Bookwild - A Lovely Lie by Jaime Lynn Hendricks: Secrets From High School Reemerge

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

Jaime Lynn Hendricks is back to talk about her newest twisty thriller A Lovely Lie!  Steph joins our conversation about the inspiration for the book, how Jaime builds her large casts, and her favorite part of writing 90s teenagers.A Lovely Lie SynopsisIs it better to believe a lovely lie or to know the horrible truth?1999: The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police, protecting each other from the consequences. Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again…Now: Twenty-two years later, Scarlett has buried that deadly incident deep in her mind and built a comfortable life for herself, working in a hotel on the west coast of Florida and raising her teenage son with her husband Vince. Her peace is disrupted, however, when Pepper’s daughter shows up with news of Pepper’s death. Zoey is twenty-one and studying to be an investigative journalist. She has a cryptic letter from Pepper addressed to Scarlett that alludes to the events of that fateful night and Pepper’s initial intentions to get an abortion. Now Zoey wants answers about her mother’s past. Who is Zoey’s father? And what really happened after the senior picnic? As Zoey continues to dig into the past, all of Scarlett’s buried secrets threaten to rise to the surface.  Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Today we have a very special episode because this is my first author to make her fourth appearance on the podcast. Jamie Lynn Hendricks has been coming on the podcast since her first book, Finding Tessa, and I look forward to talking to her every single year about her absolutely crazy, twisty thrillers that she just keeps fumping out. And this year's is no different. In fact, there might be even more twist at the end than some of her other books. And it might be my favorite of hers. I don't know. There are so many that I love.

But I really, really, really, really, really loved a lovely lie. And it takes place kind of into timelines. So, 1999. The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police protecting each other from the consequences. Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again. Now, 22 years later, Scarlett has buried that deadly incident deep in her mind and built a comfortable life for herself, working in a hotel on the west coast of Florida and raising

her teenage son with her husband Vince. Her peace is disrupted, however, when Pepper's daughter shows up with news of Pepper's death. Zoe is 21 and studying to be an investigative journalist. She has a cryptic letter from Pepper, addressed to Scarlet, that alludes to the events of that faithful night, and Pepper's initial intentions to get an abortion. Now Zoe wants answers about her mother's past, who is Zoe's father, and what really happened after the senior picnic. As Zoe continues to dig into the past, all of Scarlet's buried secrets threatened to rise to the surface. and boy do they rise to the surface. This one, like the last third of the book,

is just absolutely insane. The amount of information you learn and the amount of information that just gets twisted on its head. Twisted on its head? I don't think that's the right word, but I think you guys know what I mean. So this one is just a delight to read. It is perfect to add to your summer reading list.

And I was super excited to interview her with Steph. So let's get into it. I just had so much fun reading this one, so much fun. But I was wondering what was your, what was the initial idea that you had for this one? Well, I actually wrote this book, well, the original version before I even had an agent. So I think this was back in 2017 or 2018. It was, it was a completely different version. The, the whole thing with the accident and what happened stayed the same except for that last part, which only you guys probably know about, that last initial part of the accident. That I added later. But when I went, I'm sure you know you speak to writers all the time. Writing is

becoming a traditionally published author is not an easy road. It is a horrible road right with rejection and self-doubt. So I had been trying at the point that I wrote this probably for about four years, three or four years to get an agent. And, you know, just wasn't happening over and over and over. So when I moved from Hoboken, I was living in New Jersey at the time, when I moved from Hoboken into suburban New Jersey, I was 90 seconds away from the community college for the county. So I said, you know what? What do I have to lose? I'm just going to go. I'm going to bring my newest manuscript and I'm going to take creative writing and I'm going to workshop it with everybody there who are, you know, trying to be writers as

well. So I did that and I workshopped a completely original version. And these kids were great. It was me and my friend Matt, who was now still one of my closest friends. We were the 40 plus crowd and everybody else was 18. So. But, but. They were a great, intelligent group of kids who really were trying to be writers, and they really helped me workshop it. But the original version had Scarlett and Pepper, both as adults, still best friends. And it was kind of flipping it. It started out with Scarlett's wedding, and she was not marrying Vince. She was marrying a different person.

Vince wasn't even in the picture anymore. and, you know, Pepper was her maid of honor, and it was just going back and forth between the two of them. And then you kind of started to see where the cracks were. The lie was told here, a lie was told there. And it all started to kind of resurface. But I had tried to get an agent with that version. And I thought a lot of full requests and everything was just basically rejected. And then I finally put that, put it away completely.

I put it away completely. And then I got my agent with, I actually got my agent with it could be anyone. But that one didn't come out until after finding Tessa because publishing is weird and extra. But once I got that and then I got the other one and then I wrote I didn't do it. I was like, you know what? I wonder if I dust this one off because at that point it was three, four, five years later. And I had learned a lot more about writing and about suspense and about thriller. And I was like, I wonder if I try to do this a different way, if I can, since I've got like the base of the story down, I wonder if I could rework it so that it actually works.

And then I decided to, you know, bring in Zoe to have her be the antagonist and have Pepper be dead and have Zoe show up saying this is what I found out. And now I want to find out more. And I thought that worked better to kind of ratchet up tension. And that's kind of why I also put Scarlett with Vince because I thought that was kind of a fun, a fun way to, you know, bring the past into the present. I thought it worked better that way. And then when I gave it to my agent, she read it. And she said, I think it needs a little bit more suspense in it. Like maybe Scarlett has to feel like, like they're trying to kill her or something.

And I was like, I'm like, I don't know. I'm like, just give it to my editor. I'm like, she has a problem with it. I'll do whatever she says. I've had the same agent for, it'll tell me five books now. So I kind of trust her. So whatever she wants to do with it, she could do with it. And basically, we didn't change any plot points for this one.

It was just a lot of heavy editing, a little more of this, a little less of this. But there was no additional characters, no subtracting of characters, which I've had in all of my other books. It was add this, minus this. put a person here, add this. This one kind of stayed pretty much the same. We just tightened it up. We ratcheted stuff up. But I got the idea because I really like, I love reading those stories where it's like

something bad happened in high school. And now you're adults and everybody thinks everything is great. And I like the, well, one thing, I'll just tie this in real quick. I'm sure, you know, everybody gets like a crime reads article out that kind of ties into their book on their launch day. So I have one coming out about how, you know, it ties into books that do the same type of thing where it's something happened in high school and now it comes and bites them in the butt as an adult. But I kind of tied it into social media and how we didn't have it back then and how we could have been running around being little homicidal teenage

murderers back then. Nobody would have known because you can't track us. You can't, like there's no There's no evidence. So with, like with them finding out, with everybody finding out, it was because of the rapid admission of things as it kept on coming out. And as Zoe dug into things, it wasn't because,

oh, we tracked your phone and we found out, oh, we popped up this video about what happened. And all this was on CCTV. So I, I kind of like the, like the teenager part,

kind of being left in the dark. And there was no cell phones. There was no social media. It was, I missed that time. Yeah. I mean, I love it twice, but I really miss what it was like not having every single thing recorded. And, you know, it was just a better and different time, I think. Yeah.

I was just listening to a podcast this week where they were talking about how they're so glad that like ring cameras weren't a thing because, like, kids can't sneak out anymore. Wow. Exactly. Like, totally reminding me of that, too. you will always have like the best stories about like where your ideas came from like I feel like you always surprise me with your answer so that's that's crazy that you like had the idea so long ago yeah you just kind of like were able to rework it a little bit was did it take place in Florida in that initial one or did you change that when you move to Florida no I've had a place here

since 2012. It was just like a weekend place. So I've been coming to St. Petersburg for like a dozen years. So I knew the area pretty well already. So I decided because most of the things that I had written already were in either New Jersey or New York City because those were the only two places that I lived. So I figured I'm like, this was the first story that I wrote about Florida. Because I, and again, it was like 2017, 2018, right around there. And I was like, hey, I know it. Why don't I just do something in Florida this time? Make it, you know, different. and fresh. I think this got contracted, because again, publishing is very slow. I think this got contracted when I still lived in New Jersey. And I didn't move here permanently until August of 22.

So maybe it got contracted right after I moved here. I can't remember the dates of everything anymore. I bring this. But I definitely knew the area, but I was living in New Jersey when I wrote it. I was definitely, when I wrote it completely from beginning to end, the original version, it also took place in Florida, but I was living in New Jersey. Nice. It's the perfect summer book. Like even though it, you wrote it in New Jersey, it feels so Florida. And it feels it's going to be so perfect, like the weather, the humidity, all the cool, like the way you described the hotel and the seashells and everything just felt so Florida to me. I think the release date is so perfect for the summer. Yeah, I've been, I've been lucky getting every release I've had has been in May. So I,

I like kind of being on that like summer beach read type. That release is great. I'm hoping one day, one day I want to write, I don't want to write a Halloween book because that's, that's like the thriller, everything. Like I don't want, that's just too much competition. But I'm thinking, Hopefully one day it's going to be like murder at a Christmas party or something. And I'll see if I could like maybe get that release kind of right around like Thanksgiving-ish. Just to, and then I can make it like a wintry book, which I hate. I do not like, I do not like cold weather at all. But, you know, I've lived enough of it.

I lived 40-something years in New York and New Jersey. So I could probably write it pretty authentically as far as cold and snow and misery. and, you know, how that could drive somebody to kill someone. Yeah, New York winters are no joke is what I hear. Yeah, totally. Who is your favorite character to write in this one? Ooh. I can't say that person.

Okay. Cool. We can't get spoilers. Because as you know, Kate, I love writing horrible characters. Because I love books where the characters are up to no good. That's my favorite. I don't need to like to or relate. I need to like or relate to every single character.

I actually love seeing a terrible character who is causing drama and doing horrible things. And I like to see them get their comeuppins. And I like to root against somebody more. more than I like to root for someone, if that makes sense. So that's why I like writing. That's why I like writing characters that are just kind of awful and just dramas, you know, crazy people. That's probably why I like reading your books.

Yeah, it's peach pepper. Yeah, she was, she was great to write. She caused a lot of drama. I feel like this, I felt like this was such a juicy book. And I noticed actually that some of like the friends that I've had that have read the book already that got arcs of it, that it was their first book by you. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, we have to read the rest. But was the publishing or marketing process any different for this one now that you've had

multiple books come out that maybe it's just by chance that this is some people's first book of yours or now that you've had, this is, I think, your fourth book. Is it more widespread the marketing process? for me well for my publisher i think the marketing stays the same they send out the arcs they um you know they contact all the the trade magazines they put it out where they can there's no promise that anything is going to be picked up like with i didn't do it that got a kirkis star which led to the new york times like headline of the the best 47 books of summer people magazine um that that one got a lot more attention just because of that that star trade review

Um, this book in particular, I think is getting more attention on like Instagram and a lot of word of mouth with with this one. For me, the marketing of this is, I want to, I want to say easier, but that's because I built so many relationships over the past like three or four years with so many books to grammars and, you know, podcasts and stuff that that is just that my publisher just doesn't do. I mean, my publisher's great with that, but like, I can't go to the New York Times and say, hey, read this. Like, that's what my publisher has to do. But I feel like I formed so many relationships that I consider so, so many, like hundreds of bookstagramers. I consider, like, my friends.

So many of them are going to come to Thrillerfest and I just want to hug everybody. And, like, I just love that I have this relationship now with so many people who, who thankfully do love the book. I mean, that's wonderful. Nobody's under any obligation to even like anything I write, but so many people seem to love this one. This is my favorite, too. It's very, very twisty. I think there's so many twists in this one.

My husband's favorite is still finding Tessa. That's still his favorite, but this one is definitely mine. But I think the marketing and publicity for this one is, I think it gets easier with every single book, But this one, again, because it's been so well received so far, you know, fingers crossed. I'm sure it's going to be once it goes wide, people are going to be like, I hate this bog. This is the worst thing I ever read. And that's fine. That happens with everything, you know, it is what it is.

You want to be an author. You're going to have to take those lumps. And, you know, that's not fun, but it happens. But I've been, I've been lucky. I've been blessed just to make so many great, great friends and great connections in the whole bookstagram community. So I feel like I could do a lot of stuff myself now, which is kind of cool. Yeah. Yeah, that's really cool. You mentioned you kind of like, so like this was an idea that you had previously and you kind of reworked it. So was there, did you do anything different with your writing

process for this one? Like did you approach it or like how did you kind of approach it differently? You mentioned that you like knew a little bit more about writing at that point. Yes. It was easier to rework this one because I think the original version that I wrote, the original one, that was the fourth manuscripts that I wrote. I got my agent with the fifth. So this one, the original one was definitely better than the first three that I wrote. So I kind of felt like I had the basics there. So then by the time I got my agent with the one that was right after this one.

So I had already learned a lot, you know, moving up. Reworking this one was easier because I felt like it was laid out a lot. But like, look, let's be honest, that first manuscript I wrote, I cannot rework it. It was not good. I mean, it was the very first thing I wrote. It was, I thought it was great. My mom thought it was great. My friends thought it was great.

No, no, no. I look back at now and I'm just, I'm embarrassed. I tried to get an agent with it. But it just was not good. It just was not, it was not written well. It was not, it was not good. But I feel like by the time I got to this one, it was, it was, it was written well. It was, it was better.

It was definitely, it was definitely better. So reworking it, I kind of had all the fundamentals because at that point, I had had a bunch of books professionally edited by my editor and by my agent. And those are professionals. And I learned a lot from them. I learn a lot from my editor still when she said, do this instead, you know, move this, put this scene here. I'm like, you're right. You're right. So I constantly learn from her. So having had professional editing already that I took to heart, I applied that when I was

rewriting this one. And I feel like that really, really, really helps because I kind of went, I kind of went through it quick. I think I rewrote the whole thing from beginning to end. in like under three months. So, and then gave it to my agent and then she gave it to my editor. And then like we just, and then they, it got contracted. So it was, it was a fast, much faster process for this one. I don't know if I could rework anything else. I don't have anything else that I would really want to. I mean, I do have one that I keep trying to rework and I just, I can't. I try. I love, I love the story. I love the twist. I just, I don't. I don't. I, I don't. I I don't know, I've been trying to make it publishable because I read so much, but I can't, I can't get there yet.

I'm not saying I'm never going to, but I just haven't yet. I try every once in a while. When I get bored of what I'm writing, I'm like, maybe I'll go back to this one and see if I can mess around with a little. And sometimes it works. I'm like, oh, this is going to be good. And then I get bored with that one and I go back to the other one. So, yeah, I get weird like that. No, I don't think that's that weird.

You still, you definitely know what works with what you do publish. So it makes sense. I'm definitely going to like, yeah, this just wasn't ready. Yeah. Yeah. With your books, do you have such, I would say when I first started getting back into reading, it could be anybody was one of my first books back. And having such a large cast, it was one of the first books I had read like that.

And then I kind of got used to your style as I started reading more of, them. But my question with that book, I didn't do it, a lovely lie. Do you always have your full cast in your head or do you create more characters to be able to accomplish what you need to accomplish? Yes, the second part. I don't outline. I'm sure you guys heard of Pam Cern Plotter. I do not plot. I do not plot. I get an idea. I get an idea and I get a twist in my head. And then I kind of just word vomit. I'm just like, okay, like, let me see how any of this works. And I'll have like a main character. Obviously, you have to have at least a main character with, you know, a purpose and, you know, stakes and all that. So I usually write a chapter. I'll write the first chapter.

And then I'll say, okay, you know, I know, I know what the story is going to be. Now, who do I need as a supporting cast? And then I kind of invent this part. Like this person, you know, this one has to be this way for to play off of my main characters you know, insecurity. And then this one has to be this way to play off of, you know, be the support or to be the love interest or to be, you know, somebody who's going to end up killing you later

or trying to kill you. But I have to, I definitely, I definitely let the story go out of nowhere, kind of. And then the characters come in and they tell me what they're going to do. because I feel like if I plotted something in advance that I would pigeonhole my characters into just being who the outline says they're going to be. And as I write, things grow.

I change I change whodunnits in every single book. I have changed who the actual murder person was, like the killer or whatever. I've changed that in every single book, including this one. I change it in finding Tesla. I with it could be anyone it was all of them at some point before I finally settled on who who actually did it uh with I didn't do it um that was you know I changed I changed that I changed the ending about who you know the killer and all that was I changed it in a lovely lie it used to be it used to be the exact same thing without that last in each point of view

um I added that in and I was like oh I really like this But I never would have plotted it that way. As I wrote, I said it makes much more sense for it to happen this way. And that's why I like just pantsing. Because I do have characters come out of the woodwork and say, I need to be in your story. And this is what I'm going to do in your story, whether you like it or not. But I think that's great.

Yeah. Yeah. I remember you saying, I feel like it was you who said, because like you kind of like to surprise your. yourself just as much as like if you were reading the book that like even as you're writing, you're like, oh, like it keeps it engaging for you to write it that way. Yes. There was that one part in it could be anyone where two of the characters ended up doing something together. And I did not, I did not know that was going to happen. I literally

wrote the sentence and I went, oh my God, I can't believe what they just did. And But again, if I would have just plotted it out, it never would have happened that way. I like when my characters surprise me. It's fun. It's fun. I like having no idea what's going to happen. I feel like I'm reading it while I'm writing it. Like, I have no idea.

Yeah, sometimes when I'm reading. I like think of you, like, sitting there writing and being like, oh, like being as shocked as I am at the same moment. Yeah. Yeah. That is so cool. Did you write this one? I feel like I know the answer actually because I think I asked you about finding Tessa, but did you write it linearly because it does bounce back and forth between time?

Or did you kind of write those just as like the way the book is written? Well, no, this one I bounced around a lot because I do remember in the original version. It was like most of the high school. school chapters, I did not have to rewrite. Only the, like that, those last few points of view because those were added in. But most of the high school chapters are the same from the original version because, like I said, the way the accident happened and the, you know, the manipulation and the relationships and everything, that all stayed the same. So I didn't have to, I mean, I obviously I edited them, I tightened them. I changed a couple of things. But those pretty much

stayed the scene. So so that part was kind of done. I was really only writing in the present for this one. So I didn't have to go back and forth, but I believe in the original version I did write out of order because I was so excited

about how I was making everybody die and the relationships that were happening back then. I did write that out of order. I definitely did because it was it was almost a completely separate story, but when you kind of interweave them and spice them together, it becomes, you know, past present, past present. And then you have to, oh, when I added in the

the interviews and the phone calls, that part, that's at the end of every chapter, that was added in in the new version, which I liked because you don't get the backstory until part three. So you don't really know what was going on in high school until the last part of the book. But I liked putting in those little snippets because it was kind of foreshadowing. And you saw how they were clearly, truly, truly lying about what was going on because, you know, like how they would describe something in their adult life. And like, this is, you know, telling somebody what happened. And then it goes back to the interview. And it's like, that's not what they just said as an adult like they're lying there's a lot everyone but are they lying then or are they lying now so

you know it's that's why i i i love unreliable narrators yeah as a reader that reminded me no go ahead oh sorry i was just saying as a reader like that just made me want to keep going so much just like oh what what's that i don't know so i think that was always like what are they doing yeah yeah yeah yeah that part reminded me of to going to talk about again the affair season one where like you, it's similar where you get those detect, or the police scenes, like at the beginning of each episode, you're like, this isn't lining up. You know, I did not even think about that. And season one was the best season of that entire show. I like the last season two, but season one was the best. And I didn't even think about

that. But I love that. I love that comparison. Thank you. Wow. My head is this big now. I love that. Yeah, when I was reading it, I was like, this is like, this is one of my favorite structures to read with a book like that. Yeah, agreed. Yeah. It's interesting now knowing that, sorry, um, in this, you wrote this a while ago or especially the past storyline, because one of my questions was like, how much did you love writing 90s teenagers? Like in the beginning, you kind of said, how there wasn't as much technology back then, which is exciting. But like as a person that kind of grew up in that time frame, was that extra fun? Because some of your other books, they're all like mostly present and adult characters.

Yes. Yeah. It was definitely fun. It's something I'm, well, it's something I want to do again eventually. The one that I'm writing now has, it's, again, there's stuff that happens in the past and stuff that happens now, but it's only like maybe 10 years ago. So all of this stuff is already social media. There's cameras everywhere. There's this. There's phones. There's texting. So it's different because I have to be careful because that stuff was there. So I have to be careful about what they're really

trying to get away with because they probably could get caught. So I have to be careful there. But I did like going back. One of the things that when I was talking to, well, it was one of my one of my critique partners when I had the thing about when they, the very first scene that when they were shot back to high school and they were drinking, they were drinking

vodka out of the Poland spring bottles. She actually put a note in there and said, I'm surprised you didn't say a Snapple bottle. And then the Snapple bottle came like, came like two pages later. How somebody was drinking something. And I was like, oh my God, that's so funny because I like how it was relatable

when it was, I had the, vodka in the Poland spring bottle, but they were like, oh, well, we need snapple, but it was already there. I do remember that. And I had a look up when Pepper, Teenage Pepper was saying how she was going to be famous and blah, blah, blah, and how she wanted to go to the Emmys and the Oscars. And I was like, oh, my God, like, who was like super famous in 1999? And she was like, I want Matt Damon on my arm for the Oscars and James Vanderbeak on my arm for the Emmys. Because those were, you know, were like the two like super famous people in 1999. So it was, it was fun like going back and, you know,

with the back street boys they were listening to and like all this stuff. It was it was fun because I graduated high school in 1990 something. And it was before 1999. But I was still, you know, I was like running around to the bars and stuff in 1999. So and I was still, you know, early, very early 20s, very, very early 20s. But it was it was fun kind of going back and revisiting. that whole era, you know? Again, I miss it.

Yeah. Yeah, I think we all do a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, I think having the little nostalgia pieces, and whenever I read books that have pieces from, like, the 90s or early 2000s, I think it just brings a little extra joy. And so, like, you love the story no matter what,

but that just, like, is a little icing on the cake. Yeah, I know. It really was fun. And that's why, like, because I don't write, I don't write YA. And I read, the only YA I really read, Karen McManess, I love her books. But I'm not a YA reader. So I had to be careful kind of making their voices authentic. But I was like, I kind of, but I wasn't, I'm not writing YA now.

Oh, God forbid, I do not know what these kids talk about. I do not know what these words mean. I don't know anything. I am so square. I have no idea what's going on. But it was easier to like tap into 1999 me because that's kind of how I made them talk and how I made their voices and how I made their energy and what they were thinking about. I had already lived that.

So that was easier for me to do. Like I couldn't do a Y8 now. I mean, it was hard enough trying to write Luke. And I didn't even give them a point of view. But just having Luke, their team. Garland and Vince's teenage son, that was just hard enough trying to tap into what did, what do do kids do now? So I was asking my friends about, like, you know, teenagers. I'm like, what do they do? Like, you know, are they always gaming or are they like, what do they do? And they were like,

just giving sports, you know, have them involved in this. Be, I always spent every weekend doing this and that. I'm like, all right, that's, that's fine. That's easy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I didn't make him. I've never, I've never asked about. covers, but I loved the cover for this one so much. You have so many cool covers, too. But do you, like, what, what amount of it's like input do you have? There we go. There it is. Um, a lovely cover. A lovely cover. Yes. I made an opportunity to say that. Yeah. This one, this one is great. Um, for, they, they usually put out a few different covers that I get to choose from. Right. Or right, you know, I get to look at and then it's kind of a combined thing with

like marketing and publishers and editors and everything. This time I only got, I only got this cover. And it was basically like, here's your cover. But, but, but I did give my editor beforehand. I gave her a few covers that I absolutely loved and said, can we kind of make it atmospheric like this that ties it, that kind of ties into the story. So. I guess when she was having the meetings with trying to get the cover done, she probably said, we want to capture something like this. And they did a fantastic job. I mean, this is the story. Is it not? It is so good. God, I have time to look at it. I'm like, I love it. I love it so much. It's so good. It's creepy. I love the red sky in the background. Just the headlights. It's so, so,

so good. So I think for my one coming out next year, that one's going to be hard to even envision a cover right now because it's just a wacko story. Over the next six months, I really got to start paying attention to something around like, oh, that could work. And then just kind of capture the covers and then to be like, all right, maybe something, maybe mix up these six and try to find something like this and you know hopefully hopefully it'll work out as well as this did because oh i i really do love it i really really really really as i open it it's like here is your cover and i'm like oh god it's only one and like you had to see my face i was like oh my god this is beautiful yeah yeah it's so cool i'm sure it's so easy to prep for something like okay here we go we'll see and then to have it be

awesome has to be the best thing like on the first try exactly exactly i'm like i'm like i would not change the colors the a branch placement i wouldn't change anything in this it is absolutely perfect the way it's done so i was really i was just so relieved and so happy i was like oh this is because it just looks like one of those books that you just want to you just want to grab it and say okay let me read and see what it's about so even if you never heard of me or or the book, it's just kind of like, oh, this looks creepy and weird. So I want to, I want to, I'll see what this is about. So that's why I think it's just very attention grabbing. Yeah, it really is. And I like anything with pinks in it. So there's not.

I know. Pink is very, very, purple or have been very, very big this year. I know. I'm loving it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I know you read as much as us, if not more. You might read more. So have you been reading recently that you love? I just finished. She's Not Sorry by Mary Kubica. Oh, yeah. That was actually one of the covers that I gave too that I said I liked.

Hers was purple with the bridge. And I was like, you know, and I was, I love that cover. So I was like, oh, maybe something like that because that was very atmospheric. And after reading the book, that totally captured the entire story. So that was a comic cover. I did I read um I loved one wrong word by Hank Philip E Ryan I loved that book I have the three that I'm dying for dying dying dying for um that I literally have such grabby hands and I cannot wait to read these um if something happens to me by Alex Finlay that comes out on the same day as a lovely lie

it's done for that one dying for the haters by Robin Harding and I'm dying for the Hollywood assistant by makeup. Oh, yeah. So those things, I just know I'm going to love them. I know I'm going to love all of them. So I'm having a lot of fomo because so many people have read them already. And I'm like, I'm waiting patiently. Yes, I know that feeling.

Alex Finley one is wild the way it all comes together. I just read it a couple weeks ago. Yeah, I'm super excited for the Hollywood assistant too. I just got it on that galley, but I'm mostly reading them in order. So it's coming up. Yeah. It's coming up for me. And we're going to get one of the leaders and I'm so excited.

Yeah. Finish something else too that. Oh, yeah. Loved and I can't remember. I've had a lot going on, you know, with the whole personal stuff. So, yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I, I, becoming very forgetful.

But I know that was something else that I recently read. Was it an arc? Was it a blur? Was it something I blurred? I've blurred. It's like all the memes that are like, oh, go ahead. It was, it's a debut. It's a debut.

My agent asked me to read it. And I, it's my, we have a scene, Legion. And the debut was coming out, I think, in October. And I loved it. And I can't, I can't remember the name or the author right now, but I loved it. I gave it this fantastic blur. You know what? Let me see.

It's like those memes that are like the second you finish a book, you like forget everything about it except whether you loved it or not. Yeah, and that's the thing. I definitely loved it. Hold on. Oh, here it is. It's right here. The author is a murder.

It's a murder in Zion. And the author is Nicole Maggi. So, yeah, when that comes out, ooh, yeah, I loved that one. That was a good one, too. I'm adding that to my list. Yes, yes. I will hook you guys up too. Have her on. Have her on. It's a debut. So, you know, we got to uplift our our debuts. Yeah. Yeah. And that one has a cool cover too. Oh, it's fun.

Yeah. It's very, I just pulled it up on Goodreads. It looks. It's like a woman with a backpack walking through the water like Matt. They did say it. I did say it. Yeah. Yes. And that encompasses the story very well too. And actually, she's not a debut. She's had. she's written YA this is her first adult oh okay but it was like you'd never be able to tell that there was no Y a miss about it very very very very well very um atmospheric uh you could tell she she knows her stuff about the entire you know the parks and all that stuff that was that was a good one so I'm always surprised because I am like the least nature person you'll ever meet. And then sometimes people write books, though. And it like, I love the fact that it's taking place in it because the way they write it is so like you're saying like atmospheric.

And you just like have a really strong sense of place, even though I only go outside to walk my dogs. I'm sure I'll love it. It's normally like, because now it's like getting toward the end of May. So it's normally 90 degrees by like 9 a.m. So I'd like to go from the door to my car. I try not to be outside as much as possible right now, unless I'm like jumping in my car. Yeah, it's kind of good.

It gets kind of miserable out there. So I hear you. Yeah. She's hot. Well, so fun. She's not sorry because I'm in a book club and we got that widget for an arc to read. And then I, that was like my first time ever being on that galley.

and a lovely lie will always be memorable to me because it's the first book I ever requested and got approved for and it was the most exciting feeling and knowing that it was your book and I love all your books so I was just like this is the coolest experience and I was so glad it was that book and then it was amazing so I'll always hold a special place in my little reader heart oh thank you that's going to have a special place in my little older heart I'm excited to get my copy though hopefully in the next couple weeks yeah yeah yeah well where should people follow you to stay up to date since you have more coming um at at jamie lynn hendricks author on instagram i am at author jlh on x twitter or whatever we call it um my facebook page is jamie l hendricks dash author

I do not yet have a TikTok. I know. I think I told you last year. I'm getting it this year. I promise. I just haven't done it yet. I know I have to. I know.

It's just more social media. My God. I'm also on threads at author JLH, just same as X, Twitter or whatever. But I'm not really on breads. I don't get it. So I'm most active on Instagram. Most active on Instagram.

So that's the best place to interact with me. and find me. And then, you know, all these wonderful podcasts I got coming up. I have anybody in the Florida area. I have a TV spot for their reading segment on Fox 13, Tampa on my launch day, which is May 28th, around maybe 12, 10, 12, 15 p.m. I will be on Fox 13. And my book launch party for anybody in Florida.

Well, it's sold out. Yay. My book was pretty sold out. Nice. But that's that book and bottle in downtown St. Petersburg next Sunday. So if you're around, just walk around and, you know, come by and say hello. Yeah. That is so exciting.

That's awesome that it sold out. Yeah, did last year too. I had a friend of mine was like, I tried to get a friend from a Pilate. She was like, I tried to get tickets and it sold out. I was like, it is? I was like, he's so excited because this was the first time that I had a ticket event part. So that was so exciting. I was like, oh my God, it's sold out. And then this one sold out, this one sold out like a week and a half ago. And the party's not even for a week. So I was so

excited. People are coming to see me. Yay. Congratulations. That's awesome. If I was in Florida, I would come, but I might melt. So. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for talking with me again in this year and I can't wait to have you on next year too. So nice to meet you.