Her Accidental Thriller

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:

Well, wow. Sometimes things just work, don’t they? When we least expect it.

Lyn Liao Butler went to Hawaii  with her family to escape Covid. Good idea!

She decided to write a book there.

Good idea.

She wrote and wrote. And turned out, the book did not develop into her usual (extremely successful) upmarket fiction or rom-com.

Turned out, this one was a thriller.

What? Good idea?

Yup.

So she wrote it anyway.

REALLY REALLY GOOD IDEA.

Now Publishers Weekly says:

“Well-developed characters and plenty of local color add to the slowly simmering plot, which builds to a strong and unexpected climax. Alfred Hitchcock fans will be satisfied.”

And her "accidental thriller" reached NUMBER ONE in domestic thrillers on Amazon!

YAAY!

And here's how it happened.

 

How I Accidentally Wrote a Thriller

By Lyn Liao Butler

It was January 2021, and I’d gotten the harebrained idea to go live on Kauai with my husband and then eight-year-old son that winter, to escape the cold of New York and the pandemic. There was no COVID on the island because they weren’t letting people in. I’d been struggling to write my third book (set in Kauai), which I was supposed to turn in as my option to my editor. I needed to go for research so on a whim, we went for it. It was the best decision we made during the pandemic.


Not only were we out of the cold, we were living on a beautiful island where our son got to play with the local kids. Creative juices stirred and the words flowed. But I was in a dark mood, mostly due to pandemic homeschooling (which made me consider day drinking starting at 10:26am every morning). I started killing people off in the book. Then there was a stalker who followed the MC all the way from New York to Kauai, then an accidental murder from the past, and then an intentional murder from the past. 

One day, I was standing on the banks of the Wailua River, about to go paddle boarding with my family, when I suddenly asked the guy renting us the paddle boards, “If there was a really bad storm, could someone get swept away out into the ocean?”

He said yes, enthusiastically. It has happened, to his father in fact who survived, because he was a strong swimmer. I then asked, “So, if someone can’t swim, they could potentially drown?” He nodded, telling me all about the surge from up the mountains and how in a second, it could sweep anything along the banks away. My face must have lit up with glee as I said, “Perfect! That’s how she’s going to die then.”

He looked at me, cocked his head, and took a few steps back from the river. I then had to convince him I wasn’t plotting a murder. I was writing a book. But it didn’t feel like my first two books, which have been described as upmarket book club fiction. It wasn’t until I told some writer friends about the book that they said to me, “Lyn. That’s not a family drama. You wrote a thriller.”

Huh. I didn’t know how to write a thriller. I love them, but never attempted to write one. When I showed my agent, she said the same thing. I had accidentally written a thriller.

We fine-tuned the concept, and then she sold that book, Someone Else’s Life, in two weeks on only three chapters and a synopsis. And suddenly, I was now a thriller author. The ideas started to flow out of me. Every time something in real life happened, my thriller brain would start spinning it into a new story. I started researching ways people could die (like, how many seconds do you have to hold a pillow over someone face), and other subjects that I’m sure has put me on some national watch list. Every time I ask questions like that, I have to preface it with, “I’m not a serial killer or plotting a kidnapping.”

It’s been fun getting into the heads of twisted people, but I might have to write a romcom next, to counterbalance all that murder. After all, I read across genres, so why not write them? How many of you would read an author who has crossed genres?

HANK: Lyn, you are in good company here! The Reds and readers are all eager to read any book in any genre–and yup, as a result of research, we are ALL on some watchlist somewhere! And I can imagine your face lighting up as you discovered a good way to kill someone–and again, here you are in like company. Welcome–and congratulations on your wild success.

Reds and readers, has it ever crossed your mind to tell an author: “Stay in your lane!” ? Not me!

(And PS. It's not public yet :-), but: Lyn will join me in THE BACK ROOM on March 5–live with Adele Parks, Eli Cranor and Shelby Van Pelt. Really really really good idea!

Lyn Liao Butler, author of upmarket fiction, thrillers and rom-coms, was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. Before becoming an author, she was a professional ballet and modern dancer, and is still a personal trainer, fitness instructor and yoga instructor. She is an avid animal lover and fosters dogs, as well as volunteers with rescues.

When she is not torturing clients or talking to imaginary characters, Lyn enjoys spending time with her FDNY husband, their son (the happiest little boy in the world), their three stubborn dachshunds (Lokie, Mochi, Cash and Pinot in heaven), sewing for her Etsy shop, and trying crazy yoga poses on a stand-up paddleboard. So far, she has not fallen into the water yet.

SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE

A new life in paradise should have healed her wounds. But for a woman struggling to hold on
to her family and her sanity, one stormy night could change everything.

Blow by blow, Annie Lin’s life crumbles. Her dance studio goes bankrupt. Her mother and beloved dog are gone the same year. Then a terrible accident leaves her young son traumatized.

It’s time for a change.

Palm trees, mai tais, peace and quiet―Annie should be at ease, safe in her new Kauai home with her husband and son. She hopes proximity to her family can provide them all with a sense of belonging and calm. But soon items from her past start turning up―her dog’s collar, a bracelet that disappeared years ago―and she has the unnerving sensation she’s being watched. Reality begins to fracture, and Annie’s panic attacks return. When, during a brewing storm, a woman appears on her doorstep looking for shelter, Annie is relieved to have the company and feels an unexplainable bond with her visitor.

As the night progresses, Annie realizes the woman is no stranger. Their lives are inextricably intertwined―and Annie might just lose everything.