As a kid I used to write books when I was supposed to be playing outside, and not much has changed. I'm a marketing and communications professional who also writes Young Adult contemporary and fantasy fiction in Cambridge, MA.

When not writing or working I love to travel, and along with my nine-year old son I've ridden horses in Colombia and bicycles through Paris. A member of SCBWI, I hold a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University. Which I have never, ever used professionally.

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Meet One Of Us Is Lying!

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, & One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

AndSimon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

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YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?

The novel, by a lot. I had working titles throughout the drafting process but none of them felt right. Then one night while I was revising I came across a passage where one of the characters thinks to herself, “Unless one of us is lying.” And that struck me as exactly the right title.

YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?

I love the title font—the bold red color, and how it looks like it could’ve been scrawled across someone’s locker with red Sharpie. Gossip plays a big part in the book, so that’s a perfect image.

YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

It’s multiple scenes, but I’m proud of the chapters that occur right after all four main characters realize they’re suspects in Simon’s death. I wrote the book in first-person POV, and it was challenging to have them all react to that in an authentic way without giving away whether they were innocent or guilty. Readers will be the ultimate judges as to whether I pulled it off!

YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer from then to now?

How important it is to connect with other writers. When I started querying my first book (not One of Us Is Lying), nobody except my sister had read it. I had no idea how much work it needed! I didn’t grow as an author until I started sharing my work with other writers at the same stage of the publication journey—and learning from those who were a few steps ahead. Publishing has a steep learning curve, and you should never feel discouraged when you don’t succeed right away. All those rejections mean you’re trying, and learning.

YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2017 ?

This might be cheating since I already read it, but I can’t wait for Gray Wolf Island by Tracey Nethercott to hit shelves this fall. It has so many things I love: unlikely friendships, multiple narrators, mystery, siblings, romance, a treasure hunt—and it’s gorgeously written.

YABC: What was your favorite book in 2016?

Tough call because there were so many incredible books released last year, but one that’s stuck with me ever since I read it is Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff. Her two main characters, Waverly and Marshall, are so distinct and fully fleshed out that they feel like real people. Their chemistry was off the charts, and I wanted to keep reading about them long after the story ended.

YABC: Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?

Drafting is my happy place. I love the freedom of a blank page and not knowing exactly where the story is headed until I write it. I’ve grown to appreciate what revising brings to a book, but for me nothing beats the exhilaration of getting the words out for the first time.

YABC: What would you say is your superpower?

I’m almost pathologically punctual. Name a time, and I’ll be there on the dot.

One Of Us Is Lying

By: Karen McManus

Publishing Date: May 30th, 2017 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

*GIVEAWAY DETAILS* 

 Three winners will receive a copy of One Of Us Is Lying (Karen McManus) ~ US Only