Elizabeth George has been writing since she was 7. By the time junior high came around, she was writing novels — the first at age 12, the second at 16. “Writing is part of who I am,” she says. “It’s more than just what I do.”
Elizabeth is the New York Times best-selling author of 17 novels, one book of nonfiction and two short-story collections. A number of her novels featuring her main character, Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Most recently, Elizabeth moved into uncharted waters with a novel for young adults.
“The Edge of Nowhere” is part mystery, part paranormal and part romance. The story follows Becca King, a teenager who can hear the disjointed pieces of other people’s thoughts. Becca overheard disturbing “whispers” from her stepfather and now has gone into hiding in an attempt to save herself. Finding herself unexpectedly alone on Whidbey Island, Becca must count on the kindness of strangers to survive.
Writing “The Edge of Nowhere” isn’t a singular transition to YA literature, Elizabeth told Cracking the Cover. She still writing the Lynley novels — she just completed the 18th in the series. “I took up YA for the challenge and because I wanted to use Whidbey Island, where I live, as a setting,” she said. “I thought it could have a lot of appeal for young adult readers.”
Taking on young adult literature was a compelling idea for Elizabeth, who says YA was something she wanted to try on and see how it fit her as a novelist. “It’s very much different from adult fiction in that the adolescent characters must drive the story, which isn’t something I’m used to, but it was fun creating them and putting them into tough situations that they had to resolve,” she said.
The idea for “The Edge of Nowhere” came from the setting itself, which is where Elizabeth says her books usually come from. “Whidbey Island is filled with amazing places that beg to be part of novels,” she said. “It’s filled with incredible locations — Possession Point, Smuggler’s Cove, Mutiny Bay, Useless Bay, Double Bluff Beach — whose names alone suggest stories to me.”
Elizabeth says “The Edge of Nowhere” was the most difficult project she’s ever done. It took five drafts. “The entire project was an enormous challenge as I had never written for the young adult audience,” she said. “Probably the most difficult was writing about a place where I live, which is much more difficult than writing about England where I don’t live.”
The strength of “The Edge of Nowhere” comes in characters that will appeal to kids and adults, Elizabeth says. “As is the case with my adult novels, there isn’t just one main character,” she said. “Rather there are five. The readers will learn about them over time. With each book, more will be revealed about who they are and how they fit into each other’s life.”
With each book Elizabeth tries to build on her already developed skills. “I’ve always attempted to make each book a leap forward in style and technique from the book that preceded it,” she said. “I think I’ve more and less managed to do that. I promised myself — and the reader — that I would never write the same book twice. I think I’ve been true to that promise.”
Fans of “The Edge of Nowhere” will get to find out that for themselves when the next installment of the series, “The Edge of the Water,” is published. But they’ll have to wait until at least 2014 for that to happen — Elizabeth has already written two drafts but has at least one more left before it’s ready.
*Read a complete transcript of Cracking the Cover’s interview with Elizabeth.
**Elizabeth will be at The King’s English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m.
