We at Game of Books are excited to present our new series of author interviews (GOB A.I.).
Welcome to Part 1 of our interview with the lovely and talented Debbie Levison, author of the newly released true-crime memoir, The Crate. The Crate has already won several awards, including a Gold Medal from Readers’ Favorite, a 5-Star Award, and was named a Finalist in the 2018 International Books Awards.
Congratulations on the publication of THE CRATE: A Story of War, a Murder, and Justice! And Welcome to Game of Books! It was a pleasure to meet you at Thrillerfest. Was it your first time attending? Have you gone to other conferences?
DL: Pleasure to meet you, too! ThrillerFest 2018 was my first ever literary conference, made even more sensational because my debut book had released just days earlier. I was walking on a cloud.
What inspired you to write this particular book?
DL: THE CRATE is a story of a violent crime that rocked my family. In 2010, we discovered a wooden crate, nailed tightly shut and hidden underneath our cottage north of Toronto. Inside was… awful. The discovery left my family reeling. It was in all the headlines, my brother was a murder suspect, my husband and I were totally freaked out, and we had three young kids to shield. But the worst part was that my elderly parents were traumatized. The discovery dredged up their terrible memories of being in the Holocaust.
Those first days after the discovery were filled with shock and horror and a huge sense of violation. But once we identified the victim, and once we learned the circumstances that led to the crate being found on our property, it hit me: everything we were feeling was nothing compared to what the victim’s family was going through. I realized I could give the victim a voice. I wanted to preserve her memory… just as I wanted to preserve my parents’ stories from the Holocaust.
When did you start writing and is this your first memoir?
DL: I’ve written professionally since university, as a journalist and publicist. Even though I’ve wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember, THE CRATE is not a book I ever anticipated. I’d always imagined writing historical fiction, since that’s my favorite genre to read. From my little bubble in Connecticut, where I live an ordinary little life as a wife and mother, I never thought I’d be writing about a true crime.
Can you tell us a little about your writing process?
DL: Step One was the easiest, because it wasn’t so much a matter of me imagining a story, but more a matter of a story clamoring to be written. I knew what had to be said. Structuring it, though, was a bit tougher. I didn’t outline. After I’d written several chapters and had only a vague idea of how I’d string them together, an editor told me, “Writing a book is like building a house. You have to pour a foundation before you can decorate the rooms.”
The trickiest part of the writing process is finding time for it. I snap awake in the morning with a head full of words and phrases and ideas for what I want to accomplish. But then there are kids to chauffeur here and there, loads of laundry to wash, a dog to walk, groceries to buy, an office to go to, and suddenly any grand plans for writing my missive are pushed to the wayside.
I also have a terrible habit of spending an inordinate amount of time editing and polishing as I go, which slows things down even more.
Plus my eyes get exhausted after staring at a computer screen all day at my job at a PR firm and then coming home to type some more.
How can readers connect with you and buy your book?
DL: I love feedback, on Facebook:@DeborahLevisonAuthor or email: deborahvlevison@gmail.com. It’s amazing to hear from readers from all over the U.S. and Canada (even one from France!) with whom different parts of the story resonate.
The book is on Amazon and my website, www.debbielevison.com, links to other retailers like Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, Indiebound, and of course Audible for the audio. I’m incredibly lucky, because THE CRATE’s narrator, Cassandra Campbell, is phenomenal… she did Orange is the New Black, The Help, Henrietta Lacks, Lilac Girls, etc., and was inducted into the Audio Hall of Fame. She’s won every audio award conceivable.
Stay tuned next week for more from our interview with Debbie Levison. In the meantime, buy her book and read it. If you love a good true-crime memoir, you won’t be disappointed!
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