Bookwild - While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi: Parasite Meets Such a Fun Age

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

This week, I talk with Sara Koffi about her addictive domestic suspense While We Were Burning.  We dive into her inspiration for the book, how she ended up writing thrillers, and her favorite part of writing the book.While We Were Burning SynopsisAfter her best friend's mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith’s picture-perfect life in the Memphis suburbs has spiraled out of control—so much so that she hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. Composed and elegant, Brianna is exactly who she needs—she slides so neatly into Elizabeth’s life it's almost like she belonged there from the start, and proves herself indispensable. Soon, the assistant Elizabeth hired to distract her from her obsession with her friend's death is the same person working with her to uncover the truth behind it.Because Brianna has questions, too.She wants to know why the police killed her young Black son. Why someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood called the cops on him that day. Who took that first step that stole her child away from her. And the only way she’s ever going to be able to find out is to entwine herself deep into Elizabeth’s life, where the answers to her questions lie. As the two women hurtle towards an electrifying final showdown, and the lines between employer and friend blur, it becomes clear that neither of them is what they first appear. Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Today, I'm with Sarah Kofi, who is the author of While We Were Burning, which is just a really, really engaging and thought-provoking domestic psychological suspense novel that I devoured. I could not put this book down. It's about two women whose lives kind of crashed together and create quite the situation. After her best friend's mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith's picture perfect life in the Memphis suburbs has spiraled out of her. control, so much so that she hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. Composed and elegant, Brianna is exactly who she needs. She slides so neatly into Elizabeth's life, it's almost like she belonged there from the start and proves herself indispensable. Soon, the assistant Elizabeth hired to distract her from her obsession with her friend's death is the same person working with her to uncover the truth behind it, because Brianna has questions too. She wants to know why the police killed her

young black son. Why someone in Elizabeth's neighborhood called the cops on him that day? Who took that first step that stole her child away from her? And the only way she's ever going to be able to find out is to entwine herself deep into Elizabeth's life where the answers to her questions lie. As the two women hurtle towards an electrifying final showdown and the lines between employer and friend blur, it becomes clear that neither of them is what they first appear. This book was so suspenseful from the get-go. I was immediately hooked and could not put it down and just had to know where the ending was headed. And I loved it. I loved how everything came together. And I really loved the tone of both of the characters, even though I didn't necessarily love both of them.

But enough about that. Let's get into it with Sarah. So before we dive into the book, I did want to get to know a little bit about you. So when did you know that you wanted to write? a book or like be an author. Yeah. So I've been writing since I was a kid. I think that's like every author story, right? Yeah. But before being into novels,

I was actually very much into poetry and thought I was going to be a poet until I was like maybe 18 or 19. And I realized that I just wasn't very, very good at poetry basically. I think that's when I discovered like Richard Slyken and I was just like, oh, this is poetry. I'm not that great of poetry. So I was like, okay, I'm going to pivot. I also loved reading growing up too and loved novels.

I was like, okay, maybe I can try a long form version of storytelling. Yeah, totally. So as you kind of broke into that, what was your writing process like for this book? Like, do you plot? Do you just kind of get going writing or how did that go? Yeah, for this book, I did try to outline it a few times. I have like, I think up to three discarded outlines that just weren't working for me for this book. So I decided to, I think it's called like a plancer, right?

Like half plotter, half pancer. So I would just kind of plot this book as I was writing kind of chapter by chapter. So I wasn't going fully in like as a pancer. But I had an idea of what I wanted to happen next throughout the book. And that was better for me than trying to plot the whole thing beforehand. Yeah, that makes sense. I was just talking with Kelly Garrett. And she called it like a headlights approach where like you only plot like a certain amount that you need to see ahead of you to be able to keep writing scenes.

So it sounds like it's kind of similar to that like a hybrid of it. Yeah, that's actually a much better term than what I said. So I'm going to take that headlights approach. No, I like yours too. I was just like that does sound familiar. So it was reminding me of that. This book is really character driven. for both of the main characters.

So how did you get to know your characters for it? Yeah. So for this book, I will say not really based on anybody, but kind of based on people. That's how I went. At least for the character of Elizabeth. Like I tell the story, basically, you know, during the summer of 2020 with the George Floyd protest and the Bionette Taylor protest and all that happening, I was very, like, anxious about, you know, what was going to happen if they were ever going to receive.

any justice. But around the same time, a video came out, I believe it happened in New York City of a white woman approaching her neighbor. He was writing, you know, Black Lives Matter on his sidewalk, like in chalk or something. And she approached him and she was just like, oh, I don't think the owner of this house is going to like that very much. And he was like, oh, you know, the owner. And she was like, yes, I don't think he'd appreciate, you know, your graffiti. And he was like, well, I'm the owner, right? So you're approaching me to do this very, like, you know, racist thing on behalf of someone like, it's me, I'm the owner. And then. And of course, the internet, you know, went wild for it and started like trying to figure out who she was and what's going on with her background.

And it was fascinating because what they found out was that, you know, on paper, this was not a racist woman, right? She was a liberal. She voted correctly, often stood up for causes online. And it was just kind of like fascinating because they're like, you know, you have this woman who has this background. But she's doing a very like, you know, just obviously racist thing right now. And there's that like, you know, kind of lack of self-awareness. And that's kind of where Elizabeth came from. That's very much her character.

someone who's just lacking self-awareness but on paper is doing all the right things and I was just kind of fascinated by that I guess economy of that kind of person. Yes. Yeah, I definitely felt that because there are like there are parts of Elizabeth that you kind of like as a reader, especially at the beginning when you don't know too much about her. Not to spoil too much, but you do like the longer you get into it, you're like, okay, kind of for sure. show. It sounds like you know how to say the right things or like appear the right way, but then her actions definitely don't always line up with like the way she says she is sometimes. So I definitely hold on. You definitely do feel that with Elizabeth's character where you're like, okay, you like try to be one way, but I don't think you're completely that way. So you may have kind of answered it, but what was your inspiration for this book?

Like what was the kind of the first idea that got you started with it? Yeah. So I go back to, you know, the summer of 2020, the George Floyd protest, Mary Taylor protest. And it was really just me, just watching all that coverage, right? And just the anxiety building about,

I don't think there's going to be any justice served, like in these two, like, cases. And that kind of like getting to me and also making me very, like, ragey and upset as well. Yeah. And that just kind of translated in. to a book that's also, I'd say, ragey and upset in a lot of things.

Yeah, it really is. It's like, I mean, it's covering like very deep, important issues, but it also has like a really snarky tone to it too. So you feel that as well within the book. I just read in your, sorry, I read in your bio that you really enjoy writing unlikable female characters. So what drawings?

you to writing those kind of characters in women and thrillers. Yeah. So there's like a bit of a backstory with that. I will get into it, basically. When I first started, yeah. When I first started like writing, you know, like long-form novels, I was actually interested in the romance genre initially. Oh, yeah.

But a lot of feedback I got on my first few books was basically your main character is a bit too snarky and she's a bit too much. Oh my gosh. Snarky's my favorite thing in a book. that happened that was such like a common feedback for me it was I was just like oh my gosh every time yeah they're like oh she talks back too much she always you know because you know you have that valling and romance where they go back and forth and they're like oh but she's kind of mean about it but I'm like but he's being a little mean too so it's it's fine um my gosh basically getting that feedback

I was like okay maybe I need like to pivot to a genre where like it's okay if she's like I'll say unlikable in quotes right a little snarky a little more personality that's basically how I got the thriller because I was like, you know, reading thrillers too at the time and I was like, oh, these women just kind of get to be however they want to be. So it's kind of freeing, right, for me too, as a writer. Yeah. So I was like, I can just kind of go into this and not have to worry about are people going to like her?

Because it feels like the thriller, that's not as much of a consideration. I don't think the readers are there to be, to like, relate to their characters as much, right? I don't know. I might. I feel like they're more interested in like, you know, seeing seeing the mess of their lives and like how things fall apart. So you have more freedom to have just more personality for female characters in the thriller genre.

That is such an interesting little tidbit because I really only read thrillers. And I hadn't really thought about it from that perspective where like my favorite, like anyone who's listened to this podcast a while is probably so tired of hearing me say the word snarky because it is like that's like what's going to get you on like my top favorite list for the year or something like snarky books are just like so engaging for me the snarky characters are so memorable but i'd never thought of the fact that i may even like stay in the thriller genre so much because the women are allowed to be that way i had i just had not even ever thought of that So I'm glad you ended in thrillers with us so that we can read your snarky characters.

So when we meet Brianna, her son has been, well, in the past has been killed. And so she is living in like a very big world of grief for sure. And we really feel it with her in those beginning chapters. but then this kind of ignites her into wanting revenge. So how did you kind of approach balancing, like having the grief at the beginning and then turning it towards the like more motivated feeling of revenge? Yeah. So I basically just thought like, how would someone who's experienced this awful thing

kind of react to the world if they never went to therapy? That was the question I asked myself actually. Because I was like, you know, yeah, she's. not really, she's not processing anything. She's not handling anything. So I'm like, so you're just sitting there, you know, very rightfully so, you know, very depressed, like feeling all this grief of losing your child. I'm like, I can just imagine that easily turning into anger or like wanting revenge, right? Because it's like, how are you going to get that feeling out of you? Like your options are, you know, again, without therapy.

It's kind of grieving forever or kind of wanting to move past it and like probably going to move past an toxic way. Like without the tools to process how you're feeling. Yeah, yeah. That's true. It's like, I think because I'm, again, so used to reading thrillers, I'm kind of like, I think she handled it in a good way, but you're right. In a real world context, like therapy might have like been an easier or like a better way to handle it. But as a reader, I liked how she handled it for the most part. So the other thing that the book kind of like explores too is like victim mentalities. and who really gets to call themselves a victim. And so how did you kind of approach the complexities of that subject while like still keeping it a little bit nuanced with the characters? Yeah.

So for that, basically the way I see it, like I say, author is that Elizabeth, a lot of her problems she brought on herself, these are not actual like issues that she has. I would say outside of her, you know,

anxiety. I think that's valid, of course, a valid feeling. But a lot of things she just kind of does to herself. and kind of creates this victimhood versus Brianna, who I'd say pretty much all of her problems are other people's problems made her own. Like these are things that happen to her, right?

Like she's kind of living in a real way, like as a victim. Whereas Elizabeth, who's like, who feels like a victim but is not really. Yeah. There's nothing that happens. I don't think throughout the whole book that can't be reversed by her, like is going to affect her long term, right? That's the idea. Right.

So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good point. what was your favorite part about writing Elizabeth and about writing Brianna? Oh, gosh. The favorite part about writing Elizabeth is that being in that headspace is a little fun where it's just like, you know, very like, I don't know, kind of like a mean girl high school bully vibes, Elizabeth actually.

So her character is just allowed to be very snarky and just like, and it's mean to like everybody at all times, especially in her own head, right? Like even her friends, she's very much like, I'm critiquing everything about them as I look over at them. Yes. So, like, it's, it is fun reveling in that kind of stuff because that's so opposite for my usual thinking day to day. Yes. Yeah. Fun.

You kind of live vicariously through her. Exactly. And then for writing Brianna, unfortunately, it was not as much fun just because, you know, she's grieving. She's really having big emotions that are hard to kind of like, you know, process for her and process for me as, like, the writer. But I can't say my favorite parts. I don't want to fool anything. But when her character gets to start having fun in quotes, it became more fun to write as well. Yeah. Yeah, definitely near the end. She's having a little bit more fun and a little bit more power, for sure. Did you know, so you said you kind of like plotted as you were doing it, but did you know like the ending that you

were headed for when you started it out. Yeah. So I knew what I kind of what I wanted to be at the ending. And that changed maybe three, fours in. That's the beauty of like I guess like headlights writing is like used to have to kind of tweak things as you go. But I had a general idea of what I wanted at the end. But then, you know, through discovery writing, I was like, okay, this might be like a better fitting ending. But the ending I imagine, you know, I won't spoil it. But like it wasn't really too far off from the ending we have. It's just, I think the thing we have is a little. a little more maybe cruel, but I like it that way. So, yeah. Yeah. It needed to be cruel. I think that like fit with the whole vibe of the book and just

what Brianna's mission was in general for sure. Yeah. So I've been asking people at the end if they have read anything recently that they love as well. I saw that you read a lot. So have you read anything recently that you've loved? Yeah. So I've been like, you know, drafting a book for these past like months. Oh my gosh. But I just finished drafting a book. I will say the book I plan on reading next is, you know what you did by Katie Newen. Yeah. I'm pretty excited about it. But the last other book I read was actually Night Watching by Tracy Sierra, which recently was on Fallon's book club. It's actually really funny because I was like going around saying like, You know, like, I love this book and like, oh, you know, it's not having this big blowup.

And now everyone's read the book. So that's great. Yeah. It really was. I was like all over. Yeah, which is great because to me it's just like a fantastic book. Just the themes of motherhood and like feminism. It's like without fooling.

It's just so it's really really well. So I'm really happy this happened. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I read it. It was it.

The tension is insane right from the gate go. Like, you are stressed out the whole entire book for the most part. Like, just so stressed out, which is actually the same as you know what you did. Same thing. Like, you are just stressed out the whole way through. So I really enjoyed that one, too. That one was wild. So you mentioned you are drafting out of their books.

There's another one in the works. I'm very excited. Where should people follow you so they can stay up to date with all of that? Sure. So I am Sarah the Kofi on Instagram. I leave I'm also still on Twitter. I'm also on TikTok at the same name. It's the same handle. I think the only different handle is my website, which is just sarahofi.com. Yeah. Awesome. Well, I will put those links in the show notes so that everyone can check all of that out and follow you. And otherwise, thanks so much for coming on. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It's been a great conversation.