From self-published novella series to Emmy-nominated TV drama

[CoraBuhlert]

Many of you probably know the crime drama Killing Eve.  But did you know that it is based on a series of self-published novellas? Cause I didn't. And so I was surprised to come across this article, in which Luke Jennings, authors of the novella series and dance critic in his day job, explains how the characters and the series came to be.

Of the many self-publishing success stories, this one was new to me, so I thought you might enjoy it.

[RappaDizzy]

Thanks Cora. One of the other takeaways is how he turned the present day genre on its head. You don’t have to write those burned out, brain-fried, whiskey guzzling characters to succeed. I’ve seen Indies telling each other that’s what you need to sell but we can break the mold.

Not that there is anything wrong with guzzling whiskey 

[CoraBuhlert]

From what I understand (I haven't seen the series, since it doesn't air here yet), the assassin is a young blonde woman with a taste for girly things and frilly clothes, when she isn't killing people, and her nemesis a no-nonsense Asian woman, i.e. not the typical characters you would expect to find in a thriller series about an assassin.

And I agree that if there's something about your chosen genre that annoys you, you don't have to use that trope. You can do something different and still find your audience.