Elizabeth Rose Quinn is a novelist and screenwriter. She graduated with a BA in English from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Elizabeth lived in Los Angeles for fifteen years while working in production and writing for television. Her novel Follow Me was optioned by Amazon MGM Studios and is currently in production as a feature film. She is married with two children and currently lives in New Mexico. In addition to traveling and exploring nature with her family, Elizabeth loves rolling fresh pasta, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and looking for rainbows in the desert sunsets.

Q: In one sentence, describe what Follow Me is about.

Elizabeth: After her sister goes missing at a Mommy Influencer Weekend, childless burnout Adrienne must go undercover to try to find out what happened before the other perfect psycho mommies or her own demons catch up with her.

Q: What inspired the storyline?

Elizabeth: This is a story that has been building in my mind over years and years. I felt like a magpie, gathering all my shiny things: The rise of influencer culture, its myth of accessibility, and the way it sells our attention; The New York Times reporting that women were so overwhelmed from parenting in Covid that they were gathering in fields to scream; My own devastation that my career could be over when I had kids. And so much more.

Then a brilliant writer and podcast host Sarah Marshall once said that horror movies are how we process our societal fears. When I heard her say this I thought ‘what is the greatest societal fear right now?’ For me the answer was that motherhood in individualistic America was a surefire recipe to go insane. Suddenly all these little pieces of information coalesced into this story where I could weave these long-held ideas (and fears) into one whole.

Q: Follow Me is a thriller, but it’s got a strong horror aspect to it as well.  What was it like writing a mash-up of sorts of two genres? Best of both worlds?

Elizabeth: It was so fun! I wrote this as my own catharsis, and for me that catharsis required so much snark, and a big stack of bodies at the end! I look back now and realize it was possibly naive to blaze through 3+ genres in one story, but it was the only way I could see it working on the page. Luckily other people understood it, too! High risk, high rewards, apparently.

Q: This is your first novel—how was the process different from your screenplay writing? New challenges, different rewards?

Elizabeth: Screenwriting is an art that is incredibly technical. In some ways if the movie is the feast, the screenplay is the recipe. So many things have to happen after the writing in order for the work to come to fruition. In contrast, writing a novel all on my own felt like I was flying. I could write without thinking responsible production thoughts like, ‘oh no, that’s a new exterior set’ or ‘we won’t have the budget for that many extras.’

I could spend time in my character’s interior thoughts which was definitely a shift, and something I at first struggled to find the correct balance of. It had been a minute since I had written prose, and I was rusty. (All hail my editors Megha and Selina.) I was either all show or all tell. Luckily I found my footing again. I hope.

The parts of the screenwriting process that I kept were: I still outlined religiously like I learned to do in TV sitcom rooms; I still push myself to have great dialogue that feels fun and fast paced; I love love love a set piece.

I do feel an increase of pressure now, though! In TV and film you share the work with so many talented people on the cast and crew, but you can also share the blame if something falls flat. This novel is entirely mine, its successes and failures. I accept those terms with open arms. 

Q: There’s murder in your book, but also a lot of humor–how did you find the right balance with the light and dark scenes?

Elizabeth: I love satire, and horror lends itself so well to that heightened reality. To me, they work together perfectly, and allow both genres to go to more ridiculous extremes when paired. It also felt true to my character Adrienne who tries to soften or deflect through humor. Her sister going missing is her nightmare, and so she has to make jokes in order to put one foot in front of the other. 

Q: You’re a mother yourself–which of the characters do you most relate to in the book?   

Elizabeth: I relate to Chiara and Bernice so much. My first child was one when the pandemic started, and the isolation of quarantine while trying to parent a toddler is what Chiara experiences as a mom of twins who doesn’t have friends to rely on. The bizarre duality of total emotional overstimulation and utter loneliness was really difficult for me to manage, and sadly I made Chiara go through the same thing.

Bernice’s confession about feeling pushed out of her own life when she became a mother – those are my words. That is how I felt. Those were all my fears. Those were my hopes disappearing in front of me.

The happiness when I found out we were going to have a second child followed immediately by the fact that my professional life was possibly over, filled me with fury. I felt like I had failed at life. Except I hadn’t failed – the world had failed to create a space where people can be professionals and be parents. I am here to report that we are out of the baby stage, and I have a lovely career, but it all had to change into something new in order to be functional and sustainable for our family. Turns out, it’s even better than I could have imagined.

But reading those pages, I am taken right back to that time. If you are there, keep going.

All that said, I am definitely not Thea because my house is never as clean as hers!

Q: What sort of research–if any–did you have to do to get into the world of #momlife and in the mindset of a woman who is basically a cult leader?

Elizabeth: Working in Hollywood for many years, I met a lot of celebrities and wanna-be-celebrities who were completely untethered from regular life, either because of extreme wealth, or total delusion. I also met a lot of people who were lost and looking for something/someone to give them direction. So I knew ‘the types’, and how the seduction of celebrity can be very powerful.

I also knew of one celebrity in particular who had written a parenting book about how to be an amazing hands-on easy-going parent just like them, but never once mentioning the fact that they have multiple around the clock nannies, and household staff who do every stitch of housework. I wasn’t annoyed that they hired people to help them with the very hard job of raising children and running a home, I was angry that they erased that work to sell a fairy tale that made their readers feel like failures. (This is one of those little magpie jewels I had held on to since 2013.) It wasn’t a big jump to take this into the online sphere.

Becoming a mother can obliterate your sense of self, and without a strong community of real life people to help you stay centered, it is very easy for social media to fill that void. When the pandemic started, my phone was my tiny window out into the world. It quickly became a fire hose of standards I could not live up to. I felt lucky that my Hollywood experience gave me the knowledge to ask questions like  ‘hm, who set up the camera for this definitely posed but sold as candid moment?’ And ‘hm, yes very easy to dole out advice about being outside with your kids from your luxury vacation home.’ And lastly ‘that video was extremely well edited. Who watched the kids while that 2 hour editing session was taking place? And the footage was being properly rendered? Because I know that wasn’t shot on a phone, not with that lens.’ My husband works in post production and he had an editing bay in our bedroom during Covid, so I know what I shoot takes! Rendering footage messed with a lot of our infant nap schedules!

Q: Amazon MGM Studios has already optioned the book. Congratulations! Are you involved in the screenwriting, and have there been any recent developments you can share? Any casting dreams?

Elizabeth: I am so lucky to be working with writer-director Adele Lim and her producing partner Naia Cucukov. From our first meeting we were in perfect sync in terms of what parts of the story needed to be protected, and where they could make it all their own. They are brilliant filmmakers, and I trust them completely with the adaptation. I may help out later on, but for now I am working on my second book, and they are flying ahead. I cannot wait to see what incredible creative choices they make to bring the novel to the screen.

In terms of casting, nothing is official yet. It will be a true ensemble, and that chemistry will be thrilling because there are so many talented actresses in their 40s who are ready to hit this out of the park.

Q: Are you working on another book, and can you share a sneak peek?

Elizabeth: I am due to turn in my second book on the same day Follow Me comes out. My mind feels like it is in 100 places at once! I can’t share too much just yet, but I can say that it is my happy place of satire and mystery, and focused on a whole new group of morally dubious women.