -My mom used to do that when I was a kid.

-Okay, that's where it came from?

-Yeah.

It just makes it like a little more like tomato soup.

It's actually pretty good, I have to say.

-And you were saying that you have like a weird condiments in your family, like you guys like condiments.

-Yeah, my son likes honey mustard with his pizza.

-Oh, okay.

Okay.

-I don't know.

-Okay.

Well, books have been a part of, you know, your life.

I understand the bug books were early on.

-Yeah.

-And then something I think is really sweet, you actually not only read Charles Dickens to your son, but your husband reads to you every night?

-Yeah.

It's not every night, but he reads aloud often, and he does it.

He'll like, the three of us will read aloud.

So right now, we--we're reading the Harry Potter books out loud, and I think we're on number seven right now, so-- -Okay.

So it's not like he reads to you at night.

-He does.

-Oh, he does.

-But he also reads now to the three of us as well.

So he read the entire Sherlock Holmes canon to me out loud.

-Really?

-Mm-hm.

-When I found that out, I went home and I said to my husband, you know, Tara's husband reads aloud to her every night.

And he said, “Well, good for her husband.” He didn't catch, so-- -He has the best reading voice, too.

I was telling him he should be like an audio narrator.

-[Rose] Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Because that really makes a difference.

In fact, I listened to your book on Audible.

-Yes.

-[Rose] Yeah.

-They did a really great job.

-[Rose] It was fantastic.

-Yeah.

-So a couple of other things that I think really are interesting about your background and lend people to loving you and your work, was that--I read that you are like the opposite side of Emily Post, etiquette guides for the dark side of human nature would be you.

What would be an example of that?

-Well, that's based on-- so one of my first short story collections that I published was called Modern Manners For Your Inner Demons , and it's a collection of short stories about dark etiquette.

So what I did was I took those Emily Post and Dear Abby kind of, you know, like, where they talk about, like, what's the proper thing to do at a wedding or how do you set your table?

And I was like, what would happen if there were etiquette guides for things that, like, you would not like, adultery or homicide was one of them.

And I created these short stories that were, like, the etiquette of homicide.

And I talked about, like, here are, like, sort of the rules that you-- it was super fun and really weird, but it was, like, a really fun project to kind of delve into these dark subjects and talk about, like, the ways that we still have these mannerisms and these ethics and within these weird topics.

-Even on the dark side.

-Yeah.

-Like, there's still kind of unwritten rules that people need to pay attention to.

-And I you know, I think about, like, villains in literature and in movies, and my favorite ones are the ones that still have these really warped sort of sense of code.

Those are always the most interesting villains to me, so... -What would be a warped sense of code for someone like that?

-I think about that.

The Cormac McCarthy movie.

Oh my gosh.

I'm gonna-- No Country for Old Men ?

-[Rose] Oh, yeah.

-And the villain in that-- I cannot remember his name now-- but he has this thing where he, like, if he's thinking of killing someone, he flips a coin and asks the person heads or tails.

And if they guess it right, he lets them go.

And I think that's so creepy, but it's interesting, you know, like, it's--I don't know, so... -Well, and I was reading that you like the creepy thing about how people might react to other bad things happening to other people, but you don't necessarily like to have violent really bad things happen to your characters.

-Yes.

That's an interesting parallel, yes.

-[Rose] Yeah.

Yeah.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, I think there's, a ripple effect to violence.

So you see something really bad happen to someone else, and it affects you in a-- and sometimes in a profound way.

-[Rose] Right.

-I've written stories and things about that.

But I also have a very hard time, especially in my novels, making characters have terrible things happen to them.

-Like they have really bad things happen to them.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Well, I love the fact that we're here, and if people can hear in the background you know, we're in the tasting room.

-Yeah.

-So we're gonna hear laughter, and we're gonna hear glasses clinking, and that's part of being in a cool, busy tasting room, right?

-Yeah.

-So I understand that the last line of The Great Gatsby means a lot to you.

"And so we beat on boats against the currents, born back ceaselessly into the past."

-Yes.

-[Rose] Why is it important?

-One of my favorite novels.

I just like the-- I don't know, there's something about the atmosphere and the feeling of that novel that I just really love.

I can't...I can't even really explain it as much.

It's just this feeling of, like, we are part of this world, right?

And we have a past, and we have a future, and we're all part of that.

I know it sounds really profound.

But I--and that's, like, one thing in my books that I often explore is the idea of how we can't really escape our pasts, and we're doomed to make those same mistakes.

And no matter where our secrets are or what we have, like, it's gonna come back eventually unless we face it.

And so that's one of the things I like to explore in my books.

Well, and another thing, I guess, that you like to explore is taking people who are very powerful and snooty and watching them crash and burn and fall down and get karma.

-Oh, yes.

-[Rose] Yes?

-Like, eat the rich.

-[Rose] Right?

Right.

Right.

-Yeah.

No.

I'm fascinated by power and wealth and the way that it can corrupt people.

But also, like, a lot of my characters are wealthy because they can get away with so much.

And I always like to explore, like, how they push those boundaries where they can go.

And-- -And why the rules maybe don't apply anymore.

Those rules you talked about.

-Exactly.

-Right?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-That's interesting.

So we know you're afraid of too tall grass.

Is there any other things that, Tara's like, you know, "I love creepy stuff, but this is a no go for me.” -Yeah.

The high grass thing.

-[Rose] Yeah.

-You never know what's in there.

-[Rose] Yeah.

-Like, mm-mm.

No.

I don't know.

I'm trying to think of, like, so I write an--I do an entire interview series with authors on my website called "What Scares You."

And I ask people these questions all the time, but I have never done one for myself.

-Okay.

Here we go.

So there we go.

-I need to think about, like, my own crazy phobia.

So one thing that I really dislike that's weird is earthworms.

-[Rose] Really?

-I'm, like, terrified of earthworms.

Like, you know, after a big storm-- -Yeah, they kinda crawl out of the silk soil.

Yeah.

No.

No.

That kinda goes along with the tall grass.

What's hiding in there, right?

What's underneath?

-I guess bugs and things are my problem.

I try not to be terrified of them because they're good for the environment and stuff.

But if they surprise me and they're on me or something, mm-mm.

-But yet on the other hand, you can go creepy houses, negative energy, all these other kinds of things.

But when it comes to creepy crawly bugs or tall grass, like, "No.

Stay away."

-Like, I like the idea of ghosts things.

But then there's certain other things.

Like, I used to watch all kinds of horror movies.

And then when I had my son, I had to stop watching some, like, home invasion type movies.

I could just there was, like, things I couldn't do because it was-- -You didn't want him to pick up on that.

-It was just too much for me emotionally, like, as a parent.

Like, it just things change, so... -So something else that I wrote down that I wanted to ask you about was... when you think about things that you're afraid of or that are-- not so much a phobia, but things you guard yourself against, and tell me if this is true, “I work very hard to stop myself "from destroying my own happiness, "and yet I'm worried "that if I act too excited about something, the universe is going to come back and bite me.” So you kind of don't give yourself those high fives in public or give yourself those celebrations or this wall of, “Yeah, here's me, I'm wonderful.” -Yeah.

I mean, it's a really weird phenomenon, right, because on the one hand, you wanna celebrate everything and, like, be happy and, like, appreciate those moments.

And I do try to be more present in the moment and, like, say, like, this is a really good thing.

But I do have this, like, sense of bad luck kind of where I'm like, if I think that all this stuff is good and everything's gonna be great, I'm missing something, and something bad is gonna happen.

-Something's bound to drop.

-Or somebody's gonna think I brag too much.

Or, you know, something like that.

So it's a weird dynamic, I guess, that I have to overcome a lot.

-Well, I wonder if-- and I read that in a couple of different times that you wrote books, you've, like, thrown away 60,000 words.

You've done a whole book in the trash.

So I wonder if that's playing back and like something's bad gonna happen.

Okay.

Yeah.

This was not gonna work.

-That's to just my bad process in writing.

-[Rose] Oh, okay.

[laughter] -Yeah.

That's all.

That's all that is.

I just--it takes me a long time to figure out what the story is and who the characters are, and sometimes that means I have to write a lot and realize that it's not working and go back again.

-Now I understand that this locked room, style of book is something that you do.

Explain to everyone what a locked room style is in writing a book.

-Yeah.

So there's, um... so a locked room mystery is a very specific thing, and this is not that at all.

I think the term locked room style is super loose in the marketing publishing world.

I actually don't think it really is, but that's, like, kind of the-- so, basically, the trend is that it's a bunch of people in a remote place where they can't really get in or out and something terrible happens.

-[Rose] Mm-hm.

-That's not a traditional locked room mystery.

A traditional locked room mystery is more like an impossible crime.

-Oh.

-Where someone is locked in a room and dies, and there's no gun or there's no bullets or the, you know, like and so the detective is trying to figure out what happened and how it could have possibly happened.

It's more like a puzzle, like you were talking before about puzzles.

This is not really that.

This is more like a closed circle mystery where it's something bad happens and someone in that room has had to have done it.

-And that's like in the intro we talked about atmospheric suspense.

-Yes.

-There's kind of a setting that you know some things are happening.

-Setting is even like a character in some ways.

-And that, I found that in your book too, the setting is actually another person we could put as a character for those stories.

-Yep.

-Okay, so-- I know you always start with setting, but you just started using AI to do a little brainstorming for you?

-Yeah, just like in terms of, honestly, like, things like what would be a really creepy name for a mountain in the snow or, you know, like things like that or like what would be some character traits that someone might have?

Honestly, not very good results.

-Yeah.

I was wondering if it was something like from writer's block.

So and if you're like, “Gosh.

What am I thinking this person needs to do?” Like, would you go to AI to get some ideas, to generate ideas, or would you, like, put the work aside and say, “I need to go do something else and think about this?” -Yes.

Like, I don't think you-- I don't think writers should be using AI to generate scenes or character, you know, development stuff like that.

It's more like things that I would normally Google and try to find a list of.

Like, what are some, like, character ticks that someone might have and then, like, you know, you're pulling from lists that other people have generated.

I think stuff like that-- -Or what's an Irish name for, you know, a girl or, you know, a family name.

-But I really don't think writers need to be going down that route of generating story things.

-So this particular novel and I understand you kinda sold it on a proposal without having everything ready to go.

-Yep.

Yep.

Well, I had, um... I'd had it-- so I had sold my first novel, and then my second novel was a two book deal.

And so this was the third book in that two book deal.

So I had...I'd already kind of sold like, I just basically had to tell them what I thought I was writing about.

The fourth novel that I'm writing right now, I sold on a... one sentence proposal.

-One sentence?

-[Tara] Yes.

-Wow.

-And you can't ask me what that is cause I don't remember.

-Okay.

Well, we're going to wait until later on, so we'll dig into that book a little bit more.

So The Weekend Retreat , it's a fabulous read.

There are so many twists and turns in this book.

Carol and I both absolutely loved it.

So for our viewers, give the quick overview of-- obviously, it's a weekend.

There's something happening, obviously, at a winery.

So where do we go from there?

-Yeah.

So it's set at a winery in the Finger Lakes area, which is a very loose interpretation of the Finger Lakes.

There's nothing, like, super accurate about it.

But I wanted to set it up there because I used to go up there.

I'm from Pennsylvania originally.

And so traveling up there, like, I kinda know the area a little bit, and I wanted to set it up there.

They have really cool wines up there.

And it's on the estate of this very powerful, wealthy family called the Van Ness family, and they celebrate the siblings' birthdays every year.

And so they're there for this luxury weekend to celebrate the birthday, and there's three couples, the three siblings of the Van Ness, and then their significant others.

And so the six of them are there to kinda-- -For a long weekend.

-Hangout.

Do this weekend thing, get away from some troubles that they've had in their lives.

Unfortunately, the troubles kind of follow them there as well as a huge storm that traps them there, so... -So we know there's gotta be murder that happens.

And as the story unfolds, there's also a sense of... you know, with any sibling, you have interpersonal relationships and rivalries and things you can bring in from your past.

But what you've done with these characters is take us deep into their worlds for what they may or may not have accomplished, what their rivalries were, what their rivalries still are that are happening there.

So the mother who's passed away you've made her kinda ever present still in the story.

Why was that so important to keep her alive?

Not literally alive, but... -Yeah.

So she actually, in an earlier draft, was alive.

And she was taking over the scenes in such a way that she became so--she just was taking over the book.

And I knew I couldn't have that because I really wanted to focus on the characters.

So I killed her.

-Yeah.

-Okay.

Just boom, she's gone.

-But she's-- and that's not a spoiler because it's already happened.

But I wanted her to still-- because her influence is so huge to these siblings.

And so I wanted her to still be a character in some ways.

And she is.

-[Rose] She is.

-And the way she's talked to these kids.

Like, it's really-- -Even their reactions to each other, I found that in there.

Absolutely wonderful.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-So introduce us to the three main voices.

-Yeah.

So there's the six couples, and I just chose to tell the story from the female points of view.

-Which are all very different.

-Very different.

And that's one of the reasons why I chose them.

I couldn't do all six characters.

I didn't wanna do that to my readers to have six different first voices.

-We thank you for that.

-Yeah.

And so I picked the three females because these three women have a-- like a very different way of getting into the family.

So we have Lauren, whose brand new outsider to the family.

She's meeting them for the first time.

This is like her, like, you know, she's got this new boyfriend, and she's getting introduced to this crazy family.

-And she's gotta be a little nervous going to this whole weekend away.

-She has this really unique point of view because she doesn't know anything about them.

And then you have Harper who's one of the siblings and is very much the insider, right?

She's been obviously a member of the family forever, and so she has her own history with them, and she knows all the ins and outs of everything that's going on with the family.

And then the last person is Elle, who's kind of straddling both those, right?

She's an insider and an outsider because she married into the family and very much wants to be part of this family, but she still will always kind of be the outsider.

So I thought that the three of them had just very different ways of looking at the family, and it would make the story richer to do.

-Right.

And you put that dynamic.

So they're there for a weekend.

-Yep.

-And then during this weekend, there's a big storm.

And, of course, the siblings are doing some shenanigans to, of course, Lauren, who's the new person.

Who are like, yeah, we're gonna give her the test to see how she does with the family as families sometimes do.

-Yes.

-What other little tidbits do you wanna share with viewers about either the three of them or their significant others or what happens that weekend?

-Without, like, spoiling.

-[Rose] Without spoiling.

Yeah.

-I don't know.

There's-- -I'm gonna put that on you.

Yeah.

-Exactly.

So the family is very much about games.

-[Rose] Yeah.

-And in all interpretations of that word, right?

So there's a lot of, like, weird games going on and, like, hazing, like you said.

-[Rose] Uh-huh.

-And so there's a lot of different dynamics there of not trusting people, not knowing who to trust, and, like, what's going on.

And so I think that adds a lot to, like, that suspense of tension.

-And wouldn't you say they each kinda have their own agendas?

-They do.

-Kinda going into, like, just I'm gonna leave it there.

Their own agendas for what happens.

Would you be willing to read something for us?

-Yeah.

Absolutely.

I need my glasses.

-[Rose] Good.

-So I'm gonna read one of the chap-- this Lauren chapter.

So she's the new person, and this is the beginning of a chapter where she's going down into the wine cellar.

At the end of a hallway, Zach unlocks a massive deadbolt and throws open a door to reveal a stone staircase descending into the darkness of the wine cellar.

My palms itch the way they did as a kid whenever my mother forced me to go down into our basement to get a spare light bulb or a can of vegetables.

I catch Zach's eye.

'Don't worry.

No one's gonna bite you,' he says.

'She seems nervous,' Harper says, cocking her head as she surveys me.

‘Lauren?'

Zach waves his hand in dismissal.

‘Nah.

She's a good sport.

Aren't you, babe?'

He's grinning, but I can tell that he's counting on me.

And I had been the one to ask him what I could do to fit in to make his family love me.

'I'm good.'

I try to mimic Harper's confidence.

'Just tell me what I'm looking for.'

Zach presses a button on the wall and lights illuminate the stairwell, which curves around so I can't make out the bottom.

‘The dessert wines are at the back,' Harper says with a smile.

‘You'll see them.

The bottles are smaller.

Whatever suits your fancy.

And don't take any bottles from the first three racks,' she adds.

‘Some of those are worth thousands of dollars.'

‘A bottle, I ask.'

She looks at me with disgust.

‘Just avoid those.

Now go.'

Her tone is commanding.

‘Fetch, little girl.

Fetch.'

And I feel myself getting prickly.

I shake it off and start my descent.

The stone steps are uneven and worn down like they've been traversed thousands of times, and a constant draft curls around my ankles like a needy cat.

I wobble in my heels, my knees tangling in the fabric of my dress, and set my palms against the walls for balance.

They're cool and seemingly miles thick.

Someone could scream down here and you'd never hear them.

-I love that you picked this section because there's so much in there, and that's why I had you say, give people what's going on in this book because in twists and turns, it's perfect.

Tara, thank you so much for being on Write Around the Corner.

-It's so great to talk to you.

Thank you.

-My special thanks to Tara Laskowski and the people here at Paradise Springs Winery, and we are in Clifton, Northern Virginia, and in this amazing wine tasting room, enjoying some great wine.

Tara's book, The Weekend Retreat , is one that all of you will enjoy reading so much.

Stick around because we're gonna have a continued conversation more about Tara and some of her upcoming projects.

I'm Rose Martin and I will see you next time Write Around the Corner .

♪ Every day (every day) every day, (every day) ♪ ♪ Every day ♪ ♪ Every day I write the book ♪ ♪ Every day (every day) every day ♪ ♪ Every day I write the book ♪ ♪ Every day (every day) every day ♪ ♪ Every day I write the book ♪ -[narrator] This program is brought to you by the generous support of The Secular Society, advancing the interests of women and the arts in Virginia and beyond.