We chat with debut author Elora Cook about In The Company of Killers, which is a fast-paced drama about a teenage mafia heiress who would do anything to avenge her family, even join forces with her handsome enemy—think Gossip Girl meets The Sopranos.
Hi, Elora! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Happy to! I’m a Canadian gal who grew up obsessed with books, horses, video games, Nutella, and rewatching the same shows and movies over and over again until I had them memorized. I went to school in Toronto and nearly had a career in television, but decided to pivot back to books in my early twenties. I’m currently in a chapter of my life where I split my time between Ontario and the island of Newfoundland thanks to falling for a man who is my version of a perfect book boyfriend.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I learned how to read, essentially! There’s a moment that’s still a firm memory in my mind of writing my first short story at six-years-old for class where the teacher chose a few students to read theirs out loud. As a resident Horse Girl, I’d written one that was heavily inspired by my love for the animal featuring an underdog horse and a missing horse princess. I can still remember sharing it out loud while my classmates quietly listened. The experience filled me with such a thrill and a deep need to continue writing my own.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I’m about to cheat here but both the Divine Rivals duology by Rebecca Ross and Sadie by Courtney Summers!
Your debut novel, In The Company of Killers, is out March 18th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Moody, intoxicating, propulsive, romantic, and fun!
What can readers expect?
They can expect a fast-paced read that challenges them as much as entertains them! Writing about teen heirs to powerful criminal families gave me a lot of room to write about morally gray characters throughout the book who make choices that they feel is the right one even when that choice is up to interpretation by the reader. Of course, there’s also lots of yearning, angst and romantic moments between our leads, Tasha and Leo, who have a complicated history and now have to work together to stop a new mystery Mafia without catching feelings!
Where did the inspiration for In The Company of Killers come from?
For a long time, I didn’t have a solid answer to this question. Even to me, it seemed like a story about a teen heiress to a powerful New York Mafia came out of nowhere, but when I dug deeper into my psyche to figure out where the inspiration came from, it became clear the seeds for the story were planted years before I started writing it in many different ways.
Despite what some have thought, I didn’t watch Gossip Girl (one of the main comps to it) until after I started working on the book (I do, however, love the original series)! Instead, my inspiration came from places like Phantom of the Opera which I was obsessed with as a kid, to the point where I begged for a Christine Daaé costume for Halloween, which has that dark, yet romantic storyline and setting. Same with, and this one was funny to me when I realized it, the original Pokémon series. Team Rocket and their leader Giovanni, are an organized crime ring, and I inhaled anything related to the famous franchise as a kid. I also love fantasy books with that classic feisty female main character who takes on a powerful group as she fights for her kingdom and may or my not be the long-lost princess, too. Fantasy is actually where I got my start in writing and those classic tropes can be seen in my debut despite it being a contemporary.
For that moment that actually ignited the flame of inspiration for this story, I give credit to an experience I had at eighteen in Paris, France. I had the opportunity to stay at the luxury hotel, Le Meurice with my family during our trip. It was a total fish-out-of-water feeling being surrounded by such wealth and glamour. During the stay, I was standing in the lobby when an impeccably-dressed man walked by carrying only a briefcase with a very large bodyguard behind him. All I could think was, who is that man and what important item(s) could be in that briefcase? I can’t explain why my mind went to something nefarious, but it did, haha. It’s a question that stayed with me and went into hibernation for a few years before I returned to it when I was ready to write this book!
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
This answer will always belong to my main character, Tasha. She’s so unlike myself and yet, she also represents so much of the teen girl I secretly wanted to be in terms of her confidence, strength, and no-BS attitude while still having a deeper, vulnerable side that she’s scared to reveal. I’ve spent six years getting to know her from the first day I started writing her story to the day this book releases. She, and I, changed a lot during those years and no matter how many more stories I write, she’ll always hold a tender place in my heart. I always had this gut feeling she’d take me on a momentous journey and despite the hurdles it took to get here, there’s no other character or story I’d rather have debuted with.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Oh, so so many, but not all had to do with the actual writing of it. The essence of In the Company of Killers poured out of me quickly and stayed fairly similar throughout the rewrites I later put it through. The real challenge was finding the team I needed who understood the vision I had and believed in it the same way. I’ve been vague about this in the past, but the journey to publication for the book had a lot of starts and stops over the six years I worked on it. YA Mafia stories aren’t exactly the main genre publishers are buying. A few times after particularly devastating experiences related to the book, I wondered if I could ever push through and find my love for writing again. Thankfully, I did through other books I went on to write, and then in an amazing plot twist, I finally did find the team who understood the book and wanted to see it on shelves! It’s absolutely a full-circle moment that the same month I first started writing the book, March 2019, is the same month six years later it’ll be published.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
See above, haha. In all seriousness, when I first decided to seriously pursue publication when I graduated high school, I had no idea the long, windy road I was about to embark on. My journey was not an easy or linear one by any means. Both with my debut and also with the books that came before it. While I can’t say I wouldn’t change it for the world (some of those really low moments I would prefer never to revisit), I can appreciate the time it took and challenges I faced to get here. I’ve made amazing author/writer friends who’ve uplifted me through the years and the many “not yet’s” I received helped me re-evaluate and grow in my craft as an author (it has also given me much thicker skin which is essential in any type of creative industry). The difficult journey has only deepened how proud I am of myself for reaching this long-held dream. Knowing that I’ve faced countless rejection while still pushing forward has made it clear that I am stronger than I realize and this dream will not be a blip in my resume, but the start of a budding career.
What’s next for you?
I’m working away at a few different things that I haven’t been given the green light to talk about yet, but hopefully soon!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
Oh, there are so many exciting new titles to add to my ever-growing TBR! Specifically, I can’t wait to get my hands on THE GLITTERING EDGE by Alyssa Villaire—family curses and love triangles? Heck yes! BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH by Jenni Howell sounds perfect for any devious hearts, DIFFICULT GIRLS by Veronica Bane sounds like a such an intriguing who-dunnit, THE WHISPERWOOD LEGACY by Jo Schulte promises to bring all the spooky theme park vibes, HOUSE OF HEARTS by Skyla Arndt promises an insidious underbelly so naturally, I’m so there, and BITTEN by Jordan Stephanie Gray has everything I love in a swoonworthy YA paranormal romance. As you can see, I will be (happily) drowning in books this year!
