Q&A With Michelle Maryk

I’m so delighted to be doing this Q&A with author Michelle Maryk! Michelle is the author of her debut novel of speculative suspense, The Found Object Society! The title alone makes me want to read it! Michelle Maryk graduated from Cornell University and attended the Yale Writer’s Worskhop. Michelle has been a full-time voice over actress for 25 years as well as a comedic actor. Michelle is a dual citizen of Sweden and the US and starred in an atrocious horror movie with Oscar winner Cliff Robertson written by her dad!  

Q: Michelle, welcome to Book Notions! I’m excited that you’re here! Would you please give a brief description of The Found Object Society? 

A: Of course! The Found Object Society is a novel of speculative suspense and centers around Greta Davenport, a trainwreck of a socialite who, twenty years earlier, suffered a terrible tragedy by losing her parents in a car crash that she, herself, survived. She has felt incredible guilt over this and has filled that abyss of sadness with alcohol, drugs and sex ever since. The book opens with her leaving a gala in a rage and driving her car drunk. She almost crashes into a tree and when she gets home, she discovers a blank white card that slides under her front door. In it, she finds a hidden QR code that links her to an invitation to join the Found Object Society. A secretive and nefarious society that allows its members to hold choose an object—from thousands in different eras and regions—and simply by holding it, experience the death of the last person who died touching it. The experience is addictive and Greta soon finds that she may be able to game the system…

Q: Where did the idea for The Found Object Society come from? Which characters from the novel do you think you are most similar to and why?

A: Usually, ideas come to me in patches, images that over time form the big picture. The Found Object Society was different. It was a jolt, a focused bolt. A real, Aha!

It was mid-March 2023, I was still an unagented writer and I was about a month into writing another novel. I was drinking wine and idly scrolling through Instagram by our wood stove—there may have been a cat on my lap (there often is). I landed on an ad for Etsy that featured an etched martini glass from the 1920s. For whatever reason, it stopped me cold. There in its facets I pondered who its original owner had been, pictured an elegant dame with a black bob, saying stuff like, “Let’s grind the corn, Handsome” or “You’re the bees knees” and wearing Art Deco rings and taking a sip, leaving her red lipstick on its rim.

Then I pictured her dying—dramatically—at that very moment.

Where did her energy go? Did it transfer into the martini glass to be held for all eternity? What if one could tap into that energy and experience her death but live to tell about it?

The words, Found Object, popped into my head—smacked really, like a mallet to my temple.

That’s a tough one! There are a lot of characters in my book and several different POVs (the voyages / deaths that Greta experiences are seen through the eyes of those people). I can’t say any one of them is much like me. I suppose that some aspects of Greta could be a little me, but not many. All of them were born out of my brain so there must be little bits of them scattered in my grey matter somehow!

Q: How long did it take you to write The Found Object Society & as well as entertainment, what lessons and reminders do you hope readers get out of reading the book after turning the last page? 

A: I started TFOS in April 2023 and was done by the first week of August 2023. Writing it was as much of a fever dream as reading it, hopefully is.

I think what I hope most is that readers can see that there could be many versions of ourselves, many different trajectories that our lives could have taken were we to have made different choices or had other experiences. But as far as we know, what we’re living is the only one we have…so embrace and accept it.

Q: If The Found Object Society were to get a sequel, what would the characters be doing right now?

A: Well, that is the hope—that I’ll be writing a sequel. I’ll keep you posted on that. I can’t say too much about what they’d be doing since that would be a spoiler. I can say that neither Greta (or Lis, her best friend) are done with the Found Object Society, not by a long shot!

Q: Can you reveal details for the next book you are writing or is it too early to discuss right now?

A: It’s a bit early to discuss—certainly any sequel—but I am doing edits right now on a novel called MATER that is more literary horror. Think of the movie BARBARIAN X The Daughter of Dr. Moreau.

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to The Found Object Society? Whether they do or not, who would your dream cast be for the characters you created?

A: My film/tv rights agent is working away on that! There are some people circling so we’ll have to see. For Greta: Allison Williams For Ezra: John David Washington For Miranda: Morena Baccarin

Q: Congratulations on The Found Object Society being mentioned in People Magazine! How does it feel that a big time publication covered your book? 

A: It feels surreal. Especially since my book wasn’t in it just once…but four times. Once as a PEOPLE pick for Best Books of February. So thrilling!

Q: Would you please provide links to your social media accounts so readers can follow you?

A: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellemmaryk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellemmaryk/

My website: https://www.michellemaryk.com/