Why do you write the genre that you write?
With crime, you can write anything else—from traditional mystery and cozy to sci-fi and romance. Since the beginning of humanity, people have trespassed against each other and since then, humanity has created laws, religion, philosophies to understand these offenses, to quell and discourage bad behavior. No matter how many guardrails we throw up, people hurt each other. Crime writing gives me the chance to try to understand those reasons why. I can explore motivations and the trade-offs, the fears and to give these fictional people some sort of justice. Crime writers will never run out of material because bad things will never stop happening. It affects everyone.

Tell us how you got into writing?
I’ve always loved having a pen in my hand, and I would write anywhere—notebooks, backs of church service programs… I was the kid who’d make lists of commercials during Dance Fever and check off each time that commercial came on. I wrote down states and their capitols. I’d find any excuse to write. As I got older and saw the world around me and how jacked up it was, I started keeping diaries around 4th-5th grade. I’d listen to how people talked to me, talked to each other and it was a way for me to express how I felt. I was a shy kid and writing was my way of effectively communicating. I can’t not write.

What’s next for you?
My next novel came out September 1 – These Toxic Things – and I’m so excited about it! Here’s the synopsis:

Mickie Lambert creates “digital scrapbooks” for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren’t forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman’s last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d’art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain—twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.

But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving threatening messages to leave Nadia’s past alone.

It’s becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Discovering the truth means crossing paths with a long-dormant serial killer and navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One that might, Mickie fears, be inescapably entwined with her own.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading a few ARCs right now, including Rob Hart’s newest Paradox Hotel (so brilliant and twisty and weird) and All Her Little Secrets from debut novelist Wanda M. Morris (tense and suspenseful). I’m hoping by the time this is published I would’ve had a more proper summer vacation cuz that’s when I get to ‘fun read’ without having to think of words to say about the book.

Where can we find you?
Catch me on Twitter @RachelHowzell – that’s my favorite platform!

Now to have some fun . . .

Vanilla or chocolate
Yes, please. Ha.

Pizza or burgers
Burgers! I’m a Cali girl and we’re obnoxious about our burgers!

Broccoli or squash
Oh, Mom. Do I have to?? Okay, broccoli but roasted with olive oil and sea salt.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Again: yes, please. But if I must choose. . . dinner! Wine will be involved. But then,
Bloody Marys and bacon for breakfast. . . I see you didn’t say ‘brunch,’ which
would allow all of the foods and cocktails. Mean, Dru, mean.

Mountain or beach
In California, some of our mountains sit near the beach. . . yes, I’m bragging.
Beach, though. Forever and ever. There’s something about the air off ocean
water, too. The sound of heavy water crashing against the shore.

Introvert or Extrovert
I am an introvert – I call myself a socialized hermit. I can fake the funk and
then I go back into my cave and deflate.

And even more fun . . .

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
So I watch Naked and Afraid, which means I’m totally prepared for this question.
A fire starter, a cast iron pot and the biggest novel in the world, which means War and Peace
or one of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones stories. Besides reading, both
books can also be used to make shoes, pillows, kindling or toilet paper.

My bio:
Rachel Howzell Hall is the critically acclaimed author and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for And Now She’s Gone. A New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, Rachel is an Anthony, International Thriller Writers and Left Award nominee and the author of They All Fall Down, Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes and City of Saviors in the Detective Elouise Norton series. She is a past member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and has been a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor in Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs. Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.