Tosca Lee is a New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels including The Line Between, A Single Light, The Progeny, The Legend of Sheba, and Iscariot. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and optioned for TV and film. She is best known for her nuanced prose, unexpected points of view, meticulous research, and high-octane thrills.
FWM: You are a multi award-winning author with your books translated in 17 languages and have been optioned for TV and film. Tell us about your favorite works.
It’s hard to have a favorite. Your books are like your kids—you have the easy one, the one you worried about but that turned out great, the first one, the baby, etc. Demon started my career and Hahah saw me through my divorce and starting over, The Progeny was special because I researched all over Europe with my mom. The Line Between and A Single Light are the first books I’ve set in the Midwest where I live. And Iscariot changed my life. But I fell in love with my husband writing The Legend of Sheba and he proposed at my first signing for it at my home Barnes & Noble. So, maybe that one’s my secret favorite.
FWM: What is it about history that captivates you?
History is fascinating because the more you study it the more you realize that while times change and technology advances, people remain the same. We all have similar hopes, dreams, and fears in life.
FWM: Edward Burns and his Marlboro Road Gang Productions is teaming with Radar Pictures to develop Tosca Lee’s upcoming thriller novel The Line Between as a television series. Tell us about your thriller and why it is perfect for a television series.
This book duooly is great for a series for a couple reasons but first and foremost is because of its protagonist, Wynter, whom I named after my step-daughter. Having grown up in a doomsday cult, she’s a complete newbie to the outside world. But she’s wry and funny and determined and loyal. I loved writing her as a character and think she’d be great on the screen and in viewers’ living rooms.
FWM: Your sequel, A Single Light has received rave reviews. Tell us about A Single Light.
A Single Light takes place immediately following the end of The Line Between and contains one of my favorite characters I’ve ever written: a young man named Otto. I just loved writing this book about Wynter’s continuing journey and story and I admit I laughed maniacally a few times. I might have burned down a few real-life buildings in my state in it as well. Oops.
“Impeccable and masterful.”
—Publisher’s Weekly, for Iscariot
“Tosca Lee is a genius storyteller with a cinematic eye.”
—Ted Field, Founder/CEO, Radar Pictures
“A dramatic and unforgettable portrait.”
—Library Journal Starred Review, for The Legend of Sheba
“One of those exceptional works of literature.”
—Midwest Book Review, for The Line Between
FWM: What makes your novels so intriguing among the masses?
I earnestly strive to write characters we can all identify with or cheer for and I make it a personal mission to keep readers reading past bedtime. Any time a reader tells me they missed school or called in late to work I secretly high five myself.
FWM: How have you evolved as a writer?
I used to really overwrite my first drafts—by 67,000 or even 1000,000 words. That’s a lot of cutting and editing in the rewrite. I don’t do that anymore and have become much more conscious about economy and transparency of language. I love a beautifully-turned sentence but also want my readers so transported by the story that they’re not focusing on the prose.
FWM: What’s next?
My upcoming book, The Long March Home: A WWII Novel of the Pacific about three best friends from Mobile, Alabama, who enlist in 1941, serve in the Philippines, and become part of the Bataan Death March. It’s written with my friend Marcus Brotherton and releases May 2, 2023. It’s been such an honor to shine a light on the heroic defenders of Bataan and I can’t wait to share this story with the world.
