The following is an interview with author and journalist Christina Kovac regarding the recent release of her latest novel, Watch Us Fall, with Simon & Schuster. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Kovac about her creative process in bringing the psychological thriller to life on the page, what readers may take away from the story’s themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the release of Watch Us Fall! What can you share with us about the premise of this psychological thriller?
Christina Kovac: Thank you, Barbra!
Watch Us Fall is a psychological suspense novel about four best friends living their post-grad dream life in a shared house in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. When one of their ex’s (a celebrity journalist from a famous political family) disappears, police come calling, their lives are upended, their secrets spill, and things fall apart very fast.
BD: How, if at all, do you feel that your own experience in covering crime and politics as a journalist influenced the narrative in this book?
CK: Reporting news in DC, whether it’s politics or crime, was awesome, because I met so many people from such incredibly diverse and different backgrounds than my own, and I learned so much. I met people so poor and sick and struggling, it was heartbreaking, and others so wealthy and powerful, it’s crazy. Sometimes both in one day. I talked to a lot of police officials and detectives and learned their lingo, and, sometimes, if I listened closely enough, how they thought. I’ve interviewed victims’ families, where you feel how a death blows out a hole in an entire community, and once I walked away from an interview thinking, huh, that dude was super shady, wonder if he did it.
My big takeaways: Murder is more honest than politics; crimes are always more complicated than you can tell in thirty seconds on TV. If you want to tell the truth about crime, your best shot is writing crime fiction, which can explore mindset—almost always where all crimes begin. If we figure out why, maybe we can actually deal with violent crime, rather than putting on ineffective shows of force by masked law enforcement—whoever those people are.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that Lucy’s story may connect with and impact readers?
CK: Lucy suffers from the effects of childhood trauma. She’s not the only character in Watch Us Fall who does so, by the way. It was really important to me, as a writer who shares a similar past event, to show her mental health struggles as treatable health struggles, which they are. Without treatment, wealthy famous celebrity journalists struggle, same as broke postgrads buried in student loans struggle—though I’d add debt and poverty can be an aggravating contributing factor. Point is, the biggest failure is a system that doesn’t have universal access for these health concerns. Not the person struggling.
I’d also say, DC is a wonderfully diverse city. Lucy and her three best friends all come from different racial or socio-economic or geographic backgrounds, and their lives are richer for it. My life is richer for my friends. I wish that for everyone.
BD: What makes Simon & Schuster the perfect home for this story?
CK: I love my editor. She’s really kind and helped me think about how to keep a tight pace while diving into the murky psychology of these characters. Simon and Schuster marketing is fantastic at reaching out to early readers, some who reach back to me. It’s always great to chat with readers.
BD: Are there any projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight our readers?
CK: My first novel, The Cutaway, was a DC crime novel starring an intrepid TV producer hero-sleuth. I’m working feverishly on my third DC novel right now.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Watch Us Fall and your other work?
CK: You can sign up for my newsletter, or come say hi on Instagram or Facebook. You can also visit my website: https://christinakovac.com.
