Now it’s time to learn more about the authors we read. . .
What drew you to the genre you write?
My dad was a scientist but also an obsessive reader – we grew up in a house with not just full bookshelves in every room – I swear, the walls were propped up by extra piles of books. He much preferred the dark genres so I was immersed in crime, mystery and horror from the very start. As I got more interested in writing I realized that crime and horror are the two genres that really lend themselves to social and political criticism and exploring flaws in the justice and political system— and how to bring about a more just society.
Tell us how you got into writing?
I was a theater kid – acting, dance, singing – and there’s no better training for writing than being up on stage and seeing what works in front of a live audience. Instant feedback! I was interested early on in the big picture of how to tell a story dramatically. I started directing plays and musicals when I was sixteen, and started writing in college (at Berkeley) because as a writer, you’re in charge of it all!
What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
Not many – I sold my first screenplay pretty soon after I graduated from college. But every job I did have before that was incredibly interesting. As a teenager I worked in the lab of a natural history museum and in a movie theater (fantastic training for writing!). At Berkeley I worked at the Bancroft history library. I worked at Glacier National Park one summer and sang in a bar at night. When I moved back to LA I worked at the Bodhi Tree metaphysical bookstore (total trip!) and taught incarcerated gang kids in the LA County prison system – and I still write about those boys and girls and the injustice of the system I saw, when I was working there. And then I sold a screenplay and it’s been full-time writing ever since.
How many books do you have published?
I don’t count some of them anymore, so let’s say fifteen!
Where do you write?
Craig and I are both crime authors, which is a lot for one house. We would never be able to live together if we didn’t have entirely opposite body clocks! I’m a morning person, he’s a night owl. So I’m downstairs writing while he sleeps through a lot of the morning – it’s like having the house to myself. And I feel like I fill up a room with my thoughts really fast, so I move from room to room – mostly between our sunroom and the dining room (that we rarely dine in) for the morning, then upstairs in a spare bedroom when Craig wakes up and goes downstairs. We have an office but only the cats use it! And Craig writes at night after I’m done writing for the day and moved on to reading, dancing, or sleeping – so he gets the house to himself for the night. Otherwise we really would kill each other.
Also we travel a lot and I get tons of writing done on planes and trains.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Crime, mystery and horror (psychological, feminist horror – not graphic!). A lot of my reading is non-fiction for research – politics, sociology, criminology. I love history and biography. And lately I’m really into reading excellent true crime and then watching the TV adaptation.
What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
Hmm, most people know about my dancing by now. So I’d say most people don’t know how much adventure travel I’ve done. I feel like I spent half my childhood on a road trip, and I am especially obsessed with national parks in all countries. I’ve been to every US state, currently working my way through Europe and other continents.
Who is an author you admire?
These days, my highest admiration is for the authors who are writing and speaking out about our horrific political situation. Attica Locke and Ava DuVernay are at the top of that list – artists who are using their platforms to save democracy. Margaret Atwood, who warned about it all in such excruciating and accurate detail. All the non-fiction authors writing about the threat of white christian nationalism and toxic patriarchy.
Have you any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?
Tons! I’ve written two workbooks and a Substack with weekly articles of writing techniques: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors. I teach how to tap into the incredible knowledge we all already have about story construction from our decades of watching movies and television – and how to use those techniques from our favorite movies and favorite storytellers to help us write the books we want to write. I really encourage new writers to learn the basic structure of movies, because once you understand the pattern, you will find it so much faster to finish and sell a book in whatever genre you choose.
What is next for you?
Craig and I just handed in Book 2 of our Lost Highway amateur sleuth/road trip thrillers, and I’m finishing Book 7 of my Huntress Moon thrillers – which deals head on with what a small faction of fanatics in the US are trying to do to erase women’s rights and autonomy.
Where can we find you?
Website: AlexandraSokoloff.com – which links to every place else!
Linktree is the short version
My author newsletter, with regular giveaways
Now to have some fun . . .
Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Breakfast, and I would eat Mexican food for every meal if I could. Harder to do in Scotland…
Fruits or vegetables
Both – I’m partial to the vegetable-like fruits: avocado, peppers, olives.
Sweet or salty snacks
Savory!
Ice cream or cake
Ice cream by a mile. We have an artisan dairy on our block.
Cooking or baking
Craig does it.
Dining in or dining out
Out, preferably outside.
City life or country living
I love being close to both but couldn’t really live in the country.
Beach or mountain
Beach
Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall
Fall
Extrovert or introvert
I’m really both.
And even more fun . . .
What is your favorite movie?
It’s a Wonderful Life.
You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
• The Complete Works of Shakespeare – the only book you really need.
• Music system for dancing
• Craig, of course – but it better be a big island!
Enter Blackstone’s Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win a hardcover of THE GRAPEVINE – and/or subscribe to Alex’s newsletter to be registered in a second giveaway!
My bio:
Alexandra Sokoloff is the bestselling, Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker and Anthony Award-nominated author/screenwriter of thirteen supernatural, paranormal and feminist crime thrillers and the Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks. The New York Times has called her “a daughter of Mary Shelley” and her books “Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.”
The Lost Highway mystery series, co-written with her Scottish crime-writing husband Craig Robertson, debuts in 2026.