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07/18/2019 12:01 AMJoin Hallie Ephron, author of Careful What You Wish For, will be in conversation with her long-time friend and writing buddy, local mystery author Lucy Burdette, the pen name for Madison’s Roberta Isleib, at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison on August 8 at 7 p.m.
They’ll talk about how therapeutic it was for Ephron to write a murder mystery about a professional organizer who’s married to a man who can’t pass a yard sale without stopping. In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly hailed the novel as “Outstanding...may be the first domestic thriller to weave in Marie Kondo’s decluttering theory about discarding things that don’t spark joy.”
To research the book, Ephron consulted many professional organizers and psychologists, including Burdette, a psychologist, to understand why so many of us find ourselves at the mercy of our stuff.
She tried to tune in to the nuances that distinguishes a collector from a packrat from a hoarder. She was especially interested in the dynamics of a marriage in which one spouse is inured to clutter while the other is not. Ephron already had some firsthand experience since, for decades, she’s been happily married to a man who’s wedded to his stuff and spends his Saturday mornings happily yard sale-ing.
In practice, Ephron has managed to get her husband to keep his beloved clutter confined to their attic, basement, garage, and the trunk of his car. Here are her tips for decluttering your spouse:
• Pick your battles: If his bureau drawers and closet doors shut, what’s inside them is not your problem. Your challenge is to stop thinking about it.
• Catch him unawares: At a quiet time, say, “Honey.” Pause and wait. “I need to ask you something.” Pause. “You know that pile on the basement stairs...?”
• Bring in reinforcements: Got any grown children up your sleeve? Enlist them to help execute whatever plan to which you get Honey to agree. Your help will probably not be welcomed.
• Bribe, barter: The promise of homemade lobster bisque or a back massage can be a powerful incentive.
• Sublimate: It will be much easier to write a book about his clutter than to get him to change.
• And, finally: If he speaks to your heart, keep him.
Ephron and Burdette met years ago when both were writing mystery series featuring a psychologist. Now Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries. Ephron writes what she calls “women’s fiction with a twist of suspense. Creepy but never icky. I try to write books with situations that seem utterly believable. Yes, this could happen to me, I want the reader to think. And shudder.”
Ephron is The New York Times bestselling author of Never Tell a Lie, Come and Find Me, There Was an Old Woman, Night Night, Sleep Tight, and You’ll Never Know, Dear. She is a five-time finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, as well as for the Anthony and Edgar Awards. The daughter of Hollywood screenwriters and the third of four writing Ephron sisters, she lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries. As Roberta Isleib, she has also written the golf lovers mystery series and the advice column mysteries. Her books and stories have been nominated for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards.