We chat with author Shailee Thompson about How To Kill A Guy In Ten Dates, which is a humorous, swoony, and downright terrifying slasher rom-com in which a cinephile gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the romance and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl.
Hi, Shailee! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I’m an Australian writer and former Drama/Literature high school teacher who writes women with smart mouths, soft hearts and strong wills, and then I put them in deep shit! My debut novel ‘How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates’ is a slasher rom-com that came out this year. When I’m not writing, I’m probably kidnapping my friends’ dogs or competing with the person next to me in Pilates.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I can’t remember a time I wasn’t writing or making up stories! The Arts is a core part of my life. I was a dancer from the age of four; I’d always be making up songs and acting out scenes around the house and I was (and still am!) a voracious reader. Our public library hated to see me coming, because I would always take out the highest limit of books each week.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: A huge, old, volume of Grimms’ fairytales (very likely before I should have been reading that kind of thing, and it might be the reason why I’m comfortable with some darker subject material😊)
- The one that made you want to become an author: There wasn’t one. I’ve been writing for so long and it’s such an inherent part of who I am, I don’t think I had a choice!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (it felt like it was written for me!)
Your latest novel, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A bloody, sexy, killer comedy.
What can readers expect?
More film references than you can wave a machete at, blood-soaked romantic moments that will have you questioning whether you should be into it, and a female friendship that is the TRUE love story of the book!
Where did the inspiration for How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates come from?
I saw a screenshot of a tweet lamenting how there were too many Christmas rom coms and not enough Halloween ones, and my mind immediately went to the idea of a ‘horror rom com’. From there it kind of spiraled out of control and I’d written 50,000 words of this story in five weeks.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love Jamie’s brain. Getting to write through the lens of seeing the events of the novel in how they relate to her film knowledge was a lot of fun. In terms of moments (without spoilers), I think the martini glass scene and the bathroom scene were not necessarily ‘enjoyable’ (I freaked myself out in the former, almost cried in the latter), but they’re scenes I feel very proud of.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
From the beginning this was a passion project (I didn’t even know if I was going to try to get it published), and I think that took a lot of pressure off me that may have led to common challenges. I will say that I didn’t have a map for this story’s setting until my publisher requested one, so that was a bit of a challenge to come up with one after the book was written. It just took a little time (and a great graphic designer to interpret my rough sketches) and we came up with the gorgeous map in the book. And I’ve learnt my lesson. I make my maps before I write now.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
It was a little different I’d say! From the outside it looks like a very quick, straightforward path (I finished writing this book in April 2024 and had a publishing deal November 2024), but before that I sent out a different book to agents for over a year, was involved in writing and pitching programs in Australia, signed with my agent while I was still writing How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, and then we decided to go out on submission with this book (which was obviously the right decision!). And here we are.
What’s next for you?
I have another horror rom com coming in 2027 and I’m currently working on my third book (also a horror rom com). Hopefully, you get to see a lot more from me in the future!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
I’m really looking forward to Joshua Hortinela’s ‘Hate You to Love You’ in September, but my TBR is currently out of control and I need to get it into order, so Strange Pictures by Uketsu, Spiral by Bal Khabra and The Striker by Ana Huang are next up for me.
