Kellye Garrett and Alex Segura: Two Authors Look Back on a Year of Literary Firsts

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As the paperback editions of LIKE A SISTER and SECRET IDENTITY hit shelves, award-winning authors Kellye Garrett and Alex Segura take time to process the year that was – and look ahead to what’s in store for them and the industry at large.

ALEX SEGURA: Hi Kellye! I’m so happy you agreed to do this. It felt too perfect to pass up, you know? Anyway, let’s cut to the chase – I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it’s been an amazing year for you and LIKE A SISTER. Award nominations (an Edgar and a Lefty…so far!), great reviews, Book of the Month, and lots of reader praise and attention. I have to ask – how did it all measure up to what you expected? Or hoped for?

KELLYE GARRETT: Hi Alex! So excited to chat with you. First, thank you for the kind words.

There was a four year gap between when my last book was published and when LIKE A SISTER came out, so in a way it felt like a debut all over again for me. I remembered some things – like the excitement and anticipation – and forgot others – like how nice it is to have so many people excited to finally read your book. So, in that way it exceeded my expectations. You and I have so many similarities with our releases where we both went from series at smaller publishers to standalones with bigger ones. How was release day for you after spending so much time with the Pete Fernandez series?

AS: That’s a great point. It really did feel like LIKE A SISTER and SECRET IDENTITY were riding along together, and I was really grateful for that, because we could lean on each other during a rollercoaster journey! I’m sure you could relate to this, too, but going from the Pete books to writing something like SECRET IDENTITY felt very much like a leveling up. Like I’d been working toward it for years, and I was now on a bigger stage and able to show a bigger audience how I’d sharpened my skills. I went in with some hopes – but the end result really exceeded my wildest dreams, in terms of people reading and responding to the work. I think that’s what I got the most from – the realization that readers outside of my network were picking this up, like the book had a life of its own. But since we’re writers, we spend more time on the hard than the fun and easy…what were some of the challenges for you with the book?

KG: For me, it goes back to writing a series. Even though the Detective by Day series only had two books, I started the first one in 2011. I was working on the third one when my publisher  closed in 2018. So I spent 7 years with the same characters. I felt like I knew them like I knew a good friend. That made it tricky to switch to a different genre and a new cast of characters. I’d find myself thinking of ridiculous ways for Lena to investigate her sister’s death and have to remind myself “No, that’s how Dayna would handle it.” I also wasn’t intending for Lena to be funny and was surprised the first time a friend told me she was laughing while reading early pages I sent her. But then I leaned into it. Though the situations aren’t as humorous as in HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE, Lena’s “better to laugh than cry” attitude in LIKE A SISTER brings some much needed humor to such a horrible circumstance.

AS: I thought the balance of humor and darkness was such a powerful part of LIKE A SISTER and I loved it. But everyone knows how much I enjoyed the book!

KG: Going back to SECRET IDENTITY – you marry two of your loves: the comic industry and crime fiction. Did you have any hesitations with doing that?

AS: I think any hesitation came from wanting to do the story justice, if that makes sense. I feel like, conceptually, SECRET IDENTITY was really strong – the idea of comics and prose mixed together in a murder mystery basket felt really cool to me. It was the kind of book I’d love to read, which for me is always a sign that I’m on the right track. But I had to then live up to those ideas, you know? The comics in the story couldn’t just be dressing. They had to be integral to the story, otherwise I felt like people would treat them as disposable. The period elements had to be accurate, especially the stuff about the industry itself, otherwise it’d pull people out of the story. I’d written historical sequences before with the Pete books, but I’d never written a historical novel, and I totally underestimated the work that would go into that. In fact, I thought – before putting a word on paper – that because it was comic book history, my research would be minimal. Not quite. Still, once I realized the work that would go into researching the novel, like you, I leaned into the details and tried my best to make everything count. Also, from a character perspective, as much as I loved Pete, I didn’t want that to become my signature protagonist, either. So I wanted to explore a story through the eyes of someone that might be similar to Pete, but also very different – and that’s where Carmen came from.

KG: The Lynx comic sequences are one of my favorite parts of SECRET IDENTITY. Even for someone that’s not a comic book fan like myself, I was able to appreciate them and the story. So I applaud you for being able to make the world accessible to many of us.

AS: The funny thing for me, was that early on with SECRET IDENTITY, I figured it would be a standalone, but during the writing, I found a space for one more story. Did you ever consider continuing LIKE A SISTER or exploring another story with those characters? If not, can you tell us what you’re working on next?

KG: Right now, I’m happy with LIKE A SISTER as a standalone because I want Lena to have a happy ending. She’s gone through a lot! Up next is MISSING WHITE WOMAN, which is about a Black woman who comes up to the New Jersey area for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend and comes downstairs one day to find her boyfriend gone and the missing white woman dominating the news cycle dead in the foyer of their Airbnb.

AS: I’m so excited to read MISSING WHITE WOMAN and I will continue to bother you about it until I get my hands on your manuscript!

KG: You sound like my editor and my agent! Now that you teased your second book, I need more details, so spill.

AS: My next crime novel (I have to thread that needle because I have a YA novel, Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow, coming out later this year), ALTER EGO, is a sequel of sorts to SECRET IDENTITY. We’re in the modern day with a new protagonist, a movie storyboard artist named Annie who once worked in comics but moved to another field when she realized she didn’t have a place in the industry she loved. When we meet Annie, she’s just received an offer out of the blue. A new entertainment company has announced plans to pursue movies and TV based on the comic book characters of a small, now-defunct comic book company named Triumph Comics. Annie takes a gig she’d only dreamed of – writing and drawing a new Lynx comic. But as she digs deeper into the inner workings of the company and the history of the character, she learns of a dark secret that has already cost the life of a friend and could put her in danger – it’s also tied to Annie’s own origins in unexpected ways. At the same time, she has to grapple with someone from her past reappearing and bringing back memories of a life she would rather leave behind.

KG: I can’t wait to read it!

AS: We’ll trade manuscripts soon. But first another question, and it’s a heavy one – I think you and I have talked a lot about the industry and where we think it might be going. We’ve seen many diverse voices get great opportunities to tell engaging stories and have a stronger spotlight on their experiences. That said – it’s not really enough, is it? Groups like Crime Writers of Color, which you co-founded and I’m an active part of, help provide a safe space for us – authors of color from all experience levels – to compare notes and help each other. But what do you think the industry needs to do to make sure it’s elevating diverse voices beyond just the performative or perfunctory?

KG: I could go on and on and on about this topic but the simplest answer is: Treat diverse voices like the status quo and not just a trend. That is common sense yet you’d be surprised. Even in the five years since we started Crime Writers of Color, it’s been amazing to see so many people of color published in crime fiction but they need to stay published. I’m so proud of the impact Crime Writers of Color had made, and was so surprised when MWA named us the Raven Award recipient this year. And I hope that we’re inspiring people to realize inclusivity in crime fiction isn’t just the job of CWoC or you or me but all of us. How about you? You’ve seen so much since you published the first Pete book 10 years ago.

AS: You’re right! It has been ten years. That’s wild. I do think about this a lot – putting the journey into some kind of context. Because it was very different when I started. I guess the most obvious change has been seeing  our numbers grow – as authors, as fans, as critics, as tastemakers, as editors. From an author perspective, it’s no longer about being on a default “diversity” panel at an event, but being up on the stage with everyone else. That said, I also worry about it becoming a trend – of publishers pumping the brakes because the first wave “diverse” books they bought didn’t set the world on fire in terms of sales. It’s happened before. And like you said, it needs to be treated as standard, not a novelty or something that’s happening now because people are complaining. On the bright side, to your question, I’ve seen people being more thoughtful about it (or, after a slight nudge, being more willing to change) – whether it’s panel programming, book slates, publishing coverage – the greater world is more mindful of having books out there that represent more than just one group. It’s reassuring and makes me optimistic about the future.

Before we go, though – I have one last question. Can you name-check a few books that are coming out soon that really resonated with you? Because knowing us, we can’t just go an entire interview talking about ourselves.

KG: TIME’S UNDOING by Cheryl A. Head is amazing. It’s a heartbreaking dual timeline tale about the murder of a Black man in 1929 Birmingham and his great-granddaughter’s dogged attempts to find out what happened 90 years later.

I’m also super excited for THE RAVEN THIEF by Gigi Pandian, who is another CWoC cofounder. The first book in her Secret Staircase series got a Lefty nomination so I’m excited for what’s next for her disgraced magician main character.

AS: Ooh, you picked two of mine! I read Cheryl’s book and was blown away by it. I heard her read from it at Bouchercon last year and I immediately demanded a galley. As for Gigi – well, she’s just so talented and she keeps getting better. I’ll always read and support her work. She’s fantastic. I’ll add two more – one that I’ve read, another that I can’t wait to read: E.A. Aymar’s NO HOME FOR KILLERS, which just hit, is a haunting story about murder and family and, for me, represented a big step up for Ed – who is one of the nicest, most supportive writers in our community and a helluva writer. I really enjoyed this one. My second choice is SILVER NITRATE, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Silvia’s a friend and a defiant, versatile, genre-bending author. I love “appointment authors” – meaning, writers I will immediately preorder upon learning of a new release. This new book is about a curse that looms over a legendary lost movie – and its effect on a woman and her own powers. I’m hooked and all I’ve got to go on is the book description!

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Kellye Garrett is the author of Like A Sister about a black woman in New York City looking into the mysterious overdose of her estranged reality star sister. In addition to being featured on the TODAY show, the suspense novel was a Book of the Month April 2022 selection, the Oxygen channel’s July Book Club pick, an Edgar award finalist for Best Novel and  nominated for both Lefty award for Best Mystery. The cofounder of Crime Writers of Color also wrote the Detective by Day lightweight mysteries, which have won the Anthony, Agatha, Lefty and IPPY awards. Learn more at KellyeGarrett.com.

Alex Segura is the bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity, which The New York Times called “wittily original” and named an Editor’s Choice. NPR described the novel as “masterful,” and it received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist. It was also listed as one of the Best Mysteries of the Year by NPR, Kirkus, Booklist, LitReactor, Gizmodo, BOLO Books, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

His upcoming work includes the YA superhero adventure Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow, the spiritual sequel to Secret Identity, Alter Ego, and the sci-fi/espionage thriller, Dark Space (with Rob Hart). Alex is also the author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, the Anthony Award-nominated Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series, and a number of comic books – including The Mysterious Micro-Face (in partnership with NPR), The Black Ghost, The Archies, The Dusk, The Awakened, Mara Llave – Keeper of Time, Blood Oath, stories featuring Marvel heroes Sunspot, White Tiger, Spider-Man and DC’s Superman and The Question, to name a few. His short story, “90 Miles” was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories for 2021 and won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story. Another short story,“Red Zone,” won the 2020 Anthony Award for Best Short Story.

A Miami native, he lives in New York with his wife and children.

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