Writing thrillers that take readers through psychological twists and turns has been a long, but relatively smooth, career path for author Nancy Werlin. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, she spent her entire childhood living at the same address in Peabody with her parents and two sisters. In elementary school, her talent for acting and writing was apparent. However, she observed that an actress's life might be more unsettling--Elizabeth Taylor had recently divorced yet again--so she decided to become a writer.

After completing a degree in English from Yale, she became a technical writer for various computer software companies. She also began her lifelong desire to write fiction. "I always wanted to write fiction because I loved reading it so much." In the 1980s, at the age of 26, Werlin began her first novel. She cut back on her technical writing to 30 hours a week to concentrate on her fiction writing. "I always knew I couldn't do it with squeezing the writing in on weekends." To allow more time for writing, Werlin has further cut her technical writing to 20 hours. Some writers look toward the time they can write full-time, but Werlin says that she is not sure she ever wants to do that. "I enjoy my job and writing is lonely."

Those who are fortunate to meet Werlin will quickly realize that she is a people person: she laughs easily and enjoys the interaction among those around her. She is a keen observer--a quality that quickly comes through as one reads her books. Details and subtle interplays between characters ring true. A theme in each of Werlin's books is balancing one's individuality with the need for others, which has been a lifelong challenge for Werlin. She says, "I think the fact that I write psychological thrillers says something about the way I view life. There are mysterious depths, things happening unseen, that might trip you up...."

Werlin's own experiences with an autistic sibling sharpened her descriptions of an autistic boy in her first novel, Are You Alone on Purpose? Alison Shandling is a gifted 14-year-old who is the boy's sister. A rabbi's son relentlessly teases Alison about her brother, and Alison sets out to find the source of Harry's need to bully. When she discovers the root of Harry's torment, she is able to connect with him. Both Alison and Harry seem to be on the outside of families caught up in the shadows of the dynamics of their own families. Werlin's use of dialogue is well developed. The portrayal of two teenagers struggling to find their place in the world and in their families is particularly strong. Werlin has said that Alison is, on the surface, the closest to who and what she was at a similar age. Only, "I made Alison smarter than me--both intellectually and emotionally."

Werlin's family network was complicated in her own life, and some of those complications are reflected in The Killer's Cousin. Readers will find this story impossible to forget. David has been found not guilty of killing his girlfriend, but that does not erase his feelings of guilt. In an effort to have a new start, David's parents send him to live with his uncle and his family--a family driven to dysfunction by their own daughter's suicide the year before. Slowly the readers are led through situations that uncover the real drama: David is not the only killer in the house.

As Werlin has developed as a writer, her books have seemed to twirl away from her own life and to venture in new directions. In Locked Inside, the author has created a character who is wealthy and aloof. Marnie prefers to interact online and makes a friend there. Shortly before her break at boarding school, she is kidnapped by a person who believes she is her sister. Her kidnapper doesn't ask for ransom; thus, Marnie has little cause to believe that anyone will miss her or even know she is gone. In an interesting twist, Werlin brings into this book an eccentric character and mentions another character, both of whom appeared in The Killer's Cousin. Werlin sincerely likes her character, Marnie. "If anyone dares dislike my Marnie, or wishes her ill in any way, be warned. I will push you down the airshaft...." In keeping with the book's events, the remainder of Werlin's warning evokes some of the same fates that befall players in the online world of Paliopolis.

Werlin's writing method is described as "jump right in and write." She says she begins with the first sentence and simply goes from there. Her writing time is sandwiched between her two or three days of work as a technical writer. Sometimes she exercises and runs errands in the morning, then settles down to write shortly after noon. Other times, she reserves mornings for writing. She says, "I can rarely write at night." Writing two or possibly three days a week is her norm, as she says she does "need a weekend." Her books generally run 60,000 words, and her goal is to write a chapter a day, about 1,500 words. But often she is satisfied with 500. The word count feature on her PC provides her with one of her stalling tactics--she regularly checks how many words she has written. Other diversions include reading e-mail or checking what is in the refrigerator. Sometimes she simply decides to "skip out entirely." She has two basic writing modes: the plotting mode and the obsessive mode. In her obsessive mode she says, "I can't sleep, barely eat." She is consumed by what is occurring among her fingers on the keyboard, the monitor, and her head. She likes the plotting mode best.

Werlin's voracious reading has given her a background for cleverly crafted plots, unforgettable characters, twists and turns that keep readers reading, and stories that never fail to engross the readers. She speaks intimately of the books of Peter Dickinson, Michael Dorris, Laurie R. King, Anne Fine, and Dorothy Dunnett. She describes herself as a "big fan of the Victorians" and cites Jane Eyre as her all-time favorite book. In essays about the presence of parents in young adult books ("YA Talk: Get Rid of the Parents?" Booklist, July 1999) and the experimentation with language ("YA Talk: Experimental YA Fiction," Booklist, October 1, 1998), Werlin cites examples from books by Chris Crutcher, Madeleine L'Engle, Lois Metzger, Trudy Kirsher, S.E. Hinton, James Deem, Adam Rapp, Anthony Burgess, Karen Hesse, William Faulkner, and many others.

Since her first book was published, Werlin has completed two other novels. She is working on a fourth and has an idea plotted for the fifth. Her fourth and fifth novels are psychological thrillers that will be published by Dial Books. The working title for one of the books is Black Mirror. "It will be about a 16-year-old girl who seeks vengeance on the schoolmates she believes were responsible for the death of her brother." Her fifth book is just an idea right now. Werlin says, "All I know so far is that it's about a smart, arrogant young man who quits high school to work in a biotechnology startup company, where he encounters some kind of skullduggery." We can look forward to the promise of these two books from this talented author. Nancy Werlin maintains a Web site at <world.std.com/~nwerlin/>, where fans can read more about her, access links to her essays, learn more about her writing, and send her an e-mail message at nwerlin@world.std.com.

Are You Alone on Purpose?

Houghton Mifflin, 1994. Fawcett Juniper, 1996.

The Killer's Cousin. Delacorte, 1998.

Dell Laurel Leaf, 2000. Thorndike, 1999 (large print edition).

Locked Inside. Delacorte. 2000.

PHOTO (COLOR): Nancy Werlin

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Sharron L. McElmeel

PHOTO (COLOR): Book jacket for Locked Inside (C) 2000 by Craig White, reproduced by permission of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

PHOTO (COLOR): Book jacket for The Killer's Cousin (C) 1998 by Craig White, reproduced by permission of Random t louse Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

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by Sharron L. McElmeel

Sharron L. McElmeel writes frequently about authors and illustrators. Her latest titles, 100 Most Popular Children's Authors (1999) and 100 Most Popular Picture Book Authors and Illustrators (2000), were published by Libraries Unlimited. You can access her Web site at <www.mcelmeel.com>.

©2005 Sharron L. McElmeel

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