T.J. Newman Doesn't Do Auto-Pilot!
T. J. Newman’s debut thriller, Falling, is already publishing legend. The 2021 novel about a quick-thinking flight attendant who rescues a planeload of passengers drew from Newman’s experiences working cabin service for airlines. The Arizonan crafted the aviation nail-biter while on furlough during the pandemic. After a heap of rejections, the book didn’t just find a home— it soared to the top of bestseller lists. She followed it up with Drowning, another hit; both are being made into movies.
Now Newman is back with a third novel, Worst Case Scenario, which involves another ill-fated jet. This time, the pilot has a midair heart attack, and a nuclear reactor is suddenly on the flight plan. It’s up to a plucky group of small town Minnesotans—power plant employees, cops, EMTs, and teachers— to save humanity from a catastrophe. BookWag sat down with Newman to discuss her propulsive writing career. —BKP
BookWag: Your latest novel is another great ensemble piece. You have a knack for creating memorable minor characters who really carry the plot.
T.J. Newman: I’ve been in supporting roles my whole life. I’ve been a waitress, I’ve been in the chorus of a musical, I’ve been a flight attendant. I’ve learned to see the world from an ensemble view, and that plays into my books. One person may technically be in charge, but ultimately, we have to do this together. I like looking at the smallest, most inconsequential part someone has to play and imagine how everything might unravel without their participation.
BW: Worst Case Scenario juxtaposes a global crisis—potential nuclear apocalypse—with dozens of personal ones involving the residents of little Waketa, Minn. Why was that counterpoint so important to you?
TJN: Early on as I drafted, I realized a situation that involved the fate of humanity needed both macro and micro elements. Toggling back and forth between those was important for me as a writer, but also for the reader. What is all this pain and suffering for, if not to save one life? It’s about sacrificing for the greater good, but the greater good is made up of individuals.
BW: You specialize in tense thrillers, where everything is on the line. How does that influence your writing process?
TJN: Ultimately, this book is about hope, but it’s also a very heavy book. While I was working on it, I didn’t let myself come up for air a lot. When you break your attention on something, it’s harder to get back in. This book was grounded in the real world and emotionally painful to write. Family and friends haven’t seen much of me as of late.
BW: Your books move at a clip. What’s the secret to a getting action right in a novel?
TJN: Pacing doesn’t mean using a metronome. 300 pages of just explosion and tension doesn’t work. You have to let your reader rest. I like to think in terms of music: Some things are crescendos, some things use a full orchestra, others are solos or a cappella performances. I try to use those to elicit emotional reactions, just like movie composers do with soundtracks.
BW: You’re working on Hollywood adaptations of your work. What’s the pivot to screenwriting been like?
TJN: I’m incredibly excited about adapting Falling. I thought I knew my story backwards, but in a visual medium, you can’t show what the characters are thinking, which forces you to get deeper into those characters. If someone feels sad or frightened, how might that manifest? In the end, it’s all about the story and getting it across to the audience.
T.J. Newman will chat with Bethanne at D.C.’s Solid State Books on August 18th.
The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya
Figuring out which of three main characters this novel’s title refers to is part of the pleasure in reading this elegant, slippery novel. A fierce young playwright writes a drama about a fateful vacation she once took with her novelist father. He’s in the audience for its debut, but does not have a clue about the plot. Meanwhile, her mother, the novelist’s ex-wife, has secrets to share that upend a host of old assumptions. Hamya stages an astonishing tale of family politics, made more powerful by a tight narrative lens.
Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler
Let’s be clear: If you want dish on John Mulaney, Tendler’s celebrity ex-husband, you’ll be disappointed. The multimedia artist has written a frank and wrenching memoir about her long struggle with depression and self harm. That journey begins in an adolescent rebellion that sours into troubled adulthood, marked by disordered eating and breakdowns. In her mid-30s, Tendler entered a psychiatric hospital, where she realized a need for validation led to destructive relationships with men. Mulaney doesn’t get a cameo, but readers may infer that the well-publicized end of their marriage was a factor. In any case, this powerful book hardly needs a Hollywood connection to be compelling.
Never Saw Me Coming by Tanya Smith
As a middle-class Minneapolis teen, Smith started skimming money from strangers’ utility bills and mortgages. That put her on the FBI’s radar, but they were slow to act — partly because they couldn’t believe a young African American woman was pulling off complex financial scams. She was first sent to prison in 1986, escaped, and wasn’t nabbed again for several years. Now living a quiet suburban life in California, Smith gives a lively account of a checkered past, which includes several bad romances and a friendship with singer Tyka Nelson, the sister of Prince. Most interestingly, she unpacks how she leveraged her youthful intellect to hatch sophisticated cons.
Bite by Bill Schutt
You probably don’t think much about your teeth unless you’re at the dentist. But Zoologist Schutt thinks about teeth all the time. This “incisive history” tears into their evolution and examines how various species put their chompers to use. Some animals deploy teeth to inject their prey with paralyzing toxins; others have honed them to munch on specific foods. Schutt, a droll writer whose previous books include histories of the heart and cannibalism, deftly balances scientific exploration with comedy. When he asks a Florida paleobiologist if there are any good crocodile researchers, this is the response: “In my business, if you’re not very good, you’re missing an arm or something.” There’s a lot to chew on here.
