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To continue the Halloween spirit, Andrew is joined with author Lara Elena Donnelly who talks about her suspenseful thriller Base Notes (2022). To whet your appetite here's a quick synopsis: In New York City everybody needs a side hustle, and perfumer Vic Fowler has developed a delicate art that has proved to be very lucrative: creating bespoke scents that evoke immersive memories—memories that, for Vic’s clients, are worth killing for.

Lara discusses the origin story for her novel, including how Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd has been brought up by many readers, and her love for Patricia Highsmith and Hitchcock! Many of her friends had her look into the novel and film American Psycho to get inspiration for her novel, and she hopes that someone from A24 is listening to this so Base Notes can turn into a thriller/horror film. 

You'll be swept away by Lara's creative mind and will be thinking deeply about the queerness of scents and the gendered aspects of perfume. This is an episode to die for, and we hope you don't get too frightened.

Get your hands on Base Notes here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/base-notes-lara-elena-donnelly/16750268?ean=9781542030700

Listen to Avi Roque perform Lara's Base Notes on Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Base-Notes-Audiobook/1713623978

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Many thanks to the Ivory Tower Boiler Room podcast team:

Andrew Rimby, Executive Director; Mary DiPipi, Chief Contributor; Kimberly Dallas, Editor