Bookwild - May Cobb: My Summer Darlings

Episode Date: July 28, 2022

On this episode, I talk to May Cobb about her newest steamy psychological thriller My Summer Darlings.You can also watch the episode on YouTubeAuthor LinksInstagramGoodreadsWebsiteCheck out the book hereMy Summer Darlings SynopsisA woman in the forest thinks she’s going to die.I know he’s coming back for me.Jen Hansen, Kittie Spears, and Cynthia Nichols have been friends since childhood. They are now approaching forty and their lives have changed, but their insular East Texas town has not. They stay sane by drinking wine in the afternoons, dishing about other women in the neighborhood, and bonding over the heartache of their own encroaching middle age and raising ungrateful teens.Then Will Harding comes to town, moving into one of the neighborhood’s grandest homes. Mysterious and charming, he seems like the answer to each woman’s prayers. He’s a source of fascination for Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia, but none of them are ready for the way Will disrupts their lives.As Will grows closer with each of the women, their fascination twists into obsession, threatening their friendships and their families. When he abruptly pulls away, each woman scrambles to discover the source of his affection. But what they’ll uncover is far more sinister and deadly than any of them could have ever imagined. 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 

Hi, my name is Kate and I love to read. Like, I was carrying books around with me before Kindles were a thing. So I decided to start a podcast where I interview the authors of some of my favorite books, ask them all of my questions so that I can read between the lines of the books. Welcome back to another episode between the lines. Today I'm here with May Cobb, who is the author of my summer darlings that we're going to talk about today. So May, thanks so much for being on the podcast. Thanks so much for having me, Kate. I love your podcast. I'm excited to be here. Thank you. So when did you know that you wanted to be an author? Yeah, it pretty much goes back to college. I took this jazz appreciation course and I heard this song and it was so haunting and

beautiful that I felt like I had to know who the musician was. And when I went to research him, he was very compelling, blind, played three saxophones at the same time. But he died like a couple of years before I was born. So anyway, I retraced his footsteps for years and I'm working on a nonfiction book about him. But that's what set me down the path. That is so cool. I don't think anyone has ever told me that music was the way that they got into writing. So it's like a really unique story. What is your writing process like? So do you like go into it knowing what you're going to do or does it develop all your writing? I pretty much do have the basic setup or the what if and I try to make myself write like a one-page synopsis much like what would be on the

back of a book just to make sure that it's really a book idea and not just maybe a short story or something else. And it also kind of helps keep me on track when I get lost plot-wise. So I do have an overview, but I definitely have to write as I go and let the plot and the characters and everything reveal itself to me. Yeah. So do you do any planning with the characters, or are they also just something that's kind of ongoing as you write? I do some planning. Usually whoever is going to be the narrator, I do like to know a little bit about them. But for me, the most important thing is voice.

So I have to be able to hear their voice in my head. And once I've got that locked in, I really like to listen to them and let them leave me. Yeah. Yeah, we were talking earlier about that. And I feel like that's like so relevant in both of your books. That was not the right word. No, relevance the right word there. Yeah.

It's obvious and prevalent is what I meant in both of your books, because there are multiple characters. And sometimes when people do that, it can all blend together if they're not really distinct people. And when I was reading My Summer Darling's, I noticed that where I was like, even just in the first few sentences of each chapter, I was like, I know which character this is. Thank you so much. That's very nice to hear.

Yeah. I loved it. So how would you describe my summer darling's in a couple of sentences? I think it's really just like a summary, kind of escapist, erotic thriller, like a little bit like the Desperate Housewives, but with more of a Texas crazy Southern Edge. And I really wanted to, yeah, that's kind of a couple of sentences, so I won't go on and on.

But I love those Adrian Lynn films from the 90s, like Fatal Attraction. basic instinct. And I really wanted to do something like that, but more from the female gaze. Yeah, that is a really good summary. Where did you get the idea? So, like, what prompted you to write My Summer Darling's? I actually, I was trying to think of what would be the next book. And I'm friends with Riley Sager, the, you know, the thriller writer.

Yeah. Yeah, the amazing thriller writer. And he always kind of is. inspired by a movie for each book and I was like well what movie would I be inspired by and I for some reason thought of the witches of Eastwick and yeah I kind of grew up watching that um as inappropriate as that is because I think it came out when I was like 10 and so but uh so I wanted to base something on that but like leave out the paranormal part but still make you know will like the devil basically and yes three female friend you know three lifelong friends you know three lifelong

and see how their lives could become kind of upended by a handsome sexy stranger moving into town. I liked that set up and thought that could be kind of a pressure cooker to put people in. That's really, you like got into writing through music and that you guys are like being inspired to write by movies. I'm wearing all the like cross-platform stuff. So we are going to talk about the book at this point. I always tell everyone if you haven't read it, go read it. go read it and then come back. So you've kind of heard how great it is.

Go read it if you haven't read it. And then if you already have, you can just keep listening to the rest of it. So in certain ways, like all of the women in the story are insecure. But especially Kitty is while she's aging. And she really is really punctuated by the fact that she has a teenage daughter, Chloe, who's beautiful and young and all of that right in front of her. so do you think that that toxic relationship that developed between mother and daughter is kind of what primed kitty and Chloe to buy for wheels attention? That's such a great question. I'm so glad you asked

it. And by the way, this is so great to be talking about spoilers. I haven't done a spoiler interview yet. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny. I didn't know that Chloe was going to be such a big part at the very beginning. I did know that the stuff with her will was going to happen, but I didn't kind of know about the clash with her mom just yet. But then when I got those two together, I was like, oh, gosh, there is so much toxicity here. And I do think, you know, they're both driven, especially Kitty. She's really, she doesn't even like Will. She just doesn't like the fact that he doesn't throw himself at her. Yes.

And for Chloe, it's really more like, um, maybe I hadn't thought about it, but maybe she was motivated to be with him because she could tell her mom was, you know, flirting with him or whatever. Probably, knowing Chloe, probably. Yeah. Yeah. So, Kitty's insecurities are also really obvious in her relationship with Jen as well. And so multiple times, Jen feels the need to say what she knows Kitty wants her to say so that she's, she can keep the peace.

So do you think Jen's desperation in her relationship with Kitty is kind of the same desperation she feels in her like really confusing relationship with Will? I think so. That's such a good way to put it, Kate. I honestly hadn't really thought about it like that. But yeah, I think so. I think she's kind of like a fish out of water, you know. She's been away.

She's been living in a big city. She's thrown back to her hometown. She's in these, like, you know, high school dynamics, even though they're older. And then she's so brokenhearted and vulnerable. So, yeah, I think yes, checkmark to both of those. Yeah. And then Will kind of like picks up on Kitty's energy in general. One of the trickiest things he does is he definitely like tapped into her obsession with being in the spotlight by like basically saying he has no interest in her.

and it even makes her think it still bothers me though that he doesn't like me that he doesn't think I'm worth getting to know the way he thinks Jen is so do you think Kitty knew like on any level that he was manipulating her or do you think she was just like completely blind to that until the end?

I think she was blind to it to be honest I think she just walked right into that trap yeah she really did it was such a like big target on her that she could be manipulated that way. Yeah. Yes. Totally. And then at one point, Kitty is judging Jen and she thinks she's always been like this, always jumping into bed with the first handsome guy whose head she turned, which is pretty hypocritical given the fact that Kitty is doing what she's judging her of. And Jen hasn't

even slept with him actually yet. So were you kind of using Kitty to like show how toxic are like women's relationships with each other can be when we turn it into a competition? I think so. I think, and I don't even know if I did it on purpose, but I'm, I guess I'm kind of obsessed with, like, toxic female friendships and the way that, you know, women do get super competitive and also the way, you know, I guess society sort of pits us against ourselves. So yeah, I feel like, you know, yeah, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Yeah. It was pretty hypocritical for her to say that.

And it is like twofold. We like grow up with it. And then, yeah, like it's kind of like accepted that like women are going to treat each other that way, which is, it doesn't have to be that way. but I'm with you. I'm also fascinated by the more like dysfunctional version of it. Yeah. Men's relationships are so much more simplistic than ours. It's like it's very interesting why we're wired to have such sort of twisty. They're just like, what game do you want to watch? You know, what sport do you want to talk about? Like whatever. And it's not they're not, they're not sitting at home thinking about their interactions with their friends. Right. No, I don't think so. I don't think my husband

has ever come home and like, man, I don't know if you liked what I said. Exactly. Yeah. So eventually Chloe kind of gets Will's attention to. And for her, she thinks, like, I felt powerful then holding his complete attention like that, knowing that he thought I was sexy. So in some cases, it can be really healthy to feel like really empowered by your sexuality, but were you also showing how in other cases men are actually using it to disempower you?

I think with Chloe, she just really did straight up feel empowered, especially because like her friend Shelley had stolen one of her boyfriends. And then now she's kind of got like the hottest guy in town interested in her above everyone else. And I think like for a teenager, that's a pretty heady experience. Yeah. And then, you know, I mean, of course she makes the mistake of, you know, kind of laughing in his face when he wants to take her to Paris, which, you know, wow. That turned on her real quick. So. Yeah. It got very, it got bad. It was not the best option. But I liked that about her that she was like, I'm not thinking about you in that way. Like, we're just hanging out, you know, like, whoa, what? yeah yeah like that it wasn't impressive to her still yeah she was just like just whatever yeah she's kind of grossed out like do you have like those kind of feelings for me be old man because i'm not really thinking that i'm just kind of i don't even know what i'm doing but i don't want

that so kind of in that same realm though the book does explore women sexuality um and how it's kind of been shamed and like tamped down my society so Sometimes it kind of feels like men are allowed to just be like frequently turned on by women who come into town. But women are supposed to like keep it in check. So do you think Will could have reached the havoc that he did on the women of Cedar Town if they hadn't been so sexually repressed and like taught to always feel competitive with each other? That is the most brilliant question I've ever heard. Oh my gosh. That is the hill I want to die on.

yes yes absolutely yeah no I feel like if they hadn't been so repressed no it wouldn't have been as powerful like he would have just been maybe a topic of interest maybe he would have been interesting to one of them but because they are not sort of allowed to feel these feelings and especially like with Cynthia in her own marriage it's so dead and dried up that yeah like it's it's so um it's such a powder keg um his presence is because, you know, their life is ticking by them. They're heading into empty nest or territory. And what else is there?

You know, what's left? Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like they talk about like in marriages, even like cheating is a symptom, not the disease. Right. So it was kind of like him coming. He wasn't the actual issue.

He was just like a symptom that showed up that like blew it all up. Yes. Yeah, exactly. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. I did too. I thought, I was like, how is she going to end this?

Endings are so tricky. And I just thought it was perfect. And still, like, empowerment of the end, too, which has been, like, this big theme in a lot of the books. I feel like I've been reading this summer. Thank you. I wanted them to, I really wanted them to take him down. And I wanted, especially Jen, one of my friends actually, she didn't read the ending, but she did say like what is something you can do to give her agency and power and so that's why i knew she had to be

the one to make the first stab and do the manipulating back to him and prevail because you know she's not weak she does i know she reads weak and a lot of people like cannot stand her but i'm like no she's vulnerable and she's been through a lot and yeah yeah you know and and and and who among us wouldn't act like she does or have those feelings. Right. Especially when you've just been divorced. Yeah. Yes.

You're hoping that you could be with someone else again. Yeah. And he's clicking with her son and she and her son have been a little bit on the out. So it just seems like, oh my God, this is perfect. You know, this could really work out. And then, so yes, I thank you for liking the ending. I wanted to explode in his face.

in a believable way. And I know I kind of go on a slasher film at the end there, but it was fun. I was letting out a lot of rage. Yeah, it felt like it all built up to that. So then it was exciting to have it be like that slashery of an ending. You're like reading through all the characters too, you're like, by the end of it, you're so pissed at like what he's doing.

that you're like, what's going to happen to? Thank you. Where, oh, actually, I've been asking people one more question. What have you read lately that you have loved? You know, I just finished the House Across the Lake by Riley Sager. Have you read that yet? Yeah. Yeah, I read it a couple weeks ago.

I was obsessed. That twist? Yes. It was another one where I felt like the twist allowed it to be an empowering or like a story of redemption. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I'm so in awe.

I'm so in awe of that twist, almost to the point of like insane writer jealousy that I can never come up with something like that. But I'm so happy that it's been so well received. It's stayed on the New York Times list. Like it really does deserve it. So that's, that's, that was probably the most exciting one I've read lately. yeah yeah I agree and that one when you said he likes to have it inspired by movies because he kept referencing rear window in that one as well so when you brought that up earlier I was like oh my gosh I remember I kept reading or it kept popping up in the book yes exactly so really really cool um yeah so where can people follow you so they can stay up to date just kind of

or whatever. Probably the best is Instagram, so I'm May M-A-Y-U-S-O-B-C-O-B on Instagram. And then I've got my website, which I'm really too lazy to update events, but it's www.macob.com. Okay. Awesome. So those

will all be in the show notes so that everybody can link to that. And thank you so much for being on the podcast. Thank you, Kate. Have a great day. This was so much fun. Thank you.