Photo by Justine Cooper
Crimereads, 31 July 2026
On July 21, our first cowritten novel published. Unlike many collaborations, particularly by married couples, The Mortons isn’t a two-hander. This dark tale of an ancient crime family is told from a single point of view, but informed by our distinct upbringings. Continue reading here.
Writing a Novel Together Was Never the Plan. Then Came COVID — And a Dare
People, 19 July 2026
It was never in our marriage plan to write a book together.
For one thing, the whole idea was too obvious. We were both writers. Most of our friends were writers. We even met at a literary award ceremony!
We’d also seen A Star is Born, the endlessly remade movie about the dangers of marrying a creative in the same field. According to Hollywood logic, a shared life of artistic ups and downs leads to rivalry, jealousy and walking into the ocean. (As James Mason did in the 1954 version.) Read the rest here.
Authors Talk: Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld
Interview by Katy Hershberger Publishers Lunch, 22 July, 2026
Q: How was the publishing process for your first book for adults different from publishing books for kids and teens?
A: The editorial process was very different because we had 3 editors working together. Which meant that sometimes there were three different comments on parts of the manuscript, which made it a fascinating process!
The biggest challenge was threading the needle between making sure most things were clear for the casual adult reader but didn’t alienate hardcore readers by making The Mortons too easy to read.
We loved not having to worry about disguising elements that might get the book banned. Continue reading here.
Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier’s Perfect Crime
Interview by Joanne Sullivan, Publishers Weekly, 8 May 2026
In a way, YA power couple Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier have been writing together decades. Married since 2001, they’ve spent 25 years critiquing each other’s work while their respective careers took off. Westerfeld is the author of the bestselling YA dystopian series Uglies—which was adapted as a Netflix feature in 2024—and Impostors, while Larbalestier is known for the acclaimed YA novels Liar and My Sister Rosa. But The Mortons, an adult novel publishing in July from Viking’s Pamela Dorman Books imprint, is the first title the couple has written together. Continue here.