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WORK TITLE: What Doesn’t Kill You
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1971
WEBSITE: https://www.aimeehix.com/
CITY:
STATE: VA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
https://www.aimeehix.com/contact
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2017048835
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2017048835
HEADING: Hix, Aimee, 1971-
000 00778cz a2200157n 450
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005 20170814121100.0
008 170814n| azannaabn |n aaa
010 __ |a n 2017048835
040 __ |a DLC |b eng |e rda |c DLC
046 __ |f 1971 |2 edtf
053 _0 |a PS3608.I95
100 1_ |a Hix, Aimee, |d 1971-
670 __ |a What doesn’t kill you, 2018: |b ECIP t.p. (Aimee Hix) data view (birth date: 1971)
670 __ |a Amazon website, viewed August 14, 2017 |b (What doesn’t kill you: About the author, Aimee Hix is a former defense contractor turned mystery writer. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime. What doesn’t kill you is her debut novel)
670 __ |a Sisters in Crime website, viewed August 14, 2017 |b (Aimee Hix bio: Virginia, United States) |u http://www.sistersincrime.org/members/?id=29120001
PERSONAL
Born 1971; married; children: daughter.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Mystery writer; formerly worked as defense contractor.
MEMBER:Sisters in Crime.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Aimee Hix’s debut as a mystery writer is the novel What Doesn’t Kill You, a work that is the culmination of a long-held dream. “Ever since I realized that books weren’t things that just were, that people made them, I had in my mind that I would be a writer at some point,” Hix revealed in an interview with Hank Phillippi Ryan in Big Thrill. “I figured it would be after my career as Nancy Drew/FBI agent was over. Mostly, because my mother repeatedly told me that ‘writer is not a real job—you need a real job.’ So after the Nancy Drew/FBI agent thing fell through because of my eyesight, I got a ‘real job’ at a federal contractor and did that for twenty years.”
Hix’s protagonist is Willa Pennington, a former police officer working on becoming a licensed private investigator. “Willa,” Hix said in an interview with John Valeri appearing on the web site Criminalelement.com, “is the young woman I wish I had been and the woman I want my daughter to grow up to be. She’s tough and takes no bullshit, but she’s also someone who is caring and kind-hearted. She’s actively dealing with emotional pain and loss instead of shoving it down like many fictional ‘tough guy’ types. She’s capable of admitting she’s wrong, but she won’t allow embarrassment to cause her to drop the pursuit of justice. She’s someone who will do the right thing even if it’s not the first thing to mind. She’s loyal but not to a fault.” “Willa Pennington is the woman I wish I could have been at her age,” Hix told Ryan. Heck, she’s the woman I wish I could be now. She lives the axiom that being afraid and going ahead and doing it anyway is the best approach to life. And she was thrown for a loop when the thing she never thought would happen happened – she lost her best friend.” As a result, “Willa trades in the badge for private investigation in an emotional moment,” Hix told Valeri. “It’s a life-changing emotional moment, and it’s the right choice. Police work wasn’t really what she was supposed to do with her life, even if the pursuit of justice is. There are trade-offs in each career and how each allows Willa to investigate.” “Outwardly she does seem very tough,” the author continued in her Big Thrill interview. “She’s more prone to action than reflection, which is not uncommon amongst police. Michael, her late best friend, was her decoder ring for the more reflective/emotional side of the world. Losing him leaves her at a great disadvantage. I love that their relationship bucks the stereotypes that women are more emotional and men are more stoic.”
In What Doesn’t Kill You, Willa is performing a family favor for the granddaughter of her neighbors. She “has agreed to help Violet move out,” wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “as a favor to her good friends David and Susan Horowitz.” In the process, however, she finds that Violet has disappeared and that her abusive boyfriend has been murdered. As an ex-police officer, Willa is not officially permitted to investigate the death—but that does not stop her from trying. “The result is a debut that saddles tough-girl noir with the heart of a cozy,” declared a Kirkus Reviews contributor. “Hix’s heroine is appealing enough to warrant a second chance.”
In general, critics enjoyed Hix’s first book. She “shows a lot of restraint in her writing,” assessed Kate Malmon in the online Crimespree Magazine. “She doesn’t drop the entire story in the reader’s lap at the start of the book. There isn’t a page of exposition that you can dog ear to refer to later.” “What Doesn’t Kill You is Aimee Hix’s debut novel,” stated Kathy Reel in the Reading Room, “but if you didn’t know that, you’d be hard pressed to realize it. This novel reads as smooth and seasoned as the middle of a series, not the beginning.” “I enjoyed this tightly woven, multi-plot drama that had my adrenaline pumping,” declared a reviewer writing for Dru’s Book Musings. “This book is a great beginning to what I hope will be a long-running series and I look forward to the next exploits.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2017, review of What Doesn’t Kill You.
Publishers Weekly, November 13, 2017, review of What Doesn’t Kill You, p. 42.
ONLINE
Aimee Hix Website, https://www.aimeehix.com (March 28, 2018), author profile.
Big Thrill, http://www.thebigthrill.org/ (December 31, 2017), Hank Phillippi Ryan, “Debut Author Spotlight: Aimee Hix.”
Crimespree Magazine, http://crimespreemag.com/ (January 8, 2018), Kate Malmon, review of What Doesn’t Kill You.
Criminalelement.com, https://www.criminalelement.com/ (January 8, 2018), John Valeri, “Q&A with Aimee Hix, Author of What Doesn’t Kill You.”
Dru’s Book Musings, https://notesfromme.wordpress.com/ (December 31, 2017), review of What Doesn’t Kill You.
El’s Book Reviews, https://elsbookreviews.blogspot.com/ (July 15, 2017), review of What Doesn’t Kill You.
Reading Room, http://www.readingroom-readmore.com/ (January 8, 2018), Kathy Reel, review of What Doesn’t Kill You.
Print Marked Items
What Doesn't Kill You
Publishers Weekly.
264.46 (Nov. 13, 2017): p42+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
What Doesn't Kill You
Aimee Hix. Midnight Ink, $15.99 trade paper (264p) ISBN 978-0-7387-5443-7
At the start of Hix's uninspired first novel, Virginia PI Willa Pennington, an ex-cop, goes late one morning
to the house that Violet Horowitz, the only child of wealthy helicopter parents, shares with her abusive
boyfriend, Joe Reagan. Willa has agreed to help Violet move out as a favor to her good friends David and
Susan Horowitz, the young woman's grandparents. Violet isn't home, but Joe, who was supposed to be at
work, is lying dead in a pool of blood just inside the back door. Det. Jan Boyd, a role model for Willa when
she was still on the force, responds to her 911 call. She suspects that Violet fled after shooting Joe. David
and Susan have no idea where she's gone. Seth Anderson, the brother of Willa's late boyfriend, gets involved
in the case and discourages Willa from investigating on her own. Is Seth trying to protect her, or does he
have an ulterior motive? At one point, Willa notes that she's "exceptionally good" at self-recrimination, and
she spends an annoying amount of time at it in this one-note mystery. (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"What Doesn't Kill You." Publishers Weekly, 13 Nov. 2017, p. 42+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A515325996/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=81b0b21f.
Accessed 5 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A515325996
Hix, Aimee: WHAT DOESN'T KILL
YOU
Kirkus Reviews.
(Oct. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Hix, Aimee WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU Midnight Ink/Llewellyn (Adult Fiction) $15.99 1, 8 ISBN: 978-
0-7387-5443-7
Ex-cop Willa Pennington investigates the murder of a family friend's granddaughter's boyfriend in this debut
novel.
Now that her parents are on a long-awaited, well-deserved vacation, Willa expects that riding herd on her
computer-nerd brother, Ben, will be her toughest assignment in their absence. But when neighbors David
and Susan Horowitz ask the budding private eye to help their granddaughter Violet move out of the house
she shares with her abusive boyfriend, she can hardly say no. The Penningtons and the Horowitzes have
been close friends for years, and Willa's dad would have helped out in a shot. But Willa's good deed turns
sour when Violet's violent beau turns up dead in the empty house. With Joe Reagan deceased and Violet in
the wind, Willa feels she has to try to find his killer even though Virginia law specifically forbids PI's from
investigating murders--and she isn't even a licensed PI. Her job is further complicated by the return of her
childhood friend Seth Anderson, the brother of her best friend, Michael, who died in Iraq shortly before she
and Seth shared a moment. Once Seth is back on the scene, Hix turns much of her energy to exploring his
relationship with Willa, who rejects his attempts to shield her from harm because she's determined to prove
that she's as capable as any guy. The result is a debut that saddles tough-girl noir with the heart of a cozy.
Hix's heroine is appealing enough to warrant a second chance if her author can concoct a better mix of
detection and romance.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Hix, Aimee: WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A509243987/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1361e89d.
Accessed 5 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A509243987
Mon
Jan 8 2018 2:00pm
Q&A with Aimee Hix, Author of What Doesn’t Kill You
Aimee Hix and John Valeri
Aimee Hix is a former defense contractor turned mystery writer. Her debut novel, What Doesn’t Kill You (available January 8, 2018), introduces PI Willa Pennington and is set against the shady backdrop of Washington, D.C. It’s the first in a three-book deal with Midnight Ink. Ms. Hix spent two decades as a federal contractor before turning her attention to writing fiction full-time. She makes her home in Virginia.
Recently, the author graciously discussed topics including the appeal of crime fiction, how reading has influenced her writing, characteristics that she and her protagonist share (and don’t), the differences between cops and private investigators, why it’s important to be part of a community, and what comes next.
What Doesn’t Kill You is your first published novel. What drew you to crime fiction, and how did your reading life inform the transition to writer?
I think 99% of women who write crime fiction will cite Nancy Drew as one of their first forays into crime fiction, and I’m no different. For many of us, I think the mystery aspect was secondary to the freedom and autonomy Nancy had in the stories. Crime fiction, in general, allows us an outlet for some of the feelings and frustrations we may have with our roles as girls and women. Reading these kinds of stories opens worlds and actions that are often not available to us.
I’ve spent most of my reading life with crime fiction, save for a brief foray into horror as a teen. But I think every story, at its heart, is a mystery. Who does what to whom and why? I’m always wondering how things work; why people do the things they do; what are the societal impacts of people who take the kinds of actions that go unchecked, unpunished, or unavenged? Why are some people happier ignoring the ugly truth in front of them versus the people who can’t see an injustice done without fighting it? Writing fiction is how I perform therapy on myself.
The book introduces protagonist Willa Pennington. Why do you believe she’s a character worth revisiting, and what of your own self can be found in her persona versus what is simply fiction?
Willa is the young woman I wish I had been and the woman I want my daughter to grow up to be. She’s tough and takes no bullshit, but she’s also someone who is caring and kind-hearted. She’s actively dealing with emotional pain and loss instead of shoving it down like many fictional “tough guy” types. She’s capable of admitting she’s wrong, but she won’t allow embarrassment to cause her to drop the pursuit of justice. She’s someone who will do the right thing even if it’s not the first thing to mind. She’s loyal but not to a fault.
All those traits are things that sometimes bug me about crime fiction characters—the character who’s too tough to deal with emotional pain; the character who can’t admit they’re wrong so they keep stubbornly beating their head against the wrong wall; the character who can’t imagine someone they love doing something wrong so they don’t see the obvious signs.
As for what are traits we share: we’re both pretty into coffee, although my habit isn’t nearly as excessive as hers (my mother, though, would drink five to six 12 oz. cups a day). We’re both sarcastic. We can both get lost in figuring something out. We’re both stubborn. We’re both probably too lax in our standards of what children and teens should be viewing. We both hate those creepy figurines of big-headed children with eyes so large that anime artists cringe. I actually have some Christmas ornaments called Snow Babies that my mother bought me when I was in my early 20s, and my hatred for them inspired part of a scene in What Doesn’t Kill You.
Willa is a cop turned PI. What are the essential differences in these roles, and how does her new vocation both liberate and entrap her?
Willa trades in the badge for private investigation in an emotional moment. It’s a life-changing emotional moment, and it’s the right choice. Police work wasn’t really what she was supposed to do with her life, even if the pursuit of justice is. There are trade-offs in each career and how each allows Willa to investigate.
Private investigators aren’t bound by the same rules that police officers or other law enforcement officers are, but they also don’t have the same authority to insert themselves into certain areas of inquiry—if you have no leverage when questioning someone, then you won’t necessarily get the answers you want. But Willa can go places now that she couldn’t as a cop. She loses the protection that comes with a uniform and a badge but gains the freedom she needs to solve crime the way she feels is best.
You were a defense contractor for the federal government for many years. In what ways did this shape your understanding of the maneuverings in Washington, D.C., and how did your familiarity with the place allow you to bring the setting to life?
Well, the book is set in the suburbs of DC and has only periphery dealings with the federal government. Also, the work I did as a federal contractor is a far cry from any of the matters dealt with in the book. But one of the reasons I set the book in the area is that the chances of shenanigans are high. And there are so many federal law enforcement agencies that, in some very specific places in the area, jurisdiction is disputed, overlapping, or in one case, non-existent. I find that amusing—because I’m that kind of person—and a great opportunity as a writer. If law enforcement agencies are fighting each other or forced to work together or not taking responsibility, that’s an amazing source of tension that can be leveraged.
Growing up in the suburbs of the DC metro area afforded me the chance to get to know the unique personality types that inhabit the region. Diversity is ramped up there like in no other place—in the 400 square miles that encompass Fairfax County, you literally have people who are homeless, refugees, people under federal witness protection, diplomats, royalty, world power brokers, and plain-old regular middle-class folks. And the people who want to prey on any and all of them.
As a debut author, what advice would you give to yet-unpublished writers, both in terms of honing craft and finding/creating community?
As a part of the official establishment, I am required by law to say read fiction like it’s your job (it is)—great, good, and bad fiction. Listen to recorded books. Watch movies with an ear to dialogue. Deconstruct the stories. Be judgmental. Write. Do NaNoWriMo to learn to write a specific word count daily on a deadline. Reading is, as my mentor puts it, an MFA in writing.
Definitely, find your community. Social media makes it easy to connect with authors. Do that. Go to conferences. Meet people without an agenda, though. That’s how it started for me—Malice Domestic and the friends I made there. Through an author friend from Malice, I met my mentor, Matthew V. Clemens, and he volunteered to read anything I wrote.
After a few months, I had the courage to share my idea for what turned into What Doesn’t Kill You. He worked with me step by step, chapter by chapter, pushing, prodding, letting me make mistakes, forcing me to see them. The book doesn’t exist without him.
Willa is the young woman I wish I had been and the woman I want my daughter to grow up to be.
Other author friends helped me by reading and recommending edits to the manuscript. I got help with my querying, introduction to agents. Some help I asked for, and some I didn’t. I always erred on the side of preserving my friendships. I never want anyone I know to feel taken advantage of or used.
I know that if I hadn’t had the kind of help people gave me, it would have taken me years instead of seven months to write the first draft. And I would rather have spent years doing it all on my own than lose one friendship over writing and getting the book published.
Leave us with a teaser: What comes next?
Happily, Midnight Ink offered me a three-book contract for the Willa Pennington, PI series, so there are at least two more adventures for Willa after What Doesn’t Kill You. I turned in the second book in November, and it’s set for publication on January 8, 2019.
It takes place four months after the end of What Doesn’t Kill You, and the characters are still dealing with the aftermath of the events of the previous fall. We get to meet more of Willa’s family and some people who are new in her life but important to her. There’s a murder, a cold case, and more than a few pithy remarks. Willa ends up outside her comfort zone in a big way. Since it’s so newly delivered to my editor, I don’t think I should say much more than that, but it is a book I’m very proud of and continues Willa’s story in a very satisfying way.
To learn more or order a copy, visit:
Buy at IndieBound!Buy at Barnes and NobleBuy at Amazon
Aimee Hix is a former defense contractor turned mystery writer. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime. What Doesn’t Kill You is her debut novel. You can visit her at www.AimeeHix.com.
John Valeri wrote the popular Hartford Books Examiner column for Examiner.com from 2009 – 2016. He can be found online at www.johnbvaleri.com and is featured in the Halloween-themed anthology Tricks and Treats, now available from Books & Boos Press.
WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU by Aimee Hix
Posted by Kate Malmon on Jan 8, 2018 in Books, Reviews
WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU
Aimee Hix
Midnight Ink
January 2018
The beginning of a new year is a great time to debut new things, like trying a new workout or new attitude towards life. Let’s start 2018 with the first book by a debut author.
Author Aimee Hix introduces readers to Willa Pennington in her new novel, WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU. Willa is a former police officer training to become a private investigator. Her retired neighbors ask her to help their daughter move out of her abusive boyfriend’s house. When she arrives, the boyfriend has been murdered and the daughter is missing. Willa sets her sights on finding who shot the boyfriend. She finds herself entangled with people from her past and racing for her life.
Willa Pennington is a fantastic new female protagonist. She is fierce, and she is fearless. Willa doesn’t have everything figured out, but she’s making it up as she goes along, and she does it with confidence. She has her flaws, like when she ends up in bed with a high school friend, and humanity like that makes her a relatable leading character. Now that the Murder by Month series by Jess Lourey (also published by Midnight Ink) is winding down, Willa is going to be a great leading lady to fill the hole left as Mira James exits stage right. I for one, am thrilled this is the first instalment in a new ongoing series.
For a debut author, Hix shows a lot of restraint in her writing. She doesn’t drop the entire story in the reader’s lap at the start of the book. There isn’t a page of exposition that you can dog ear to refer to later. Hix skillfully teases out the plot throughout the book and adds layers to the story as she goes. The pacing of the book is perfect.
WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU is also a tightly written story that has no wasted scenes. Hix introduces last minute plot twists and turns that you don’t see coming. She does a great job of planting seeds of what’s to come, but they are so subtle that you don’t think anything of an offhanded comment at that time. Hix works misdirection into the book like a pro. Aimee Hix is an up and coming author everyone should watch. Start reading her now and you can say you were one of the cool kids who were reading her before everyone else.
Kate Malmon
My Musing ~ What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix
Posted on December 31, 2017 | Comments Off on My Musing ~ What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix
What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix is the first NEW book in the “Willa Pennington” mystery series. Publisher: Midnight Ink, coming January 8, 2018
Favors are for suckers, especially when they lead you straight to a dead body
Willa Pennington thought that becoming a PI would be better than being a cop. She thought she’d never have to make another death notification or don a bulletproof vest again. She thought she’d be safe.
But she couldn’t have been more wrong, because Willa’s real problem is that she’s always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. And people really don’t like that.
Now, agreeing to do a simple favor has netted her a dead body, a missing person, and an old friend who just may be a very bad guy. If whoever is trying to kill her would lay off she could solve the murder, find the missing girl, and figure out if the person she’s trusted with her life is the one trying to end it.
What starts out as a simple request turns into something precarious and Willa who is struggling with her own self-being, is caught up in multiple intensifying situations, that had me enraptured as I followed her story in this riveting debut novel.
The author did a great job in creating a flawed, gutsy, stubborn, pain in the butt protagonist and a narrative to support said heroine, that kept pulling me in deeper and deeper into this action-packed and suspenseful tale with each page turned. There were some tense moments that gave me pause, but once again, the author pulled it off with great aplomb.
Headstrong, you betcha. Personable, yes. Professional, yes. And yet, Willa continues to thwart those in command as her search for a killer puts her in the crosshairs of a much larger case which could jeopardize others. I enjoyed this tightly woven, multi-plot drama that had my adrenaline pumping and at the same time embracing the dynamics of Willa, her friends and family.
This book is a great beginning to what I hope will be a long-running series and I look forward to the next exploits with Willa and her friends.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher.
Monday, January 8, 2018
What Doesn't Kill You by Aimee Hix: Reading Room Review
What Doesn't Kill You is Aimee Hix's debut novel, but if you didn't know that, you'd be hard pressed to realize it. This novel reads as smooth and seasoned as the middle of a series, not the beginning. I was fortunate to read an early copy, and I remember being struck by the unfettered transitions from sentence to sentence and scene to scene. I just completed a second reading of the published novel so that my thoughts would be fresh on the content. I was as thoroughly thrilled with the second reading as the first, and one overriding thought was that Aimee Hix really knows how to write. As a former English teacher, I take great delight in her sentence structure, transitions, and command of the language. Her playful turn of phrase can surprise the reader with some gems, like "Even if he hadn't looked like a lying liar pants with his shifty lying body language ..." Add the language mastery to the storytelling and character creation, and you have what is sure to be one of the best new books of 2018.
Willa Pennington is an ex-cop who is in training to join her father's private investigating business. Still trying to recover from the loss of her best friend Michael, dead just four months, Willa stumbles into a murder scene when doing a favor for her neighbors, David and Susan Horowitz. Their granddaughter Violet is in an abusive relationship with a man, and Willa agrees to meet Violet at the place she shares with the abusive boyfriend to help move. But, when Willa arrives at the isolated house, no one is there, except the dead boyfriend. Violet takes a runner, and Willa, whose father is currently out of town on vacation, feels a responsibility to the Horowitzes to clear Violet of any suspicion in the murder.
When Willa's continued interest and investigation into the murder brings her dead friend's brother into the picture, Willa finds that loose ends to a murder are not all she has to figure out. Seth and Willa have a complicated relationship that provides backstory and sexual tension and witty dialogue and danger. Not bad for a couple of characters trying to figure out both their places in the world and each other's lives. It also is a bit of a problem with both of them having a vested interest in catching the killer. The case is, of course, bigger than a single murder of a loser boyfriend. And, yet, it becomes personal, too. Willa’s doggedness to follow the threads and find answers takes a course of high drama and brutal action that endangers her life.
Suspense, action, great story, great structure, great characters. I can hardly wait for Book #2!
Posted by Kathy Reel at 8:04 PM
Debut Author Spotlight: Aimee Hix
December 31, 2017 by ITW
By Hank Phillippi Ryan
I burst out laughing when I saw the cover and the title of Aimee Hix’s debut mystery/thriller, WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU. First, laughing with joy at its very existence because Aimee has been a devoted crime fiction reader for as long as I’ve known her—10 years? She’s persevered, learned her craft, and been genuinely happy for her writer friends. Participated, contributed, empowered. She’s worked and edited and revised and paid her dues. I can only begin to tap into the happiness she must have felt seeing this—her debut novel! And the perfect cover. That’s a profound delight.
But laughing, too, because—Aimee? Is hilarious. Effortlessly funny. At every event, I follow the sound of the affectionate laughter, and Aimee is at the center of it.
And her title is so perfect. WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU, of course, requires to you think: makes you stronger.
So I wondered—is that what Aimee’s life has been like, too? And guess what. Yes, it has.
Where did you grow up? What kind of a kid were you?
I grew up in Northern Virginia (where the book is set) and summered in Front Royal, Virginia (about 80 miles northwest of Northern Virginia). Of course, “summered” sounds fancier than “dumped off on my mother’s sister because summer camps were too difficult to track down.” I was a crazy, fearless child. Literally, the first one to say, “We should go into those woods the adults told us not to go into.” I had an emergency room file three inches thick before I was five—bicycle accidents, falling out of trees, jumping off high rocks/fences/porches/cows; cut, scraped, brambled, skewered, burned. I could go on but you get the point.
What doesn’t kill you, right? See, told you. Were you the troublemaker or the rule-follower?
I was both the troublemaker and rule-follower. I have layers. I’m the youngest of four kids by a gap of over 11 years. Neither of my parents were much interested in having kids but that was what you did back then. So I was on my own and responsible for getting myself up for school and getting lunches made, uniforms washed and ironed (I went to Catholic school because I was on scholarship), homework done. Catholic school probably wasn’t the best fit for a kid who liked rules and hated authority. (Again, layers.) I was the classic latchkey kid.
Do you remember when you fell in love with reading—or did you? Tell me about the books you loved as a kid—which were life—changing for you?
The library was my respite during the school year. It was close enough to walk to, even with a large stack of books (which I always had), and I devoured everything. So the books I loved were books. All of them.
I still remember the moment I realized I could read. It’s the first memory I have and it’s as clear as what happened to me an hour ago. I knew in that moment, and still believe, that those words on the page were more than a story about a chick hatching—they were power. I went through any printed materials. I would read anything. A hand-me-down set of encyclopedias, the dictionary, food boxes, the neighbor’s newspaper.
I always had a book. I went through the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Johnny Tremain, The Secret Garden. (And I still want to know why the hell all those late 70s/early 80s book for grade schoolers were SO. DAMN. DEPRESSING. It was like they wanted to rip hope away from an entire generation.)
Aimee Hix
I know. SO depressing! I think that’s supposed to introduce conflict. Or teach compassion, or confidence, or something. A Little Princess? What an upsetting book. I remember being so unhappy after I read it. I thought: why would someone write this? But a good mystery, where the smart kids prevailed? Where there was a big problem that the grownups couldn’t solve, but…
Exactly. It’s the oldest story for us mystery fans, right? Nancy Drew.
Right. When did you discover her? How did that happen?
My mother, or more likely my aunt, found a box of Nancy Drews at the flea market and got them for me for rainy summer days when my cousins (a boy two years older and another boy two years younger) and I could not play Monopoly without violence. (I’m pretty sure at least two emergency room visits are plastic-hotel-related.) We were adjourned to our bedrooms to read. And Nancy was adventure when out the window the mountainside was a rain-soaked, mud-crusted mess.
Yeah. I have to say, even though she’s just a bit annoying when you look back at her, at the time she was about the coolest ever.
I was about eight years old when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said Nancy Drew. Much laughter ensued. (All the adults I knew were assholes, apparently.) I was under the impression that Nancy Drew was a job. The coolest job in the world. Hannah making you lemon bars, your best pals hanging out, a boyfriend that you didn’t have to deal with (older sister boy drama cured me of any early interest in boys, that’s for sure. I mean, my older sister got married when I was 8, yuck), a sporty car you could drive as fast as you wanted, your scarf whipping in the wind jauntily behind you … WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO BE NANCY DREW?
Alas, Nancy Drew was not a job. Growing up in the DC Metro area I was well aware of the FBI even as a kid, though, because my other older sister babysat for a couple who were never home—he was with the FBI and she was a flight attendant. FBI agents got to be away from home. One of the few times I saw him—at a block party, I think—I asked him if it was like Nancy Drew and he said it was. See above re: WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO BE NANCY DREW?
Ever since I realized that books weren’t things that just were, that people made them, I had in my mind that I would be a writer at some point. I figured it would be after my career as Nancy Drew/FBI agent was over. Mostly, because my mother repeatedly told me that “writer is not a real job—you need a real job.” So after the Nancy Drew/FBI agent thing fell through because of my eyesight, I got a “real job” at a federal contractor and did that for 20 years.
Eyesight?
Yeah. My inability to pass the sight requirements was all that stopped me from lying about it on my FBI application. That and a deep aversion to federal prison.
Federal contractor? I am suspecting you were actually a spy.
I wish federal contractor was code for Sexy Spy. But it’s not. Not even with a wink. Sorry. It would be horrible code, though, because it begs the question, “What is a federal contractor?” And the reality is, it’s a company that the majority of its business is contracting jobs for the federal government. Some of it is classified and you have to have a clearance. Some of the work I did is classified—yes, the “I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you” type, but I don’t have any Sexy Spy gear to do the killing with. I’d probably just have to, like, give you a billion paper cuts.
Which is, indeed, a deterrent. Anyway. How does your family feel about your new non-spy career? (I know you weren’t really a spy. But it’s so Nancy Drewish.)
When I said to my husband, “I want to quit my day job and write full time,” I had finished but not revised WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU. I hadn’t even seriously considered querying agents. I just knew I wanted to write. God love him, the man looked at me and said, “I’m in.” He’s my biggest cheerleader.
My daughter is Jewish-grandmother-proud of me. She will tell strangers, “My mom is a writer. Her first book comes out in January.” I am not even kidding. It’s hilarious, embarrassing, and so amazing.
Where do you write? Is it difficult to find time to do it?
I write in lots of places. I have a home office, but most of the time, writing at the desk there feels like pulling teeth. WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU was mostly written at one of the nearby libraries. I wrote about 60 percent of it in one specific chair at the library over the course of a three-week vacation I took from my day job specifically to write. (I wrote the whole book while I was employed.)
I wrote most of the second book, just delivered, sitting on my bed. I was sick for about six months straight and I’d take medication and wait for it to kick in and write until it wore off.
As precious as it sounds, where and how I write the books is kind of driven by the book. It lets me know where, when, and how it wants to be written.
Are you very disciplined? Wow. You must be.
I am, for the most part. I’ve heard it called Worshipping at the Church of a Thousand Words before. A thousand words, when I’m working to deadline, is my Must Accomplish. Two thousand is my stretch goal. My very best day, during NaNoWriMo 2011, was 7,000 words on Thanksgiving. The next day I wrote 4,500 more. I wish I could write like that every day. But laundry needs doing, food needs to be cooked, dogs need to be let in and out ad nauseum, family members need attention paid to them.
I truly remember the first time I met you. At Malice Domestic, right? And I heard this burst of laughter, and thought—oh, the fun people must be over there. Well, I was right. And you were in the center of it. As always! Is there a way you look at the world that elicits that consistently joyful response? Or are you the shy one who handles social events with humor?
Wow, that is such an amazing compliment. Thank you.
I am very much a serious, worried, anxious optimist (remember, I said I have layers). I spent a lot of time alone as a kid.
In fact, thinking about it, I was a weird kid who knew too many things that I shouldn’t. As a kid, I had a true photographic memory so all those books I read I remembered everything from them and could recall them at will. It made taking tests a breeze, but relating to other kids wasn’t my milieu. I was either the daredevil or the odd kid spouting facts about the Hindenburg disaster. No one knew what to do with me because I don’t really have a middle ground.
I’m either a zero or sixty person. I don’t own much “middle ground” or in-between space intellectually or socially.
Or maybe it’s more a “make them laugh before they laugh at you” thing—the class clown role just years and years later. Maybe it’s just the layers thing again.
Speaking of layers. Tell me about Willa Pennington. But wait—I love this part of the description of the gripping (yes, gripping) WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU.
“Agreeing to do a simple favor has brought apprentice PI Willa Pennington to a dead body, a missing person, and a battle of wits with an old friend who has dangerous secrets. If Willa can keep her focus, she could solve the murder, find the missing girl, and figure out if the person she’s trusted with her life is the one trying to end it.”
(That is also kind of Nancy Drew-ish, in an emotionally sophisticated and much scarier way. I think we have a theme!) So where did she come from, and how much do you know about her?
Hank Phillippi Ryan
Willa Pennington is the woman I wish I could have been at her age. Heck, she’s the woman I wish I could be now. She lives the axiom that being afraid and going ahead and doing it anyway is the best approach to life. And she was thrown for a loop when the thing she never thought would happen happened – she lost her best friend. Her external stoicism is a trait she and I share. I found that to be the most difficult and easiest quality of hers to bring to life. It’s something I work on, so I knew that it had to be her character arc—learning that being vulnerable is the ultimate act of bravery.
Did you always know you would write about Willa?
It’s the layers thing. Again. Willa started in a different story than the one she ended up in. I had the character and the plot working independently until she barged in and told me to quit screwing around with her in Wales and to get her to the Fairfax County story. Of course, I listened because she was right. Once that happened most of the rest of it fell into place. Except her name.
Huh?
Yeah. For more than half of the book I tried on different names for her and none fit. Most of the names I auditioned for her were androgynous like Charlie and Dannie—nicknames for both male and female names. Those seemed to suit her best. And then just like she told me she was in the wrong story initially, she whispered her name in my ear. She was right again.
Willa is the feminine form of William, and William means “valiant protector.” Also, it sounds like Willow, which calls to mind the ability to bend but not break during a storm. It works on many levels.
As for what I know about her? Everything. I know her history backward and forward. The more stories I write with her in them, the more I realize about her. I’m not learning it, I just know her. I find that comforting. Because for all the things I share with her, she and I are very different, and knowing her completely when I don’t always feel like I know myself that well means I have the ability to realize those parts of myself. Sorry, that’s a tricky answer.
I love how she’s outwardly tough, but inwardly, personally, so vulnerable.
Outwardly she does seem very tough. She’s more prone to action than reflection, which is not uncommon amongst police. Michael, her late best friend, was her decoder ring for the more reflective/emotional side of the world. Losing him leaves her at a great disadvantage. I love that their relationship bucks the stereotypes that women are more emotional and men are more stoic. Sadly, I always knew Michael was dead when we’re introduced to Willa. Willa and Michael came as a package deal from the wrong story where she started.
SO many books out there—what makes these special? (I know, but I want you to say so.)
I hope what makes these books special is Willa. She ticks so many boxes in the fictional detective category, but when I expect her to zig, she zags. Even though I know her as well as I know any real person, she surprises me with what she chooses to do.
There’s a reveal about her character in the second book that explains that part of her personality. Her history helps inform why she’s doing what she’s doing with her new “client” and, in turn, this client helps her learn more about herself. The emotional truth of that event in her history is something she and I share.
Oh, that’s mysterious. Can you tell us more? Or is that a spoiler?
Not really a spoiler but I’m not giving away the specifics either. Mostly because I don’t know what my editor even thinks of the book yet since I just turned it in. Really, the moment is about accepting that we don’t always get what we want or what we need from people, even our parents, and that accepting that as truth and even forgiving them doesn’t mean that you’re “fixed” or even that you’re supposed to be “fixed.” Expectation, of which I am a big ole addict, is the cause of all the pain we have in our interactions with other people. There’s a fine line between not trusting and not trusting too much. We don’t always learn that at the times it’s convenient or timely.
Your unique voice comes through so strongly in this book. When you describe the book, what do you say?
Unfortunately for my publisher, who has to market the books, I feel like the books aren’t easily defined as straight mysteries. I consider them thrilling mysteries, riding the edge between the elements of both traditional mysteries and thrillers. It’s not something I set out to do on purpose. Willa is the driving force behind how the stories come together and that’s how she does business.
She wants to do the right thing, but…
She is someone for whom “doing the right thing” is situational. And when she finds that people she cares about are in trouble or hurting she can’t let the official rules or legalities dissuade her. Her neighbors are good people, kind people who she’s known since she was a child. She isn’t supposed to help them, but helping is the right thing to do even if it’s not the Right Thing. Then, as life often does, she’s thrown a curve ball that brings up her worst pain. But she keeps putting one foot in front of another, trying to find this missing young woman, trying to ensure that her neighbors get what they need. And, in the process, figure out her own way to move on after the loss she’s suffered.
Has writing mysteries made reading them a different kind of enterprise?
Yes and no. I’ve found that no matter what genre of fiction book I’m reading now, I have a tendency to deconstruct the story, writing style, elements, etc., to see how it’s put together like I imagine a beginning illusionist watches to see how the tricks are put together. I have to remind myself to just sit back and enjoy the story when I’m reading for pleasure. Easier said than done, and I’ve started picking apart movies now too.
So when people read WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU for pleasure—and they will! – what do you hope they think when they close the book?
Mostly, I hope that people take away how much I admire the character of Willa, which seems self-congratulatory, I know, but Willa has never been a character I’ve created. I’ve always felt like I’m telling the world her story; in a way I’m her Michael … being the decoder ring to explain her to the world.
Oh, that’s so wonderful, Aimee. What a perfect way to explain what we all do. And congratulations!
*****
An inability to pass the sight requirements and a deep aversion to federal prison prevented Aimee Hix from lying on her FBI application so she set her deficient eyes on what most Northern Virginians do for work—the non-law enforcement side of the federal government.
After twenty years as a federal contractor, she retired and turned to murder. Fictionally, of course. Aimee lives in Virginia enjoying LASIK-corrected eyesight with her family, two dogs, and all her killer thoughts.
To learn more about Aimee, please visit her website.
Hank Phillippi Ryan is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, winning 34 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Nationally bestselling author of nine thrillers, Ryan’s also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, two Anthonys, two Macavitys, the Daphne, and Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her a “superb and gifted storyteller” and a “master of suspense.” Her novels are in Library Journal’s Best of 2014, 2015, and 2016. Her SAY NO MORE is also a Mary Higgins Clark, Daphne, and Agatha Award nominee. Hank is a founder of MWA University and 2013 president of National Sisters in Crime. Watch for her standalone psychological thriller TRUST ME in 2018.
Saturday, July 15, 2017
What Doesn't Kill You by Aimee Hix (NetGalley)
Willa Pennington, who is training to become a private inspector, comes across a dead body in someone else’s house. Now what? She was only there to fulfill a favour requested by her family friends to help their daughter Violet leave this home in which she lives with her abusive boyfriend, who is now suddenly dead. With Violet nowhere to be found, Willa gets a creeping feeling that something is most definitely off. I mean, of course she would, she just found a dead man!
Pennington is an ex-cop, so naturally, she would do what she expects of any individual who comes across a dead body. She called the cops in her capacity as a citizen, as she was not on-duty as a PI when she was heading over to the home to help Violet move out. One would expect that once Willa called the cops and they took over the investigation, her involvement would be over, even though she was the only witness. But her inquisitive, curious nature ensures that this is most definitely not the case.
This novel follows Willa as she tries to figure out what led up to this man’s death. Along the way, we see the recurrence of her good friend, Michael, who passed away while serving his country overseas. We also get to know Michael’s brother, Seth, who has a significant interest in this case, along with a love interest for Willa.
Willa has a couple of near death experiences which makes her wonder who she can really trust and confide in. Will she decide to solve the man’s mysterious death? Is everything truly as it seems, and should one always do favours for someone they know well? Read this novel for answers to all of these questions!
I loved Willa’s sassy personality and how she prefers doing things on her own. I loved how much she cares for her younger, highly-intelligent brother Ben, as well as how much she thinks about her old friend, Michael. Her witty personality definitely adds to the novel and makes it far more enjoyable. Additionally, I really liked how all the characters in this novel have some sort of role in furthering the plot. At the end of this novel, I was not left with any unanswered questions!
What Doesn’t Kill You is an impressive debut novel for the author, Aimee Hix, as I was intrigued from the start! This was my first digital copy reading, and I must admit that I truly enjoyed it. I know that after reading this novel, I will most definitely be reading the rest of the PI Mystery series by Aimee Hix!
I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at Midnight Ink for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel, which in no way changes my views of this book! It was an excellent, suspenseful novel and it will be published on January 8th, 2018! Make sure you add this one to your TBR list! My review can also be viewed on Goodreads so please check it out!
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Posted by El's Book Reviews at 12:54 PM