August 25, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode, I chat with author Kendra Elliot about her new novel, Her First Mistake.
Kendra Elliot has sold thirteen million books, hit the Wall Street Journal top ten bestseller list more than a dozen times, and is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier award.
She is an International Thriller Writers' finalist and a Romantic Times finalist. She grew up in the lush and rainy Pacific Northwest.
Synopsis of Her First Mistake:
Thirteen years ago, Assemblyman Derrick Bell was murdered in his home by an intruder. His wife, Noelle Marshall, was left for dead. The crime was unsolved, but it wasn’t forgotten.
Today the FBI is tackling a fresh perspective on the case and looking to Noelle, now a detective for the Deschutes County sheriff’s office, for new clues. It is reopening everything Noelle thought was behind her. Memories of her escape from a traumatic childhood. A marriage that wasn’t the perfect love story she’d been promised. And a husband whose charm and privilege hid a dark side. But Noelle has been hiding something too: a secret about the night Derrick died that she has never told anyone.
As past and present and leads and misleads collide, one thing is frighteningly clear. Derrick’s murder wasn’t just unsolved. It’s unfinished. And only the truth—no matter the risk—can save the next victim.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to Episode 304.
Kendra Elliott is the WallStreet Journal and Amazon Charts
bestselling author of the MercyKilpatrick novels, the Columbia
River novels, the Bone Secretsseries and the Callahan and
(00:55):
McLean series.
She is a three-time winner ofthe Daphne du Maurier Award, an
International Thriller WritersAward finalist and an RIT Award
finalist.
Kendra was born and raised inthe rainy Pacific Northwest.
Here's the synopsis from herlatest book Her First Mistake.
Thirteen years ago, assemblymanDerrick Bell was murdered in his
(01:18):
home by an intruder.
His wife, noelle Marshall, wasleft for dead.
The crime was unsolved, but itwasn't forgotten.
Today, the FBI is tackling afresh perspective on the case
and looking to Noelle, now adetective for the Deschutes
County Sheriff's Office, for newclues.
It is reopening everythingNoelle thought was behind her
(01:42):
Memories of her escape from atraumatic childhood, a marriage
that wasn't the perfect lovestory she'd been promised and a
husband whose charm andprivilege hid a dark side.
But Noelle has been hidingsomething too a secret about the
night Derek died that she hasnever told anyone.
As the past and present andleads and misleads collide, one
(02:05):
thing is frighteningly clearDerek's murder wasn't just
unsolved, it's unfinished.
And only the truth, no matterthe risk, can save the next
victim.
Hi, kendra, and welcome to theshow.
It's great to have you here.
Thank you for having me Firstup.
I loved your book.
Her First Mistake.
It was a page-turner.
(02:25):
I enjoyed it.
Let's begin with learning aboutyour life and career before
becoming an author and a mother,because there's a huge
difference once you enter therealm of motherhood.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, there is.
I was a dental hygienist for 16years and I had my kids during
that time.
I have three daughters and Ihad my kids during that time.
I have three daughters.
I started writing, I think inlike 2007 or so, and then I sold
my first book in 2011.
So it took a while.
I didn't tell anybody at workwhat I was doing, so no, so it
(03:00):
was kind of a surprise there.
I quit my job a few monthsbefore the first book came out.
I wasn't happy at work and Itold my husband you know, if
this book thing doesn't work out, give me six months and I'll go
find another job and everythingworked out.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
What early influences shaped your storytelling?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I've always loved mysteries.
So I think going back as far aslike Trixie Belden, you know,
when maybe I was 10 or evenyounger, nancy Drew, all things
like that I would read thosebooks over and over and over.
I just love the mystery aspectof it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Gosh, the Trixie Belden books.
Take me back.
You know, I'm from Australiaand I kind of grew up reading
the Trixie Belden books, but notmany of my American friends
remember reading them.
They've all read the Nancy Drewbooks, but not many have read
the Trixie Belden series.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I don't know why.
I'm not sure how I came acrossit as a kid, but I know.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Now the Pacific Northwest features prominently
in your work.
How does that landscapeinfluence your writing?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I've lived here all my life, so I know how things
have changed over the lastseveral decades.
I understand it, I understandthe people, I understand the
landscape, I understand thepolitics.
And people will ask me well,you know, I lived in Florida for
a little bit, why don't youwrite about Florida?
But I always, I never, knew inmy bones how it feels to be
(04:34):
there, how it feels to livethere, how to grow up there.
So they say write what you know.
And Pacific Northwest is whereI'm most comfortable.
There's a lot of variety here,a lot of weather variety
especially, which I like toimplement into a lot of my books
.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I read in a magazine article that you dreamed of a
place where you could wear flipflops everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I had it, I did.
I lived in Florida from 2021 to.
I just sold it last fall, so Ido live in flip flops every day.
I lived on the beach, Iabsolutely loved it, but I found
that I kept coming back here,and me and my guy, we actually
(05:20):
live most of the time in Utah,so we're in southern Utah, where
it's very warm, very dry, but Istill have a home here in
Oregon too, which is where I amright now, I'm quite familiar
with that area of Utah becausewe used to drive from California
up to Jackson Wyoming for manyyears and it's just a
(05:41):
spectacular area.
It is the one time I have beenin Jackson.
I believe we got hail or snowin the middle of July.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
That sounds about right.
Yes, okay, kendra, do you havea regular writing routine or is
your process more deadlinedriven?
Deadline driven Boy, nohesitation with that answer.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I just turned in a book boy about 10 days ago and I
had nine months to write thatbook and I wrote it in the last
two and a half, I think, and soI really that's probably the
quickest I've ever written abook, but I kept putting it off,
putting it off.
I work really well underpressure.
(06:25):
I don't like it, but I do turnout some of my best things, I
think, when I'm under pressure.
But when I do have a writingroutine I try to write 2,000
words a day.
I usually give myself three orfour hours to write those words,
or four hours to write thosewords.
(06:47):
I try to write five days a week, often in a coffee shop where I
don't have to get up and unloadthe dishwasher or check the
laundry or get distracted.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I can relate.
Those at-home distractions canjust kill your creativity.
I read that when you firststarted writing you had
six-month book contracts.
I did.
Does that still happen for youfrequently, or do you have more
time to write?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's kind of varied, but there were several years
where I would turn in a bookevery six months and I would
also write a novella.
Melinda Lee and I were doing anovella series.
We've written 20 of those, andso we were kind of packing those
in along with.
We both wrote the same type ofschedule every six months.
A couple of years ago I thinkit must've been during the
(07:34):
pandemic I actually took liketwo.
There was two years, I think,between releases for me.
It was just too hard for me towrite.
I had four adult daughtersliving under my roof and it was
just too much, too manydistractions going on.
But now, um, I've had an eighthmonth deadline.
(07:56):
My last one, I said, was ninemonths, but I see that my next
coming ones are six and sevenmonths.
So they're tightening up alittle bit again.
And do you have much controlover that?
Yes, I do.
I have to prove all mydeadlines myself, I guess.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Kendra, when you begin a new series, do you
already have a sense of how manybooks it will include, and do
you plan the final scene earlyon and build toward it?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I don't know how many books each series will take.
Right now I just signed acontract for the third and
fourth book in this new series,so I know it will be at least
four.
I suspect six.
For some reason, six is a goodnumber for me.
My Mercy Kilpatrick series wassix books and I wrote those
(08:43):
every six months.
I was a little burned out bythe end of six books, but it's a
really good.
The readers like it.
If they find a character theylike, they want you to keep
writing that character, writingthat character they like.
They want you to keep writingthat character, writing that
character.
And when a new reader picks upbook five, they'll read it.
And then they go back and theybuy one, two, three and four.
(09:05):
So I, yeah, I like, I like thata lot.
And no, I don't know my finalscene.
I'm a pantser.
I don't plot, I write by theseat of my pants.
Essentially I don't know thelast scene until two-thirds of
the way through the book,sometimes even more.
The only thing I know is thebad guy will get his due.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
That's good.
That's about all I know Now.
What has your experience beenlike working with developmental
editors across multiple series?
Have you stayed with one orworked with several to keep pace
with your projects?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I've been really lucky to have the same
developmental editor on all mybooks, all my novellas.
Charlotte Herscher is justamazing.
It's a real gift, I think, tobe a developmental editor and do
it well.
She has a light touch.
She doesn't change my voice.
She doesn't try to change thestory either, she just enhances
(10:08):
it.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
And did she come with a publishing company?
She did.
I'm guessing you keep her busy.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
They do and everyone at my publisher that has her
just absolutely adores her Kindof funny.
She used to be at Ballantyneand I had really admired some of
her authors there and they hadraved about her and I thought,
oh, she just you know, doeswonderful work.
(10:34):
She just you know doeswonderful work.
And then when I got my firstpublishing contract it turns out
she was no longer with them andshe was going to be my editor
and I was really fantastic.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
While we're talking about editors and publishing, I
would love to hear yourpublishing story, from your
first finished manuscript tofinding an agent and landing a
publishing deal.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I wrote three books before I got an agent.
I consider the first twopractice manuscripts.
They are nothing that will everneed to see the light of day
and in fact I don't even knowwhere they are.
I don't think I could find acomputer file now and in fact I
don't even know where they are.
I don't think I could find acomputer file now.
(11:21):
But yes, it took me, I think,three years to get an agent.
Tons of rejections along theway.
Someone asked me the other dayabout how many rejections I'd
had, and at least 50 over thosethree books.
And it took her a year to sellthe book that Montlake finally
(11:42):
purchased.
That book sold close to amillion copies, so I think it
did okay.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh, I guess so, and you've had quite a few
translations of your books donetoo right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Croatian Norwegian.
Some really random things.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Another author I was speaking with the other day
mentioned languages that theirbooks were now getting
translated into and I wasfascinated because a lot of the
countries were quite small and,as you know, translations are
expensive.
But I think that's a good thing.
It shows that the interest isthere.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
It's very interesting .
They send me copies and a bookwill show up and I don't know
what the language is.
I can use my phone and GoogleTranslate to figure out what
language is this.
Because it's so.
It wasn't Croatia, it wasEstonia.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Well, I just hope that the American publishers are
reciprocating this, becausethere seems to be a real niche
market for translated books herein the US.
I agree, your series oftenfeature crossover characters,
and Her First Mistake is noexception.
Do these characters appearunexpectedly while you're
(12:52):
writing or do you plan andoutline them into the stories
from the start?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Just, while I am writing.
I have no plan for them, theyjust show up.
I don't know their backstories.
Noelle, the heroine of thisbook.
She popped up on the page andin a previous book.
I think she's been in two orthree previous books, but in one
of them a character had askedher some personal questions and
(13:23):
she had just totally brushedthem off Because I didn't know
the answers.
But I had a hunch that somedayI would want to explore what
those are and that's what makesup most of this book.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Who are some of the other familiar characters that
pop up in this book?
To this book.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Who are some of the other familiar characters that
pop up in this book?
Mercy Kilpatrick is probablythe most popular character that
pops up in this book Earlier shehas a six book series, but
she's also the main character inthree books in my Columbia
River series.
Two books in my Columbia Riverseries Got to keep it straight.
But I've used her as asecondary character in several
(14:01):
other stories too.
People can't seem to get enoughof her and her love interest
and what about your character,Alice?
That was a new character forthis book.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I like her a lot.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
The structure of this book is a little bit different.
I had asked my editor hey, whatwould you like to see?
Because I was looking for somemotivation and some ideas for
this book.
And she said I would love tosee a book of flash forwards.
And I said what?
What does that mean?
(14:33):
How is that different fromflashbacks?
And I had to sit down and thinkabout it for quite a while, and
so what I did was I started thestory 13 years in the past, in
a different point of view, but Iwould put in small flash
forwards to today just becausesomething big was going on.
(14:56):
That started 13 years ago.
But the first half of the bookis pretty much set in the past,
and when the stories actuallycome together, everything
continues on in the present, andit was fun to write that way.
I'd never done that quitebefore and it's great for you to
have a change.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Oh, yes, very much so , and have you spent much time
in Bend Oregon?
It's definitely on my list,looks beautiful.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It really is beautiful.
My family vacationed there whenI was a kid, so that's one of
those things where I've seen itdevelop over the last 40 years
or so and I know what's changedthere.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I know what's going on there and I can put that into
my stories You've spoken a bitabout Noelle, but I was
wondering what inspired you todevelop her character further
and dedicate a two book seriesto her.
Did she stand out to you earlyon For some?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
reason.
When I first wrote her on thepage, I thought okay, what's
going to be unique about her?
What's going to make thereaders say, oh, I want to know
more?
And for some reason it poppedin my head.
Have you watched, ted?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Lasso.
Yes, I have twice in fact.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
She reminds me of Rebecca in Ted Lasso and
visually I could see that.
And I don't visually see myother characters, if that makes
sense.
I never say, oh, they resemblethis movie star, this TV star, I
don't use them as inspiration.
I think this was the first timeI had actually used an actual
(16:33):
character to form my character.
So she reminds me of her a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I was actually surprised and I'm not going to
give anything away about thecareer path she chose.
I found that fascinating and itworked really well.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, and it tied well with Alice, I think, being
such a big influence in her life.
Yeah, in the previous booksthat Noelle has popped up in,
she's already a detective, butyou don't know how she got there
.
You just know that this womanhas a lot of money.
You know that just from somereferences in the previous books
(17:10):
, so I had to come up with howshe ended up in that position,
which was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, I bet it was Okay.
Let's talk books.
What are you currently reading,and has it influenced your own
work or creative thinking in anyway?
Or do you find yourself justpicking up a book and reading it
for fun?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I read for having fun , definitely.
I said I wrote this past bookin two and a half months, that I
just turned in and my brain wasjust tired.
When I'm like that, I will goto historical romance and I will
just plow through Julia Quinn,stephanie Lawrence.
I've been doing some KarenMarie Moaning stuff that I've
(17:54):
read for the last boy 15 years.
I'll just read them again, justbecause it's comforting to my
brain.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
I have a few books that I reread constantly for
that exact reason.
They are comforting.
But you know what?
There's not a lot of people whoare rereaders when I speak to
authors and booksellers.
I have a stack of books that Ilove to reread and I swear every
time I read them I discoversomething new.
Does that happen to you?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Oh, definitely, definitely.
And I think I reread because Iwas such a huge reader as a kid,
but we did a lot of books so itwas just normal for me to
reread a book, reread a book.
That's just how it was.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
You still have many of the books that you read as a
child.
I do not.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
I've moved a lot in the last couple years.
I have pretty much donated allmy physical books and everything
on my Kindle now.
Research books I have those,but fiction is almost all on my
Kindle.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, I read on a Kindle for about two years,
maybe three years, but I do liketo read a physical book.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah, it was a big change.
I had probably 700 books at onepoint and then just kind of
slowly started getting rid ofthem.
A lot of them I re-bought.
I bought again on my Kindle.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Gosh about.
I don't know how many years agonow, but I donated over a
thousand books.
It took me weeks to cleareverything out and afterwards my
husband said to me you wouldnever even know that you just
donated a thousand books.
Because I have so many books?
When I can, I purchase firsteditions or I pick them up in
(19:42):
yard sales, and I lovechildren's books.
I have all my books from mychildhood except for one which I
don't know what happened to it,and then I have multiple
editions of children's booksthat I love.
It's hopeless.
Are any of your daughterswriters?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
No, and one of them reads my books.
They are the girls are 27, 25and 23.
And the oldest one has alwaysread the books.
But the other two it's nottheir genre, so they don't have
a lot of interest, which is fine.
But no one has showed anyinterest in writing.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well, they have to find their own paths right.
Yeah, Kendra, I thoroughlyenjoyed reading your latest
novel, Her First Mistake, and Ihighly recommend it.
And thanks for being on theshow.
It's been great chatting withyou.
You're welcome.
It was lovely meeting you.
You've been listening to myconversation with Kendra Elliott
about her latest book, HerFirst Mistake.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
(20:43):
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
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review wherever.
Go to thebookshoppodcastcom andmake sure to subscribe and
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(21:05):
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The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, Mandy
Jackson-Beverly, Theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly, and
(21:27):
my executive assistant andgraphic designer is Adrian
Ottahan.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a
bibliophile.
Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast.
Each week, I present interviewswith authors, independent
bookshop owners and booksellersfrom around the globe and
publishing professionals.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
(00:33):
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
You're listening to Episode 304.
Kendra Elliott is the WallStreet Journal and Amazon Charts
bestselling author of the MercyKilpatrick novels, the Columbia
River novels, the Bone Secretsseries and the Callahan and
(00:55):
McLean series.
She is a three-time winner ofthe Daphne du Maurier Award, an
International Thriller WritersAward finalist and an RIT Award
finalist.
Kendra was born and raised inthe rainy Pacific Northwest.
Here's the synopsis from herlatest book Her First Mistake.
Thirteen years ago, assemblymanDerrick Bell was murdered in his
(01:18):
home by an intruder.
His wife, noelle Marshall, wasleft for dead.
The crime was unsolved, but itwasn't forgotten.
Today, the FBI is tackling afresh perspective on the case
and looking to Noelle, now adetective for the Deschutes
County Sheriff's Office, for newclues.
It is reopening everythingNoelle thought was behind her
(01:42):
Memories of her escape from atraumatic childhood, a marriage
that wasn't the perfect lovestory she'd been promised and a
husband whose charm andprivilege hid a dark side.
But Noelle has been hidingsomething too a secret about the
night Derek died that she hasnever told anyone.
As the past and present andleads and misleads collide, one
(02:05):
thing is frighteningly clearDerek's murder wasn't just
unsolved, it's unfinished.
And only the truth, no matterthe risk, can save the next
victim.
Hi, kendra, and welcome to theshow.
It's great to have you here.
Thank you for having me Firstup.
I loved your book.
Her First Mistake.
It was a page-turner.
(02:25):
I enjoyed it.
Let's begin with learning aboutyour life and career before
becoming an author and a mother,because there's a huge
difference once you enter therealm of motherhood.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, there is.
I was a dental hygienist for 16years and I had my kids during
that time.
I have three daughters and Ihad my kids during that time.
I have three daughters.
I started writing, I think inlike 2007 or so, and then I sold
my first book in 2011.
So it took a while.
I didn't tell anybody at workwhat I was doing, so no, so it
(03:00):
was kind of a surprise there.
I quit my job a few monthsbefore the first book came out.
I wasn't happy at work and Itold my husband you know, if
this book thing doesn't work out, give me six months and I'll go
find another job and everythingworked out.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
What early influences shaped your storytelling?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I've always loved mysteries.
So I think going back as far aslike Trixie Belden, you know,
when maybe I was 10 or evenyounger, nancy Drew, all things
like that I would read thosebooks over and over and over.
I just love the mystery aspectof it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Gosh, the Trixie Belden books.
Take me back.
You know, I'm from Australiaand I kind of grew up reading
the Trixie Belden books, but notmany of my American friends
remember reading them.
They've all read the Nancy Drewbooks, but not many have read
the Trixie Belden series.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I don't know why.
I'm not sure how I came acrossit as a kid, but I know.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Now the Pacific Northwest features prominently
in your work.
How does that landscapeinfluence your writing?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I've lived here all my life, so I know how things
have changed over the lastseveral decades.
I understand it, I understandthe people, I understand the
landscape, I understand thepolitics.
And people will ask me well,you know, I lived in Florida for
a little bit, why don't youwrite about Florida?
But I always, I never, knew inmy bones how it feels to be
(04:34):
there, how it feels to livethere, how to grow up there.
So they say write what you know.
And Pacific Northwest is whereI'm most comfortable.
There's a lot of variety here,a lot of weather variety
especially, which I like toimplement into a lot of my books
.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I read in a magazine article that you dreamed of a
place where you could wear flipflops everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I had it, I did.
I lived in Florida from 2021 to.
I just sold it last fall, so Ido live in flip flops every day.
I lived on the beach, Iabsolutely loved it, but I found
that I kept coming back here,and me and my guy, we actually
(05:20):
live most of the time in Utah,so we're in southern Utah, where
it's very warm, very dry, but Istill have a home here in
Oregon too, which is where I amright now, I'm quite familiar
with that area of Utah becausewe used to drive from California
up to Jackson Wyoming for manyyears and it's just a
(05:41):
spectacular area.
It is the one time I have beenin Jackson.
I believe we got hail or snowin the middle of July.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
That sounds about right.
Yes, okay, kendra, do you havea regular writing routine or is
your process more deadlinedriven?
Deadline driven Boy, nohesitation with that answer.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
I just turned in a book boy about 10 days ago and I
had nine months to write thatbook and I wrote it in the last
two and a half, I think, and soI really that's probably the
quickest I've ever written abook, but I kept putting it off,
putting it off.
I work really well underpressure.
(06:25):
I don't like it, but I do turnout some of my best things, I
think, when I'm under pressure.
But when I do have a writingroutine I try to write 2,000
words a day.
I usually give myself three orfour hours to write those words,
or four hours to write thosewords.
(06:47):
I try to write five days a week, often in a coffee shop where I
don't have to get up and unloadthe dishwasher or check the
laundry or get distracted.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, I can relate.
Those at-home distractions canjust kill your creativity.
I read that when you firststarted writing you had
six-month book contracts.
I did.
Does that still happen for youfrequently, or do you have more
time to write?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's kind of varied, but there were several years
where I would turn in a bookevery six months and I would
also write a novella.
Melinda Lee and I were doing anovella series.
We've written 20 of those, andso we were kind of packing those
in along with.
We both wrote the same type ofschedule every six months.
A couple of years ago I thinkit must've been during the
(07:34):
pandemic I actually took liketwo.
There was two years, I think,between releases for me.
It was just too hard for me towrite.
I had four adult daughtersliving under my roof and it was
just too much, too manydistractions going on.
But now, um, I've had an eighthmonth deadline.
(07:56):
My last one, I said, was ninemonths, but I see that my next
coming ones are six and sevenmonths.
So they're tightening up alittle bit again.
And do you have much controlover that?
Yes, I do.
I have to prove all mydeadlines myself, I guess.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Kendra, when you begin a new series, do you
already have a sense of how manybooks it will include, and do
you plan the final scene earlyon and build toward it?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I don't know how many books each series will take.
Right now I just signed acontract for the third and
fourth book in this new series,so I know it will be at least
four.
I suspect six.
For some reason, six is a goodnumber for me.
My Mercy Kilpatrick series wassix books and I wrote those
(08:43):
every six months.
I was a little burned out bythe end of six books, but it's a
really good.
The readers like it.
If they find a character theylike, they want you to keep
writing that character, writingthat character they like.
They want you to keep writingthat character, writing that
character.
And when a new reader picks upbook five, they'll read it.
And then they go back and theybuy one, two, three and four.
(09:05):
So I, yeah, I like, I like thata lot.
And no, I don't know my finalscene.
I'm a pantser.
I don't plot, I write by theseat of my pants.
Essentially I don't know thelast scene until two-thirds of
the way through the book,sometimes even more.
The only thing I know is thebad guy will get his due.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
That's good.
That's about all I know Now.
What has your experience beenlike working with developmental
editors across multiple series?
Have you stayed with one orworked with several to keep pace
with your projects?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I've been really lucky to have the same
developmental editor on all mybooks, all my novellas.
Charlotte Herscher is justamazing.
It's a real gift, I think, tobe a developmental editor and do
it well.
She has a light touch.
She doesn't change my voice.
She doesn't try to change thestory either, she just enhances
(10:08):
it.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
And did she come with a publishing company?
She did.
I'm guessing you keep her busy.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
They do and everyone at my publisher that has her
just absolutely adores her Kindof funny.
She used to be at Ballantyneand I had really admired some of
her authors there and they hadraved about her and I thought,
oh, she just you know, doeswonderful work.
(10:34):
She just you know doeswonderful work.
And then when I got my firstpublishing contract it turns out
she was no longer with them andshe was going to be my editor
and I was really fantastic.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
While we're talking about editors and publishing, I
would love to hear yourpublishing story, from your
first finished manuscript tofinding an agent and landing a
publishing deal.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I wrote three books before I got an agent.
I consider the first twopractice manuscripts.
They are nothing that will everneed to see the light of day
and in fact I don't even knowwhere they are.
I don't think I could find acomputer file now and in fact I
don't even know where they are.
I don't think I could find acomputer file now.
(11:21):
But yes, it took me, I think,three years to get an agent.
Tons of rejections along theway.
Someone asked me the other dayabout how many rejections I'd
had, and at least 50 over thosethree books.
And it took her a year to sellthe book that Montlake finally
(11:42):
purchased.
That book sold close to amillion copies, so I think it
did okay.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh, I guess so, and you've had quite a few
translations of your books donetoo right.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Croatian Norwegian.
Some really random things.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Another author I was speaking with the other day
mentioned languages that theirbooks were now getting
translated into and I wasfascinated because a lot of the
countries were quite small and,as you know, translations are
expensive.
But I think that's a good thing.
It shows that the interest isthere.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
It's very interesting .
They send me copies and a bookwill show up and I don't know
what the language is.
I can use my phone and GoogleTranslate to figure out what
language is this.
Because it's so.
It wasn't Croatia, it wasEstonia.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Well, I just hope that the American publishers are
reciprocating this, becausethere seems to be a real niche
market for translated books herein the US.
I agree, your series oftenfeature crossover characters,
and Her First Mistake is noexception.
Do these characters appearunexpectedly while you're
(12:52):
writing or do you plan andoutline them into the stories
from the start?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Just, while I am writing.
I have no plan for them, theyjust show up.
I don't know their backstories.
Noelle, the heroine of thisbook.
She popped up on the page andin a previous book.
I think she's been in two orthree previous books, but in one
of them a character had askedher some personal questions and
(13:23):
she had just totally brushedthem off Because I didn't know
the answers.
But I had a hunch that somedayI would want to explore what
those are and that's what makesup most of this book.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Who are some of the other familiar characters that
pop up in this book?
To this book.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Who are some of the other familiar characters that
pop up in this book?
Mercy Kilpatrick is probablythe most popular character that
pops up in this book Earlier shehas a six book series, but
she's also the main character inthree books in my Columbia
River series.
Two books in my Columbia Riverseries Got to keep it straight.
But I've used her as asecondary character in several
(14:01):
other stories too.
People can't seem to get enoughof her and her love interest
and what about your character,Alice?
That was a new character forthis book.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I like her a lot.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
The structure of this book is a little bit different.
I had asked my editor hey, whatwould you like to see?
Because I was looking for somemotivation and some ideas for
this book.
And she said I would love tosee a book of flash forwards.
And I said what?
What does that mean?
(14:33):
How is that different fromflashbacks?
And I had to sit down and thinkabout it for quite a while, and
so what I did was I started thestory 13 years in the past, in
a different point of view, but Iwould put in small flash
forwards to today just becausesomething big was going on.
(14:56):
That started 13 years ago.
But the first half of the bookis pretty much set in the past,
and when the stories actuallycome together, everything
continues on in the present, andit was fun to write that way.
I'd never done that quitebefore and it's great for you to
have a change.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Oh, yes, very much so , and have you spent much time
in Bend Oregon?
It's definitely on my list,looks beautiful.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
It really is beautiful.
My family vacationed there whenI was a kid, so that's one of
those things where I've seen itdevelop over the last 40 years
or so and I know what's changedthere.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I know what's going on there and I can put that into
my stories You've spoken a bitabout Noelle, but I was
wondering what inspired you todevelop her character further
and dedicate a two book seriesto her.
Did she stand out to you earlyon For some?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
reason.
When I first wrote her on thepage, I thought okay, what's
going to be unique about her?
What's going to make thereaders say, oh, I want to know
more?
And for some reason it poppedin my head.
Have you watched, ted?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Lasso.
Yes, I have twice in fact.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
She reminds me of Rebecca in Ted Lasso and
visually I could see that.
And I don't visually see myother characters, if that makes
sense.
I never say, oh, they resemblethis movie star, this TV star, I
don't use them as inspiration.
I think this was the first timeI had actually used an actual
(16:33):
character to form my character.
So she reminds me of her a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I was actually surprised and I'm not going to
give anything away about thecareer path she chose.
I found that fascinating and itworked really well.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, and it tied well with Alice, I think, being
such a big influence in her life.
Yeah, in the previous booksthat Noelle has popped up in,
she's already a detective, butyou don't know how she got there
.
You just know that this womanhas a lot of money.
You know that just from somereferences in the previous books
(17:10):
, so I had to come up with howshe ended up in that position,
which was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, I bet it was Okay.
Let's talk books.
What are you currently reading,and has it influenced your own
work or creative thinking in anyway?
Or do you find yourself justpicking up a book and reading it
for fun?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I read for having fun , definitely.
I said I wrote this past bookin two and a half months, that I
just turned in and my brain wasjust tired.
When I'm like that, I will goto historical romance and I will
just plow through Julia Quinn,stephanie Lawrence.
I've been doing some KarenMarie Moaning stuff that I've
(17:54):
read for the last boy 15 years.
I'll just read them again, justbecause it's comforting to my
brain.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
I have a few books that I reread constantly for
that exact reason.
They are comforting.
But you know what?
There's not a lot of people whoare rereaders when I speak to
authors and booksellers.
I have a stack of books that Ilove to reread and I swear every
time I read them I discoversomething new.
Does that happen to you?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Oh, definitely, definitely.
And I think I reread because Iwas such a huge reader as a kid,
but we did a lot of books so itwas just normal for me to
reread a book, reread a book.
That's just how it was.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
You still have many of the books that you read as a
child.
I do not.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
I've moved a lot in the last couple years.
I have pretty much donated allmy physical books and everything
on my Kindle now.
Research books I have those,but fiction is almost all on my
Kindle.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, I read on a Kindle for about two years,
maybe three years, but I do liketo read a physical book.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Yeah, it was a big change.
I had probably 700 books at onepoint and then just kind of
slowly started getting rid ofthem.
A lot of them I re-bought.
I bought again on my Kindle.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Gosh about.
I don't know how many years agonow, but I donated over a
thousand books.
It took me weeks to cleareverything out and afterwards my
husband said to me you wouldnever even know that you just
donated a thousand books.
Because I have so many books?
When I can, I purchase firsteditions or I pick them up in
(19:42):
yard sales, and I lovechildren's books.
I have all my books from mychildhood except for one which I
don't know what happened to it,and then I have multiple
editions of children's booksthat I love.
It's hopeless.
Are any of your daughterswriters?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
No, and one of them reads my books.
They are the girls are 27, 25and 23.
And the oldest one has alwaysread the books.
But the other two it's nottheir genre, so they don't have
a lot of interest, which is fine.
But no one has showed anyinterest in writing.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Well, they have to find their own paths right.
Yeah, Kendra, I thoroughlyenjoyed reading your latest
novel, Her First Mistake, and Ihighly recommend it.
And thanks for being on theshow.
It's been great chatting withyou.
You're welcome.
It was lovely meeting you.
You've been listening to myconversation with Kendra Elliott
about her latest book, HerFirst Mistake.
To help the show reach morepeople, please share episodes
(20:43):
with friends and family and onsocial media, and remember to
subscribe and leave a reviewwherever you listen to this
podcast.
To find out more about theBookshop Podcast, go to
thebookshoppodcastcom and makesure to subscribe and leave a
review wherever.
Go to thebookshoppodcastcom andmake sure to subscribe and
leave a review wherever youlisten to the show.
You can also follow me at MandyJackson Beverly on Instagram
(21:05):
and Facebook and on YouTube atthe Bookshop Podcast.
If you have a favorite indiebookshop that you'd like to
suggest we have on the podcast,I'd love to hear from you via
the contact form atthebookshoppodcastcom.
The Bookshop Podcast is writtenand produced by me, Mandy
Jackson-Beverly, Theme musicprovided by Brian Beverly, and
(21:27):
my executive assistant andgraphic designer is Adrian
Ottahan.
Thanks for listening and I'llsee you next time.
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