Bookwild - L. S. Stratton's In Deadly Company: Hollywood Hijinks, Bad Rich People and Dual Timelines

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

This week, I got to talk with L.S. Stratton about her newest thriller In Deadly Company! We dive into how she wanted to write a fun, bingey thriller, how she used the meta approach of a movie being made about the past timeline, and how she crafted the very corrupt, very welathy family in the middle of it all.In Deadly Company SynopsisAs the assistant of the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Nicole Underwood has plenty of tasks on her to-do list—one of which is the blowout birthday celebration for her nightmare, one-percenter boss, Xander Chambers. But when the party ends in chaos and murder and Nicole is one of the survivors, suspicion—from the investigators to the media—lands on her. Was she the reason for all the bloodshed?A year after those deadly events, Nicole tries to set the public record straight by agreeing to consult on a feature film based on her story. However, on the set in LA, she's sidelined by inappropriate casting and persistent, bizarre script changes, while also haunted by the events of that party weekend with visions of her now-deceased boss. It seems clearing her name isn't so simple when the question of guilt or innocence is...complicated. 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 

This week I got to talk with L.S. Stratton about her new, very fun Hollywood thriller in Deadly Company. I love a Hollywood thriller. You guys all know that. So I was super excited when I saw that she was writing one, and it was really fun to talk to her about the inspiration for it. Here's what it's about. A year after the blowout birthday celebration, she organized, accidentally ended in the death of her nightmare one-personer boss, Zander Chambers. Nicole Underwood thought she was setting the public record straight by agreeing to consult on a feature film based on her story. But on the set in L.A., she watches in frustration as her experiences are persistently sidelined by inappropriate casting and frequent bizarre script changes. Nicole is haunted by the events of the Fateful House Party and visions of her now deceased boss. Zander had been unfit to lead the company, his mother, famed entrepreneur Bridget Chambers.

had founded and built to Fortune 500 status until her untimely death and a car accident several months prior. After being Bridget's favorite assistant, Nicole had honored her mentor by staying on to keep Xander organized and on task despite his relentless partying. When he wanted her to plan his wild bash, Nicole saw an opportunity to probe the people closest to the Chambers family and learn if Bridget's crash was truly a simple tragedy. but Nicole, who just wanted to be the best assistant possible, could not have foreseen the terrible consequences of her actions. This thriller is so much fun. There's a really meta element to the plot structure of her in the present timeline, watching this movie be made about what happened in the past, and then we get the past flashbacks as well. So you can kind of try to piece together the inconsistencies as she's on set with what actually happened in the past. past and it just really worked for me. If you like satirical humor about Hollywood, if you loved

Knives Out, if you love Clue, you're going to love this one. That being said, let's hear from L.S. Stratton. So I am super excited to talk about in Deadly Company, but I do always want to get to know you, the authors, a little bit before that. So what was your journey to writing? Did you always know you wanted to write or did you like have an idea one day where you're like, I have to start. Like, what was it like for you? Well, I think deep down, I always wanted to be a writer, but I didn't know if I could be a professional writer as in do it as a career. I had been like scribbling stories in my composition notebooks since I was probably 11 or 12. And the stories were getting longer and longer and longer and longer. So,

I wouldn't let a lot of people read it, but I let my mom read my stories. And after a few years, she started to say, let's show. That's my real name. You are getting really good at this. And I'm like, yeah, sure. And when I was in college, there was a first-time writers contest by BET Books, which is now defunct. And they were looking for romance stories for an anthology of first-time writers.

And the only requirement was you had never been professionally published. So my mom read about it and she was like, have you considered this? And I said, there's no way I would ever win this competition because it's a national competition. And it's a professional publisher. But I thought about it and I thought about it and I thought about it. And then I was like, all right, well, at least try it. And I ended up submitting my story maybe a few days before the deadline. I think it was postmarked, basically a day before the final date.

And I got a call at school saying that I was one of the finalists. And that's when I have my aha moment of like, wow, I can finally take these stories outside of my little notebook and do it professionally. And I've been doing writing as a fiction author off and on since then. That's awesome that she just like kept reading them and was like maybe you can go after that because you feel like you kind of hear the opposite where parents are like writing. Well and that's the thing. I don't think she thought of it as something I could do exclusively necessarily. Right. Even though I will say like back in like the 90s, early 2000s, they were a felt like a lot more authors who were full time.

Like this is what they did. and I meet a lot more there's like no I'm juggling another job at the same time so for me it was just like wow that's I never thought it was a possibility that someone outside of my family

could take me seriously as a writer and then to have professionals in the industry validated me at like 19 I was like okay so maybe this I really can't do this that's awesome yeah I didn't realize you were that young still as well at that point.

Yeah. Yeah. So it sounds like that was romance related what you're talking about there. And then I know you write young adult as well. Yeah, I just started. Okay. Okay. So that was this first, what is it called again?

Sundown girls and that that'll be my YA debut and it comes out in January. Okay. What, what draws you to like, I know YA is not entirely a genre itself, like, there's also specific versions, but what draws you to thrillers? Do you still write any romance? And then what made you want to do YA? Well, okay. First, I made the transition from romance to thrillers because I was in romance the longest because I was getting bored. I had done it. Like I said, I had done it since I was 19. And the subplots in my romances were starting to get as big as the actual romance

storyline. And I was starting to have more fun with those. And I noticed that a lot of those subplots were mysteries or thrillers. They or had those elements to it. Like someone is shot and everyone's trying to figure out who shot them or someone has their money stolen and now they have to go in a cross-country trip to track down who stole their money. And so after a while, I was like, I think I should just bite the bullet and write a thriller and see how, once again, because even though you've been writing for years, you never know how your work is going to be received, especially when you're starting a new genre. I wanted to see how people responded. And a lot of readers really liked it. So that's when I decided from that point.

point on, okay, I'm going to do mystery thrillers. Yeah. I started to do Y.A. That was a fluke because I had attempted a YA and my agent went on submission with it. And it wasn't received well. The response was mostly like, I don't think you have the voice for YA. And I'm like, okay, well, maybe I'm just meant to write an adult story. But the plot for the sundown girls was originally supposed to be an adult who's thinking about the past.

But you start to realize, and they'll even tell you as an author, if most of the story is happening in the past, why are you starting with the perspective of the present? So that's when I was scared because I'm like, oh, no, now I'm going to have to write from the perspective of a 16-year-old girl. Yeah. But I was like, if this is what the story wants to be, I can't make it anything. else or it's not going to be as fluid. So I said, okay, I will attempt to write this story from this perspective of a 16-year-old girl. And when I submitted it to my agent, she was like, I think this is one of the best stories you've ever written. And I was like, really? That's amazing. Yeah. So we went on submission with it. And it was,

we got a couple of editors who were interested. It was much different story than from the last time around. And they were like, each of them were like, we're going to have to make some changes, which I'm like, that's normal. But they were really excited. And so it was different this time that someone was excited as opposed to like, I don't know. So the final product went through a lot of editing, but I'm happy with what it is. And my editor is happy with what it is. So I'm excited. good i know i was just talking to so there's kind of like a fun journey of how i got to your books but i actually have this first one the not so perfect strangers um i need to look i don't know how far back it was but um in the early early stages of the podcast with uh gare he read this one and was like

this is so good i have to send it to you it's amazing and so then gare and step and i loved this one we talked about it a bunch but was this 2022 or i yeah i wrote it in 20 i think it came out in early 23 like marg okay maybe that's what it is so i'm hoping i can find it because those are always fun to like pair up together so that was the first one i read um and then step read do what god godmother says and i just like sometimes i if i don't see it on net galley then it's like i don't end up going back to it because i'm doing so many things for like I understand. Pub date releases.

Yeah. But then it was cool, though, because I just got into audio books or my brain finally clicked in and can listen to them and absorb it. And so that was one of those where I've been like going back and like listening to ones that maybe I didn't catch when they were coming out. So I really, really enjoyed that one. And then in Deadly Company, which is what we're going to get into here sooner. I was like, oh, my gosh, a Hollywood thriller. like I'm going to love this. So I think I like read in Deadly Company and then listened to do what

godmother says right after it. So I've had a very L.S. Stratton month. But all of that to say, then Steph sent me this YA. So like we just are all like constantly talking about your books is where I'm headed with this. And she was like, I know you don't read tons of YA, but like this one sounds pretty good. So now she and I are like super intrigued. It looks like it comes out in January. January of 26.

You have time. You have time. Yeah. Oh yeah. Right. It's time to fit it in. It does sound really good though. So I'm excited for that one.

Do you, for your writing process, do you plot ahead of time? Do you start writing and see where it goes? What is that part like for you? Well, I think now I do a lot more applauding, or at least I have to do like the basic overview of what I think the story is going to be. The major beats. But inevitably, the final version is not that. Yeah. What I try to do what's more important for my process is to write a few chapters that I get a fill for the voice, the tone, the pacing.

Is this like indebtly company was a, to me, it was a, book that went boo, boo, boo, boo, boo, but do what Godmother says. I knew it was going to be a gothic thriller. So I was like, this is going to be slow. You're going to have to have patience with this because it's a very slow build because that's what the genre calls for. So that part of the process is important to me. If I can't get the tone or fill for the characters and get excited for the story, even if I come up with the basic plot, then I know that, okay, I need to go back and figure out like, like I said, with sundown girls,

I plotted it from the perspective of an adult woman, and it seemed to work, but then when I was writing it, I was like, you keep doing these flashbacks. Nothing's happening in the present. Why do we keep doing flashback? And I'm like, all right, the story hasn't completely changed now. So that's usually my process.

And then I start writing once I'm comfortable with the characters, the tone, I start writing chapters. And with mysteries, you know, you have to sprinkle in like little details along the way that will help develop the mystery. So I start to think about that too. And now I'm starting to break down chapters to say, okay, we have to include this element here. And we have to include this, see this here so that this makes sense later when you do the big reveal. And that's, that's normally how I go.

But I'm never going to be the person with the Post-it notes is like, or the spreadsheets. I wish I was, but I can't. More people say that they aren't than they are. And then it's always followed by, I should do this or I wish I wasn't. And I'm like, you're writing books. Like, clearly it works for you. Well, I guess. But I always like the people who was like, how do you do it?

Like, how do you? It seems so huge in the beginning that I think my mind would explode if I tried to think of all that stuff from the very beginning. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. It's so fascinating to me too because I've had like the genre conversation with a few different authors where like some people are like I don't I don't know what the genre is. I write it and then like my editor tells me like what genre I wrote kind of. Or kind of like so the one that I was just talking with Rebecca McKenna about it and hers is kind of that way. And then I remember talking to John Fram about it. I really liked his book, you know, wrote home from I think last year. And he was like, I don't set out, because like I asked him what he liked about horror. And he was like, I don't set out to write horror.

I just kind of like write a story. And then people are like, yeah, this would be shelved with horror, which like the war happens more at the end kind of, I guess. So it's always interesting in how sometimes like you don't want to combine something to or confine something to a genre because maybe it is more than that. So it's kind of fascinating to me that. that like with sundown girls you like there was clearly a story that was there for you yes and it was kind of like in the writing of it you were like oh this kind of just needs to be with her when she's 16 years old i'm just always fascinated by how stories yeah end up coming together sometimes and that's what i i if for other writers i would say like let the story take the lee if you try

i think readers can tell the difference when something was like crammed into a genre cramped into a trend and you're like it doesn't feel natural it feels like you're you're you're ticking off a few check marks so that you fit but that it's not flowing so for me I'm like I'm not going to try to make it something that it isn't and if it wants to be something else then I'm like okay so I guess this is what we're doing now yeah yeah that makes sense it's I I'm obviously this is why I have a whole podcast about it but I'm so fascinated by like, yeah, like how ideas come to people, all the different ways you can write a book. Just kind of all of it is fascinating.

With In Deadly Company, what was your like initial inspiration point? Well, I, since I was probably a little kid, they used to have like this channel called DC20 in the Washington DC area. And they would play the movie Clue. it felt like every other weekend. And I was a huge fan of it. I thought it was hilarious. I loved the characters. I love the dialogue.

I love the interplay. I love the mystery, too. And then when I got older, I think a lot of people are fans of the Knives Out series. Yes. We love the character. We love the detective. And we love like the social commentary too. Yes.

And it says stuff, but it's not ham-fisted with it, or at least I never felt it was. Yeah. And so I, after writing two very serious stories back-to-back, do what Gogmother says and not to perfect strangers where it was just intense. It was really intense. That I was like, I want to do something fun. Yeah. I want to do something that will make me laugh that makes me feel how I feel when I watch. those films. And so that's when I came up with indebtly company that I felt like it has

Hollywood personality, eccentric personalities, like characters, snarky observation and some social commentary. Not a lot, but some of it. So that's the inspiration behind the book. Yeah. Yeah. As a mood reader especially, I just, I was like, oh, this is going to be fun to see like her take on the like fun it's very summary uh almost like a beach read kind of thriller um and i always love hollywood and i always love snarky main characters so like i was i was enjoying this one a lot and i was telling you a little bit before i i felt like those were the vibes from reading the synopsis so when i was like having like a heavier work week i was like i just need a thriller that's going to be like fun so it like slotted in perfectly for me there.

Yeah. And I think Hollywood like you're saying is so fun for all kinds of stories, but especially thrillers because it's like there's just so many personalities. I know. So much like ruthless ambition all over the place. Yeah. Yeah. That part like even her experiences on the set and she's trying to like get get the

movie to go in a certain direction and it keeps getting derailed by all of these things, which to me, I felt like, I could see that happening. It's like, why did you cast this person? And it was like, why did you change these lines? It's like, I thought we agreed on this and or the producers want me to do this. And so, like, she's encountering that in the present while we're seeing what's going on, the zaniness and craziness that went on in the past. Yes. Yeah. So this is one, one of my favorite parts. about it was the plot structure. So like you just kind of mentioned we have like this scandalous

death that happened in the past. And then in her present, they're doing a loosely based on like a lot of the based on movies are. So it's super meta. They're like now documenting that in the present timeline. And so it's kind of fun because you're like, at least I was, you're trying to like pay attention to the inconsistencies to be like, oh, what, what did they change here and why would they change it? So like the suspense is so much higher. So did you go again, kind of that question of like, how did you decide on like flashbacks and actually going backwards? Did you know you wanted to do that plot structure when you started or did it kind of happen naturally as you wrote? I knew. I wanted to do flashbacks more so because I wanted to tell it from the different perspectives of the people involved.

Like I knew that the fallout basically happens to Nicole, who's the executive assistant and main character on the story. But I wanted the perspectives of people who knew things that Nicole didn't know that were going on at the mansion where all of this chaos happens. So I wanted a perspective of her seeing it on the movie set, these reenactment of events. And then it's like, like the clue, what really happened. And so you switch to the, do, do, do, do, do, do, go from the perspective of the person who's actually witnessing it, the interaction between the characters or actual deaths that take place. And that bouncing back and forth, like I said, that interplay that I really. loved from the movies that I thought would be fun to reinterpret in a book. Yeah.

Yeah. Were you ever, were you ever like on Hollywood sets? Was any of like the Hollywood satire coming from any of your experiences? Actually, no, but I watched the only interactions that I've had so far with Hollywood is like option and like having the first meeting with producers. but outside of that, no. So I had to watch a lot of, on YouTube, they have this series called Studio Binder

where they actually talk about what it's like to make a movie from the beginning. Like pre-production, production, post-production, distribution, and they'll do a breakdown of like, even like what cameras would be used. What does a script look like? Like even how she, I have in the book, she's complaining about the pages.

Like she knows there's a change because the page colors are changing. The color changes. Yeah. And I was like, but that is, that's what actually happens on the movie set. Like they, each change has a different color. And people on the movie set understand like this page color means this, this is the new new one changed from the previous one. So including little details like that from YouTube series that really talk about filmmaking.

to me it helped enhance the story or at least hopefully create a little bit more realism for layman and i'm sure there are people in hollywoods like that wouldn't happen that's not how it goes well it's also efficient exactly it's allowed me some some literary license to do what i want for the story yeah yeah yeah that details specifically it's so funny you brought that up because i we did some behind the scenes filming for a comedian named Miss Pat who has a show on BET and we were on set with her for that first season just like capturing it happening and I was her assistant so that I could be there to do video because it was peak COVID like insanity um but when I read the like the different scripts color page I was like like felt the anxiety

in my chest of having to like run across this warehouse to get the, because she had the wrong color script. And I was like, oh God, that was terrible. And that's what Nicole feels every time.

She's like, oh my God. It's a color. They changed it again. Yeah. Yeah. I definitely, I love Hollywood.

I love watching TV and movies. I love talking about them. But that experience taught me that I am an indoor kate. I am an introvert and I will just, I will not be someone on set. So it was a good experience to have. But like, who, that is, it's next level. I can't believe you.

I think it would be anxiety inducing, at least for me. Yeah, the intensity is just like everyone is like ready to blow up, which again is like what works really well. Yeah. For the thriller part. With, with the Chambers family. So they are like they are powerful. They are extremely wealthy. There's some corruption going on.

Yeah. How did you approach writing that family in a way where like it still feels like real people would act this way too? Yeah. I pick, I can't say the name of the person who would be a standard. But I think people pretty much pick up on who is the inspiration. behind someone like him. And the family in itself is like if you think about like the Murdox or who inspired like the succession series, I'm not I'm not tread new ground when it comes to like the interplay.

These people are supposed to be in a family business. But it's all this backstabbing that's going on in the background because a lot of the family members are narcissists. And even one character points it out. It's like you don't have to do this. If you're so miserable with each other, you don't need to be here. Right. But it's the money and the power that keeps them locked in this interplay with each other. And ultimately that that leads to much more bad things than what they exist.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah. With Nicole, obviously we talked about she has like a very snarky in her monologue that is amazing. And she's also she's also kind of survived the past. Basically she has a lot of layers going on.

Yes. So how how did you kind of craft her to be the like main character for this story? Well, I knew in the present instance that she would be someone who was probably dealing, she's dealing with post trauma. So by the time you see her in the present, she's not as confident. She even says it. Like, I'm not a person I was. She dresses different.

She is, she's not quite sure what the future has for her. And she's, but she's trying to muddle her way through it. It's like, okay, maybe this film, once the record is set straight, will help give a clear sense of direction of what I need to do. When we go to the past, she's much more confident. She's the executive assistant to a CEO. She has a lot of experience. She's organizing behind the scenes, a lot of things. And so we see her when she felt like she was in her element, when she was doing what she was meant to do.

And ultimately, by the end, she finds out. okay, well, maybe maybe I wasn't meant to, that path wasn't meant for me after all. And so I wanted to show her evolving that she's going through this movie and she's trying to figure out like, how do I course correct?

And ultimately she figures out the movie isn't, the movie isn't it. The movie can't be the thing that brings you back to the confidence you were before. It has to be something else that you need to address, that you need to change. And I wanted to be able to they that by jumping between the present and the past so the readers could see the difference between

her yeah yeah i'm trying not to say any spoilers because that's what was coming to mind with a couple of things i how do i have worked this but i know yeah yes i know that that's the trick with some of this stuff but yeah she you do you feel that there's actually a difference in the past in the present and sometimes what's what's nice not that I want anyone to be traumatized but we are reading thrillers is like that is how a normal person or a more average person would be processing stuff like yeah we all don't just like move on and we're ourselves after really intense stuff happens so I did I did really like that contrast basically um her relationship with Bridget who's like the matriarch of this wealthy family is also very complicated.

Yeah, what was what was writing their relationship like? Well, I think she kind of saw Bridget is kind of like a second mother. To the point that even her mom is like, she's not your mother. Yes. Because she felt like she respected her. she was someone she wanted to be she was someone that like she will guide me in

the direction I need to go she will steer her in the right direction taking the direction needs to go but that trust is complicated the things that

she does as her surrogate mother is complicated and you see how that impacts the story. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it is, it's so difficult to like it, well, it's kind of like the don't meet your heroes type conversation where it's like it's so much like something on the exterior can be like, oh, I want to be like that woman or like, oh, she's inspiring. I would want to do this. And then sometimes you get up close and you're like, oh, this is what it costs to be like this.

exactly. And you're like, maybe I don't actually want that. Exactly. And yeah, so she's like, she's definitely, it's like Bridget, she is definitely a powerful woman. She's a smart woman. She's a capable woman. But in order to be who she is, are you willing to go those same lengths?

And Nicole has to decide if she wants to do that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. the other the other part is or another part I enjoyed is Nicole is like kind of haunted by by Xander like a little bit not like not like horror level supernatural kind of stuff but it's there and I feel like it functions really well in like a we could almost say psychological horror way because I'm realizing that's what I kind of

love and horror specifically. So what kind of led you to including that part? Well, I figured, like I said, that she would probably have some post-traumatic stress disorder from everything that she witnessed. So it would not be abnormal for her to have like just slight, like, did I see that type of thing that she's battling? And in addition to that, it kind of serves as a metaphor. Like she is being haunted physically by the specter of what happened and mentally by the specter of what happened.

And it'll take a lot for her to get rid of that haunting or get rid of those things that she's still dragging from the past. So that's why he is a physical representation of, yeah, you went to therapy. Yeah, you may have taken that medication. but it's obvious you haven't let all of that go. Yeah, totally. The other, another thing that like functions well for both Hollywood and thrillers is like the truth of what's happening versus like the image that everyone else is seeing. Which comes together in a lot of different ways near the end as well. But was there something about that tension that was fun for you to write in?

Oh, absolutely. I love I love what like kind of hate watching Lifetime movies that do like based on real events. And you're like that didn't happen. Oh, certainly didn't happen that way. And so there are many

of occasions as Nicole is watching things on set that she'll even say, so why do I have a bandage on my head in the scene? Or they're like, it just felt right for the moment. Or she's like, no. That person didn't have that accent. And so to me, it's always funny because I guess for the salaciousness that Hollywood might want, it's not a documentary. And she has to come to terms with that.

Yeah. And I think that's, I think most people who see based on or aspire by a true story, you know that a lot of license was taken by the time you actually see it on screen. Yeah. That's what like, I feel like one of, that was one of my like bigger letdowns, like more into adulthood is realizing like, uh, like I get it because they're trying to do entertainment factor, but like the one that's coming to mind right now for some reason was I really enjoyed, um, the biopic bohemian rhapsody about queen. Um, but then, so then I get like super obsessed and like, am researching. everything after it. And I'm like, they changed so many things, though. And like, you think it's just

some stuff, but like, it's not. And so, yeah, it's just complex in a lot of different ways. Because then it's like, there are a lot of people where like they think that's history because they, or factual, because they watched a biopic and they just like have these facts in their head that are like facts. Exactly. Exactly. I think that's what she's. Go ahead. even with like the who is cast to play Nicole like at the beginning when she's like seeing her she's like doesn't look like me I think you mentioned that it's kind of like a the culturally ambiguous or somewhat ambiguous casting that Hollywood likes to do too yeah you're just like why did you need to do that exactly that she's like she's she's a black woman and so she's seeing this woman and

He's like, I'm sure you're a great person, but I don't understand why we couldn't cast a black actress for this. And so he's encountering this stuff over and over again that she's like, this is not going to be the story that I want. Yeah. It's obvious. Very. Yeah.

Without talking about the end, did you know, did you know the ending you were working toward or did you like find it as you were writing? I'm always intrigued by that too. I thought I knew. And then as I was writing it, I'm like, no, I'll change it a little bit. So that it's not, it's a little bit more complex than what I originally had. Because of the way I had it, then I'm like, I think people could pretty much figure this out from the beginning. But adding another element, you're like, oh, really?

That's how that happens. So yeah. Yeah. I felt that that was more interesting. Yeah. Yeah, there's some things that like if you're just a thriller reader, you just pick up on more things. But there are a lot of reveals, especially kind of in like most of Act 3, I guess is probably where, you know, most reveals show up anyway. So yeah, I just had fun figuring it all out.

And I had seen the blurb that said like knives out. And maybe the blurb or not it's not a blurb. It's the whatever, like the first marketing copy sentence on the synopsis. And one, sometimes I'm wary of people say knives out. I know. Because like sometimes you get into it and you're like, just because there are like multiple people here doesn't mean you're like doing knives out necessarily. but it really did it felt very similar to that once I started reading so like I feel like I would have said it even if it wasn't in the synopsis I do just love those it's just it's so fun like kind of getting to the end yeah when it's like oh by the way this is what was happening like this whole time that you were paying attention to all this other stuff it's like so yeah I knew you know like with season thriller readers and mystery readers they're gonna guess so and you know like with season thriller readers and mystery readers they're gonna guess so and you know and you know you know like what you're Even the ones that was like, I guessed the ending.

And I was like, yeah, you probably did, but you probably guessed other endings too. So it could be a grand bag. It was like, I could be this, this, this. Because I do it too. Then I'm like, I'm just waiting to see, was I right? Yes. Which one was the one that I guessed?

Yeah. I saw a meme earlier this morning that was talking about. Like, it was like, it's like an, some angry meme. I can't even remember what the image technically was. But it was like readers when readers, readers when, don't figure out the plot twists. And so it's like someone who's angry. And then it's like readers when they do figure out the plot twist.

It's someone who's angry. It's so funny to me. And I'm like you do. Yeah. Yeah, because with not so perfect strangers, I got feedback from like, or good reads there. Some people were like, I didn't guess the ending, but that's it. I was like, I don't know what to say to that.

Yeah, what do you want? I'm like, but you didn't guess it though. if it was that simple of why didn't you guess it? And so they're like, that's it. Right. Yeah. That's like the hard thing for me because it's like there are also, and sometimes I'll even say it in reviews just so like people have the correct expectations going into books because that's like, as I'm sure you know,

that's the other hard thing sometimes is sometimes you may dislike a book because you really were in a mood for something else, but like the synopsis or someone else made you think something else. So sometimes I will be like, I was pretty sure where we were headed, but I still really enjoyed getting there because that still can be very fun. So sometimes I even mention that, but it's like thriller readers, sometimes it's like, what, like, what did you want? Like, because I would prefer that there were definitely like some crumbs that could have helped me get to that solution because that makes it seem realistic or yeah realistic like congruent with everything else that was happening. So I'm like in some ways I hope I'm figuring out like 65% of the endings like before I get completely to the ending because it means like there was enough there.

And then some people are just pissed if there's not a twist. And I'm like not every thriller needs a twist either. I would agree. And to me like I have read books and I won't say which book this was where it was. leading you in a certain direction and then it suddenly introduced a paranormal element where there's like and then that person's

spirit inhabited the other person's body and that was the person committed murder. And I'm like, but we never established any of these elements before we got to that part of the story. To me that's genius. You're speaking our language. We don't have rants about

this. It's like, no, if it was paranormal elements then we should have established this. chapters ago. You don't get to suddenly like just like that to me

that means you couldn't think of an ending. It was like no the elements were always there. No it wasn't. If it was paranormal you should have told me I was reading a paranormal mystery.

Yes. It should have felt a little bit spooky or it should have felt yeah like there are just things that should have been happening otherwise because otherwise you do. I similarly have a couple that I always think of during this discussion

where I'm like you just, you just didn't know how you wanted to end it, huh? Exactly. It's like, and it was this. You're pulling a Scooby-Doo. Yeah. But you never established anything that would make us go in that direction.

So yeah, to me, that's cheating. That's cheating. So I would much rather, like you said, have the sprinkles there. I could guess probably have to majority of it.

And then there may be a twist or it could be like, yeah. Oh, okay. It's like, I didn't guess. that. Right. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Well, there's no, there's no paranormal element. We'll, we'll just give a spoiler here. There is a concrete explanation for what happens. No spirits. Yes, not this one. Yeah. Um, well, I loves it. Anyone who needs a beach read,

um, a summary read, a fun thriller. Like, this is the one you're looking for. If that's the mood that you're in. Yeah. But I do always ask at the end, too, if you've read anything recently that you loved. If I write anything recently that I love. I've started. Or not even recently. Yeah.

I see you a note about Love You to Death. And I can't remember the name of the author. I think you have her on the show. Christina Dotson. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've started reading that.

It's it's also kind of a snarky personality type of story. And so I'm really enjoying that. I've been listening to that on audio book because I'm on deadline. I heard the audio is fantastic. Yeah. And so I can't read as much. Like read. Yeah.

I know people are like, that is reading. I was like, okay. I can't. I never know how to delineate it either now. I can't physically read, but I try. to listen to books on audio books. I have a choice. And so I've been listening to and enjoying that one.

And so I'm hoping that I can start another book. And I'm interested in seeing what she does next. I am too. Yeah. Yeah. I really, really loved how voice driven it was. That's the other thing in thrillers. Like voice and tone are just as fun for me as maybe a well-placed twist.

Like you're spending so much time. and someone's in their heads yeah yeah yeah there's like I want to have a fun or I want to at least be engaged while I'm yes I'm following their story I'm investing in what's yeah what's happening so yeah I think she does a great job of that yeah yeah yeah for anyone who is I it made me wish it the audio wasn't on net galley so I um I had a basically a digital copy that that I read. But then like right after it came out, I had so many people DMing me from like that episode. Yeah. Who were like, the audio is so good. And it made me like wish I was like now I wish I experienced it via audio because people love it so much. So if you guys are audiobook lovers,

I'm hearing so much good stuff about that one too. So definitely go listen to both of them. And they're very different stories, but yeah, the tones and the voice is kind of similar in a lot of ways, too. I would agree. Where can people follow you to stay up to date with everything? Well, I am always on Instagram at Shelley Stratton Books. I'm not on, I've left the land of Twitter. It used to be like the place that I, I used to be the place that was so fun. and it's just not fun anymore.

So I'm on threads. I've been trying to adapt that more. And you can go to my website at shelley Ellisbooks.com. That's a holdover for my romance days. But I think eventually I'm going to have to start getting something for Ellestrian.