We chat with author Darby Kane about The Engagement Party, which is a ripping and twisty thriller set on a private island in Maine where secrets piled upon secrets and lies upon lies are all revealed in one fateful weekend—think And Then There Were None meets I Know What You Did Last Summer!
Hi, Darby! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I write thrillers under the name Darby Kane. My first one, PRETTY LITTLE WIFE, came out in 2020. Before that, I wrote romance and romantic suspense as HelenKay Dimon (my real name) for more than a decade. I’m an east coast girl transplanted in San Diego (not a bad place to land) who loves Southern California except in the fall when it’s too hot and there’s not a pretty leaf for miles.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’m not one of those authors who came out of the womb with a laptop in her hand. I love to read and always made up extravagant stories. When you’re a kid they call that lying, but I prefer to think of it as having an impressive imagination. My poor Barbie Dream House once was the setting of a revenge killing, and I’m still trying to figure out how to make that into a novel. I never dreamed about being an author until I was about thirty because before that the dream sounded too big and improbable. So, naturally, I became a lawyer. A contested divorce lawyer. It’s a scary career so the shift to writing thrillers was not as big of a leap as you might think.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I’m not sure. After picture books I dove into mysteries. Whatever pre-Nancy Drew aged mysteries were out there, I read them. Then I read every Nancy Drew book.
- The one that made you want to become an author: THE BRIDE by Julie Garwood. I was an attorney and not thinking about being an author when I found this book, the first romance I ever read, and I fell in love with the genre. That made me want to write one, which led to selling it, and a whole new non-lawyer life.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN by Jessica Knoll. I just finished reading it and was impressed by the way she put the book together. I found it compelling, but it won’t leave my head because it used a real-life tragedy (Ted Bundy victims) to tell a fictional story. I keep thinking about that and assessing how I feel about it.
Your latest novel, The Engagement Party, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
How about three? Worst. Party. Ever.
What can readers expect?
Old friends, big lies, nasty secrets, and a deadly party.
An engagement party on an isolated island in Maine brings together a group of former college friends who survived the murder of one of their own on graduation weekend twelve years ago. Trapped with a storm on the way, lies and long buried secrets unravel as the death toll rises, forcing the group to re-examine what they thought they knew and find the killer before they become prey.
Where did the inspiration for The Engagement Party come from?
I think of it as an homage to the movie I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. There is something about the vengeance and viciousness of a story that traps people in an isolated setting, exposes their secrets, and unleashes revenge that is a MUST BUY for me. I’m not sure what it says about my personality, but the locked-in thriller offers an opportunity to think about how things might have been different today if you made a different choice at some point in the past…and then have it come back to haunt you after lying about it for years.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
One of the point-of-view characters, Sierra Prescott (yes, the name was influenced by SCREAM). She is very practical and relatable. She also didn’t have anything to do with the murder in college twelve years ago. She wasn’t there. She’s only on the island for the party because she has an unspoken love for her business partner, and he was invited. While everyone else is dodging the truth and burying their secrets, Sierra knows they’re going to die and wants off the island. Now. She’s willing to swim if she must, and I love that about her.
This is your fourth published novel! What are some of the key lessons you have learned when it comes to writing and the publishing world?
The thing I wish people would have told me: It never gets easier. That’s harsh but it’s true. Every time I sit down to write a book, I wonder how in the world I wrote one before. I get to the halfway point and am mystified about how anyone ever—EVER—finished a book. Somehow it gets done, but it’s not pretty and that’s okay. Writing, editing, and marketing should be hard. You’ll be happier if you can accept that and buckle in for the ride.
Also, unfortunately, rejections are waiting around every corner. Know that it happens to all of us and will happen throughout your career. That is why you should celebrate every win, big or small. A lot of people want to write a book, but you did it. Never lose sight of how special that is.
And stay off Goodreads. Really. Don’t go there. It’s not for you as an author.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently revising the thriller that will release in late 2024. Right now, it’s called WHAT THE WIFE KNEW. It’s about a woman who blackmails a national hero into marriage, and he dies less than 100 days later. That part is fine with her. She wanted him dead, but she wanted to be the one to do it. Now it’s a race to see if she’ll be arrested before she can uncover the truth.
Lastly, are there any 2024 releases that you’re looking forward to that our readers should keep an eye out for?
Have you seen the 2024 book release schedule? It is wild. There are so many on my MUST BUY list. Just from January, I’m looking forward to THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins, EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT by Benjamin Stevenson, THE NIGHT OF THE STORM by Nishita Parekh (a debut), and FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston. Also, I was fortunate to read two debuts early, TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES by Ashley Tate and EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD by Jenny Hollander and I’m so excited for everyone to dig into these amazing reads.
