Bookwild - People Will Talk by Kieran Scott: A Surprise Wedding, a Dead Bride, and Three Women with Motives

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

This week, I talk with Kieran Scott about her dishy new thriller People Will Talk.  We dive into her inspiration for the book, how she crafted three POVs, and what made her choose a chandelier as a murder weapon.People Will Talk SynopsisWhen the Frank family throws their annual clambake at their gorgeous beachside home on Cape May, the seafood is always delivered to white-clothed tables on fine bone china. And Peter Frank, the beloved son and perennial heartbreaker, will make the rounds, charming every woman on the guest list.Top of that list this year are Maya, his tennis star girlfriend just coming off the high of winning Wimbledon; Catherine, his high school sweetheart turned wildly successful wedding planner and influencer; and Leanne, the fiercely protective aunt and legal guardian of his only son. When Maya, Catherine, and Leanne arrive expecting an extravagant feast, they’re instead lured into a room together by a mysterious text to find Peter and…Tilly.Tilly, all golden blonde hair and perfectly tan skin, explains to the three women that she and Peter plan to get married that night, that Maya and Peter are through, that Peter will no longer be investing in Catherine’s company, and that Leanne must give up guardianship of her nephew. The enraged women attend the impromptu wedding, but when a chandelier falls and crushes the bride, suddenly they’re three likely suspects with three perfect motives. Now they’ll have to work together to figure out who really did kill Tilly, and fast—because maintaining a good reputation in this crowd can be murder. 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 

A friend of mine invited everyone to a barbecue at his house. I think most of us suspected that it was going to be a surprise wedding. This was a person who is just a really good looking charismatic guy. Like we've known him since we were in our 20s and has, you know, a dating history. And I was just like, what if like all of his ex-girlfriends were invited to this, you know, thinking they were just coming to a barbecue and all of a sudden it had a wedding sprung on them, right? So that was the first initial idea and then from there it went dark as my mind all does. This week I got to talk with Kieran Scott, who is the author of many, many, many books.

But today we will be talking about people will talk. And it is a dishy, soapy, salacious thriller. So here's what it's about. When the Frank family throws their annual clam bake at their gorgeous beachside home on Cape May, the seafood is always delivered to white cloth tables on fine bone China and Peter Frank, the beloved son and perennial heartbreaker, will make the rounds charming every woman on the guest list. Top of that list this year are Maya, his tennis star girlfriend, just coming off the high of winning Wimbledon, Catherine, his high school sweetheart turned wildly successful wedding planner and influencer, and Leanne, the fiercely protective aunt and legal guardian of his only son. When Maya, Catherine, and Leanne arrive expecting an extravagant feast,

they're instead lured into a room together by a mysterious text to find Peter and Tilly. Tilly, all golden blonde hair and perfectly tan skin, explains to the three women that she and Peter planned to get married that night, that Maya and Peter are through, that Peter will no longer be investing in Catherine's company, and that Leanne must give up guardianship of her nephew. The enraged women attend the impromptu wedding, but when a chandelier falls and crushes the bride. Suddenly, they are the three likely suspects with three perfect motives. Now they'll have to go to work to figure out who really did kill Tilly and fast because maintaining a good reputation in this crown can be murder. If you love rich people behaving poorly, if you love just secret upon secret

and shifting through people's perspectives to figure out what exactly is going on, you are going to love. People Will Talk, and I was so excited to talk with Kieran Scott about it. So let's hear from Kieran. Before we dive into People Will Talk, I did want to get to know a little bit about you as an author. So when was the moment, like, when did you know you wanted to write a book or when did you know you wanted to be an author? It's an interesting answer to that question. I think, you know, I was a huge reader as a kid, and I always wanted to be an author. But it's a interesting answer. But it's a interesting answer to that question. I think, you know, I was a huge reader as a kid. I always wanted to be an author. but it seemed like such an unattainable thing that, you know, to me, authors were like NBA stars or rock stars or something like not a real thing.

So when I went to college, I kind of thought I would be a journalist just so that I could do something in writing. And but I ended up, my first job ended up being at a book company. And it was back in the late 90s. And it was when it was a young adult and middle grade mostly publisher. And it was back when we did a lot of, lot of like monthly series like Sweet Valley High and things like that. And while I was working there, I had the opportunity to try my hand at writing a short romance novel for teens. They really liked my proposal. They really liked my sample. So I ended up writing a book in my mid-20s, which was

insane. I kind of fell into it in a way. So from there, I just did a lot more of that type of work for a while until I started really coming up with my own bigger ideas and publishing hardcover and things like that. So I worked in the YA middle grade space for a very long time. And then about 10 years ago, I started writing my first novel for adults, which was Wish You Were Gone, which came out three years ago now. Yeah. Yeah. So you started out in YA. That was going to be one of my other questions as well. What did you, what did you enjoy about writing YA? And then also like what made you kind of want to try out adult fiction as well. Yeah. Why I was fun in the very beginning because it was so, I don't know, it kept me young, I think, sort of. I used to say when I was in my 20s, I always used to say my

eternal age of 17. Yeah. And I had friends who were like, mine's 13, you know, we all wanted to stay kids. And I feel like when I was younger, it definitely kept me connected to the, to the teen kind of generation and the culture, which was good because my day job was also in like editing for teens and things like that. And I think that was just, it was really fun and it was it was always good to like just kind of escape into that world. As I got older, first of all, YIA fiction went in a much more like first paranormal than dystopian kind of lane. And I don't really write that stuff. I really write contemporary. And so I just felt like there wasn't much for me to say in the Y5. space and then I realized I'd been an adult for so long and and maybe I had some stories to tell

that adults might want to read yeah that really makes sense it really did start kind of shifting like you were saying like the dystopian or like the hunger games kind of or twilight started kind of pushing it in that direction so that makes sense a lot of sense um what is your writing process like and it was it different writing y a than your approach to the thrillers you've written So I write, first of all, I'm an outliner. Always have been, always will be. I write very, very specific and very long outlines. I feel like the bulk of my work is done in my outlining.

So if you were to see one of my outlines, you would even see like some bits of dialogue. Because I don't want to forget anything. Like if I think I've come up with a good idea during outlining, I'll put it on paper. And it was pretty much the same. I mean, it's a little different with the thrillers, because they're a little bit more involved and a little bit more, you know, you've got to figure out the twists and the turns and the red herrings. So that's a little more in depth. But I have always outlined.

And once the outline's done, I try to, I call them, you know, like I basically number every single scene in the book. And so I used to, maybe the difference is when I was writing YA, my goal was always to do three scenes a day, which probably, actually, I'm not really a word count person. but you know maybe like 10 pages i would say a day yeah because why these scenes were really short now i really try for one scene a day um and what i'll do is i'll read whatever i wrote the last time i sat down over kind of edit it perfect it as much as i can remind myself as where i was in the story and then write the next scene yeah yeah that totally makes sense so with that being said in this book did you like with your outlining did you know who the culprit was like before you started actually writing it out or was that a surprise to you too?

So without trying, without giving anything away. Well, actually, no, I can't actually say that without giving anything away. So I will say I didn't completely know. I had an idea and it did change somewhere in the middle of the writing because I just wanted to make it a little more complicated than I felt that it was if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. No, that does make sense.

What was like the initial idea that got you started on people will talk? Okay. So let's see. After we sort of all emerged from the COVID lockdowns and everything, a friend of mine invited everyone to a barbecue at his house. And I think most of us suspected that it was going to be a surprise wedding, right? Like we not maybe not everyone, but we sort of, we kind of had an idea. And it was.

which was fantastic. It was so cool. And it was a lovely backyard wedding. And it was just full of love and amazing. But as I was standing there, I was like, this was a person who, I hope if he ever listens to this, he doesn't mind me saying he's just a really good looking charismatic guy. Like, I've known him since we were in our 20s. He's one of my husband's best friends. And has, you know, a dating history, right? Like, and I was just like, what if like all of his ex-girlfriends were invited to this, you know, thinking they were.

just coming to a barbecue and all of a sudden it had a wedding sprung on them right how would they react imagine if somebody ran out crying or if somebody got really angry or whatever um and that's sort of what spurred the initial idea uh yeah it's like what if it what if at a surprise wedding a bunch people weren't happy that it was happening um so that was the first initial idea and then from there it went dark as my mind always does yeah naturally that's how the readers are too when they're in those kind of situations too totally so so then you from there you created these three points of view that we follow throughout the book and so one is someone Maya who is like dating him actively or at least she thinks she is and then Catherine has dated him previously

and Leanne is basically the guardian of his son and she's the sister of the woman he had the son with. And so they have like a very, they all have very unique relationships to him. How did you kind of like decide on those three women? And then how did you kind of develop them? Because they feel like very distinct and different. That's nice to hear. Thank you. So Catherine was the first one. Because I thought, well, first of all, I created the three of them to each have a very different relationship with him and each have a very different viewpoint of him just to keep things interesting, right, and make sure that there were both touch points for things they could agree on and things they could disagree on as the story went on. But Catherine was the

first person I created because I've had friends who were similar to her and that like they could never let someone go. And I've always been sort of fascinated by that and I really wanted to explore it how you could be really successful and charismatic and, you know, a full grown, sophisticated woman, but still hang on to that like teen relationship and always have it in the back of your mind hoping it will come back and be successful. So that was where she came from. And then I thought it would be great if he had a girlfriend currently who was just a star. So someone that everyone else around him felt like they could never live up to, you know, like I thought that would be kind of interesting. But then, of course, wanted Maya to not just be like a cookie cutter. She's a,

she's a professional athlete, a professional tennis player, not be like a cookie cutter success story, have a little bit of a back story to her. So worked in everything, you know, she has this, she has this interesting backstory with her father. And then with Leanne, I felt like I had to have at least someone who saw him for who he really is to some extent. Originally, I thought about having the character who is the kid's mom still be in the mix, but it just felt like too many love interests. And in this case, Leanne was never a love interest and in fact sort of feels like he's responsible for her sister's death.

So she really has issues with him, but she has to have a relationship with him because of the son. Yes. were was there one of those POVs that was like the most fun to write in for you? That's a good question. I think it's, you know, I don't think anyone was more fun than the last. I think certain aspects of each of them was really interesting for me. So for Maya, you know, I had a complex relationship with my dad and a lot of anger issues. So I had kind of an interesting time writing her angry scenes, which was fun.

Yes. I liked reading them. Okay, good. Glad. Um, for Catherine, like I love trying to get into the mindset of somebody who always had to be on and like, she's an influencer and you know, you never know if someone's taking your picture and you know, you always need to be made up and ready to go. Um, so I, I am not that person at all. Like I, I have more makeup on right now than I normally wear and this isn't even that much. Like I'm just not a person. Like, um, so if that was fun to kind of explore. And then Leanne, I think is, is the most similar to me because I have sons, um, I would do anything for. And, you know, she's, um, she's mad. married, she has a business, like she has so many other concerns happening in this book, but Peter's always like there in the, you know, in the corner of her eye and she has to deal with him. So, yeah, there was something fun to write about each.

Yeah, that's really cool. Yeah, I wonder if like having the different POVs makes it like a little, I don't know, not let me like more interesting to write, but it's kind of like you're switching up who you're writing from each time. So it kind of like keeps it fresh as you're telling. It does. It keeps it interesting. You know, writers will always say, like, this is, this, it can be really difficult, you know, to get through a whole entire novel. It can be very difficult. So if you, if I sit down and I have to write, let's say, a Maya scene next and I'm just not in that mindset, I can skip it with my beautiful outline and write the next Leanne scene, if that's more the mood I'm in. So it is. It's definitely helpful. I had never thought of how that is like the other benefit of outlining. really heavily is that like then you could just skip if you're like not in the mood for a particular scene yeah i don't want to write a kiss today i will write a murder instead yes i

definitely wanting to write the murders more um so the other kind of interesting thing is and it is in the synopsis so i don't think this is a spoiler but tell me if it is and i'll remove it but um Tilly, the woman he imprompt to marries, basically, is crushed by a chandelier. And like at the very beginning of the book, you like really describe like all the care that went into like making this chandelier what it was. And like she really, really, really wanted it for the wedding. So was there was there something that grabbed your attention about chandeliers? because it was such a like interesting way for her to die so funny i so one of my best friends is a wedding planner and so a lot of her um a lot of her social media will will feature these incredible sort of

party scenes and you know she she works with some really upscale clients they spend a lot of money on stuff and like i would just i just happened to notice one day when i was scrolling through her feet and then some of the things that you know instagram on the algorithm would take me to were these like incredible chandeliers like people will will hang a humongous chandelier inside of a tent and I was always just kind of fascinated by how that could work right like all of the thing all the mechanism that must go into hanging something like that and like some people will do like upside down cakes that they hang over their dance floor and you're like I how does that not get destroyed and just fall all over your It's like crazy things.

But really beautiful. Some of it's just so beautiful. And I guess I just finally thought like, you know, if I don't understand how this could stay up, it could definitely be something, a disaster that could befall a wedding if it came down. Yeah. So in this case, it doesn't come down on the party, but it does come down. Yes, it does. The other part was like the setting, like you really feel where they are. is that like because I think it's it just says like beachside and it feels kind of like

East Coast is kind of the vibe that I was getting. Was there a reason you chose that? Like it felt like it really fit with the story. Yeah. I mean, it's just the most familiar setting to me. So I grew up and still live in New Jersey and we go down the shore, very New Jersey, every summer. And this, the town is fictional.

It's called Cape Crest. in the book, but it's really based on Cape May, New Jersey, which is one of my favorite shore towns. It's very exclusive and sort of like these, they have these incredible Victorian houses. They have a really quaint downtown. It's one of the last towns on the shoreline, like it's for the south of New Jersey. And so it just feels that when you're there, you just feel like you're in like almost like a different time. And so I kind of wanted to have booked that as much as I could and I, you know, I always want to go and set my books somewhere else, but there's something about the shore. Like for me, it's really, whenever I go there, it's only a few hours, like two to

three hour drive from where I live, but it feels like I'm really somewhere else on vacation, even though like I just just had to drive down the parkway. So I really like to bring that into as many of my books as I can. Yeah. Yeah, I loved it. Like it just, it felt like I was on the beach. It makes it a really good summer read for everyone listening. Um, And it's like all the things you love about summer reads like salacious and secrets everywhere, just like all over the place. But the other thing that some people also love and associate with summer reads is that it definitely has rich people behaving poorly.

And I always love that in a book. So did you have like tons of fun with that? Are you a fan of that too? Yes, I love those books. And it's funny. I always think like, oh, don't read another one. And then I'm like, ooh, I'll take it. Bad summer people last year was like the one that everybody was talking about.

Right. So, yes, I totally gravitate toward them for whatever reason. But again, like sort of what you're saying, like it does feel like the right thing to read in the summer. Like easy, breezy, kind of like you roll your eyes at these people. You're like, really? Like, this is what you're going to do. And it's so fun to write because it's just the exact. Most of the things people do in these books are the exact opposite of what I would do in any given situation.

Yeah. That's some of the fun of it, I would imagine, is like getting to create characters who do certain things like differently than you. And then you get to kind of like live vicariously through them. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Minus all of the, well, no, you wouldn't murder in person. So that that does fit. So also there is, sorry, my allergies are really bad. there's also um the leanne basically has custody or not custody she's trying to get she's like the guardian of um peter's kid as well and so he also goes i don't know if that's a spoiler though is what i was about to say maybe that is a spoiler i was going to ask i know you're like yeah yeah i know i was going to ask about that but like it kind of raises the stakes when you have kids in involved, basically. That's what I can say without it being spoilery. So is that something you were

kind of considering adding him into the story as well? Or did he just kind of fit what you needed Leanne to be? I think in the beginning, yeah, he just kind of fit. But as I was writing, I sort of realized what you're saying, like how much it heightened everything, what goes on with Hudson. And it really made Leanne's scenes much richer and more intense than maybe what I had thought about before. So yeah, yeah, it's sort of, I always try to have every scene have like a real purpose and like have something changed for the character within the scene. And having Hudson as part of her life really gave me the opportunity to do that in throughout the book and in many different ways. So I think he was very helpful to have. Yeah, yeah, he was with, with Maya, she,

we talked about it. She's a, she just won Wimbledon like at the, as she's coming into this story. And she is just like very much a competitor and like her. She acts like a competitive athlete basically too. Did you do any research at all for her character or was it kind of like you could kind of like tell how someone like that would act? No, definitely did research. So I watch a lot of tennis and I watch a lot of tennis channel. So they have like a lot. I watch everybody's interviews and all of that sort of after match talk.

But also they have like a lot of good just kind of. interstitial shows where they interview each other and things like that. So it's really interesting to hear about what their lifestyles really like and what their mindsets really like. I also read Ash Barty's autobiography. So Ash, for those who don't know, was the number one player in the world a few years ago. She retired, I think in 2021 or 2022. At the top, she was number one when she retired. And so I read her, I always thought I admired her as a player and as a person and I read her biography.

And I thought it was so interesting. She talks a lot about all of the talk that goes on in your head during a match. Like you could be out there for two or three hours by yourself playing one other person and how you can be so confident one second. And so down on yourself another second and the kind of like arguments that go on between the good and the bad. And I found that really interesting. So while Maya is not at all based on Ash Barty because she's very different. That kind of mental state. I really tried to work into your character.

Yeah, for sure. And then with Catherine, she is, as you were saying, an influencer and kind of like always has to be on and thinking about capturing her life for the sake of basically her livelihood. And I know you said that's something that like is not typically what you're doing. So did you do any like influencer research too? Aside from just the watching the people I watch in general. While I don't participate, I do follow a lot of people. You know, I follow a lot of bookstagramers.

I follow a lot of Peloton instructors. And some other, actually a lot of food, food blogs and a lot of food network people. So those are, I guess, my three obsessions, books, Peloton and food. That's a good one. That's a good group. There you go. And I just kind of paid attention to almost sort of like, you know, there are these, they post things that are obviously like in a studio or obviously like they'll post with a friend

and they obviously planned it ahead of time. And then there are the things that are supposed to look really spur of the moment, but yet they are totally done up. And they are, you know, it's just sort of, I just kind of watch that and kind of internalize a little bit, like how that might actually work in someone's real life. And, you know, that's why Catherine gets up every morning and she has her makeup routine and her hair routine. And like she has her favorite lipstick and she knows what's going to look good when she gets

on the Zoom call with this person or, you know, she's going to Instagram. So I, yeah, I just tried to embody that as much as I could. I'm sure there are other details that I could have worked in if I actually was, you know, a person who was always on TikTok, but I did my best. Yeah, I've always thought like that the kind of, it's not really dichotomy, but that's where it comes up for me. But the idea that like their lives, their, their picturesque version of their lives, the version that they like put out is like what fuels their lives. livelihood. So there's like so much room for being like duplicitous or appearing one way and not actually being another way. So I feel like that's why I always love influencers and thrillers. Like I feel like not that every influencer is like massively like explaining their life in a way

that's totally not true. But I feel like that's what makes it really fun in a thriller. Yeah. Agreed. I mean, it's just it's just like putting putting something out there all the time and Who knows whether or not it's real. Yeah. Yeah. And then there's all the like, then do you start believing that you're this version of yourself that you're posting and how confusing that can all get too. Must be a little maddening. Yeah.

Yeah. I just feel like it fits so well in the thriller genre. So I loved it. Good. So I've been asking people at the end if they've read anything recently that they loved. And if you haven't, that's okay too. Um, so I have been really into this series, uh, that Claudia Gray is writing that takes Jane Austen characters and, um, and puts murders into the stories. Oh, that is so cool. Um, so I just read the third one. So the first one is called the murder of Mr. Wickham. And I remember when I saw it on my phone, I was like, oh my God, I need to get this right. I didn't even know anything about it. Just the title, right? Um, I ended up, uh, listening to the audiobook. And basically that book, and basically that book,

takes every hero and heroine from every Jane Austen novel and puts them at a house party at Emma Woodhouse and Knightley's house and then Wickham shows up and then Wickham ends up dead and everybody is a suspect and if you like Jane Austen if you're a Jane Austen person it is so satisfying um and they're two young uh that basically Elizabeth Bennett Bennett's son and the Tingley's daughter are the two teenage kind of investigators um And he's neurodivergent in a really cool way. And she kind of falls for him, even though he's not like kind of adhering to the standard of like, you know, the society and what they think a man should be. So anyway, there are three of them now.

The second one was about the death of Mrs. Willoughby. And the third one is, is about Catherine DeBerg. Anyway, it's fantastic. It's so good. That's so cool. Yeah. I've definitely read those books growing up, but then I've never like read any of the ones where they kind of do like, because someone did something where they put vampires into classics too. I haven't read that. Yes. But murders. That sounds really cool. I'm going to have to add that to the list. Yeah, definitely added to your list. Anybody, I mean, even if you're not a Jane Austen fan, they're very satisfying mysteries. But if you are a Jane Austen fan, there's so much to love and like little nuggets to remember and things. It's just great. that was so cool well thank you so much for talking with me about your book for anyone who's been listening and needs their next very binge-worthy summer summer i can't say the word summer

this is definitely one for you but thank you for taking time and talking to me about it thank you so much for having me on