By Steph Snyder | Photograph by Todd France
In 2014, after a lengthy writing process and a series of rejections, UAlbany psychology grad and “author-preneur” Eva Lesko Natiello self-published her first novel, The Memory Box. After achieving USA Today and New York Times best-seller status, she published another suspenseful page turner, Following You (2021). Today, Natiello is promoting her latest book, The Dog Sitter (May 2026), a witty, feel-good story set in New York City that is a strong pivot from her previous psychological thrillers set in suburbia.
Why did you choose New York City as the setting for The Dog Sitter?
If a person is moving to New York, they may feel like they need to start over, or to take some risks in life, or become the person they’ve always wanted to be. Colleen, our protagonist in The Dog Sitter, has been let down by many people, so she enters her “me period” and wants to go on a “people sabbatical.” She moves to NYC to take a job that she is completely unqualified for and thinks, “If I take this job, I won’t have to deal with people.” In New York, you end up befriending people that, on paper, you wouldn’t have sought out in real life. This could be a great place for Colleen to find a sense of belonging.
This book is a love letter to NYC, but also to our four-legged friends. Are you a dog person?
I had a standard poodle named Ginger as a child. I don’t have a dog currently. The dog idea came about because I wanted to create that “fish out of water” scenario for Colleen. Antics will ensue — she must take care of the dog and has no idea how to do so.
What ideal setting gets your creative juices flowing?
My perfect writing day is in my office, sitting at my desk. I have complete silence; I’m not listening to anything. I’ll probably be drinking coffee. I love to roam around my house and daydream as part of my process. If I’m stuck on something, I have two solutions: If I lie down on the couch in my family room and pretend that I’m sleeping, after 10 to 15 minutes, I feel completely unstuck; or, I will grab a notebook and a pen and go outside and sit in the back seat of my car, close the door and write until I’m unstuck. It seems crazy to my neighbors when they walk by, but it’s foolproof!
How have you grown as an author?
I have learned to trust my voice, which is hard to do. I’ve learned that having a unique perspective should always be more important than writing something familiar or writing something to fit in. I’ve had to trust my process, even though it is insane and inefficient, and kind of crazy. I’ve also learned to focus on my fans. I’m writing for them.
You’re a UAlbany psychology grad. Has your psychology background influenced your writing?
On my desk is one of my old textbooks, Abnormal Psychology. When I write psychological thrillers, it’s sort of my bible. You have to know what can go wrong with personality traits and quirks, and chemical imbalances, and that manifests into a character.
What makes you feel nostalgic for UAlbany?
In thinking about being nostalgic for UAlbany, much of it is being nostalgic for a stage of life, back to a time when our focus was to indulge ourselves in intellectual curiosity. When do we ever get that again in our lifetime? When else are we ever going to be with that many people in our age group?
Do you have any advice for your fellow Great Danes who are considering writing a book?
Act before you think and just start writing. You only have one goal — it’s not to write a great book. Your goal is not to write fascinating characters; it’s not to find the greatest character arc. The one goal you have is to finish the draft — that’s it. Because there are millions more unfinished books in the world than there are finished books in the world. What pile do you want yours on?
Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for clarity and space considerations.
By Steph Snyder | Photograph by Todd France
In 2014, after a lengthy writing process and a series of rejections, UAlbany psychology grad and “author-preneur” Eva Lesko Natiello self-published her first novel, The Memory Box. After achieving USA Today and New York Times best-seller status, she published another suspenseful page turner, Following You (2021). Today, Natiello is promoting her latest book, The Dog Sitter (May 2026), a witty, feel-good story set in New York City that is a strong pivot from her previous psychological thrillers set in suburbia.
Why did you choose New York City as the setting for The Dog Sitter?
If a person is moving to New York, they may feel like they need to start over, or to take some risks in life, or become the person they’ve always wanted to be. Colleen, our protagonist in The Dog Sitter, has been let down by many people, so she enters her “me period” and wants to go on a “people sabbatical.” She moves to NYC to take a job that she is completely unqualified for and thinks, “If I take this job, I won’t have to deal with people.” In New York, you end up befriending people that, on paper, you wouldn’t have sought out in real life. This could be a great place for Colleen to find a sense of belonging.
This book is a love letter to NYC, but also to our four-legged friends. Are you a dog person?
I had a standard poodle named Ginger as a child. I don’t have a dog currently. The dog idea came about because I wanted to create that “fish out of water” scenario for Colleen. Antics will ensue — she must take care of the dog and has no idea how to do so.
What ideal setting gets your creative juices flowing?
My perfect writing day is in my office, sitting at my desk. I have complete silence; I’m not listening to anything. I’ll probably be drinking coffee. I love to roam around my house and daydream as part of my process. If I’m stuck on something, I have two solutions: If I lie down on the couch in my family room and pretend that I’m sleeping, after 10 to 15 minutes, I feel completely unstuck; or, I will grab a notebook and a pen and go outside and sit in the back seat of my car, close the door and write until I’m unstuck. It seems crazy to my neighbors when they walk by, but it’s foolproof!
How have you grown as an author?
I have learned to trust my voice, which is hard to do. I’ve learned that having a unique perspective should always be more important than writing something familiar or writing something to fit in. I’ve had to trust my process, even though it is insane and inefficient, and kind of crazy. I’ve also learned to focus on my fans. I’m writing for them.
You’re a UAlbany psychology grad. Has your psychology background influenced your writing?
On my desk is one of my old textbooks, Abnormal Psychology. When I write psychological thrillers, it’s sort of my bible. You have to know what can go wrong with personality traits and quirks, and chemical imbalances, and that manifests into a character.
What makes you feel nostalgic for UAlbany?
In thinking about being nostalgic for UAlbany, much of it is being nostalgic for a stage of life, back to a time when our focus was to indulge ourselves in intellectual curiosity. When do we ever get that again in our lifetime? When else are we ever going to be with that many people in our age group?
Do you have any advice for your fellow Great Danes who are considering writing a book?
Act before you think and just start writing. You only have one goal — it’s not to write a great book. Your goal is not to write fascinating characters; it’s not to find the greatest character arc. The one goal you have is to finish the draft — that’s it. Because there are millions more unfinished books in the world than there are finished books in the world. What pile do you want yours on?
Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for clarity and space considerations.