Elisabeth Elo (Author of North of Boston)

104 ratings | 18 reviews | avg rating:4.33

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Elisabeth Elo

欧宝娱乐 Author

Born

Los Angeles, The United States

Website

Twitter

Genre

Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

Member Since

September 2013

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Elisabeth Elo is the author of NORTH OF BOSTON, chosen by Booklist as a Best Crime Novel Debut of the Year. Published in six countries, it was also an Indie Next selection and a Book of the Month / Literary Guild Selection. Elisabeth鈥檚 second suspense novel, FINDING KATARINA M., is forthcoming in March 2019.

Elisabeth grew up in Boston, attended Brown University, and earned a PhD in American Literature at Brandeis. She worked as a children's magazine editor, a high-tech product manager, and a halfway house counselor before starting to write fiction. To learn more, visit . ...more

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What鈥檚 your advice for aspiring writers?

Elisabeth Elo I've thought about this a lot, and I'd say there are five things that a writer needs to succeed: knowledge, talent, hard work, persistence, luck.

First鈥辞谤别I've thought about this a lot, and I'd say there are five things that a writer needs to succeed: knowledge, talent, hard work, persistence, luck.

First, you鈥檝e got to read enough to know what a novel is and how it works. It helps to find a book you really like and take it apart to see how it's made, sort of the way a mechanic would take an engine apart to see how the parts fit together. I know that doesn't sound very romantic or artsy, but if you love novels, it's actually sort of fun. You ask yourself, "How did the author DO that? How did they make that transition? How did they create that impression or effect?"

Second, you鈥檝e got to have some basic talent. Talent is different in every person. You may be a wordsmith, or a fantasist, or especially perceptive about other people, or especially observant, or maybe you just have natural storytelling ability. Whatever your innate talent is, you start there. In other words, build on your strengths, and with any luck you'll end up bringing something that鈥檚 distinctly your own to life.

Third is hard work. No need to explain this: I don鈥檛 know a single person who鈥檚 good at what they do who doesn鈥檛 work hard.

Fourth is persistence through all the rejections from agents and editors that will probably come your way. (A word of caution: Don鈥檛 put yourself out there too soon. Wait until your book is the very best it can be before you start trying to sell it because once it鈥檚 been turned down someplace you can鈥檛 go back.) I have a long list of failures and near-misses I could share with you, but you probably don't have enough time to hear them all!

Finally, luck鈥攐therwise know as being in the right place at the right time. You can鈥檛 control this. When you've got it, it's exhilarating. When you don't, it's heartbreaking. But the more you focus on steps 1 through 4, the greater the chance that things will break your way.

Oh, I forgot one thing: The whole reason we do this is because we love it, right? That's the heart and soul of the thing. Don't let yourself lose the fun of it, ever. Love this crazy art!(less)

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Does the fact that used the name Kasparov, and that Pirio's father was teaching Noah to play, suggest that you are an avid chess player?

Elisabeth Elo I'm not a chess player, and the connection between the name Kasparov and Pirio's father's hobby didn't even occur to me until you mentioned it! But I 鈥辞谤别I'm not a chess player, and the connection between the name Kasparov and Pirio's father's hobby didn't even occur to me until you mentioned it! But I was aware, of course, that Garry Kasparov is a former World Chess Champion and a leader of the pro-democracy movement in Russia. I figured the name had very good associations, and I also liked the sound of it. Someday I would like to learn to play chess. (I already know how to smoke cigars.) (less)

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Average rating: 3.61 · 2,387 ratings · 508 reviews · 4 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	North of Boston 3.57 avg rating — 2,067 ratings — published 2014 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Finding Katarina M. 3.89 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Taste of Power 3.48 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Die Frau, die nie fror by Elisabeth Elo (欧宝娱乐 Author), Luise Helm (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on 欧宝娱乐 for this author. To add more, click here.

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Elisabeth鈥檚 Recent Updates

Elisabeth Elo is now following Liza Tully Author of The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Oka...
Mar 03, 2025 08:07AM · like
Elisabeth Elo and 5 other people liked Elisa Forshey's review of The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant: "Ack! Loved it! Classic whodunit with a spunky Watson-y side kick main character, and a perfectly spiky Miranda Priestly-esque female Sherlock in the role of detective. Well-written, solid plot with just the right amount of clues, none of this deus ex" Read more of this review 禄
Mar 03, 2025 08:07AM · see review
Elisabeth Elo and 3 other people liked Christy's review of The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant: "The title caught my attention, but the intriguing mystery kept me reading. The dynamic between the two main characters was very interesting - Mentor/Protege, Good cop/Bad cop, Boomer/Gen Z. The engrossing mystery of whether a wealthy woman committed su" Read more of this review 禄
Mar 03, 2025 08:07AM · see review
Elisabeth Elo voted for Sociopath: A Memoir as Readers' Favorite Memoir in the Opening Round of the 2024 欧宝娱乐 Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
Nov 22, 2024 01:05PM · like
Elisabeth Elo and 26 other people liked Elizabeth George's review of By Any Other Name: "This novel ticks off every ingredient of a fabulous reading experience: beautifully realized characters, fantastic research that does not flaunt itself but rather is buried within the story itself, incredibly well-developed plots in both narratives (" Read more of this review 禄
Oct 30, 2024 06:41PM · see review · See a Problem? We鈥檇 love your help. Let us know what鈥檚 wrong with this preview of By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you鈥檙e looking for? Preview 鈥� By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Elisabeth Elo entered a giveaway Close to Death (Hawthorne & Horowitz, #5) by Anthony Horowitz (欧宝娱乐 Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 08, 2024 11:48AM · like · see giveaway · See a Problem? We鈥檇 love your help. Let us know what鈥檚 wrong with this preview of Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you鈥檙e looking for? Preview 鈥� Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Elisabeth Elo rated a book it was amazing Paper Ghosts: A Fenn Cooper Novel by Jesse Kalfel	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Paper Ghosts delivers on every level. Kalfel has a confident robust voice and a sharp eye for humanity鈥檚 humor and pathos. The plot deftly brings together unsolved murders, long-buried dangerous secrets, and hired assassins. And the characters are en ...more
Oct 13, 2023 03:43PM · 3 likes · like · see review · See a Problem? We鈥檇 love your help. Let us know what鈥檚 wrong with this preview of Paper Ghosts by Jesse Kalfel. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you鈥檙e looking for? Preview 鈥� Paper Ghosts by Jesse Kalfel <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Elisabeth Elo (?)

“But a bond is a bond. And when you鈥檙e young and haven鈥檛 yet learned to live in your own solitude, even a destructive bond can seem better than none.”
― Elisabeth Elo, North of Boston

tags: fiction, mystery

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“Your weakness - the weakness of your soft American life - is you think that all people are like you, that reason can explain everything in this world. You expect two plus two to equal four. But it doesn't. It equals whatever the powerful say it does. If they say it equals a hundred and eight, the mathematicians will prove it's so. --- (Milosa Kasparov)”
― Elisabeth Elo, North of Boston

tags: orwellian

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“All across the world, people are loyal to their tribe. --- (Pirio)”
― Elisabeth Elo, North of Boston

tags: family, loyalty

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Elisabeth鈥檚 Quotes

“Surely all art is the result of one's having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on C茅zanne

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