Twins: The Good, the Bad, and the Creepy…

Welcome to my new substack, which is replacing my old mailchimp. I plan on monthly dispatches about weird and wicked history, but for this inaugural newsletter I have a more personal tale to share. After that I’ll tell you about the sweepstakes, which involves a curated pack of books and, just as exciting, FOOD. (Feeling impatient? You can click here to get to the sweepstakes right away.)

My grandmother's groovy foot shag 

A strange fact about me: Both of my parents are twins. My father, Ronald, has a twin named… wait for it… Donald. In addition to having the ugliest area rug ever produced by the 1970s—it was an avocado shag shaped like a giant foot—my grandmother possessed a strange sense of humor. Ronald and Donald are fraternal twins, meaning they were conceived when two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate sperm; their genetics are the same as any other brother or sister. Donald had wavy hair; Ronald had straight. Donald was tall and broad and had the physique of a star quarterback (which he was); Ronald was short and scrawny and had the physique of a trumpet player (which he was).

My mother and her twin, Spelling Bee Queens 

My mother, Katherine, and her twin, Judith, were identical twins. More than identical, they were mirror twins—a rare form of identical twins that occurs when the embryo splits later than usual. Looking at each other was akin to looking into a mirror. My mom is right-handed and my aunt was a lefty. Their hair parted naturally on opposite sides. They had the same raspy laugh. Like many identical twins, they had shared interests and an eerie bond. Both were Spelling Bee champions. Both became emergency room nurses. Both were viciously competitive board game enthusiasts and trivia masters. They could read each other’s thoughts and feel each other’s pain. They were each other’s favorite person in the world.

Alex and Marcus Lewis (credit: Netflix) 

In 2019, I watched a fascinating documentary called Tell Me Who I Am. It tells the story of identical twins Alex and Marcus Lewis, whose lives were completely upended by a strange, rare form of amnesia. When Alex was 18, he suffered a motorcycle accident that obliterated his memory. When he awakened from a coma, he remembered nothing but Marcus’s face and name. Alex would have to depend on Marcus to help rebuild his identity and memories. But in this tragedy, Marcus saw an opportunity: he could recreate his and Alex’s history, inventing memories that had nothing to do with the lives they’d actually lived. Eventually, Alex began to suspect that, maybe, Marcus had been lying to him all along…

Not a forgotten Diane Arbus outtake, but my mother and her twin being super Catholic 

I couldn’t stop thinking about this documentary, and about the choice Marcus made to lie to Alex. I applied their situation to my mother and her twin. What would they have done in the face of such a tragedy? Would they have told the truth from the start, or would they have concocted a history filled with lovely little lies? How far would they go to save each other? What if the lovely little lies not only threatened their unique bond, but also their lives? These questions so intrigued me that I decided to write a novel about it.

Which leads me to my debut novel, WHERE YOU END, whose protagonists, Kat and Jude, are named for my mother and her twin. And now for the preorder sweepstakes! If you pre-order a copy of WHERE YOU END, you have the chance to win the following very cool things: five books (by various authors) of my choosing and a $100 Goldbelly gift card. What does Goldbelly have to do with a twisted tale of identical twins, you might ask? WHERE YOU END takes place in my hometown of Philadelphia, which unequivocally has one of the best food scenes in the country. If you win, of course you can pick any old snack you fancy, but I’m here to tell you that would be a mistake.

The worst-looking best thing you will ever eat 

Instead, you should try tomato pie, which makes an appearance in the book. Specifically, I recommend tomato pie from Corropolese Bakery. Frankly, tomato pie doesn’t look all that appetizing; it’s as though someone slopped a bunch of sauce on some crust and forgot the cheese entirely and let it sit on the counter for an afternoon and maybe the dog licked it a bit. But let me tell you: Done right, it is SUBLIME—crunchy and savory and sweet and frighteningly addictive. A quarter sheet of eight slices is an appropriate single serving; I will fight you on this. Click here to enter, and please spread the word! Preorders are so important to a book’s success and I really appreciate the support. Every single entry will receive a signed bookplate from yours truly, a deluxe digital book club kit, and, if you so desire, a special guest (me) at your book club meeting, either via Zoom (or, if you are nearby and offer interesting cocktails), in person. If you have already pre-ordered the book—and thank you very much for that—you already have your entry for the sweepstakes.

TELL-ME-A-SECRET CONTEST

I’m stealing this idea from my friend, thriller writer Carter Wilson, whose book The Dead Girl in 2A was one of my favorite reads this year. Check him out. Anyway, this month’s question/s is: If you had to fill in someone else’s history, would you tell them the truth or would you lie? If the latter, what is the biggest lie you would tell? The winner gets a free signed copy of my latest nonfiction book, The Ghosts of Eden Park. Also, if you have any creepy/fascinating twin stories, I’d love to hear them.

As always, thanks for reading. Until next month…