We sit down and talk with Karen M. McManus, author of New York Times Bestseller, One of Is Lying. Her writing techniques as well as the inspirations for her YA novels and of course the new final instalment in the One of Us is Lying trilogy, One Of Us Is Back.
The highly-anticipated third book came to UK bookstores on July 27 and already has raving reviews from fans. The plot centres around the Bayview Crew and the aftermath of some significant destructive events following the games in One of Us is Next which our crew just can’t seem to escape. With a new antagonist in their sites targetting them, the Bayview Crew must work to unmask their foe, but when one member of the crew ultimately goes missing, the group finds they got more than they bargained for in a new game and mystery for them to solve: why are they being targetted this time?
We explore three points of view from former Bayview alumni bad boy Nate Macauley; popular girl, turned -self-assured-princess of the people, Addy Prentiss; and Bayview senior and fiercely loyal Phoebe Lawson who works alongside fan-favourite original characters to piece together the mystery of the new billboard that has just appeared in Bayview and who’s behind it.
You can listen to the full interview or read the excerpt below.
One Of Us is Lying’s success and how the book came to be
Do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself, other than what we have just covered?
Sure. So I write young adult thrillers. One of Us is Lying was my debut that came out in 2017. At the time I was working a full-time job. I got the idea for One of Us Is Lying when I was driving to work and the theme song from The Breakfast Club came on and I started thinking how that narrative construct of bringing people together who seem like they have nothing in common, but once you force them to interact they realise they aren’t so different after all is… evergreen, and it might be fun to do a dark twist on that. And the phrase ‘The Breakfast Club With Murder’ popped into my head.
And I thought about it all day while I was working and when I got home, I started writing. That came out in 2017, and I actually continued to do that job full-time for another year. Because you just never know in publishing if you can make a living full-time, but it did work out and I’ve been a full-time author ever since. I have written 8 books in 8 years.
Favourite character perspectives and narrative choices
I’m sure you’ve been asked this a million times, but this is just including the whole Bayview Crew, me and the readers wanted to know, which character’s perspective is your favourite to write from and why? I did hear you previously say, Nate. Is that still the case?
Yes, it’s still Nate. The reason is…it’s not that I prefer him over the other characters, they’re all special in their own way. But when you write multi-point of view as I do, you come to appreciate characters who have a very strong voice because it kind of feels like less work. When I write Nate’s sections, it feels like he’s taking over. I can sit back and let him do his thing and it’s like, ‘OK, yeah, that’s pretty good’.
His sections require the least amount of editing, and I just always feel like I know what he’s going to do and say in any given situation. That makes my job so much easier. Really, the only other character who is that easy to me is Milly Story-Takahashi in The Cousins. They’re my two A-plus kids who just kind of write themselves.
I always found Addy’s was my favourite. Also getting back onto YA and we are talking about YA and writing techniques and things. So it’s very interesting to me when I was reading, you had Jake’s perspective in the third person. It was third-person, wasn’t it?
Yes, it was Jake’s and Simon’s.
I found that interesting. So how come you decided to use the third-person for Jake and Simon and not the first-person?
Mostly to differentiate them from the current story. Because their stories are told in flashbacks. So for one thing, it’s further in the past and it’s more distant so I felt it was appropriate to have the voice be more distant from the reader. It is also a technique I used in The Cousins. There are three primary points of view, but Milly’s mother is an occasional fourth point of view and she’s also in the third person. So to me, that just feels like a good way to separate the two storylines.
THAT shocking reveal and the crafting of the loose plot thread
Towards the conclusion of One Of Us Is Back, you did reveal a shocking and pivotal end for one character. Did you always have this ending in mind or did it come to fruition when you were writing the books?
I wasn’t intending to write a series initially, I would say that wasn’t in the original plan. However, the plot thread that centres around this character and the secret they’re hiding was a part of the original One of Us is Lying. When I first wrote it, that was a sub-mystery that kind of explained the relationship between these two characters, but it was very distracting. Because without the use of flashbacks, which I did not have, it wasn’t pacing well to try and explain what had happened back then. My agent suggested I take it out, and I did, and she was right; it was very distracting.
But when I started thinking about a third book, I thought, “could I pull that thread out, weave it into a whole new story, bring it into the present, and what would that look like?” That’s when I made that choice.
A Sneak peek into McManus’ upcoming heist/murder mystery story
Could you share with us any details about any upcoming books you’re working on?
My eighth book is coming out next summer. I think it’ll be at the end of July in the US and it’s usually a couple of days later in the UK. So maybe early August in the UK. We will probably be sharing more details like the title and the cover in the fall. But I’ve been telling people I often get ideas when I’m doing something else and I think “what if?’” With this book, I was watching The Parent Trap and I thought, ‘What if both parents were con artists?’
This has turned into my first heist slash murder mystery, and the kids aren’t actually related. The whole family dynamic is very twisted and weird.
Don’t forget to check out One of Us Is Back in all major bookshops now and keep your eyes peeled for Karen M. McManus’ eighth book next year.
Interviewed by Sophie Humphrey
