Today, we’re chatting with author, former bookseller and content creator Bill Wood about his debut YA horror-thriller, Let’s Split Up. Bill bursts onto the scene with this electrifying and nail-biting debut that, as he says, feels like a YA take on Scooby Doo with great plotting, characterisation and that all-important mystery.
Hi Bill, thank you for joining us today! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your debut novel Let’s Split Up?
Thank you for having me! So, I’ll be twenty-four when Let’s Split Up comes out, which is a little wild to me because I started writing parts of it when I was twenty. At the time, I was studying film and screenwriting at university and just became so inspired by the horror scripts I was studying and writing. Let’s Split Up is my love letter to the horror genre, particularly those campy nineties/noughties teen slashers. It is also heavily inspired by Scooby-Doo, something I grew up with and really latched onto. I’m lucky to have a brother twelve years younger than me, so I got to experience that all over again.
It is such a fantastic read – right from that opening sequence, you are pulled right in. What are some of your favourite opening scenes in horror – across both the page and the screen?
The most obvious answer here is Scream. I reference the opening in my book so I feel like I need to mention it, but it’s so iconic and really shook up the genre. I do, however, always go back to the opening of Midsommar. That really took me by surprise. In terms of fiction, Adam Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield hit every single note for me. Now, that’s a book I wish I’d written.
I particularly loved the way Let’s Split Up paid homage to the slashers of the 90s (that pitch of Scream meets Scooby Doo is spot on). Were there any particular influences you drew on when writing this book?
Yes, so many. Scooby-Doo and Scream are the obvious ones, but honestly, any media with a core group of friends at the helm has most likely inspired me in some sense. I Know What You Did Last Summer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Pretty Little Liars. It may sound a little corny, but when you reduce them down to the bare bones, it’s a group of friends working together to solve a mystery or defeat the evil.
Another highlight of this book was the excellent characterisation and dialogue that sparked off the page. I loved our central group – what do you prioritise in creating compelling characters?
That means a lot. Character is a big focus for me, and I think that comes from my screenwriting background. With scripts, dialogue is the most important thing, and that’s definitely trickled into my fiction writing. You can tell so much about a character just by how they speak or how they refer to someone. So, I also wanted my characters to mimic the stereotypical characters of old teen movies, like the jock and the nerd, but also flip that on its head. For example, Cam is technically the jock of the group, but he’s so much more than that.
This was such a well-crafted and plotted mystery, with plenty of surprises in store. What’s your plotting process like?
For me, plotting is quite a grey area. I try to, I really do, but I always get so distracted by other ideas and end up deviating from my plot. With Let’s Split Up, I had the core story and the reveal planned, but everything in between was a mystery, which kept it fun for me when writing it. Afterwards is when I go back and insert clues and red herrings, then adjust the story to make everything fit.
Also, without giving away any spoilers, I loved the central relationships across both platonic and romantic entanglements. What does representation mean to you and why do you think it’s important to spotlight in Young Adult fiction?
It’s important because it’s realistic. Your teen years are so formative in learning who you are, so I wanted to write something that I wish I had. Where first experiences and sexuality are in the story, but not at the forefront. Where it’s important to the characters but not to the core mystery plot, if that makes sense. It’s just there and not a big spectacle.
What surprised you while writing this book?
A lot, actually. Originally, I set out to write a darker Scooby-inspired novel, but I subconsciously wanted so much more from it. The draws to the teen slashers were accidental but ended up shaping the book so much. What also surprised me were the characters. With it being multi-POV, I could play so much with characterisation. Spoiler alert, I did. It’s so fascinating seeing how each character reacted differently to the reveals and just how their mind worked. Sure, I wrote them, but they did take on a life of their own.
What songs would form the soundtrack to Let’s Split Up for you?
I have so many. There’s a few already mentioned in Let’s Split Up, so please try to catch them all. In my head, it’s a lot of up-beat ‘90s pop-rock, with the occasional ballad. I listened to a lot of Smash Mouth and Third Eye Blind writing this book so I hope that makes sense. But also, the entirety of The Spirit Room but Michelle Branch. I feel like every character in the book would have been blasting that.
What books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I want to say my favourite read of the year is Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle – it was so excellent. Just the perfect mix between horror, comedy, and meta-ness. Brilliant. Also, I recently read Barbara Steiner’s The Mummy with the Point Horror Book Club and had a great time with that. My most anticipated read for the rest of the year is Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma. Vampires and dark academia? Sign me up.
If possible, can you share a little about what you are currently working on or any upcoming projects you have?
Sure! I’ll try to avoid getting in trouble. My next release will be another YA horror-thriller standalone. We have another great group of friends, but this time they’re called to a mysterious village with some fantastical and cult-ish ties. It’s been a lot of fun to write and I’m excited for people to read it next autumn.
Finally, if you could only use five words to describe Let’s Split Up, what would they be?
Fun. Funny. Mysterious. Romantic. Meta.
