A Shift in Mind and in Story by Yasmin Angoe

Change is difficult and scary when you’ve been used to doing something a certain kind of way for so long. In my case it was writing in the world of Nena Knight from the Her Name Is Knight trilogy. I spent the last decade thinking about this action and espionage thriller about the intrepid elite assassin of a clandestine secret organization called the African Tribal Council, run by Africa’s wealthiest elite who wanted to uplift and revitalize Africa and the people of the African Diaspora. I luxuriated in the world of Nena Knight until the trilogy had to sadly come to an end (for now, I hope). 

So now what?

I didn’t have the mental capacity to jump into another series. Nothing that was long-standing was coming to me. I wanted to stretch and grow in my writing, to try something new. I wanted to build my readership… three books in by that time, I still considered myself a newbie author and I wanted readers to see what I was capable of. I wanted to see for myself, as well. Could I do this thing and make this change? Would my editors like it, and more importantly, would the readers accept the switch from action thriller to psychological? I never want to be relegated to one genre. I wanted to write what I’m feeling at the moment, and as long as it was a damn good story with characters who the readers would have a visceral reaction to on some level, I would be okay, and the readers will hopefully be along for the ride. 

Since I wasn’t ready for another series, standalone was the way to go. Since I wanted to stretch, grow, and challenge myself just as I did when writing an assassin the readers needed to root for (because they’re not supposed to, right?), I decided to write a story that would be more intimate in story and setting, a cautionary tale wrapped in secrets, hidden pasts, and just pure reckless fun.

In deciding to write an intimate thriller, it afforded me the opportunity be a little adventurous. I wanted to write a story that shared the same concept and messaging as two of my favorite literary pieces that I used to teach my middle schoolers back in the day.

The pieces were Mary Howitt’s poem “The Spider and the Fly” and Roald Dahl’s short story “The Landlady”. If you’ve never read them before, please do, especially after you’ve read Not What She Seems. You’ll notice my nods to those works and feel my admiration for them. You’ll appreciate the references even more.

Why did these two works of children’s literature captivate me enough to want to write a modernized retelling of an age-old warning of if it sounds too good to be true it probably is? Shakespeare said it first in his famous line, “All that glitters is not gold” from his play, The Merchant of Venice, another favorite of mine when I was studying British Lit in college. 

The message of these three works was simple. Everything that looked true, or beautiful, innocent, or safe doesn’t always turn out to be so. Howitt and Dahl took the concept even further, warning to be careful of the methods of flattery, seduction, and masks as a means of ensnarement. Trust your gut. Note the signs. 

The victims always ignored the signs. They found out too late that the person (or spider in Howitt’s case) was never harmless but in fact a predator. In Not What She Seems, Jac Brodie and the townspeople of Brook Haven have the same hard learning. Some of them learn it a hair too late.

Channeling Howitt, Dahl, and Shakespeare, I set out to write my very own standalone in this new-for-me domestic thriller sub-genre. I did my research, read in the genre, tested various different ways to tell my cautionary tale like my predecessors, but with a modernized flare. I wanted to keep elicit the same feelings I had when I read those works—feelings of apprehension of knowing that no good was going to come and frustration at the characters for the signs they kept missing until it was just too late.

Now that Not What She Seems is out there in the world and being well-received, I can breathe a sigh of relief because I’ve achieved the goal I set to write a standalone thriller different from Nena Knight. And I accomplished my challenge to stretch myself creatively while writing my own story that pays homage to those great works that served as inspiration. 

Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe (Thomas & Mercer) Out Now

She left home as the local pariah at twenty-two, but when a family tragedy brings her back, she must confront her tortured past—and a new danger in town that no one seems to understand but her. After years of self-exile, Jacinda “Jac” Brodie is back in Brook Haven, South Carolina. But the small cliffside town no longer feels like home. Jac hasn’t been there since the beloved chief of police fell to his death—and all the whispers said she was to blame. That chief was Jac’s father. Racked with guilt, Jac left town with no plans to return. But when her granddad lands in the hospital, she rushes back to her family, bracing herself to confront the past. Brook Haven feels different now. Wealthy newcomer Faye Arden has transformed the notorious Moor Manor into a quaint country inn. Jac’s convinced something sinister lurks beneath Faye’s perfect exterior, yet the whole town fawns over their charismatic new benefactor. And when Jac discovers one of her granddad’s prized possessions in Faye’s office, she knows she has to be right. But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles upon dangerous truths that hit too close to home. With not only her life but also her family’s safety on the line, Jac discovers that maybe some secrets are better left buried.

Yasmin Angoe is the Anthony Award-nominated author of the critically acclaimed Nena Knight Series, including Her Name is Knight, They Come at Knight, and It Ends with Knight. NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS is Angoe’s first work of domestic psychological suspense. Yasmin’s Knight Series novels have been featured in The New York Times, Oprah Daily, The Guardian, PopSugar, and the Woman’s World book club, and the series is currently in development for TV by Ink Factory & Fifth Season. 

Hailing from Northern Virginia, Yasmin Angoe is a first-generation Ghanaian American who grew up in two cultural worlds. She taught English in middle and high schools for years and served as an instructional coach for virtual teachers. She now writes fiction fulltime and freelances as a development editor. Yasmin lives in South Carolina with her husband their four children.

More information about Yasmin Angoe and her boos can be found on her website. She can also be found on X @YasAWriter and on Facebook and Instagram @author_yasminangoe