Jillian Thomadsen - Twists, Turns and Unexpected Connections

Jillian Thomadsen published her first book, All the Hidden Pieces in spring 2018. The book is a suspense novel about a family that receives a mysterious phone call and suddenly disappears. After working in Finance for over a decade, Thomadsen quit her job to focus on writing. She has written for Sophisticated Living St. Louis, ADDitude Magazine, The Today Show Parenting, Bloomberg BusinessWeek and ScaryMommy. As our Author of the Day, she tells us about her book, All the Hidden Pieces.

Please give us a short introduction to what All the Hidden Pieces is about.

One September morning, Greta Carpenter gets a phone call that will upend her life. Within minutes, she and her family hastily pack up their belongings and abandon their home. Where did they go and why?

Det. Roberta Hobbs has been assigned to uncover the family’s whereabouts. Hobbs is a confident, intelligent police veteran. However, each passing day brings her closer to her unresolved past – a past that’s surprisingly intertwined with the case – forcing her to confront her own demons before she can resolve the disappearance.

This dual-timeline suspense novel takes us back to 2004 as the events that lead to the Carpenter family’s disappearance slowly unfold…and in present time, Hobbs must race to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

What inspired you to write about a family who has to hastily pack up their belongings and abandon their home?

I wanted to write about the struggles of growing up with dyslexia but I wanted to wrap that story in a suspense novel. No suspense seems more gripping than the question of why a family would choose to leave everything behind. I wanted to keep the reader fully engaged with the mystery, to see if they could figure out why this family left and where they went.

To date, no reader has yet figured out the ending beforehand, so I think all the plot twists and turns have been effective!

Tell us more about Roberta Hobbs.  What makes her tick?

Roberta Hobbs was probably my favorite character to write. She is hardened and determined, yet also vulnerable. Hobbs hasn’t yet overcome her past and that will prevent her from accepting the present. It’s hard to get Hobbs to open up, so her mind is constantly churning with thoughts and ideas she doesn’t feel comfortable openly expressing to anyone.

I’m now querying a second book to agents, and this one is solely from the perspective of Roberta Hobbs. There’s so much to tell about this complex woman, and the never-boring trajectory of her life as a police detective.

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

Aside from writing, I actually love Excel spreadsheet modeling. I worked for a few investment banks in New York and LA, and I pretty much just did Excel the whole time. Now that I’m a stay at home mom, I have used those skills to generate an engine for our PTO fundraisers and as Treasurer. (You can learn more about that here: https://www.scarymommy.com/opt-out-mom-interview/). My mother is a mainframe computer programmer so maybe it’s in the blood.

The book has some interesting twists. Did you plan it all out before you started writing, or did some of it just "happen" along the way?

I planned it all out beforehand. Before I type anything, I always put together a pretty extensive outline. It’s especially important with a dual-timeframe novel, so I can keep track of where I am in both narratives, and weave together the storylines just where I want them.

Readers say the book took them on an emotional rollercoaster.  Was intentional?

Yes, that was my goal. The crux of the book really is about the hardships of parenting a son with learning disabilities. As a mother, you would do anything for your kids…and it’s so hard when you see your kids struggle – especially if it’s a struggle that you yourself overcame. And especially if it’s a struggle where you know the necessary path to take, but none of the needed resources are available to you.

There are other tender moments in the book too. Greta Carpenter is not the only mom in the book. She herself has a mom – a woman who has been looking for her for years – and that’s a relationship that needs to be repaired.

And finally, getting back to Roberta Hobbs, she has an ex-boyfriend who never fully committed to her and a current boyfriend who is unfailingly emotionally supportive. Before Roberta can accept what’s going on in her life, she needs to come to terms with her past.

All the Hidden Pieces is your debut work. What has the experience been like so far?

It has been a whirlwind getting to this point. To take it back to 1997, I was twenty years old and had just completed two White House internships when I decided to write a political satire that centered on a White House intern’s discovery of a secret within the presidential administration. The whole time I was writing I wondered, Does anyone really care about secrets involving a White House intern?

Then 1998 happened and everyone cared about secrets involving a White House intern. I landed an agent after one week of querying and she shopped my novel to various publishers. Unfortunately, the novel never went anywhere after that. My book was insanely long and much of the plot was buried under pages of politically charged diatribe. Plus, in 1998, real life was actually way more interesting and salacious than what I’d written. Why buy the book when you can read the Starr Report for free?

I spent the next decade and a half working in Finance, and I also got married and had three kids. Life was busy, but I really missed writing and wondered whether I made a mistake by chasing the financially stable path instead of my dream. Once we moved to St. Louis and I quit my job, I decided to take up writing again. I wrote All the Hidden Pieces and participated in a Twitter pitch contest, where a small publisher found me.

We signed papers, and before I knew it, I had a cover artist, story formatter, editor and a launch date. I told almost everyone I knew that I had a book deal!

But, sadly as these things sometimes go, my publisher suffered a big personal setback and had to close down her shop. It was a bit embarrassing having to publicly announce that I actually *didn’t* have a book deal after all, but I’m grateful for the experience but it facilitated the decision to self-publish.

Is there an underlying message you wish to relay about basic human nature through your characters? 

One of the biggest messages is how difficult it is to grow up with dyslexia, and how much misinformation there is about the diagnosis. Around 5 – 10% of the US population has dyslexia, but it is still so difficult for kids to get the help they need.

Some of that has to do with a lack of Learning Disability screening and much of it has to do with lack of funding. In many cases, learning disabled children are seen as stupid or lazy, and they often see themselves in the same light after struggling for so long with something that seems like it should be easy.

One of the main characters, John Brock, has dyslexia and I aimed to portray his struggle in the most honest light possible. I based a lot of his story on what my son Ryan has faced.

(Link to an essay about my son Ryan’s battle with dyslexia: https://www.additudemag.com/dyslexia-reading-disability/)

What are you working on right now?

Right now I’m working on getting through the day. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was querying my second Roberta Hobbs book to literary agents and hoping to attend two summer writers conferences.

Now, I’ve switched full-gear into facilitating the education of my kids, figuring out how to get groceries and prescriptions in the least risky way possible, checking in with my parents on a regular basis and basically just trying to stay at home and stay healthy.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I love connecting with readers! I can be reached at [email protected].

I’m on Twitter technically ((@JillianA_T) but I don’t check Twitter very often. Gmail is definitely a better way.

I hope to have my next book out soon…stay tuned!