A romantic mystery from Eva Des Lauriers

My thanks to Eva and to Amber Ivatt at Hot Key Books for making this possible. When I sent these questions to Eva I thanked her for a fantastic book, her response ~ Thank you so much! These questions were a delight to answer and I’m so happy you enjoyed reading the book as much as I did writing it! Warmly, Eva

I love the title, its layered meaning. What came first for you, title or story and is that how it usually works? Thank you! The story came to me first. Titles are notoriously difficult since they have to hint at the layered story and be able to grab a reader immediately. I knew I wanted to write a second chance romance with dual timelines that both worked to tell the story. Once it became clear to me that this book had almost as much mystery as it does romance, the concept of getting one another back took on a whole new meaning. Especially considering the amount of betrayal every character endures. As my team and I were brainstorming titles, I suggested this one for the double-meaning and thankfully everyone loved it!

When the title was finalised did you immediately know it was perfect for a teen/YA audience and how important is that factor to you when writing for them? Yes! From the title, to the cover image, and all the myriad of story decisions I make, I always think about my teen / YA audience first. It’s a wonderful thing that adult readers also enjoy my books (I myself read YA constantly!), but I’m very intentional that my books first feel like they are not just about teens but truly for teens.

You are a writer of romance, even if it isn’t overly sappy romance! Do you read the genre too or do your own reading interests take you elsewhere? I love romance and am an avid romance reader. There is something so special and powerful about a love story! But I do also read all kinds of genres; mysteries, contemporary fiction, thrillers. Writers are always readers first and whenever I get stuck I know I have a slew of inspiration waiting for me in my next read.

The theme of revenge is key to this story, what do you think it is about the idea of getting revenge that makes such a good, such a dramatic story? Betrayal comes in all forms in our lives and I think it’s a very human reaction to want justice for it. While it’s not always wise or good to pursue revenge in real life, that’s the fun of fiction.

We get to see characters who were mistreated in some way balance the scales a bit. In the case of Clara in I’m Gonna Get You Back, she is a character who is uncomfortable standing up for herself and to watch her go through that journey from feeling powerless to powerful is inspiring and satisfying. Conversely, as we see in the case of a few other characters in the book, the pursuit of revenge can create high, dramatic stakes when the revenge plot goes wrong and more problems unspool as a result!

There is also the theme, if we can call it that, of the threshold between young person and adult. What challenges do you, as an author, want to share with readers about this? Something I really like to explore and play with in my stories is the confusion and lessons found in the “in-between.” I specifically chose to set this story during the weekend these teens come home from college for the first time because it encapsulates a time of transience. They’re not the same kids they were in high school, but they also haven’t grown into the people they’ve promised to become yet.

It’s really unmooring to be out on your own in the world for the first time—something so many teens are preparing for and so excited to do—only to realize that it’s a lot harder than they expected and full of painful, important lessons. It certainly was like that for me. I’m Gonna Get You Back is my exploration of all of that. 

There is a drive for perfection which is very clear in the characters. Is that something you’ve taken from your own personality or from the sense its what society demands? I am definitely a recovering perfectionist. I think it’s a bit how I was born and a bit moulded into me by the demands of society and my own history and experiences. Young people have a lot of expectations and pressures thrust upon them and I wanted to depict the insidious nature of that with the Legacy program in this book.

The dangers of social media are ever-present around us now, having this reflected in the story reminds us to be careful. Is that your intention and how do you feel about social media? Yes I wanted to highlight the trap of social media and the very real impact it has on young people’s lives. I myself see it as a helpful tool in many ways, but wouldn’t mind if it disappeared tomorrow and we all got to foster real and meaningful connections in our everyday lives.

What techniques do you use to convince readers the voices of your characters are real? I spend a lot of time with my characters. I write a lot of scenes that never make it into the book, I figure out what their astrological sign is, what kind of decisions they’d make in any moment. If I’m going to write from the POV of a character I need to know them inside and out and I want them to sound distinct.

For example, Reid is an overthinker and an elite runner. When he’s ruminating on something his sentences get more and more staccato and blunt. I wanted his voice to sound like foot strikes on the ground, mimicking the rhythm of running.

I’m writing these questions in June, Pride month. There is some LGBTQ representation in the story. Was that important for the storyline and for a strong sense of reality? It’s very important to me that my books reflect the very diverse and complex world we live in. It’s my very lofty goal that every reader who comes to my books feels seen in some way and knows that no matter who they are, they’re welcome and safe in my stories.

With the variety of characters in supporting roles I wonder how you are able to keep your focus where it’s needed. It was quite challenging! This book has my largest cast of characters I’ve ever written and it was a beast to tame. I left a lot on the cutting room floor. But Reid and Clara are the beating heart of the story and whenever I got a little lost, I’d return to them and they’d help me find true North again.

The then/now aspect of the story works very well, blending seamlessly but what were the challenges of writing both timelines? Writing this story was akin to braiding or weaving. The major challenge was finding the right story thread to include at the right time. The whole plot would unravel if I put anything in the wrong place.

It wasn’t until my editors helped me figure out that the “then” chapters needed to be driving one aspect of the mystery (the scandal!) that it clarified. All in all, it was a very delicate dance and one that had me level up as a writer in many ways!

When you write is it your intention to encourage readers to reflect on their own circumstances or did that just happen with this book? It’s always my hope that my books resonate with a reader and get under their skin in some way. This was a very cathartic book for me to write as I really excavated it from a challenging time in my life and I did hope it would serve as a point of reflection on pressures we endure, the way we treat and forgive those we love most, and the power of being open and vulnerable even in a harsh world.

I’m deeply moved by the messages I’ve been getting from readers since it’s come out, particularly from those who have said it was healing for them in some way. There is no higher compliment I could ever be given!

I’m Gonna Get You Back by Eva Des Lauriers is out now, published by Hot Key Books and can be found in all the places you buy your books!