Latest Books Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson

She gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she’s hiding a terrible secret. It’s time for the truth to come out…

Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they’ve committed to her audience. She can’t guarantee the police won’t come after her “guests,” but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that’s proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother’s murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother’s murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?

The author took some time to discuss his latest release with The Big Thrill:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

Well, I want them to be scared. I want them accusing me of giving them nightmares, and to tell me they felt this book on a haunting, visceral level. If I’ve done that, my primary objective is accomplished.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

I do like to bring multimedia into my books, whether it’s printed imagery, fake websites, phone numbers a reader can call, or, in the case of Tell Me What You Did, QR codes that link to videos. This is mostly to satisfy my own curiosity. In my book, the podcasting main character Poe always uses her iPhone to record her side of her podcast interviews. I decided I wanted to see what that looked like, so I hired a wonderful actor to bring those scenes to life. I’m guessing maybe 5% of readers will check it out, but that doesn’t matter. It was entertaining to me.

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

My agent was the one who, twenty years ago, told me I wrote thrillers. So that’s what I write, I suppose. To me, I just like stories with emotional and physical conflict, morally gray characters, and a damn fast pace. I guess those are thrillers.

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

None of those. This is an emotion-first book, and I wanted that emotion to be anger (followed by fear). Once I knew the tone for the book, the first few chapters helped me established what there was to be angry and fearful about. That produced my character and her potential arc. I then decided on a setting and dropped her into it. The plot always comes last because I don’t outline, so I never even know my endings until about 70% of the way into a first draft. But everything has to be driven by emotion or the story doesn’t work.

What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity?

I was a bit worried about having this book centered around a podcast, since that’s quite a popular thriller topic. But I made sure not to read any other podcast thrillers lest I be influenced. It’s very important that, above all else, my stories are wholly original. Whether a reader loves or hates my books, I at least want them to feel unique. I dearly hope I’ve accomplished that.

Carter Wilson is the USA Today bestselling author of nine critically acclaimed, standalone psychological thrillers. He is an ITW Thriller Award finalist, a five-time winner of the Colorado Book Award, and his works have been optioned for television and film. Carter lives outside of Boulder, Colorado.

Dynamic and compelling, he now hosts his own podcast, Making It Up, interviewing authors like S.A. Cosby, Daniel Handler, Stuart Turton, Xio Axelrod, and Julie Clark to talk shop and riff an original story live. The result is a charming, authentic peek into the writing process.