112. SHAILEE THOMPSON: Blending slasher and romcom vibes into one book | How to Kill A Guy in Ten Dates

This week on LiteraryHype Podcast, I'm chatting with debut author Shailee Thompson. Her first published book, How To Kill A Guy In Ten Dates, is the most fun I've had reading in a while. I didn't know I needed a combination of slasher and romance, but apparently I did.

Shailee and I are chatting all about how she blended two genres with distinct beat patterns into one cohesive story, the iconic quotes at the beginning of each chapter, and just how competitve she really is.


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Transcript

00;00;03;05 - 00;00;09;29
Unknown
Hi and welcome to Literary Hype. I am Stephanie, your literary hype woman, back with another author conversation for Literary Hype podcast.

00;00;10;05 - 00;00;21;27
Unknown
I'm so excited about today's author, because not only is this a debut and you guys know how much I love introducing you to debut authors, but it's also one of the most fun books I've read in a while.

00;00;22;01 - 00;00;35;07
Unknown
I had a blast. Because I did not know that I needed a book that was slasher and rom com combined into one, and that is exactly what we're getting from Shelley Thompson and How to Kill a Guy in ten days.

00;00;35;10 - 00;00;43;28
Unknown
This is the perfect blend of the rom com and the slasher, and like a locked room mystery all boiled into one book. And it is so much fun.

00;00;44;03 - 00;00;52;10
Unknown
So without any further ado, here's my conversation with Shelley Thompson.

00;00;52;13 - 00;00;58;26
Unknown
welcome to Literary Hype. It's so exciting to have you on to talk about your debut novel, How to Kill a Guy in ten days.

00;00;58;28 - 00;01;00;20
Unknown
Thank you so much for having me.

00;01;00;23 - 00;01;05;20
Unknown
I don't think I've had this much fun reading a book in a very long time,

00;01;05;22 - 00;01;15;27
Unknown
I had so much fun writing it as well. Like, I don't think I've had this much fun writing something either, because even though it's my debut book, it's not the first book I've written.

00;01;15;29 - 00;01;18;28
Unknown
But yeah, I was absolutely obsessed with it when I was writing it.

00;01;19;04 - 00;01;25;09
Unknown
So for anybody who hasn't seen this in their bookstore yet or all of our social media, what is How to Kill a Guy in ten days is all about

00;01;25;13 - 00;01;28;07
Unknown
I'm. I blacked out for a second because I'm so used to saying this. All right?

00;01;28;07 - 00;01;49;08
Unknown
So I had to kill a guy. In ten Dates is a slasher rom com that follows Jamie Prescott, who is an academic and expert in film. She's writing her thesis about the intersection of slashes and rom coms, and her roommate and best friend Laurie convinces her to have a bit of a break from that and go to a speed date.

00;01;49;10 - 00;02;17;02
Unknown
On a weekday night. They have pretty low expectations. They're just looking forward to the street food they get to have afterwards. But, Jamie ends up having, a bit of a make cute with the two of out of the ten dates that she has that night. But on her ninth date, there is a blackout. And then when the lights come back on, the unfortunate suitor has had his throat at her table.

00;02;17;05 - 00;02;19;03
Unknown
He's gone. He is our first kill.

00;02;19;09 - 00;02;39;29
Unknown
So everything starts to descend very firmly into slasher territory. There they are, locked into the venue, which is a three level club that Jamie and Laurie used to party at when they were younger. They don't have their phones, and there's a killer on the loose. So Jamie needs to use this theoretical knowledge that she has about slashes to try to survive the night.

00;02;40;01 - 00;02;54;21
Unknown
But of course, it's a rom com as well, so she kind of has to fight some of the attraction that she is feeling to some of the suitors who may also be suspects, responsible for the kills that start to occur over the night.

00;02;54;27 - 00;03;03;13
Unknown
So much fun, so much fun, so much fun. What was your initial spark that you're like, this is the book I need to write.

00;03;03;18 - 00;03;31;17
Unknown
Yeah. So I had been working on a different book. I had been querying a different book, and that was a series, and I had been working on it basically for probably like ten years or so. It was a very, very long process, and I wanted a bit of a break from that. And I was just scrolling on Instagram as, as we all do, and I saw this screenshot that came up, of a tweet that kind of makes the rounds around Halloween every year.

00;03;31;20 - 00;03;56;05
Unknown
And, and the parts to basically said, there are too many Christmas romcoms and not enough Halloween romcoms. And that just kind of stuck with me. And immediately I thought of a horror rom com, and the contrast of those two genres was really, really interesting and intriguing to me. And it was very much out of what I usually wrote, as well.

00;03;56;05 - 00;04;23;22
Unknown
So I decided to set myself a challenge to write a horror rom com. I didn't know if it would work. I didn't know if I would be able to. You know, make those two kind of structures and the tropes work together. But a couple of months after that, like December 2023, I was on holidays from working as a teacher, and I kind of just pulled up at my house one day and I saw the scene of Jamie in the speakeasy bar surrounded by the red velvet.

00;04;23;22 - 00;04;42;06
Unknown
And, you know, had date across the table from her bleeding out, basically. And I was like, oh, okay, this is this is where it starts. And then pretty much from there, I just spent like the next all of my holidays, like the next five weeks just writing this story out, and I got about half of it done.

00;04;42;06 - 00;04;58;01
Unknown
I wrote about 50,000 words in five weeks because I was just so obsessed with this story, and it kind of like played out like a movie in my head as well. So it was very it was very clear to me that this was something that it was so much fun for me and something that I needed to write.

00;04;58;04 - 00;05;03;03
Unknown
And yeah, it kind of just came from a bit of a doomscrolling session, which is, which is a bit weird.

00;05;03;05 - 00;05;13;11
Unknown
I feel like Doomscrolling is leading to a lot of books these days of just like the modern human things you're going to come across on the internet, something, something just clicked. And I was like, I want to see if I can do this.

00;05;13;11 - 00;05;16;23
Unknown
And this is the kind of book that I would like and I would be drawn to. So

00;05;17;00 - 00;05;28;02
Unknown
while the genre mash up is something you don't often see it, that's also true for something that's on before the first page. And you don't often see maps in contemporary romance. No.

00;05;28;04 - 00;05;36;05
Unknown
So, Tom, how does your process in creating this map, why it was important and like that whole journey to get that into the book?

00;05;36;07 - 00;05;51;15
Unknown
Yeah, of course, to be completely honest, the map was created after the book was written. So that was that was a request from my editor, from my publishers. So, originally I just had the rules, the ten rules for surviving a slasher.

00;05;51;18 - 00;06;13;23
Unknown
And then I had the book and they were like, shaylee, this is a really complex, kind of venue that this is occurring in. Can you make a map? And my initial impression was, oh, you know, because this was this crazy, this was this crazy place that only really existed in my mind. And I kind of, like, felt like it wouldn't make sense in real life.

00;06;13;23 - 00;06;40;09
Unknown
And probably, it probably wouldn't make sense in real life anyway. So I kind of had to go back and then try to sketch out, you know, the journey of the characters and, and all of those sorts of things and trying to figure out dead ends and all of that. And unfortunately, we had an amazing, designer at Simon and Schuster Australia who was able to take my sketch and then make it look like the one that you see in the book.

00;06;40;11 - 00;07;02;29
Unknown
But yeah, so I now I now make maps before I write the story, which is far, far, far easier. I will say that. But yeah, this one, this one was done after the fact. So it was it was really funny doing that. And then I kind of it was fortunately during edit. So if there was anything that didn't work, I kind of went back into the book and redid it that way.

00;07;03;01 - 00;07;09;07
Unknown
You touched on the rules for not dying in a slasher. Which of those rules are you most likely to break?

00;07;09;12 - 00;07;22;22
Unknown
I think the running up the stairs, definitely, because if you're being chased, like instinctively, you're just going to try to get away. So I think that's probably going to be, the one that, I would break.

00;07;22;25 - 00;07;42;15
Unknown
And possibly, you know, the, the that I'll be right back because you, you I think that's kind of something that if you were to split up, which is one of the rules, we don't split up. But if you were, it's something that I think I would say to kind of, for my own benefit, like, rather than everyone else.

00;07;42;15 - 00;07;45;20
Unknown
It's like, no, I will be back. Nobody's going to get me.

00;07;45;22 - 00;07;51;00
Unknown
That's what they also say.

00;07;51;02 - 00;07;57;23
Unknown
Just talk a little bit about the creation of that list of roles and the relevance it carries into the story and the plot.

00;07;57;25 - 00;08;10;21
Unknown
I think a lot of those rules are pretty given. Right? So I did a bit of research. I, you know, this was a great book in research because I, I got to watch a lot of horror movies and rom coms and be like, yes, this is serious business.

00;08;10;24 - 00;08;36;18
Unknown
So watching a lot of films kind of just common sense, which doesn't really come into play in a slasher, you know, with those, when tensions are high and, and things like that. Obviously, scream is a huge influence on, on the novel and on the rules as well. Yeah. So, so creating it, I was like, obviously there's going to be more rules than this, but I wanted to have it that nice kind of ten rules to match that ten dates.

00;08;36;18 - 00;09;07;01
Unknown
And that was kind of like my, my reasoning there. But then what I also wanted to do was to establish these rules and establish Jamie's knowledge of these rules, and then basically break them all through the progression of the novel. I think almost every rule is broken except one. And I think that a no. Sorry. Yeah, actually, maybe, turning on the light, nobody turns on the light.

00;09;07;03 - 00;09;23;07
Unknown
Which is essentially breaking the rule as well. So yeah, pretty much every single rule is broken in the book, which was was fun to do because the, the character has that self-awareness of, of the rules to follow, but it's really hard to follow them when you're in the moment. Anyway,

00;09;23;09 - 00;09;30;05
Unknown
in blending these two genres together, like rom coms, get a lot of flack, horror films get a lot of flack.

00;09;30;08 - 00;09;44;26
Unknown
But this main character, she firmly believes in the impact in their intersection between these two genres. So talk a little bit about crafting her story around blending these genres and the importance of these genres and culture at large.

00;09;44;29 - 00;10;06;02
Unknown
Jamie is very aware of the issues of based on Race, and she mentions that throughout the novel, and she even mentioned it within the first couple of pages of that thesis, like these, two Jamie, historical documents, like the slashes that she's interested in, 50 years old and the rom com she's interested in, like 20 to 30 years old.

00;10;06;08 - 00;10;33;12
Unknown
So she's very aware of the issues that exist because they are a product of their time. But at the same time, I think she finds the value in them through the critique that she chooses to use to analyze them. So, for example, the final girl trope, depending on which angle you look at it, it can be like a very patriarchal, kind of repressive role.

00;10;33;12 - 00;11;01;07
Unknown
But if you look at it in another way, it can be a very feminist role in that. It's a very empowering role for women at the time. So I think it's really the lens that you looking at, look at it in. But I also think that these films are enjoyable and they are pure entertainment for people. You know, when I watch those, older rom coms, especially coming from a background where I've had to analyze so I can look at them and I can be like, you know what?

00;11;01;07 - 00;11;29;23
Unknown
I don't agree with this, and I don't really like this, and I don't believe these things are realistic, but I can still have a good time and I can still have it for its entertainment value. And I think especially in, you know, topics or hobbies or different things that women have an interest in, there's often a, you know, there's kind of societal devaluing of that.

00;11;29;26 - 00;11;54;12
Unknown
If women are interested in something, then there is this like criticism that it's not serious and it's not something to be valued, and it is something that is to be more criticized. Which, you know, I think is, if I'm honest, it's pretty shit and it's very patriarchal in its way. Like sometimes we can just enjoy things for what they are and for the love of it and the fun of it.

00;11;54;14 - 00;12;05;00
Unknown
And then we can also analyze and critique things and have things on a more serious level as well. Those things can coexist without, you know, having to butt heads all the time.

00;12;05;05 - 00;12;22;28
Unknown
You mentioned the old movies, which is one of my favorite things about this book is the inscriptions. Before every chapter where you take a movie quote and you flip it just a little bit to make it murderous. Let's talk a little bit about the idea to do that. And your process

00;12;23;00 - 00;12;31;15
Unknown
the first one that I did is the first one that you see in the novel, which is from, the not the holiday.

00;12;31;17 - 00;12;58;19
Unknown
And that was just something that kind of popped up into my mind as I was writing it, wasn't I didn't set out going, I'm going to start every chapter with, with a misquote, basically, or an epigraph. But I just found, because I started writing this in December, I must have just watched The Holiday, and I remember Iris's line, I suppose I think about love for than other people, and my brain just went like switched love and putting murder.

00;12;58;22 - 00;13;17;19
Unknown
And I was like, oh my gosh, that's so funny. Like a lot of the things that I do in the novel are because I enjoy it or I think it's funny and so I did that, and then I was like, well, how many more could I do? And I just started finding these, these quotes and some of my favorite quotes.

00;13;17;22 - 00;13;43;01
Unknown
And then I was kind of like, oh, well, I have to, I have to commit to this now. So this was actually probably the Christmas cards were probably the most difficult part of writing the book, just because as the as I started getting like closer to over 30 chapters, I was like, oh, I need to find 30 quotes from 30 romcoms and, you know, rewrite them and a lot of quotes from those famous romcoms are quite violent in nature anyway.

00;13;43;04 - 00;13;56;18
Unknown
Like that's I would find a quote from movie that I really liked, and I wasn't able to to switch it to make it more re but I, I love that people do like that. And I think it's a nice little, break at the beginning of each chapter,

00;13;56;22 - 00;13;57;14
Unknown
and your favorite.

00;13;57;17 - 00;13;59;16
Unknown
oh my gosh, I have too many favorite ones.

00;13;59;16 - 00;14;29;05
Unknown
I think maybe the pride, the not Pride and Prejudice one. You have butchered me. Body and soul. I have such a soft spot for the not Brokeback Mountain one, which is I wish I could slip you because it's just such a visceral kind of image. And probably, the the not Dirty Dancing one where she's like, I, I'm scared of leaving this room and never killing the rest of my whole life.

00;14;29;05 - 00;14;37;20
Unknown
The way I kill with you, because it's just it's so random. And that's probably one of my favorite rom com quotes, the original one. So I love that I was able to change that.

00;14;37;26 - 00;14;58;21
Unknown
I love them so much. Like when we first got the copies in at my store, I was just going around like going through the chapters and reading them to everybody. I'm like, this is why you need to read this book. And I'm going to keep you with me. But in combining, slasher and rom com into one book, they have different beats that you want to hit to fit that genre.

00;14;58;24 - 00;15;05;10
Unknown
So how did you approach hitting all of the beats but blending the two formats together?

00;15;05;12 - 00;15;22;11
Unknown
my jam. I love analyzing it and deconstructing it. So I kind of had to look at it from a narrative structure, kind of point of view and, and really simplified the to, the two genres to like a very basic narrative structure.

00;15;22;18 - 00;15;42;17
Unknown
There's an orientation, there is some sort of conflict that kickstarts that action, and then it builds to a climax. But one of the things that I realized quite quickly that kind of worked in my favor and is a criticism of the genres, is that they are formulaic. They do follow a structure, and there are there's a lot of predictability about them.

00;15;42;20 - 00;16;06;24
Unknown
So once I kind of just accepted that, it was pretty much just just putting them side by side and trying to go between the two. So with the rising action of a slasher, that meant I had to have kills that, kind of, kind of upped the stakes each time, you know, and, and I was able to plan that out with the rom com.

00;16;06;24 - 00;16;33;07
Unknown
It had to be the the building of the relationship and the sexual tension and the and the, you know, the physical attraction between between the characters. So they worked together really, really nicely. And then, you know, when it didn't, when there was a bit of a dip or something, I just kind of went back in editing and tried to find what was it that we had to do to kind of maintain that writing action.

00;16;33;10 - 00;16;42;01
Unknown
Since there is that mystery element to this of not knowing who the killer is, how did you approach keeping track of the clues to keep it consistent?

00;16;42;03 - 00;17;02;14
Unknown
That was also editing as well. So, like, I went through a couple of rounds of editing after I had written it, and I rewrote it quite quickly. So that was me going back, because I feel like it is my habit as a writer in my first draft, that I do show all my cards, and then I have to go back and then hide them.

00;17;02;20 - 00;17;24;17
Unknown
So yeah, it was pretty much just going back, going back, trying to look at it with fresh eyes. I have an incredible critique partner. And I have some wonderful, friends who are all English teachers as well, so that really helps. So they were able to kind of give me an impression of that, let me know if I was showing too much.

00;17;24;19 - 00;17;48;19
Unknown
So, yeah, I think, you know, even with that first draft, I had a pretty clear idea of what the ending was going to be and what those major beats were going to be. But, I kind of just allowed myself to go with it and to just ride the, the, I guess the muse that I had to write this and then worry about it in editing to, to kind of hype that work.

00;17;48;21 - 00;18;08;22
Unknown
And I love that this book passes the backdoor test. So there's a comment early on, like when the girls are all getting to meet each other before they meet the guys and they're talking about everything from books to plant care and not actually talking about the guys. And I love that. Like subtle nod to the back door test of, like, making sure it's clear that we are not talking about the men.

00;18;08;25 - 00;18;12;13
Unknown
And I love that. Was that intentional or is that accidental?

00;18;12;16 - 00;18;38;19
Unknown
So that chapter, the one with the drinks, was actually written off? My editor and my publisher came on board. So even from the first chapter with Jamie and Laurie talking about her thesis, like, it kind of immediately passes the back door test in, in the first five pages, and I don't think that I went into it going, yes, I need to take these boxes.

00;18;38;25 - 00;19;08;05
Unknown
It was something that was just natural. You know, I love rom coms. I love romances, reading and watching them. But it was also very important for me to have these characters, especially female characters who were well-rounded and who authentically represented, women. So that's why I think we say, you know, my publishers and I joke a lot that Laurie and Janie are the real love story of this book, because female friendship is really, really important.

00;19;08;05 - 00;19;37;02
Unknown
And, you know, we do have those conversations, you know, when when we're out medium. I think that that's all we talk about is men and relationships. But that that pre drink scene where they're sharing books and they're talking about politics and they're talking about how to keep their plants alive. Like it's these really well rounded discussions. But I think it it also shows how women create community as well.

00;19;37;07 - 00;20;04;09
Unknown
You know they're in this situation. They they're all ready to go on those dates. But they are still, you know, creating these conversations and finding, ways to relate to each other as well. So in my experience, you know, with meeting different people and with the, with the friendships that I have, I just kind of wanted to incorporate that into the book because, you know, we are more than our love stories.

00;20;04;09 - 00;20;08;11
Unknown
Even in a romance, the characters can be more that than love stories.

00;20;08;13 - 00;20;31;19
Unknown
Oh, 100%. But it felt like such a little like film nod of, like making a movie that I was like, yeah, that's kind of brilliant to like somewhat call it out, but not call it out. Yeah. So it's like it's a little extra, you know. So it's it wasn't something I did intentionally, but it was also afterwards I was like, yeah, this, this passes to the back door test and it probably passes in a couple of other tests as well.

00;20;31;26 - 00;20;45;24
Unknown
And you touched on the real relationship that we love in this book, and that's the best friendship. Talk a little bit about crafting that friendship, even though we don't always see both of the girls together. Yeah.

00;20;45;27 - 00;20;53;17
Unknown
I think this was something that was kind of like a little bit of, something that I was going through while I was writing this book.

00;20;53;17 - 00;21;13;01
Unknown
So, I am one of my best friends, moved overseas, while I was writing How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates. And, she was my work wife, and we literally saw each other every day. And then we were, you know, if she was in Canada and I was in Australia, so we were like 15,000km apart.

00;21;13;09 - 00;21;34;12
Unknown
So I think I was kind of dealing with that while I was writing this book, because initially, Laurie and Jamie's friendship wasn't that huge of the plot. Like, I knew that I wanted Laurie to be more than the best friend that we see in romcoms, which, you know, the sassy best friend who just pops up every now and then.

00;21;34;18 - 00;21;54;27
Unknown
I knew I wanted her to have a more solid role than that, but basically, as I was writing, the two wouldn't shut up. Like they were just bantering and they were talking all the time, and it was their dynamic was kind of me reflecting on the dynamic that I had with with a lot of my friends as well.

00;21;54;27 - 00;22;13;14
Unknown
So it kind of came about organically. And then I was like, yes, this is what we're going to do. We're going to try to rewrite this narrative in slashes, in rom coms, especially in slashes, like, you see the best friends and then, you know, the nine girl kind of like latches on to whoever her love interest is. And.

00;22;13;14 - 00;22;41;14
Unknown
Yeah, and she forgets this person who who becomes, you know, a casualty within that story. So it was me going, yeah, I'm going to really focus in on their relationship. And I feel like there's a lot of things that they talk about and a lot of things about their dynamic that matches female friendships that I have in my life and that a very, very valuable and really, foundational for me.

00;22;41;14 - 00;23;04;15
Unknown
So it was my way to kind of write a love letter to, to the women in my life who, who if I was in a situation like that, we'd be sticking close by. But yeah, like Jamie and Laurie, they aren't always together in the story. But there is still this real kind of like love and care and concern for each other.

00;23;04;17 - 00;23;34;00
Unknown
That that comes through, which I think is really nice because they're also very different characters. And that was done on purpose as well. I think sometimes the, female characters can kind of, especially in smashes and romcoms. They just kind of seem like a carbon copy of each other. So having them be quite different, but still having this, this relationship between them with, kind of not my intention at the beginning, but was something that I really wanted to get through in the end.

00;23;34;07 - 00;23;43;16
Unknown
one of my favorite lines was, if watching rom coms has taught me anything, it's not to dim yourself. Stuff about that line and the message you hope people take away from this book.

00;23;43;21 - 00;24;06;27
Unknown
She's obviously like a very intelligent character. Her memory is absolutely incredible. But she does have this, you know, this kind of issue with how she is perceived and trying to kind of balance between feeling like she's not enough and feeling like she's too much for people.

00;24;06;29 - 00;24;39;00
Unknown
And obviously we have Laurie there who is has had gorgeous little support. But I think that feeling is something that a lot of women, a lot of people do feel, because we have a lot of mixed messages coming from so many avenues in the world where we are told that we are not enough. But if we try to be our truly authentic selves or we try to be a certain type of person, it feels like the the the finish line keeps moving, right?

00;24;39;02 - 00;25;05;01
Unknown
Once you work on one aspect of your personality or something that is palatable, you know the goal post change. So that was something that I really wanted to incorporate into the character because again, sometimes rom com leading ladies, that only flaw is that they're clumsy or that they trip or it's something that isn't really relatable and they're a little too perfect.

00;25;05;03 - 00;25;24;08
Unknown
So having Jamie have this kind of self-doubt, even though intellectually she is, you know, the person who is the most prepared for this situation was just something that, really kind of appealed to me and I thought would would maybe appeal to readers as well.

00;25;24;10 - 00;25;37;15
Unknown
I do want to touch on the killer a little bit. The killer in this book has a nice little outfit that they wear. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about designing a killer's wardrobe.

00;25;37;18 - 00;25;53;13
Unknown
So it was something that I was like, well, I need something to, you know, disguise whoever is doing this. But then I wanted something that was going to pay homage to kind of the fame of the night being day night.

00;25;53;15 - 00;26;17;00
Unknown
But also those classic slashes. So the kind of base of the outfit is like the, the, the Halloween Michael Myers coveralls, which were, you know, allowed me to kind of like, hide the body shape. But then I put this oversize dinner jacket on them, like the, you know, like there's a dress code for the club and they're adhering to it.

00;26;17;00 - 00;26;44;05
Unknown
I'm putting this dinner jacket on over the coveralls. And then the mask. I wanted something that, you know, was going to be, really quite identifiable when you see it, but also wasn't necessarily scary. I thought at first glance. But when you put it into this dark club and there's blood everywhere and you, you know, you add all the elements.

00;26;44;08 - 00;27;09;26
Unknown
It was something that I was like, all right, well, this could be quite scary as well because of, you know, more the elements around it rather than the mask itself because of the color and because of, you know, that the, the identifiable eye holes of the mask, without giving anything too much away. It was like aligning with the rom-com aspect and then making it a little bit ridiculous.

00;27;09;26 - 00;27;16;17
Unknown
But you're you're actually going to be afraid of saying that. So it was all about that kind of like contrast and juxtaposition.

00;27;16;17 - 00;27;24;03
Unknown
With this book, you did make a whole bunch of memes. So talk a little bit about finding the right memes to help promote this book.

00;27;24;06 - 00;27;41;04
Unknown
Look, that is all by chance, right? Sorry, I, I just wanted to have these kind of social media assets that didn't take themselves too seriously, but kind of touched on aspects of the book.

00;27;41;06 - 00;28;13;20
Unknown
So I, I can be completely honest and say, I basically wake up every couple of days and flick through all of the different options and then see what sticks out to me. And then and then go from there. I do have to control myself, though, because most of them are very, anti Stu memes. So Stu is a character within the novel, and I get drawn to just calling him out all the time, but I'm trying to be a little bit more even, when I'm making these names.

00;28;13;23 - 00;28;19;17
Unknown
But yeah, that's that's just me having a bit of fun and I hope people enjoy them as well.

00;28;19;19 - 00;28;34;14
Unknown
Since your debut, we got to get to know you a little bit, which of course you made it very difficult. There's not a whole lot of information about you out on the internet. So I know most to you, but I didn't see one comment of you make Pilates competitive.

00;28;34;16 - 00;28;43;01
Unknown
Yes, the person who makes things that are not competitive. Competitive like knitting. So talk a little bit about your love of Pilates and how you make it competitive.

00;28;43;03 - 00;28;56;25
Unknown
the people that I'm competing against don't know that they're competing with me. I think I should say that, but, I am a competitive person. I mean, I was I grew up doing dance and I grew up doing teen sports.

00;28;56;25 - 00;29;22;22
Unknown
So it's something that I do think grinded me. So yeah, when I'm, when I'm at the gym, if I'm on the reformer or I'm on the mat and you're next to me, then we are in competition and I am trying to win. So that doesn't, I mean, that could mean I'm going to be in the plank for the longest, or I'm going to hold my hundreds for the longest or my squat is going to be the deepest in the room.

00;29;22;24 - 00;29;43;05
Unknown
I yeah, I just it's something that I cannot control. Like, maybe it's something I need to work on that. If I can make something competitive, then I will do that. And I think, you know that that's that's just something that kind of came about when I started doing gym and everything. I was like, I need to up the ante a little bit.

00;29;43;05 - 00;29;47;04
Unknown
I'm not self motivating enough. I need to be in competition with everyone around me.

00;29;47;12 - 00;29;58;26
Unknown
I think it's like doing sports when you're younger. That just rubs off into like, if you do competitive sports for so long, then you just can't go to the gym and not be like, oh, there's someone on the treadmill next to me. I have to beat them.

00;29;58;26 - 00;30;07;16
Unknown
Yeah, it's it's if they're if they're running, I'm going to start going up to a sprint. Right. Like it has to happen.

00;30;07;18 - 00;30;11;07
Unknown
can you say anything about any future projects that you have coming up?

00;30;11;11 - 00;30;18;15
Unknown
Yeah, sure. So I can't say. Well, I probably could say much, but I'm not going to say much because I love a little secret.

00;30;18;18 - 00;30;41;00
Unknown
So I, I'm currently editing my second book. It's a horror rom com. There is more attraction under events and conditions and, you know, it looks like we're going to release it next year. And that's pretty much all I can say. I hope that, you know, if people enjoyed How to Kill a Guy in ten dates, they'll enjoy this book as well.

00;30;41;02 - 00;30;49;28
Unknown
And will, you know, as soon as I can say something about it, I will be coming out and saying something. But for now, everything's very hush hush and locked up.

00;30;50;03 - 00;30;55;23
Unknown
Awesome. Well, the last question we always ask, because this is literary hype. What books are you hyped about right now?

00;30;56;00 - 00;31;02;06
Unknown
Oh my gosh, my TBR is absolutely out of control.

00;31;02;08 - 00;31;26;14
Unknown
So like even though you can see all of my books behind me now, my bookcase out there is completely full. So I still haven't read the house like Housemaid by Frieda McFadden, and that's one on my list that I need to read. I'm really looking forward. To, love You. To Hate You by Josh Wood in Delaware on the same, publisher.

00;31;26;14 - 00;31;50;06
Unknown
And he just released his cover, and it looks absolutely amazing. It's a rom com. And, you know, if you have a look at Josh's profile on Instagram, it's just beautiful. So I'm really looking forward to that. And I am also trying to get back into more thorough as well. I kind of stayed away from horror while I was editing.

00;31;50;09 - 00;32;05;15
Unknown
But I'm really looking forward to reading strange pitches by you, Katsu as well, which is supposed to be really, really good. And the cover is fantastic. So that's like three on my on my TBR. But the the the pile is never ending.

00;32;05;18 - 00;32;14;24
Unknown
I don't know what that's like at all. Yeah. Well, thanks so much for hanging out with literary hype to talk all about how to kill a guy in ten days.

00;32;14;27 - 00;32;19;27
Unknown
Thank you so much for having me.

00;32;19;29 - 00;32;35;18
Unknown
And thanks again to Shelley for juggling the time zones from our vast difference in different points of the world to make this conversation happen. If you want to check out How to Kill a Guy in ten dates, the links to these are down in the show notes for you, as well as where to find her on social media.

00;32;35;20 - 00;32;47;06
Unknown
If you enjoyed this conversation, don't forget to subscribe to the Literary Hype Podcast wherever you get podcasts. Give us some stars. Leave a comment and share it with a friend. Thanks so much for listening to the Literary Hype podcast.