Behind The Book With Seraphina Nova Glass 

Back in June of 2023 I read The Vanishing Hour by Seraphina Nova Glass & did a Q&A with her. I recently read an early copy of her book The Vacancy In Room 10, and was delighted that she not only sent me an early netgalley copy to read, but that she also agreed to do this Behind The Book Q&A with me on The Vacancy In Room 10. For those who enjoy mysteries, you are in for a fun ride reading this novel! 

Q: Seraphina where did the idea for The Vacancy In Room 10 come from? 

A: That’s always a tough question because there wasn’t an aha moment where it came to me, or a specific source of inspiration. I like to start with the atmosphere often. I also like to ponder questions like with Cass running a sex scam…”what would happen if?” 

I love shows like Weeds or Breaking Bad where an average person gets involved in a drug operation and the series of events that spirals completely out of control, so I thought it would be interesting to explore that same concept with a sex scandal. I guess that’s as close as I get to pinpointing how the idea was born. I sort of kept exploring the chain of events from there and that began to develop into the plot. 

Q: How long did it take you to write The Vacancy In Room 10? 

A: I wrote my first few books in about three months each. These days, I take my time a bit more. I step away from writing more often instead of plowing through a book, so I think Vacancy took about six months to write, I feel like if I take more time than that, I am not as immersed in the world of the story and I like to stay in that headspace with these characters and their world without too much time away so I don’t lose that connection.

Q: Without spoiling too much, which scenes & characters were the most fun to write and why? 

A: I love the Pool Girls. I never felt like there was really a place for humor in thrillers, but in my last couple of books, I just let the characters guide me more, and if they are funny and quirky, I roll with that instead of feeling like it has to be serious every minute. That’s not real life. So the humor and authenticity the Pool Girls brought to this story was one of my favorite things about it because they were so much fun to write. They are always saying outlandish things and poking fun at one another and they really represented everything The Sycamore Apartments was meant to feel like. 

Q: What lessons do you hope (if any) readers take away after reading the novel?

A: I never go in with a lesson in mind. I think these domestic thrillers are a bit of escapism and fun, but they also delve into hard topics sometimes. Many of my books have themes of abuse, infidelity, economic hardship, relationship difficulties, and things like that, so I hope people really feel connected to the characters and find beautiful or heartbreaking or relatable moments that evoke empathy or connection…or all the feels. But there isn’t a pressing lesson or specific take-away.

Q: If The Vacancy In Room 10 were made into a movie or a miniseries, who would be your dream cast to play the characters? One actress I had stuck in my mind to play Cass is Rosamund Pike who was in Gone Girl. 

A: It’s currently being shopped around to be made into a series, so hopefully that does happen. Rosamund Pike is a good one. I could see Kristin Wiig playing Cass, perhaps just because I adore everything she’s in. Reece Witherspoon or Kristen Bell pop into mind for Anna. I have been asked this a lot recently since we are working on selling the film rights and it’s a tough question because I never have an actress in mind as I write, and seeing a familiar face embodying these characters I’m so close to is hard to imagine, but there are so many good options. Hopefully we’ll see that manifest!