We chat with author Megan Lally about What We Did To Survive, which sees a vacation in paradise turn deadly when four teens’ sailing charter hits stormy seas in this propulsive new thriller.
Hi, Megan! Welcome back! How has the past year been since we last spoke?
Hi! So happy to be back! It’s been a real busy year, but in all the best ways.
Your latest novel, What We Did to Survive, is out March 31st! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Idiots at sea… with murder.
What can readers expect?
This one is a bit of a departure from my last two. While still murder-y and dangerous, What We Did To Survive is (as the title suggests) a survival story at its core. There’s a very obvious villain making things worse but the true danger comes from the surroundings this time. Readers can definitely expect lots of tension, severe weather conditions, teens making terrible decisions, and a twist that might ruin your day.
Where did the inspiration for What We Did to Survive come from?
The initial spark came from a girl’s trip to Puerto Vallarta a few years ago. We went on a pontoon boat tour and had a lot of fun, but then one of my friends started making some really bad decisions regarding her personal safety with some strangers. We were all fine! I got her home alive. But the experience stuck in my brain and eventually I started to wonder how things may have gone differently if something like this happened to teenagers who were less suspicious of strangers than I am. And then I flung the whole idea out into the middle of the ocean to make it worse. What We Did To Survive evolved from there.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Each of the characters on this boat is vastly different, so I think I really enjoyed exploring the differences between them. Hannah is the practical one. Emmy is the too-trusting free spirit. Jackson is protective and suspicious. And Ben is a piece of human garbage. Playing them off each other and creating conflict between the four different personalities amidst the stress of a survival situation was a lot of fun. I also had a great time with the twist in this one…
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
The sailboat part was a significant challenge, considering I’d never been on one when I initially drafted this book. I’ve gone on one since! But at the time I knew nothing about sailing, or how boats worked, and there were some significant plot points and scene layouts that required a bit more information. So I ended up contacting the Sea Scouts and they were able to match me up with a reader who was so excited to talk to me about sailing and how the boats worked.
It’s also difficult to contain a whole book worth of plot within the confines of a broken sailboat. Coming up with enough believable challenges for them to face in such limited space was a challenge for sure.
What led you to the mystery and thriller genre?
For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by unsolved crimes and true crime podcasts, but I sort of stumbled into the genre. I started out writing more fantastical horror, and the idea for my debut, That’s Not My Name came out of the blue. I didn’t actually know how much I’d love writing thrillers/mysteries until that book. Looking back, it’s not a surprise I ended up here though. The only thing I ever saved in my family’s DVR as a kid was a JonBenét Ramsey documentary that I repeatedly watched in an attempt to solve it.
What’s next for you?
So, so much. (As I said, I’ve been busy!) Nothing’s been announced yet so I can’t go into detail, but I can vaguely say that my next book is going to be a little different. I’m going back to my horror roots, BUT fear not, I’m not done with thrillers yet, and I hope to be able to share more about my next true-crime related venture later this year.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
SO many! I’m super excited for Immortal Game by Allison Saft. I also can’t wait to pick up Gaslit by Megan Davidhizar, and Natural Selection by Clare Edge. And we’re getting a new Truly Devious book this year too! I’m pretty close to the number of books required to have an official library, so I think 2026 is a great year for a few book buying sprees.
