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NY Times bestselling author Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars) and Sundance Award-winning filmmaker Miles Joris-Peyrafitte have recently released Gaslight, a new adult psychological thriller.
Gaslight is a tense thriller that dredges the inner workings of cults, the susceptibility of young minds, and the fragility of both friendship and marriage. The book is based on the wildly popular QCODE podcast of the same name created by Miles and starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Taran Killam, Amandla Stenberg, among others!
Get to know Sara and Miles as they talk about how their creative partnership came together, their writing process, their TBR and more!
What are some of your favorite novels?
Sara Shepard: I’m a big fan of thrillers and contemporary fiction- some of my favorite novels are The Goldfinch, The Secret History, Middlesex, and the Mr. Mercedes series by Stephen King.
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte:
Haroun and The Sea of Stories – Salman Rushdie
In Search of Lost Time – Marcel Proust
Running the Light – Sam Tallent
Jesus’ son (short stories) – Denis Johnson
Can you talk about how this writing partnership came together? Sara, can you expand on why you felt the Gaslight podcast would translate into an engaging novel?
Sara Shepard: I stumbled upon the Gaslight podcast years ago and really liked it, so when I was approached with the idea that Gaslight might be expanded into a novel, I was excited to work on it. Miles also wrote a TV series to go with the podcast that deepens the characters and the plot– the interesting thing about the podcast is that the episodes are very short, almost like vignettes, but the TV episodes were longer. Turning the story into a book meant we could explore the characters and the strange, scary world they’re been sucked into even more. I’ve always been fascinated with cults, and I was really excited to write a story from the perspective of two characters who were part of one.
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte: I can’t remember who set it up but we had a meeting about it, which I was shocked and incredibly excited about because her work precedes her. In that meeting it was clear as day that she was the perfect person to take this journey with. She’s so good at writing the inner lives of her characters, and that ultimately was what was most needed in the adaptation. Since this is my first novel, I can’t believe how lucky I got.
Can you two share what the writing process was like when working on Gaslight together?
Sara Shepard: We went back and forth on an outline and character motivations, but so much of the hard work was done for me– there was a podcast and TV episodes for me to draw from. It was such a great resource!
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte: When it came to the novel, I already had the script for the podcast and scripts for the TV series, so there was a lot of story. However we needed to find a new way through it which worked for this form. So we went back and forth on that a bit. But you know, Sara is so good at writing characters internal worlds – that was the most exciting thing for me to see come to life. Scripts have basically no internal monologue – you have to show everything. So Sara really added a whole new dimension to the world and watching that come to life was exhilarating.
For fans of the podcast, what should they expect when starting the Gaslight novel?
Sara Shepard: You’ll find that the story is similar but bigger, with more insights into the characters, their backstories, their secrets, and where they’ll go in the future.
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte: The world is bigger – there’s much more access to the thoughts and ideas of the characters inside and outside of the cult. As well as a few new and exciting characters. I think it’s expands the world in a really exciting and additive way to the story.
Why do you all think that stories and docuseries about cults hold such an interest with consumers?
Sara Shepard: I think cults are fascinating because everyone thinks they’d never be foolish or naive enough to get sucked into one…so at first it’s sort of like watching a car wreck. But when you meet some people who were part of a cult, you find that they’re smart, driven, and not really that different from you– and they often seem baffled that this happened to them. It’s so interesting to learn about the power of brainwashing, manipulation, and scare tactics. I truly believe after doing all the research for Gaslight that anyone could be pulled into a cult of some sort, given the right circumstances!
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte: I think the idea of people finding easy answers to impossible questions is both appealing and frustrating. So there’s a natural drive to try and understand the answers. Also how easy it could be for any of us to find our way into a cult like situation is a part of it. On one hand we think it could never happen to us, on the other hand we all have a desire to feel “seen” and know how intoxicating it can be. And then when you see the people it has happened to you realize you might be more vulnerable to it than you thought.
What are you currently reading and what’s on your TBR (to be read) list?
Sara Shepard: I’ve been reading a lot of lighter, “summery” novels lately– I just read “I Hope This Finds You Well,” and I am next going to read “Same as It Ever Was” and “The Wedding People”– in other words, books that have nothing whatsoever to do with cults, manipulation, or murder! But sometimes it’s good to get a little break from all that.
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte:
Slow fade by Rudolph Wurlitzer
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
Pictures from an Institution by Randell Jarrell
Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
