Authors Answer: Michael O'Donnell
Authors Answer Q&A #602
Author interviews almost always focus on questions regarding an author’s latest publication (and that’s great because it’s how readers discover new books!) but sometimes it’s fun to ask authors to talk about their lives beyond the book they’ve just written. Authors Answer (started as a blog in 2020, moved onto Substack in 2025), is an attempt to give authors space to wax eloquent about the other influences on their writing. The questions posed here move beyond the formulaic classics like, “What books are on your nightstand?” or “What book inspired you to be a writer?” and even “You’re having a dinner party….which three authors (dead or alive) do you invite?” There are 20 standing questions. Authors pick FIVE that they want to answer.
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Today’s post features Michael O’Donnell.
Michael O’Donnell is the author of the bestselling novel Above the Fire. In 2023, Apple Books named him a debut writer to watch. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and other publications. A longtime member of the National Book Critics Circle, he practiced law in government and private practice for over twenty years. He lives with his family in the Chicago area.
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
Very much yes. I love movies almost as much as I love books and think they’re a great way to package a story. When I write, I’m always nodding to things I’ve seen as well as words I’ve read. In my newest novel, Concert Black, I actually used a particular character reference from a movie for one of my secondary characters, Victoria Croft. I thought of Vanessa Redgrave’s ethereal portrayal of Ruth Wilcox in the 1992 film Howards End. Ironically—or maybe not—that movie is itself an adaptation of one of my favorite novels, by E.M. Forster. In my previous novel, Above the Fire, I wanted to capture a fragile but tender relationship between a parent and child in the crucible of the mountains. I thought frequently of Debra Granik’s lovely 2018 film Leave No Trace as I did so.
Not all books are for all readers… when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
Way too long. I’m currently 450 pages into a 600-page book that I should have put down weeks ago. I just can’t seem to give up. I think I trick myself into getting past a certain tipping point at which it would be impossible to stop. On the other hand, sometimes I’ll pick something up, read a page, and say nope and put it back.
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
Yes—I collect wristwatches. I’m very much an analog person: no social media, mistrustful of computers, hate my phone. I like elemental things like printed books, cold water, and hot coffee. Watches are the ultimate analog tool that has endured not just for generations but centuries (the first one dates to 1505). I have been collecting them for about a decade. I don’t have a large collection, and I don’t particularly care for fine or expensive timepieces. I just like a good mechanical wristwatch that tells the time and does nothing else. You’ll always find one on my wrist.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
My hiking boots. I have a pair of boots made by the Limmer company in New Hampshire. They make exceptional, handcrafted leather boots that wear like tanks and are meant to last a lifetime. I have been hiking all over the world—in Ireland and Scotland, the Rocky Mountains and Glacier National Park, Iceland, and the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden. Each adventure has yielded new friends and taught me something. And one trip, to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, even gave me the idea for a novel.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I listen to about 50% classical music and 50% everything else. But classical music forms the spine of my novel Concert Black—it is set in the conservatory and the concert hall. While writing it, I drew on my own musical history (I play the cello) and years attending concerts at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Several scenes feature particular pieces of music—someone is practicing them or performing them—and I listened and relistened to the music as I wrote in order to establish the rhythm of the scene. For example, a key scene of the novel features a performance at the CSO, and I listened to the music from that scene—the Spring Rounds movement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring—the entire time that I worked.
Endnotes!
This newsletter is a passion project started by me, Elizabeth Rynecki, to try to help shine a light on new-to-me authors. I am also an author (and a documentary filmmaker and podcaster) and if you want to learn more about me, you can visit my website or read my personal newsletter, Ink Trails: A Chronicle in Creativity.
I’ve never made Authors Answer specific social media accounts, but you can find me on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.