Q&A with Author of "Rip Tide:" Colleen McKeegan

Author Colleen McKeegan talks to us about her coming-of-age novel, how she hacked the querying process, and why authors shouldn't go on Goodreads

“From the author of The Wild One, a heartfelt and suspenseful novel about two sisters returning to their childhood beachfront home who are forced to confront their traumatic past when a body washes ashore.

It’s been fifteen years since Kimmy Devine promised herself she’d never move back to Rocky Cape, the idyllic South Jersey beach town where she grew up. She doesn’t want to relive the crushing heartbreak and scandal that ravaged her world as a teen. Her younger sister Erin shares those feelings, the wounds she caused so many years ago forever binding her and Kimmy.

Yet here they are, back in their hometown: Kimmy, floundering after quitting her high-powered finance job in London to help her dad run the family’s hardware stores; Erin, reeling from fertility issues and an ongoing divorce, begging to be taken seriously by her parents. The more time they spend in Rocky Cape, the stronger the pull of nostalgia, and both Erin and Kimmy slip on the past like a pair of last year’s sandals, forgetting about the blisters when worn too long.

As the sisters celebrate their homecoming at their parents’ yacht club, a handful of familiar faces arrive to dampen the revelry. The next morning, a body is found floating nearby and long-buried secrets from their adolescence begin to emerge. Someone from the sisters’ past, it seems, is out for revenge.

Told in fast-paced, dual timelines, Rip Tide is a steamy, tension-filled tale of suspense about family, friendships broken and repaired, young love lost and rekindled, forgiveness and second chances, taking control of your life, and the dangerous decisions we make when blinded by desire.”

Rip Tide by Colleen McKeegan is a (in her words) “slow-burn coming-of-age story” wrapped inside a mystery, with a big helping of 2000s nostalgia that brought up so many high school memories for me.

Rip Tide was our September book club pick, and Colleen was nice enough to agree to an interview! She answered every question we had about the novel, her writing process, and the publishing industry. Spoilers ahead!

*Disclaimer: Interview has been edited for clarity and length.*

Kim: Why did you write Rip Tide?

Colleen: I knew that I wanted to write a novel that really dove into the fun nostalgia of [the 2000s], but also sort of subtly embraced and slowly revealed the dark underbelly of that era as well.

I have two sisters - I'm in the middle. So I also really wanted to write a novel about sisters and the kind of fraught dynamics that exist when you're teens, especially if you're close in age, where you can love each other one second and hate each other the next, but also show how those relationships evolve and change and mature when you are older - yet at the same time when you're together, you revert to some of those more immature, youthful behaviors.

I also was thinking again, about a Peter type, and what if in a different novel he wasn't married in the present day? I really wanted to create this question of, like, did they deserve the ending that they got? And ultimately leave that up to the reader, I think. But that to me was also something that I thought was interesting, this idea of - is our destiny predetermined?

Why write the book in a dual timeline?

The reader gets a sense of how these characters have changed, but also what their motivations were. I thought having the past and present really allowed tension to build - you're rooting for Kimmy and Justin to a point, and then all of a sudden, things start to turn and click, and you're maybe not. Also, I think, to create compassion and empathy for these characters, and to not create such intense judgment, because every time they're making a stupid choice in their present, you better understand in the next chapter, why. To me, the pacing allowed for the reader to be a little bit kinder to my very flawed protagonist.

Did being a mom influence the book?

Yeah, I would not have had that ending if I wasn't a parent. I wanted it to be a little cheeky. I wanted it to feel very mama bear-ish. But the whole point for me was this idea of, one, as a parent, I know I would do anything for my kids, but also two, this idea of meddling and being a puppeteer.

That's why I wanted it to feel jarring, but then also, Carissa - she has all these regrets, and she's angry, and she's this tornado of essentially, emotion that drove it all. And I do think that's a very parent reaction.

What was the querying process like for you?

When I queried, I was still a full-time editor at Marie Claire, so I definitely think that that played a role in getting the attention of the agents a lot faster. I also was really strategic about who I reached out to and what my process was - I didn't want to cast a super large net and get a zillion rejections.

How polished was your book before you started querying? [Editor’s Note - We are referring to Colleen’s first novel, The Wild One, here]

I only queried four agents, so I was like - well, if I get really bad feedback…no hurt, no foul, I have plenty of others to reach out to. And I think what I learned from that is that the right agent will be able to see your voice, and will help you hone that vision and get to that next level.

Do you have any tips for aspiring novelists?

Definitely read a lot, and don't just stick within your genre. I feel like reading people whose writing you admire is one of the best ways to get out of any sort of writer's block.

Just put the pen to paper. It's so easy to feel like you have to wait for inspiration, or again as parents, like life is busy and life happens. I'm definitely not a person who feels like you have to write 500+ words every day. Set goals for yourself of, okay, I just want to get five chapters written by x date. Those chapters could just be outlines, but it's just getting your ideas on the page that to me, has been the most helpful thing.

I would say too, finding a supportive group of writer friends [is important]. [Friends] who are also writing fiction, who you can workshop with or just talk through different things in the industry.

BIG THANKS to Colleen for letting us publish this transcript of our conversation. Go buy and read Rip Tide, now!