On Plotting Suspense: An Interview with Author Megan Collins

CHARLIE CASE: Welcome to the Long River Rewind. Today we have a special guest: mystery and thriller novelist Megan Collins, who we the interviewers have had the privilege of being taught by in the past. 

 

SOPHIA CIRALDO: Megan is the author of Thicker than Water, The Family Plot, Behind the Red Door, and The Winter Sister. She received her BA in English and Creative Writing from Wheaton College, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University. She has taught creative writing at Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and Central Connecticut State University. She is also Managing Editor of 3Elements Review. Thank you for being here with us, Megan.

 

MEGAN COLLINS: Thank you for having me.

 

CHARLIE: All right, so let’s get started. Our first question is this: you’re currently working on your fifth novel. How does it feel to be at this point in your career?

 

COLLINS: It’s really crazy, because it felt like it took so long for me to get the first book published, and ever since then, almost, I’ve had a book a year come out. It was such a long road to get to the first one, but now I’ve been on this train, and you kind of lose sight after a while. Even you just saying that: “it’s gonna be my fifth book;” I haven’t really stopped to think about that. Like, wow, that’s actually really cool!

 

I guess I don’t stop to think about it very often, because you get so wrapped up in writing one book, and then promoting the next book, and then going back and revising, whatever. But I feel really, really lucky that this has happened, and that I’ve continued to be able to tell stories, and to just do what I love to do.

 

SOPHIA: I’m personally really impressed with how fast you seem to get into your stories, it’s just awesome.

 

So another question is: having written four books, how do you feel about your writing? Has it grown, and are there any particular aspects of your writing that you’ve been excited to see develop?

 

COLLINS: So, yes, I feel that my writing has grown. I hope that readers of mine feel that way, because that’s your hope every time you go into a new project: that you are doing something new in some way, and that you’re learning and developing.

 

I think the thing that I’ve developed most is: I talk a lot about how, when I wrote my debut, The Winter Sister, I didn’t know that I was writing a thriller or mystery. I didn’t set out to do that. I just followed the story that I wanted to tell. And so then… in this mystery-thriller space… I feel like with every book, I’ve tried something new in that space for me, and just committed to it even more. And hopefully I keep honing my ability to be in that space… whether it’s pacing, or the different reveals and things that come out, just making sure that that’s stronger and stronger, and making each book a page-turner, and not just “oh, the writing is good,” or whatever. I feel like that’s the thing that I’ve noticed that has developed the most: just being comfortable in the genre, and exploring what it has to offer.

 

CHARLIE: Yeah, I remember while reading your novel, The Family Plot, the mood that you’d set was so consistent throughout, and it was so tangible to read and to move through. That’s something that I really admired when I was reading it myself.

 

Alright, so, our next question: what aspects of your books have been your favorite to develop? Whether that’s the prose or the characters, the plot, whatever.

 

COLLINS: So, another thing I talk a lot about is how writing is really hard, as you two are very well aware. Now that I’m writing full time, and my job is to sit down at my desk and write and make sure the story is coming together, a lot of times, it can feel like day after day of just slogging through it. You know what scene you have to write; sometimes you’re not particularly inspired, but you still have to do it. So, that remains hard.

 

It’s hard with every book that I write. But the thing on the flip side of that, that keeps me just loving writing in general, is the attention to the language. I think it probably comes from my background in poetry; I went to grad school for poetry and all that. I’ve always had interest in the language first. Well, not first—the story has to be there—but really making sure that it’s not just an interesting story, but that the language is interesting, too. And so, the buzz that I get from writing is… if I can figure out a really cool way of saying something that I haven’t heard before, or if I can figure out an image that I haven’t been able to quite grasp, and then I finally get it, those are the moments when I just really love it and can’t imagine doing something else.

 

SOPHIA: Yeah, I agree. I feel like for any fiction writer it’s important to keep that poetic form in the back of your mind.

 

Another thing we wanted to ask: a lot of your books deal heavily in musings on family connection. We want to know: what draws you to that topic?

 

COLLINS: So that’s a super fair question, because it’s true and I get that a lot, but I kind of did it by accident? I never set out to be, like, “I’m going to be the author that writes these sort of twisted family stories.” It just so happened that each story I was telling so far really centered on what the family dynamics were.

 

I always say I just follow the story. I don’t worry about: “What am I doing?” “What am I saying in my author brand?” or whatever. But, I mean, it does endlessly fascinate me, family dynamics; I think there’s so many ways to… mess up a child? (Laughter) And I like exploring that.

 

I also think that these sort of twisted family dynamics can give characters really great motivations, really great trauma to pull from that can then cause conflicts later in life. And I am really interested in how what happens to you and your family and the family life you have as a child then manifests into adulthood. Do you go deeper into that way of being, or do you resist it? And then does that cause problems? And can you ever truly escape your family heritage and legacy? Those questions keep coming up in my work. Like I said, I never set out to do that; it’s just something that keeps naturally coming out… But in my fifth book—there is a family because everybody has a family—but I’m not centering it on those dynamics. So, new stuff for me!

 

CHARLIE: It’s very exciting to hear about a new way to go for your next book. And as for family connection, I think, because of that notion that everyone has a family, it makes reading your novels really interesting for the different ways that you have explored it! But, definitely excited to see something new.

 

All right. So, next question: how do you come up with all the twists and turns in your stories?

 

COLLINS: I’m not sure. I think I just have, like, a scary brain, and I don’t know if we want to investigate that… (laughter).

 

I think a lot of times I start with a big reveal or a big twist that I know about, and that is kind of baked into the premise of the story for me. I’ll know it pretty early on and then, from that, other things will start to branch off as I realize: how do I get to that twist or that reveal? And what other things need to come to light in order for that to happen? And for that to be a satisfying reveal, and to not come out of left field completely?

 

It’s a lot of sitting there and being like: “What are the blank spaces in this? Where does there need to be more conflict?” and they just kind of… come up. And I wish I could explain that process. But when you’re in it, it’s happening, and you’re like, “Oh, that’s an idea,” and you write it down. And then another idea comes in and you’re like, “That’s a terrible idea,” and you don’t write that one down. And then somewhere along the way you have a full plot! But yeah, I mean, I consume a lot of dark media, dark literature, so that definitely helps: to be steeped in that world of darkness.

 

SOPHIA: I have to say, the twists in your stories are my favorite part. I feel like that’s why I read them so fast; I just eat it up.

 

Now, let’s discuss your current work in progress, Cross My Heart. With this book, are you sticking to the thriller genre?

 

COLLINS: Yes!

 

CHARLIE: In that case, what is it that excites you about this genre? And do you ever plan on branching out?

 

COLLINS: So, like I said, I kind of accidentally ended up in it. But I love it so much because it’s such a great place to explore really meaty subjects in life, like jealousy, grief, anger, revenge—things like that, that are just really juicy aspects of human nature. I also just love… my writing is just so naturally sinister, in a way. If I were to try to write a rom-com, a dead body would show up. And so I love that [the thriller genre] allows me to go to those dark places.

 

I often get questions at book events and stuff that are like: “You write such dark things, but you’re so cheerful and bubbly right now, what is going on?” And I always say: I write the dark things so that I can be light-hearted and joyful in my actual life. Because I think it’s just a really great place to go to those kinds of dark questions and dark topics that we all live through, and we all have to go through, and to just explore that in a way where kind of anything goes.

 

SOPHIA: Yeah, I find that juxtaposition between the light and dark very interesting, for sure.

 

So, can we ask: where are you in your process right now?

 

COLLINS: I’m currently revising. I got my feedback from my editor a couple weeks ago, and now I have until April first to turn in the revision. So I’m just kind of plodding through it.

 

She gave me more global feedback and some line edits as well, and the thing about me is that, with the line edits, it seems like those should be the quickest things, like: “just change that little word,” or whatever. But I spend the longest time on that. It’s already kind of solidified in my head as this other way, and then I have to break that apart and figure out, “Okay, well, if I change that word, then that means I have to also change this earlier because then that’s not going to work…” and then it becomes that I’m doing a whole paragraph.

 

It definitely uses a different side of my brain than I normally access when I’m just drafting. But I also get a huge satisfaction out of that process, because at the end of the day… it almost feels like math? I don’t know why; it’s not, at all, but there’s something about: there’s a problem that has been presented to me, and then I spend a long time trying all these different things, none of them work, and then finally, something clicks and that’s the right answer. And so there’s that little satisfaction. So, that was a long way of saying: I’m in the revising process.

 

CHARLIE: It must be really exciting to be at this point and have it all culminate so soon.

 

So, thinking about your process, how do you go about it when you’re first starting with a novel? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you have any rituals, or a set schedule?

 

COLLINS: I’m a definite plotter. I feel jealous of the pantsers, because it sounds really magical to me to just sit down and have it flow out of your fingertips and see what happens. I have no idea how that works, and I always want to put pantsers’ brains under a microscope and study them. Not that I would know what a brain was doing under a microscope! (Laughter) But yeah, it goes with my whole personality; I’m such a planner in life. I get anxious when I don’t know what the plan is, so it’s the same thing. I know that if I didn’t have an outline, or something already mapped out ahead of time, then I would sit at the computer and just feel completely anxious, and I wouldn’t know where the characters are supposed to go. And so I always create an outline before I start drafting… I have the overall outline, and then I’ll do a chapter outline for each chapter before I write. I’m constantly outlining as I go, and things change as I go, too. Plotters have their pantsing type of thing, where something surprises them in the writing, and then they’re like, “Oh, well, I should follow that.”

 

In terms of a routine, I try to get to my desk by 9:30 in the morning. And I try not to goof off on social media too much, but I usually do for a while. And then I get mad at myself, and I’m like, “just start!” I work ’til like lunchtime, and then take a break to eat lunch and walk for a little bit. And then I come back. 

 

I always have a goal for the day. Usually, if I’m drafting, it’s a word count goal. If I’m revising, it’s: how many pages do I want? Or, what section do I want to make sure I have ended by the end of the day? So I never know exactly what time I’ll stop working. Just, I know that I have to hit that goal. I usually try to keep my goals as manageable as possible, because if it’s a really lofty goal, I will be paralyzed by the assignment I’ve given myself. I always tell people to give themselves reasonable goals, because then anything you do over that makes you feel like the greatest rock star in the world.

 

SOPHIA: I think that’s really interesting, because we all have our different ways of what works best for us.

 

So, our next question—the world wants to know—is there anything that serves as inspiration for this book?

 

COLLINS: Taylor Swift. (Laughter) No, I mean, I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, and I had a whole playlist when I was drafting that was just songs of hers that really got me into the headspace of this book. I also reference her several times throughout the book, because the character’s a big fan. I feel like this book is if Taylor Swift wrote a thriller, because the main character thinks she’s in a romance, but she soon enough comes to learn she is in a thriller. And that’s been kind of fun to play with, because it’s a big departure from my other work. 

 

The premise of the book is this woman becomes romantically obsessed with the husband of her heart donor, because she had a heart transplant… And so I had to do a lot of research for what it’s like to have a heart transplant. I read this book, Sick Girl by… of course, now I’m completely blanking on her name. But it’s called Sick Girl. It’s this really good memoir about this woman who had a heart transplant when she was in her 20s. It was so inspiring, just because it was such a horrendous thing for her to go through. And so one thing that I really want to make sure I do in the detail work, and how the character just lives her life every day, is make sure that I’m getting that right, as close to it as I can. Because it’s a really incredible thing that people do, when they end up getting a whole new heart or any kind of organ, but especially a heart. That’s like… the center of you. And plus, obviously, there’s so much metaphorical material with that, with the idea of getting a new heart. So that’s been really inspiring to me.

 

CHARLIE: That sounds super inspiring. And what you said about your character, your main character, not being aware of the genre that they’re in—that sounds like a super intriguing way to begin a book, so I’m very excited to see what you do with it.

 

One more question about… not about this novel, but: what is a message that you might give to your future self who has finished it?

 

COLLINS: That’s a really good question. I sort of sit here in the process, while it’s still a mess, and still feels like it’ll never come together on the other side. So I think… whoever that version of me is that finished it and put it together and sent it off to go to production… I’m really proud of that person. Because I have had this idea for this book, in one way or another, for years. But I was always kind of scared of it. Because the idea I had necessitated some really big things to happen that I was like, “Can I execute those things? Can I actually do that?” I feel like it’d be so good if I actually can, but I don’t know if I can—and then, I decided last year that this was going to be the book that I wanted to present to my publisher. And like I said, right now it feels like it’ll never come together, so I am just hopeful that at some point, I will be that person who can look back and see that I did it, I actually did the thing for this idea that has been cooking in me for a really long time.

 

CHARLIE: Well, good luck, and we can’t wait to see what Cross My Heart becomes!

 

Alright, to close things out, we have a few final questions for you, the first being: what are you reading right now?

 

COLLINS: I am reading two books right now, because I always have an audiobook and a physical book going. My audiobook is Come and Get It by Kiley Reid, who wrote Such a Fun Age, which was a really popular book a few years ago. And it’s really good; I’m really enjoying it so far. 

 

I’m also reading a book, my physical book, that has the most amazing title, which is: I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me, which is amazing. It’s a YA book about a girl who’s in the ballet world, and there’s going to be some kind of devil’s bargain sort of thing, I think, and there’s going to be a price to pay. I don’t know, but I’m just going to follow it wherever it goes.

 

SOPHIA: I will definitely have to put those books on my list, cause I really love Such a Fun Age. That was so good.

 

Another thing that we want to know: do you have any advice for a young writer?

 

COLLINS: My advice that I always give is to read as widely as possible, not just in the genre that you want to be writing in, because you can learn from anything. Even if you’re writing horror, read a rom-com, read a romance, because even in your horror stories, you’re going to have people in relationships, and there’s something that you can learn from in that. Also, as in that example, rom-coms have a lot of really great banter, which means there’s a lot of really snappy dialogue. That can help you in any genre that you’re writing. And it goes the other way too! If your genre is romance, read suspense, read horror, because there’s always great tension in those, which can be a great aspect in a romance novel as well. So I always say to just read really widely. Other authors are your greatest teachers.

 

And find some way to have some kind of writing community, whether it’s online, through social media, and meeting people by just using the hashtag “writing community” in various spaces… or on Reddit, or whatever it is. Or, if you have a way in your town or at school to piece together an actual writing group, or even if it’s just a couple of friends that you exchange pages with and critique. I think that those are the two most important things for young writers: reading as much as possible and finding some kind of writer connections.

 

CHARLIE: And our last question is: how has writing impacted your life?

 

COLLINS: It’s so hard to say because… do you mean my own writing?

 

CHARLIE: The act of writing in general, and what the art has done for you. 

 

COLLINS: It’s so hard to answer because… it’s hard to separate that out of… like, to think of my life as being a separate entity [writing] could influence, if that makes sense? Because it’s always been such a huge part of my life. But, I mean, it’s given me so many incredible things! It gave me the chance to meet and connect with other writers, which has been the best. And it’s given me the chance to teach other writers, like you guys, which is one of the best experiences of my life. And I just think that a life that’s filled with stories, and language, and playing with language, is such a joyous life.

 

[Writing] has given me everything; everything in my life is in some way a product of that, even like… I love miniature things. And I’m sure that seems so separate. But every little miniature I get is almost like a writing prompt. It’s like: what is this little tiny—what’s it called? … A cash register! I have a mini cash register. What story can be built around that? I don’t know, that probably sounds really weird. But everything feels like an extension of that, in some way. And sometimes people are like, “what would you be if you weren’t a writer?” And I’m like, I don’t know! (Laughter) I guess I’d be a dog walker, because I like dogs? I don’t know!

 

CHARLIE: Well, I think you would make an excellent dog walker in another life.

 

(Laughter)

 

All right, that seems like a good place to stop. Thank you so much, Megan, for chatting with us today. It’s been wonderful to learn more about your artistic journey, and good luck with this upcoming book!

 

COLLINS: Thank you so much! Thanks for talking to me.

 

SOPHIA: Alrighty. This is Charlie and Sophia, signing off.