Today’s interview is thrilling—literally! Megan Collins joins us to chat about her latest release, Cross My Heart, which stars a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband. (Is it too on-the-nose to label it heart-pounding?)
I am not kidding when I tell you all I read this book in under twenty-four hours. It’s so addicting, between the prose and the premise and all the crazy, messed-up hazards of love and obsession.
Dare I call it the perfect choice for an anti-Valentine’s Day read? 👀
Connect with Megan on Instagram, Goodreads, and her website. Grab a copy of Cross My Heart from your retailer of choice here.
Hi, Megan! Thanks for joining the Cluesletter. Cross My Heart follows Rosie, a heart transplant patient who becomes romantically obsessed with her donor’s husband, bestselling thriller novelist Morgan Thorne. Between this new obsession and her questionable dating history, Rosie is presented as an unreliable narrator (but, if you’re like me, you’ll root for her anyway!). What do you love—or even hate—about Rosie’s character?
Thanks for having me! Rosie is actually my favorite protagonist I’ve ever written. I love that she is so open-hearted, generous, and empathetic toward other people.With that said, I often describe her as a really good person with some really bad habits. She tends to go a little overboard when it comes to love, molding her personality to the person she’s with or wants to be with, to the point where she loses a bit of herself in the process.
As a heart transplant recipient who knows that her health is very precarious, she’s also laser-focused on finding a romantic partner, before it’s too late for her. That makes her do some fairly questionable things, like—oh, I don’t know—sort of stalk the husband of her heart donor, convinced that since he already loves the heart that’s in her body, he’s destined to love her too.
I was so enthralled by the fine line Cross My Heart draws between love and obsession, and the danger those emotions can provoke. What do you love about these two themes, especially in the context of a thriller novel?
I think the search for love is something we can all relate to, but I often feel our society puts so much pressure on that search. The media, the billion-dollar wedding industry and the hundreds of dating apps available at the click of a button often send the message that finding a partner is the most important thing, and getting married is one of the most important achievements you can have. And if you’re someone who, like Rosie, is watching everyone close to you find their person while you’re still facing heartbreak after heartbreak, it can turn that search for love into something a little darker.
With this book, I wanted to write about how toxic our culture’s obsession with finding The One can actually be, and how it can drive people to behave in unhealthy ways themselves.
You’ve penned four other thrillers—including Thicker Than Water and The Family Plot. How would you compare Cross My Heart to your past projects? Was the writing process any different, and/or how did it change or challenge you as a writer?
While my other books have focused on dysfunctional families (or families who think they’re perfectly functional until something happens to reveal the disturbing secrets beneath the surface), Cross My Heart is my first book in which a romantic relationship takes center stage. Of course, it being a thriller, things turn dark pretty quickly, and this book definitely has the biggest twists of all the ones I’ve written to date. That was exciting to tackle, but also intimidating, and in fact, I had the idea for this book for a long time but held off on writing it because I wasn’t sure I had the ability to execute those massive moments. Now, whenever anyone tells me they didn’t see [redacted] coming, or their jaw dropped when [redacted], I’m reminded that I did, at least for some readers, succeed in what I set out to do, and in that way, I shouldn’t put those mental roadblocks up for myself.
Sylvia Plath said, “The greatest enemy to creativity is self-doubt,” which is a quote that’s always resonated with me but which I feel even more acutely after writing this book and seeing readers’ responses. Now I know that if I’m creative enough to come up with the idea—and if I believe in the idea—then I can figure out how to get it out of my head and onto the page. It might take me a long time, and a lot of trial and error, but that’s just part of the process.
As an instructor of creative writing, what’s the best writing tip you can offer—especially for writing twisty, suspenseful thrillers?
It sounds very simple, but my biggest tip is to read! Thrillers (and all stories, really) have such a specific rhythm to them, and the more you consume, the more you’ll sharpen your skills with pacing, tension, and suspense.
I also encourage people to write about their obsessions. For example, I adore wedding dresses and Taylor Swift, and not only do I have several Taylor Swift references peppered into my book (which made the drafting days fun!), but Rosie manages a wedding dress shop, and the experience she has with that work greatly impacts her worldview and journey and keeps her constantly reminded of how many people are finding The One and how she, so far, has not.
Lastly, what are you currently working on? Do you have more thrillers in the works, and/or anything else you’re excited to share?
I can’t talk about anything officially or specifically yet, but I promise I’m hard at work on another thriller that will be as dark, twisty, and wild as I can make it! Other than that, I’m excited to start my second year of teaching the Ultimate Novel Writing Course through Jericho Writers, which is an online course open to all writers worldwide who want a year of mentorship, resources, and community as they work toward drafting and/or revising a novel. Applications for this year’s course are open until February 16!
Thanks so much to Megan for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.