We chat with author Hannah Mary McKinnon about Only One Survives, which explores the twisty tale of the rise and bloody demise of an all-female pop rock group, and the lengths some of the members go to hold on to their fame.
Welcome to Nerd Daily. Can you give us the elevator pitch for your latest thriller, Only One Survives?
Thank you for having me, and with pleasure. Only One Survives is the story of the rise and violent demise of the all-female pop rock group The Bittersweet when, after a fatal car crash, one of the members decides the band’s now probably worth more dead than alive…
Sounds intriguing! Where did the inspiration for the book come from?
The very first sliver of an idea came from an abandoned house a few miles from my home. I drove past it one frigid, snowy afternoon, and saw the words Come Play written in red paint on the front door. While I found it deliciously creepy, I didn’t go inside (I write thrillers, I know what can happen…) but the image stuck with me.
I’d already decided I wanted to write about a group of female friends. At first, I attempted to build a story around a work environment and a decrepit lodge, but it didn’t sit right. In conversation about the rough idea with author Samantha M. Bailey she asked if the friends could be in a band. I immediately had an ooh moment followed by the question aren’t bands sometimes worth more dead than alive? I knew I was onto something because writing a thriller featuring a band felt fresh and cool. The story shifted quite significantly compared to my initial idea, but the abandoned house remained a constant and plays a significant role.
Is anything in ONLY ONE SURVIVES based on real-life experiences?
Heck no! There might be the odd detail or reference to something here or there, but the rest is made up. That’s the fabulous part of my job. I get to use my imagination to entertain readers.
But you wrote about a band called The Bittersweet, so we’re guessing you have a musical background.
(laughs) Nope.
Really?
Yes, honestly. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was (very kindly) asked to leave the school band when I was ten. I played the recorder…sort of. I couldn’t read music properly, so I’d copy my bandmates and was therefore always a couple of notes behind. I practiced piano for a while thereafter, but I was never any good. So, when I decided to write a book about a fictional band, I knew I’d have to do a lot of research to ensure the story felt authentic.
How did you go about that research?
I watched documentaries and movies, read books and articles. I also spent a lot of time talking to one of my childhood friends, Roger, who’s a band and artist manager, and who has worked in the music industry for over 30 years. He inspired the character Roger Kent in the book—the manager of The Bittersweet. I don’t typically base any of my characters on real people, so Roger Kent is an exception and truly special to me.
What made you decide to tell the story of Only One Survives and The Bittersweet through the drummer Vienna Taylor’s eyes? And why did you name her Vienna?
As soon as the premise hit me, I somehow knew this story belonged to Vienna. Her character formed quite quickly—someone from a poor background and with a seriously dysfunctional family—whose love of music and her friendship with Madison, the other founding member of The Bittersweet, is what keep her going. Her voice was very strong—as was her character—I’m not sure she’d have let anybody else get a word in, even if I’d tried. As for the name, it’s reminiscent of the song “Vienna” by Ultravox.
What other artists influenced the story and thus your fictional band?
So many! The Bittersweet were always going to be a pop-rock band, so I included many songs and artists predominantly from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. My protagonists are in their early 20s when they form the Bittersweet, but I wanted to incorporate music from when I was around that age. Listening to those tunes evoked memories and helped set the mood and tone of the book.
How did you decide where and when to drop those musical references? For example, Vienna and Madison, who first form a duo called EmVee, play “Wherever You Will Go” by The Calling. What was behind that particular choice?
I love that song, and the lyrics fit Madison and Vienna’s friendship so well. Only One Survives is a thriller, yes, but the basis of the story is the friendship between these women, with its gnarly complexities and green-eyed envy that rears its ugly head when fame arrives, and social media generates a toxic #TeamVienna vs. #TeamMadison environment.
As for the other songs and artists, it was fun to use them to shape my characters—and how they’re perceived by others. When we meet Vienna, for example, she’s wearing a Joan Jett & The Blackhearts “Bad Reputation” tank top. This leads another person to make a snap judgment about her—one that isn’t accurate, which was exactly the point.
Did you listen to music as you wrote the book?
Funnily enough, no. I find anything other than instrumental chill out music too distracting. However, I played a lot of rock and pop rock when I wasn’t working on the novel, which I found energizing and inspiring. Nothing changes my mood faster than a favorite tune.
What surprised you as you wrote Only One Survives?
Two things. First, how much I enjoyed crafting the different media for the book, meaning newspaper articles, blog posts, radio interview transcripts, and social media comments. Adding these elements was a fun and interesting way to show what was happening to the band from a different perspective, and how fame was affecting them. The radio interview transcripts were a blast because writing dialogue is one of my favorite things, and I could vividly imagine the radio show hosts chatting to one another. I got a real kick out of that.
The second thing is deciding to learn how to play the drums after researching drummers. It looked so cool, and so much fun. Despite getting kicked out of the school band eons ago, I got myself a second-hand drumkit and a subscription to Drumeo.com, the online drumming school. I hope I’ll be more successful with this than the recorder or the piano!
So…we’ll see you play in a band soon?
Ha. Not likely. Stage fright.
Fair. All right, what’s this about bonus material for Only One Survives?
I’m so glad you asked. The wonderful HarperCollins team and I put together downloadable, free bonus material that includes a Dear Reader letter, discussion questions, a Spotify playlist (listen here), lyrics I wrote for six of the Bittersweet songs mentioned in the book, as well as an extended conversation with me about the novel.
The bonus material looks gorgeous and is a way for the reader to extend and enhance their experience with Only One Survives. Visit https://hannahmarymckinnon.com/book-short-stories/only-one-survives/ for the download, or click here.
You wrote song lyrics? That’s cool. How did you go about that?
As I mention songs in the book, “Sweet Spot” and “Bitter Pill” being two of them, I decided I wanted to go further and pen the lyrics. I’ve never written lyrics before, so the first thing I had to do was understand how a song is structured. Next, I put myself in Vienna’s shoes to convey how she saw the world, and how she felt about everything going on in her life. It was a fascinating and exciting experience as well as a huge challenge. I hope to continue writing lyrics as I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once I started, I didn’t want to stop. All I need now is a composer because I definitely can’t write a melody.
We were surprised to learn that you not only write thrillers as Hannah Mary McKinnon but also romantic-comedies as Holly Cassidy. Can you tell us more?
My very first novel, Time After Time, was a romantic-comedy—think of it as a mash-up between the movies Groundhog Day and Sliding Doors. As I was out on submission to agents and, later, publishers with Time After Time, I wrote my second novel, The Neighbors. It quickly became apparent that this was a much darker story, and that not everybody would make it out alive. Thriller writing pulled me in, and so that’s what I wrote—and continue to write—but 2020 changed things.
My mum passed away a couple of months after the pandemic hit and I couldn’t get to Switzerland to say goodbye. It was one of the most gut-wrenching, guilt-inducing experiences of my life. During that time, I worked on my sixth book, the thriller Never Coming Home under my real name Hannah Mary McKinnon. Although it’s crime fiction, it turned out to be funny (dark and twisted humor, but humor nonetheless) and that happened because I needed to escape someplace where I could laugh when everything else felt so desperate.
I enjoyed writing the humor so much, it got me thinking—could I go back to my romantic-comedy roots and, if so, how, and when would I do that? I didn’t want to stop writing thrillers but do both if possible, so I played around with a few ideas. To be honest, I didn’t do much with them until my agent asked if I’d thought about writing a romantic-comedy. Now that’s what I call serendipitous! The Christmas Wager published in 2023, and The Christmas Countdown will release this October, both written as Holly Cassidy.
Is there another thriller in the works?
My next one, tentatively called A Killer Motive, will release fall of 2025. It’s about a true crime podcaster whose teenage brother disappeared from a beach party she took him to six years ago, and who is challenged by a twisted serial killer to solve not only her brother’s case, but to also find his missing best friend before he dies. I think this might be my most twisted antagonist yet.
This has been great. Tell us where our readers can find you.
My website is www.HannahMaryMcKinnon.com and I’m @hannahmarymckinnon on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok. Come say hello—I love hearing from readers!
