Photo Credit: Jordan Matter
Derek Milman’s gripping new YA novel, Swipe Right For Murder, sees “an epic case of mistaken identity puts a teen looking for a hookup on the run from both the FBI and a murderous cult”. The new novel is set to publish on August 6th 2019, and ahead of its release, we had the pleasure of talking to Derek about all things Swipe Right For Murder, which was inspired by Hitchcock films, but updated for the digital age to be “timely and super queer”, along with recommendations and what literary styles he channels!
Hi Derek! Tell us a little about yourself!
I was born in New York City, grew up in the suburbs, and started writing short stories (and published an underground humor magazine) when I was a kid. After college, I started out as a playwright, trained as an actor at the Yale School of Drama, and worked in commercials, TV, and film for a number of years. I did a lot of theater too. I started actively writing YA fiction around 7 years ago, and here we are!
Can you tell us a little about Swipe Right For Murder?
Swipe Right for Murder was inspired by a lot of classic adventure capers and Hitchcock films, but I updated it for the digital age, made it as timely as I could, and super queer. It’s about a flawed, funny, and broken kid named Aidan, who finds himself caught up in a case of mistaken identity after he hooks up with an older man in a hotel, using an app, and the man winds up dead. As a result, Aidan gets embroiled with a terror group called the Swans, who are seeking to take out prominent right-wing homophobes. On the run from terrorists, the FBI, his neurotic family, and in a way himself, Aidan has some serious moral decisions to make as he figures out just who he is, and who he wants to be.
From start to finish, how long did it take to write SRFM?
I started drafting it about three years ago. It took around 8 months to have a passable first draft. The editing process, once the novel was acquired, took about a year.
What have you learned since writing your debut novel? And how did it affect the process of SRFM?
My debut was a very different book and required a very different process to write it. Someone said each book teaches you how to write that one book. That’s definitely true for me, so I think I’ve embraced the fact that each book will be its own beast and will need to be treated accordingly. However, I am gaining a firmer sense of myself as a writer, and an artist, so that definitely affected the process of writing Swipe. I’m embracing my style more confidently, as well as my voice; it’s become clearer as I go what a “Derek Milman book” looks and feels like, and what my audience expects from me.
Was there a certain scene that was the most difficult to write?
Early in the story, Aidan has a rather tense phone call with the leader of the Swans, who he develops a sort of psychologically-loaded cat-and-mouse relationship with throughout the course of the novel. During edits, it was challenging to get this one scene right: in terms of tone, the information given and not given, what questions Aidan would ask, how he would react, and why he stays on the phone. A big seed needed to be planted but it had to be subtly presented. But I like challenges!
Were there any scenes you had to edit out of the book?
Nope! Structurally, the story stayed very tight. I re-worked and pared down a pivotal chunk of the story, approaching the climax, to gain a smoother flow, but I didn’t lose any whole scenes.
How difficult was it to incorporate humor into a novel that covers such a dark topic?
I write outwards from my main character typically; everyone and everything spirals around my hero, so to speak. I tend to write voice-driven high-concept stories, and humor is always embedded within those characters, and my own voice; I tend to think comically, so incorporating humor is not difficult for me. I think it’s necessary to lighten the story, and I think readers appreciate it.
Who was your favourite character to write?
Oh, Aidan for sure. He’s so messed up, sarcastic, yet very sensitive and smart, so it was really fun to play around with his voice and build a psychological profile out of everything he experienced at such a young age. He has some truly tough things happen to him, and during the course of the story he has to make some serious life-or-death decisions in a matter of seconds. There is so much at stake. And it’s just this kid’s spring break!
Do you sympathize with any characters?
I sympathize with all my characters, to different degrees. I couldn’t write a character I didn’t sympathize with because I have to get in their heads to understand and map out their motivations as I write them.
What did you hope to achieve with this book? Have you achieved it?
I wanted to put a gay kid at the center of an action-adventure story so every gay kid in the world who reads the book can (hopefully) see themselves in Aidan—who isn’t an angel by any stretch of the imagination, but someone relatable, who feels real, and is kind of an unlikely hero. That was my goal, in any sense, and I do think I achieved it. I also sought to explore what a tangled moral quandary might look like to such a character, given the world we now live in, and I do think I achieved that as well.
Do you feel like it is more important to have a plot driven book with conflict and action or a character driven novel?
I prefer character-driven novels. Those are more fascinating to me, and truly well-written, fleshed out characters should come laden with conflict anyway. I respect plots, and I can get bored if there’s a story with an interesting character that goes absolutely nowhere, but I can never get into a book with lots of action and circumstance with an absolute blank as the MC.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
That’s a great question! It energizes me when I’m in the throes of drafting and discovering things, and afterwards (similar to performing on a stage) I tend to feel emotionally exhausted, and drained, when the work is over. Then the cycle starts again, almost daily.
What authors literary styles do you channel when you’re writing?
At times, I certainly attempt to channel: Hemingway’s brevity, John Irving’s sense of atmosphere, Salinger’s cynical subversiveness, Donna Tartt’s daring and wit, Fitzgerald’s romanticism, Faulkner’s bruised dreaminess, Michael Crichton’s cleverness and wonder, and Stephen King’s technical genius at building a sense of horror.
Lastly, do you have any book, movie, or TV recommendations for us?
Books: In YA, check out the lush LGBTQ fantasy-romance Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan and the taut LGBTQ thriller All Eyes on Us by Kit Frick. Two affecting recent LGBTQ graphic novels I have to recommend: Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau (a tender rom-com coming-of-age set in a bakery) and the stark, heartbreaking Home After Dark by David Small. On the adult end, two poetic LGBTQ novels about love and identity: Lie With Me by Philippe Besson (translated from the French by Molly Ringwald!) and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. And two adult literary thrillers you shouldn’t miss: the Patricia Highsmithian Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton, and the unique mystery-noir Night Film by Marisha Pessl.
TV: Schitt’s Creek! It has my favorite gay couple on TV AND Catherine O’Hara (in severe costuming). It’s moving and hilarious. Also, the super queer reboot of Tales of the City, with most of the original actors, has a wonderfully diverse cast (and writer’s room too, I’ve heard!) and does this thing where it doesn’t use a depressing David Fincher-ish filter like so many shows do now, so San Francisco actually looks sunny and bright! It’s dealing with some important current topics, as it explores its characters, and shouldn’t be missed. Also, I feel like I’m the only one watching and enjoying the strangely cinematic and brilliantly absurd Baskets, and I don’t want to be the only one anymore.
Film: Since Swipe Right for Murder was partially inspired by Hitchcock films, here’s a short list of fun Hitchcock films you may not have seen: Marnie, Notorious, The 39 Steps, and Family Plot. If you ever find yourself on a movie set and someone recommends a movie, watch that movie! That’s how I discovered Bunny Lake is Missing: Otto Preminger DOING Hitchcock. Laurence Olivier giving a grounded police-procedural performance. A completely unnecessary cameo from 60’s psych band The Zombies. And Nöel Coward wearing the World’s Most Intense Sweater. It’s about an American woman who drops off her young daughter at a London pre-school; when the girl goes missing, no one can recall ever having seen her—including the audience! Jim Jarmusch’s recent zombie flick The Dead Don’t Die is silly fun, and has a great cast, but it can’t touch his stunning, stylish vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive, which I highly recommend.
Derek Milman has worked as a playwright, screenwriter, film school teacher, DJ, and underground humor magazine publisher. A classically trained actor, he has performed on stages across the country and appeared in numerous TV shows, commercials, and films. Derek currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, where he writes full time. Swipe Right for Murder is his second novel for young adults. You can find Derek on Twitter and Instagram!
