I met Cindy on Twitter

I won’t discuss the current state of Twitter/”X,” but in the before-times I really enjoyed the writing community there, including my super-supportive Twitter writer groups. I “met” Cindy R.X. He in a YA writers group on Twitter several years ago and was so excited when she told us her YA psychological thriller Perfect Little Monsters would be hitting shelves May 7, 2024. 

I knew, when it came close to publication day, I’d want to interview Cindy and learn more about her novel, her writing, and her life in the French Alps, where she currently lives with her husband, children, and rescue cat. 

About Perfect Little Monsters:

Someone has murdered the queen bee of Sierton High School. All the dead girl’s friends are suspects. And each one has a reason for wanting her dead.

Ella Moore was the most popular girl in school…and also the most hated. When she’s murdered at her own party, there are too many suspects to count. And too many people who think she deserved it.

The police’s prime suspect is the new girl, Dawn Foster. Dawn was the last to hand Ella a drink on the night she died. Plus, all of Ella’s friends with a motive for wanting Ella dead are more than willing to throw Dawn under the bus, if it means keeping the heat off themselves.

But Dawn refuses to go down without a fight. She’s determined to clear her name. As she delves deeper into the past, she discovers that Ella and her friends had major enemies, and someone is out for revenge. Dawn must uncover the truth before the police arrest the wrong suspect… and before the next person dies.

A Killer Nashville Claymore Award Finalist for Best Juvenile / YA

An RWA Daphne du Maurier Award Finalist for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense

Cindy, tell me about Perfect Little Monsters. Where did the idea come from? 

In Perfect Little Monsters, some of the characters face bullying, and they feel hopeless enough to attempt suicide. This is actually a very personal issue for me because I was bullied in school when I was sixteen. That went on for about six months, and I attempted suicide. Luckily, thanks to the quick intervention of a friend who had suspected something was wrong, that attempt was non-fatal, but I remained emotionally vulnerable for many years. Even though that was decades ago—and the conversation surrounding mental health and suicide has improved—I think the stigma of suicide still persists.

According to the CDC, suicide is the second-leading cause of death today for teens and young adults. I wanted to write this book because I think that maybe if we talked about it more—suicide and what might drive young people to attempt it—we could break down the walls of silence and offer a lifeline of empathy.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. Was Perfect Little Monsters your first book? How long did it take to write? 

It’s the first novel I wrote. I started writing it in November 2021, and finished the first draft in January 2022. Drafting for me is pretty quick. But then I rewrite, and rewrite again! By the time I queried, it was the 7^th draft. I’ve since written two more books, another young adult thriller which will be out with Sourcebooks Fire in 2025, and I’ve recently finished writing an adult psychological horror.

Perfect Little Monsters has been called tense, twisty, and dark (obviously, there’s murder!). Were you ever worried it might be “too dark” for YA, or is that even a concern anymore? 

The early drafts were actually even darker, straddling thriller and horror! One of my offering agents asked me during our call, “What’s your intention? Do you want to write a thriller, or a horror? Because this book starts off like a thriller, but then it descends fully into horror.”

Because at first, in this early draft, everyone in the book dies. So this agent told me, “Maybe you should change the ending because this is YA, and people don’t really like endings like that in YA.” And she wasn’t the only agent who told me that, so I changed it.

So yeah, I guess we can’t go too dark in YA!

You grew up in Singapore and now live in France… but Perfect Little Monsters is set in the U.S. What made you decide to set it where you did? 

Perfect Little Monsters is set in a fictitious small town called Sierton in Wisconsin, because a small town and Lake Michigan are the perfect backdrop for many of the scenes in the book. A romantic spot for a budding romance… but also somewhere remote where no one can hear you scream…!

Have you always wanted to be a writer? 

I studied English Literature in high school. I also always read and wrote a lot from a young age. I wrote one of the plays for the English Drama Club that I was a part of in high school. But I was discouraged from pursuing Literature by my father (this is fairly common for Chinese parents during my time, in Asia), so I majored in Finance in University, and I then worked almost fifteen years in the banking and finance industry.

But I eventually quit my job and took the plunge to pursue my dream, after the birth of my second child. I worked as a freelance writer for five years before I wrote my first novel, which was Perfect Little Monsters. 

The book is coming out in the U.S. on May 7… Does it feel strange to be across the ocean, so far away from the action? 

Yes it’s been a bit hard to be so “far away from the action” as you put it. I haven’t been able to meet with booksellers or attend any events or conferences. I don’t have any launch events planned either. I think the hardest bit is maybe not being able to see my books in U.S. bookstores. I’ll just have to depend on other people to send me pics!

Tell us about your debut experience so far. What have you learned about marketing your book, and yourself as an author? 

The best part of the debut experience for me was getting to know other authors! And getting to read their amazing books. I’ve learned that marketing is best left to the publisher because nothing we as authors do moves the needle in any meaningful way. But it’s good to have an author website, especially if you retain foreign rights for your book, because sometimes foreign editors and scouts will check your website for information on your book and how to reach you!

Do you have any recent book recommendations, especially in the YA thriller or suspense category? 

Some of my favorite recent YA thriller reads are:

• That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally
• Original Twin by Paula Gleeson
• The One That Got Away With Murder by Trish Lundy.

I also enjoyed The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (adult speculative contemporary), Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra (adult suspense), and Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (adult sci-fi).

What is your favorite piece of writing advice? 

I think writing what you know is very important. Not superficial stuff, like jobs, or things you’ve seen or done (Tolkien never met an elf or a dragon, and thriller writers have never actually murdered anyone). For me, it’s to write the emotional truths that I know. Things that move me greatly, my greatest fears, things that changed me forever. Because readers will sense you’re writing the truth as you know it, and connect with that.

In Perfect Little Monsters, I explore the impact of bullying and cruelty, and its devastating, long-lasting effects on its victims, from my own personal experience. 

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Cindy R. X. He was born and raised in multicultural Singapore. She has always enjoyed losing herself in the pages of a book, and started reading Stephen King at a much earlier age than she should have. Her favorite works are by Shirley Jackson, Kelly Link, Catriona Ward, Gillian Flynn, Courtney Summers, Paul Tremblay, and Stephen Graham Jones.

She currently resides in the French Alps with her husband, children, and rescue cat. She skis in the winter, gets dragged on hikes in the summer, and hoards books all year round. Her pet peeve is people who borrow but don’t return books. She can be found on Instagram.

Her debut novel, Perfect Little Monsters, a YA psychological thriller, is a finalist for the 2022 Daphne du Maurier Award and the 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award. It is slated for release May 7, 2024 with Sourcebooks Fire.

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See more interviews with debut authors:

Interview with YA Author and Disability Advocate, Claire Forrest

Interview with YA Author and Filmmaker, Amanda Glaze