By: Natalie Greer
Caroline Taylor, an accomplished author with an extensive background in mystery writing, dives into mainstream fiction with her latest novel, Tough Love. Inspired by a personal journey through a life-threatening medical scare involving her husband, Taylor explores themes of loss, family dysfunction, economic upheaval, and the complexities of human relationships. In this candid interview, she opens up about the inspirations and experiences that shaped Tough Love, discusses the challenges of writing outside her comfort zone, and shares insights into her creative process. Taylor’s work reflects a profound understanding of life’s unpredictability and the courage it takes to navigate its most difficult moments.
What inspired you to write Tough Love? Was there a specific event or moment that sparked the story?
I had just survived a medical scare involving my husband. It had us both talking about what would happen to me in the event of his death. Luckily, he survived, but those thoughts—how would a grieving widow get on with life?—inspired my first attempt at mainstream fiction.
Can you tell us more about the central themes of Tough Love and how they resonate with your personal experiences?
Loss. Economic disruption. Family dysfunction. Boundaries. Someone once told me that people nowadays think death is optional. I’ve learned it isn’t true. I think we also tend to expect that the good life we’ve all worked so hard to maintain cannot be disrupted by events beyond our control, as it was for so many people during the Great Recession and as COVID more recently taught us. There have been some troublesome visits from family members in my life, enough for me to realize that it’s very difficult to navigate the rocky shoals of family dysfunction. Also, it’s always a challenge to discourage a man’s unwanted attention while trying to maintain a friendship.
Your characters often face moral dilemmas. How did you develop the protagonist in Tough Love, and what challenges did they face in making difficult decisions?
Lilac is lonely, grieving, judgmental, and, to her way of thinking, cowardly. She knows that something should be done about Caitlin’s refusal to eat or speak. But she’s also reluctant to step on her sister’s toes. When she tries to suggest a doctor’s visit, she is rebuffed. She knows that she should tell neighbor Max to stop flirting with her, but she lacks the courage to do so. She should call the police when she first discovers the stolen cache of luxury watches, but she can’t bring herself to do it because that would put Tulip in jail. All of these things make her realize that she needs to grow a spine, painful though that might be.
How did your background in the Foreign Service and your travels influence your writing?
There’s a big, wide world out there where people live vastly different lives and hold widely different world views. It has taught me not to imagine that there is only one true path. Several experiences from childhood and in the Foreign Service show up in my short stories and in my novel Loose Ends.
As a seasoned writer of mysteries, what sets Tough Love apart from your previous works in terms of tone, style, or structure?
It was much more difficult to establish the structure. In mysteries, the protagonist confronts the antagonist after a search for the truth that involves many roadblocks and scary scenes. But the tangle of relationships in Tough Love posed an entirely different challenge: how to show Lilac’s personal growth and transformation while she tries to deal with an estranged half-sister who is a poor mother, a thief, and a liar and how to discourage the attentions of her married neighbor—a man to whom she is attracted while still not quite over her own husband’s death—all while worrying about her financial prospects, given the added expense of housing Tulip and Caitlin.
What message or takeaway do you hope readers will gain from your work?
Treasure your loved ones. Surround yourself with people who matter to you. When things don’t work out as you hope, that’s life. Don’t be too quick to judge others when you don’t know all the facts.
Are there any characters in Tough Love that were particularly fun or challenging to write, and why?
I loved writing about Mavis Hennessy and Grover Somerset. Mavis has some valuable insights that help Lilac see her situation from a different perspective. The dance scenes, while challenging to write, were a fun way to show Lilac’s leap into the unknown and how she manages not to embarrass herself or her dance partner.
Can you share some insights into your creative process? Do you outline your mysteries in detail, or do you let the plot unfold as you write?
I’m a pantser. I have tried to plot my novels in advance, but they wind up looking hackneyed and derivative. Having them unfold as I write lets the characters tell me where to go next.
What’s next for you? Are there any upcoming projects or new genres you’re considering exploring?
I have three mystery-thrillers in the works. I might write another mainstream novel, but I want to see how Tough Love fares first.
You’ve written mysteries, a short-story collection, and a nonfiction book. What challenges or rewards do you find in shifting between these different forms of writing?
The nonfiction book about nonprofit annual reports was an “I’ll show you!” gesture at a boss who announced to a large meeting that I was “just a process manager.” I decided to show him that I could both write and manage the process. (The book won an Apex award for writing excellence.) I started my fiction career with short stories and still write them, although most of my attention these days is on the novel. Whenever I reach a point where I don’t know what should happen next in the novel, I find that writing a short story on a completely different theme helps me unblock.
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Published by: Khy Talara
