“Before I wrote my first novel, 'The Expats,' I spent nearly two decades at various arms of publishing houses such as Random House, Workman, and HarperCollins, mostly as an acquisitions edito...”
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Author detail
CHRIS PAVONE is author of three national-bestselling thrillers: THE EXPATS, which won both the Edgar and Anthony awards, was translated into 20 languages, and is being developed by CBS Films; THE ACCIDENT, another New York Times bestseller; and most recently THE TRAVELERS, an IndieNext bestseller that has been optioned by DreamWorks. Chris grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Cornell University, and held editorial positions in publishing for nearly two decades; he also wrote a (mostly blank) book about wine, and ghost-wrote a couple of books. Then his wife got a job in Luxembourg, and the family moved abroad, where Chris raised their twin boys and started writing fiction. They now live again in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island.
Quotes
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“Before I wrote my first novel, 'The Expats,' I spent nearly two decades at various arms of publishing houses such as Random House, Workman, and HarperCollins, mostly as an acquisitions edito...”
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“'The Expats' is a thriller, but one that tends more toward general fiction than toward breathless pulp.”
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“As an unpublished, nonprofessional writer working on my first novel, I nevertheless had access to extremely talented people who would help make my manuscript better, people who've made caree...”
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“After college, I was burdened with student loans to repay, no financial cushion, so I wasn't in a position to bet everything on a creative-writing career - neither the writing-workshop acade...”
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“I worked as a draftsman for the Department of Environmental Protection, and as a teacher, in N.Y.C.; at a big bank and a small ad agency, a tiny law firm and a few giant ones; as a cashier a...”
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“In most espionage novels, the characters risk their lives trying to save somebody or while protecting a nation from some threat. In 'The Travelers,' that's not what's going on. I used espion...”
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“As a book editor, you need to pitch every one of your books again and again, dozens of times, for months on end. From a quick conversation with your boss or a letter that'll be read by just...”
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“I live in Greenwich Village in New York City, but I rarely write at home, where there's too much else to do.”
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“At home, I tend to read print, and most of the time, that means recently released hardcover novels. I enjoy the feel of paper and board; I like turning pages, dog-earing my spot, jotting not...”
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“A writer can spend a decade working obsessively on a novel, but in the commerce of publishing, many of the most important decisions about any book will be made based on very short pitches -...”
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“There's always something at least a little smug about self-reference - magazine articles about idealistic journalists, TV shows about TV actors, ironic films within ironic-er films: all this...”
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“In 'The Travelers,' everyone is defined by his or her relationship to work. I put each character on a different rung of the ladder: from the lowliest assistant to a powerful man in the world...”
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“We all live in a universe in which we're either asked to or are forced to accept certain premises about our employment without having the opportunity to verify them.”
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“Sometimes, I had very little - if any - idea for whom I was really working: at the end of the day, who reaped the profits? Was it a privately controlled German foundation or a global array o...”
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“What is it we want out of travel? Is it to take snapshots of ourselves in front of famous monuments, surrounded by other tourists? To eat unfamiliar food chosen from unintelligible menus? To...”
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“I'm concerned, as I guess all middle-aged people are, about the younger generations' level of literacy.”
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