Authors Fiona Davis and Greg Wands couldn’t have written a better meet-cute if they tried.
Davis is the author of historical fiction favorites like The Lions of Fifth Avenue, The Spectacular and the forthcoming The Stolen Queen (Jan. 14) and Wands, the thriller writer behind The Woman Inside under the name E.G. Scott as half of a writing duo with Elizabeth McCullough Keenan, both of whom are also behind the forthcoming Trust Issues (Jan. 28). The pair met in their natural habitat: a bookstore.
More specifically, Davis was doing a book signing at the Upper West Side Shakespeare & Company and their mutual publicist suggested Wands swing by. Neither was really looking for romance at the time; both had exited long-term relationships and weren’t actively on the market. But their connection was instant: Nora Ephron could never.
“It really is like a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie,” Wands joked. He hung around the store — “finding a way to look busy,” he added — until Davis was finished signing copies, got her number and the rest, as they say, is history.
That was six years ago and the pair have been together ever since. Wands has supported Davis through her Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and treatment, and they’ve both seen one another through book research and writing, launches, reviews and the stuff of life in between. Watching them grinning side-by-side in front of a bookshelf bearing both of their books, their connection shines.
While conventional wisdom often advises against dating people in the same field — especially creative ones — Davis and Wands find they feed off each other well. It helps that they write in slightly different genres: Davis in historical fiction and Wands in thrillers. They bounce ideas off one another as they work on their respective manuscripts, and even co-wrote a novella, The Gimlet Slip, that came out this past summer.
“There’s really no ego there,” Davis says, of their creative and romantic partnership. “We’re at different phases of our careers, and they’re cyclical. Book publishing is like that. We really support each other because we know what it’s like to be in this business.”
Wands, who is used to writing with a partner, explained that working together meant they could both bring their separate strengths to the table. Davis, thanks to her historical background, is a meticulous researcher, while Wands pumps up the fast-paced drama. They also put little Easter eggs for each other to find in their books, and help each other talk through sticky plot points, stuttering dialogue and other issues that crop up as they work.
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Both authors are looking ahead to a busy January, with Davis’ new book coming out Jan. 7 and Wands’ on Jan. 28.
“We didn’t plan it that way,” Davis laughs, when asked whether the confluence is coincidental. “But it works out well. It’s going to be a busy month.”
Her new book, The Stolen Queen, is a slight departure from her usual Manhattan-focused historicals, taking readers from the glittering Met Gala in 1978 New York City to the labyrinthine streets of Cairo and a dusty archaeological dig in 1936 that soon turns to tragedy.
Davis promises that readers can expect the same immersive setting, realer-than-life characters and high society drama, with a gritty mystery at its center.
Wands’ and McCullough Keenan’s latest, Trust Issues, follows a pair of siblings who find themselves on the suspect list after their mother dies under mysterious circumstances. To clear their names and recover the family fortune, they set off to find the con man who’s made off with it, and find themselves more tangled in the family’s web of deception than ever before.
It’s a family story as dysfunctional as they come, with plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning.
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While the research process was different for each — they traveled to Egypt to capture the sights, sounds and smells of the desert to heighten the realism in The Stolen Queen and Wands’ book takes place closer to home — the couple said that writing their two books have more in common than they might appear at the outset. Both have a mystery element, complex relationships and characters driving toward something, sometimes literally.
As they look forward to releasing them into the world, they’re also continuing apace as a couple. Both laughed when asked if they have any advice for people like them, looking at each other for a long moment. Patience, is one. A sense of fun is another. And whatever comes their way, facing it side-by-side.
The Stolen Queen and Trust Issues are both now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.
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