Welcome to a new author interview post, my friend! Today I am collaborating with Berkley Books and Penguin Random House and hosting author Ren DeStefano about her debut novel, How I’ll Kill You, the story of three sisters who have a penchant for killing their lovers. Quite unique. 🙂
Let’s take a quick look at the book and then dive into the interview.
How I’ll Kill You
by Ren DeStefano
Your next stay-up-all-night thriller, about identical triplets who have a nasty habit of killing their boyfriends, and what happens when the youngest commits their worst crime yet: falling in love with her mark.
Make him want you.
Make him love you.
Make him dead.
Sissy has an…interesting family. Always the careful one, always the cautious one, she has handled the cleanup while her serial killer sisters have carved a path of carnage across the U.S. Now, as they arrive in the Arizona heat, Sissy must step up and embrace the family pastime of making a man fall in love and then murdering him. Her first target? A young widower named Edison—and their mutual attraction is instant. While their relationship progresses, and most couples would be thinking about picking out china patterns and moving in together, Sissy’s family is reminding her to think about picking out burial sites and moving on.
Then something happens that Sissy never anticipated: She begins to feel protective of Edison, and before she can help it, she’s fallen in love. But the clock is ticking, and her sisters are growing restless. It becomes clear that the gravesite she chooses will hide a body no matter what happens; but if she betrays her family, will it be hers?
Hi Ren, welcome to Armed with A Book. Please tell me and my readers about yourself.Â
I’ve been in publishing since 2010, and really enjoyed seeing the evolution of the industry in that time. I’ve written books for children and young adults, and always knew that one day I’d like to write something in the adult market. After years of consuming true crime and reading so many wonderful thrillers, I decided to give it a go.
How I’ll Kill You is your debut novel. How did the idea for this book come to be?
Watching a LOT of true crime. I find it interesting that most serial killers fly solo, with very few exceptions. I began to wonder if there can ever be loyalty among two or more people who share such a devastating secret, knowing they’d all go down if one of them cracked. Siblings seemed like the obvious choice, but even then, something would have to really bond them for their loyalty to run that deep. That’s when I began to think about their upbringing, and how their rocky childhood shaped who they’d become.
What circumstances led the girls to make a pact to kill all their future lovers?
Their childhood was intense, to say the least. They were media celebrities as infants, because they were three identical triplets who had been abandoned at a rest stop. This would have been at a time when the media loved publishing stories about miraculous multiples. But as they grew up, they were cast into the foster system and unable to stay together. The lack of power and care they were given impacted them all in very different ways. Even though they’re very close as adults, they didn’t have the benefit of growing up together, so they were shaped by their own environments.
What was it like being in the minds of these characters? Are there any personal experiences that you bring to this book?
I really enjoyed writing Sissy. She was very forthcoming with her secrets. Right in chapter one, she tells the readers that she’s a budding serial killer and she’s here to do the job. And even though her public persona is an act, and she even keeps secrets from her sisters, she always tells the readers what they can expect. Which is surprising, in a way. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met.
You offered a rich backstory of the characters, delivered at the pace of a thriller. What came first to you, the characters or the plot?
The plot came first, and the character development came when I considered their motivations for making these lethal choices.
Which part of the plot would you say was the most challenging to write in How I’ll Kill You? In which part were you having the most fun?
The ending was the hardest part for sure. I had the natural instinct to give Sissy a happy ending because she charmed me and I really came to love her. But on one hand she has two sisters who are serial killers, who will not let her break their bond. On the other hand, she has a man she’s planning to kill, but she’s falling in love with him, knowing that he would run screaming for the hills if he knew what she really was. There was just no way to make this story end happily for everyone involved.
The most fun was the romance. One of my favorite tropes is the star-crossed lovers who can never be together in the end. My goal was to do that, times a million.
If you could meet one of your characters, who would they be?
I wouldn’t want to meet any of these sisters. Everything they touch ends in tragedy.
If readers could take away one thing from your book, what would you want it to be?
I try not to place particular expectations on readers. I just want them to enjoy the story, and I love hearing all the various things that resonate with them.
For someone who loved How I’ll Kill You, please recommend three books to check out next.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me.Â
Many thanks to Berkley Books and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to interview Ren.
Thank you to you my lovely reader for hanging out with Ren and me! 🙂 It is always a pleasure to see you on the blog!
Find How I’ll Kill You on Goodreads. Be in the loop for new releases by Ren through Goodreads.
What’s a novel you have loved that had a quirky/out of the ordinary synopsis?
Banner and cover image from Unsplash
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