Bookwild - Echo Road by Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh: Blending Two Series to Catch a Serial Killer

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

This week, I talk with Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh about their new thriller Echo Road, where they combine their Mercy Kilpatrick and Bree Taggert series into one mystery.Echo Road SynopsisDuring a vicious heat wave, a county maintenance worker stumbles upon two suspicious suitcases abandoned by the side of the road. Sheriff Bree Taggert responds to find two bodies stuffed inside the luggage. The press demands action. The community is on edge. Suddenly, Bree is at the center of a media firestorm.In Oregon, a senator’s daughter goes missing. FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick agrees to keep the politically sensitive case on the down-low. When she finds a link between the disappearance and a double homicide three thousand miles away, Mercy takes the next plane out—and lands right in the middle of Bree’s double homicide investigation.To save the missing girl, Bree and Mercy must work together to stop a killer who’s playing deadly games with the press and stirring up public rage. Hungry for notoriety, he dares Bree and Mercy to catch him before he kills again. 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 

I am so excited this week to be with Kendra Elliott and Melinda Lee to talk about their collab effort of two series coming together with Echo Road. So welcome to the podcast. Thanks. Yeah. So I wanted to get to know a little bit about you guys first before we talk about the book. So when did you guys like each know that you wanted to be an author? I was almost 40 before I ever wrote anything. Yeah, nice. Same for me.

Hated writing in high school and college, did not. Yeah. I was not interested at all, but I love to read. Yeah. So both of you guys have multiple different series that are in crime fiction. So what do you think draws you to writing crime fiction? Go ahead, Melinda. I like putting.

together a giant puzzle. I think it's a huge challenge to, you know, come up with all of the twists, to plant the clues, to lead the reader, but lead them in the wrong direction. Yeah. So I enjoy that whole puzzle aspect of writing a thriller. Same thing for me. And plus, it's what I like to read. I would much rather read something that is a puzzle for me to figure out, can you?

me interested in you learn something new yeah um so in the acknowledgments for this book i read that you guys had kind of a cool moment of inspiration when you're with lee goldberg so can you talk about like how the inspiration of the book came together do you know lee i don't well i know of i haven't like interviewed him okay um we were at a conference and the three of us were sitting together listening to a presentation and all of a sudden Melinda and I realized this was an idea that would work for a couple years we had talked about wanting to bring two of our characters together in the same book but we couldn't figure out how to do it Melendez are on the East Coast mine are on the West Coast and but while

listening to this presentation it was about a crime that involved a couple different states. We thought, oh my gosh, this will work for us. And Melinda leaned forward and said to Lee dibs on the story because we had given him dibs on a previous, in a previous conference on a storyline that he used for a book. Yeah. Yes, that's cool. Were you guys friends before that or like, did the idea bring you together? We've been best friends for like a dozen years. Oh, wow. Nice. That's awesome. So I had to be cool getting to write with your best friend. What was it like developing a writing process where you were writing with someone?

We had already written two novella series together. So there are 20 novellas. So we've been doing this for years, but on a little bit more of an individual basis. So those books are what we did is alternate novellas in a series. So this is the first time we came together doing one novel. but we'd work together many times in the past. Yeah. Yeah.

So did you, was it like one of you would write a chapter and then the next person would? Or were you like writing separate parts at separate times? We split up the point of views. Yeah. So we each, there are four point of views on Echo Road. So we each took our main character plus another one. So that that way the voices remained consistent, but also unique to each individual's throughout the book.

Yeah, I was going to ask, because I figured you guys wrote your separate characters, but I did wonder, because there is the serial killer's perspective that, like, a lot of people love to read. So I was going to ask if you did collab on those, but it sounds like you just kind of split them up. Melinda wrote all the killer perspective. Yeah, that was crazy in a good way. It was wild.

It was like, yeah, I was like texting on my friends who, like, love them. that in a book, I was like, this one has it and you're going to be obsessed with it. So hopefully they're all reading it too. So how did you kind of, I know it was the learning about the case that previously existed that basically brought two characters together. How did you like, did you do anything else to approach like blending the characters' worlds together. Go ahead.

In Melinda's world. My character, her series, Mercy Capachtic series, is set in Oregon, and Melinda's free tagger series is set in New York. And this case that we created, my FBI character in Oregon realizes that there's something happening in New York that is extremely similar to a case she

is working on. And so she goes to New York. So everything takes place in Melinda's world, more or less. Yeah. Did you, like, with like, with like the main plot, I guess, were you thinking of like the both previous characters' experiences in terms of like creating the case that they would work on together? Not just their experiences, but their actual job. as a federal agent, Mercy is more able to move. My character is a sheriff, so it's hard to have her doing her job in a different location. Yeah. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

So I think you kind of hinted to it in the acknowledgments, but there's a chance that there might be another book with a crossover with these two characters. Possibly. Yeah. We would like to do it. We had a lot of fun. writing this book when you've written as many novels as melinda and i have you get burned out and you're always looking for something new to do um this was sort of a breath of fresh air for us i think we enjoyed the process we would like to do it again the hardest part is finding time

in our individual schedules because yeah of our own deadlines so we have to find a couple months that we both happen to have open where we can sit down and work on something. Yeah. Yeah. It checks out. So you guys also, like it's a really strong procedural. Like, is there something, it may be that still that puzzle aspect, but is there something about procedurals that you love writing?

Go ahead, Molly. I think it just gives you a framework. to put your story in. You know, there are rules that you have to follow. Yeah. So, you know, although it's fun to do books without rules as well. I've done, you know, private investigators and where there's supposed to be rules, but you don't have to follow them exactly because what fun would that be.

But it does give you a nice framework to present your case in. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that works really well for me, too. I know the steps that need to be taken. it helps I'm not a plotter, but it helps me know what's going to happen in the next few chapters.

Oh, this is the logical step in an investigation. This is what needs to do that in an investigation. And it just helps things flow easier for me in the creation. Yeah. That makes sense. So I know some writers don't read while they're writing, but have you read anything recently that you loved? You go for a sister.

time, Kendra. I think we're always reading. I do find that I avoid my genre when I'm actually writing in a book. I'll often go to historical romance or fantasy. But once I turn in my book, then I feel like I'm devouring every kind of procedural or thriller that I can find. both Melinda and I are big fans of Greg Hurwitz Orphan X series. We both blasted through those books as quickly as we could. I also love Lisa Gardner a lot. Yeah. But I'll read a lot of historical fiction or memoirs when I'm in a book because I don't like to read my genre while I'm writing it.

That's my phone. Yeah. I think the latest one I read was Diana Nyad's memoir. Oh, nice. That was really interesting about her swim from, you know, Cuba to Florida. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah, just kind of like reading a different genre.

It makes sense for sure. So where can people follow you to stay up today with everything? My website. And I am also on Facebook and Instagram probably too much. I do have a TikTok account. I'm not on there as much. Yeah. my best place is my website

kender elliot.com. I'm also available on Facebook is a good place to find me. Awesome. Well, I will put those links in the show notes for everyone and thank you so much for being on.