Reading · Andrea Bartz: Get It Write

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Corinne Sullivan on why she tries to avoid italics and exclamation marks, finding the "clickiest" angle, and her sharp thriller, YOURS ALWAYS

Check out the collection of past Words With (Author) Friends, wherein I g-chat with an author and you get to read over my shoulder, and order Corinne’s twisty new novel, out now.

Corinne: Hello hello!

Me: Hello!!

Corinne, I’m so excited to be chatting with you. How’s it going?

Likewise! And it’s going! How is the weather in San Francisco?

Chilly and damp! Which is pretty on-the-nose, if you ask me.

Very on-brand.

Exactly! But okay, I want to talk about YOURS ALWAYS! Big congrats, first of all. How are you feeling post-launch?

Thank you so much! As you well know now that you’re several novels in, a book launch is always a whirlwind. between my full-time job, my two kids, and the book launch, I am feeling DRAINED but also incredibly grateful and excited and all the things.

Yes, that sounds about right! Can you share what the book’s about?

So! YOURS ALWAYS follows a dating app engineer named Talia who decided to get back together with her ex, Townsend...only to discover that he’s just been named the prime suspect in the disappearance of the woman who broke them up in the first place, Amanda.

Other characters include Amanda’s sister, Kaitlyn, who’s desperate for answers, and Talia’s coworker/bestie Meera, who will do anything to convince Talia not to get back together with Townsend.

~chaos ensues~

We love ensuing chaos. What was the inspiration for this story?

It was largely inspired by a Netflix true crime doc that came out in 2024 called LOVER, STALKER, KILLER (hiiighly recommend), which follows a man who joins a dating app, meets two women, and finds himself in an incredibly twisty love triangle that eventually turns fatal.

As I watched it, all I could think was, “This would make a really good book...”

What was the next step re: turning it into a manuscript? Did you stick to the real-life plot pretty directly or make it your own?

I only took the general premise (dating app encounter, love triangle, mysterious stalker) and then ran with it. From there I chose my location (Austin, TX), my three main characters, and then a few supporting to help tell the story. It’s told from five different POVs, which was a challenge, but a very fun one.

tell me about telling the story from 5 POVs! that sounds like a HUGE undertaking

"Your readers aren’t stupid. You have to trust that you’ve done the work to get them there without holding their hand"

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