This week Kail sits down with Ashley Flowers to talk about her new thriller The Missing Half, chaotic plot twists, and why her Notes app might require its own intervention. From writing books while going into labor to building an 80-person podcast empire, Ashley shares how she went from spider DNA to the New York Times bestseller list. This is for all our crime junkies!Purchase The Missing Half hereFor full video episodes head to patreon.com/kaillowryThanks for supporting the show by checking out the sponsors!Rocket Money: Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go toRocketMoney.com/FAMOUS today.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Ashley's new book, The Missing Half?
I know, okay, you said it took you for, or you wrote it a long time ago. Yeah. Okay, so tell me about it. Let's talk about it. Yeah, well, the book's been done for like a year and a half. Oh, so what was that waiting for?
Man, publishing. I like, it was like, you have to find all the right times, right? So like the publishers need like a certain amount of time to like get it in bookstores, sell it. Then it was like, by the time it was ready, it was going to be the election. It was like, not ideal. Yeah. And then they're like, okay, we can wait till January.
Chapter 2: What challenges did Ashley face before publishing her book?
But then like, who knows what was going to happen this January?
Yeah.
And so it just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. So we landed on May 6th. Somehow it felt like it was never going to come, but here we are.
Yeah. No, it's perfect timing, I feel, because we're just coming off of spring break, but going into the summer. So people will have more time to read. That's what I'm hoping for. Exactly. Okay. So what inspired The Missing Half?
So for me, I don't know how. It's always just like an idea that comes to me. So the same for my first book, All Good People Here. It will be – whether it's a concept or one twist and then like my writing process is – kind of built around that one thing. Okay.
Which like I realized I had an event last night with Gillian Flynn and I was listening to like her and like very legit authors talk about their process and I was like, oh, that's not how I do it.
No, I've interviewed a lot of authors and all of their – none of them have a similar process.
And that's what they said too. They were like – None of them. They're like our biggest advice people. People get so caught up in like how do you do it and taking the writing class and like taking the course and reading the book about writing and they're like the best thing you can do is just put pen to paper and start writing for yourself and figure out what your process is.
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Chapter 3: What is Ashley's writing process like?
So do you just like carry a notebook around and write notes down all day? Or do you sit down and you do deadlines and you, you know, create a schedule for yourself?
Um, so my notes app is on your phone. Oh yeah. It's psychotic. Um, but I have, I have like a list of ideas and then what the way that all my actual process for this is once I have the idea, I have a co-writer who's like one of my best friends now. Her name is Alex Keister and her and I go away. We like lock ourselves in a cabin or in something for like three days.
And, but we get the whole book plotted out. We know the beginning, the middle of the end, every twist in between. We know pretty much how every chapter is going to go. And then once we feel like we have the book, then we set deadlines for like, okay, we need the third of the book done by this time second. And, you know, we should be completely done. Like then we'll set deadlines for ourself.
I don't know how you do it because I'm just a fly by the seat of my pants person. So I think I would just – it would take me a year and a half to write a book.
I have too much going on to fly by the seat of my pants anymore.
Which I don't even know how you do it all. So how did you – did you always know that you wanted to write books? No. You didn't?
I didn't know that I wanted to like tell stories for a living. My degree is in biomedical research. Oh. Yeah. Which is so different from what you ended up doing. Completely. Every time I – I always tell people like I kept reinventing myself, which is like also my greatest advice to someone is like you're never stuck in what you're doing. And you get one life if you like try new things.
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Chapter 4: How did Ashley transition from science to storytelling?
So I thought I wanted to go into medicine early on. And so I worked full time at a hospital, was going to school for that. Thank God I worked full time at a hospital because I actually saw what that life was like. Not for me. Okay. Fair.
I mean, you wouldn't have known unless you did it. I know.
Yeah. And so then I went into research. I did genetics research. So I moved back home to Indiana and did genetics research at the University of Notre Dame. And I was putting spider DNA into silkworms. And then- What? I know. Yeah. Wait, what does that do? Are you like creating like a- So they, spider thread is incredibly strong, but like the web tangles it so you can't use it.
silkworms like spin it in one thread but so they wanted the really strong thread but like in a way that they could like use it for I mean I think they use it for like Kevlar vests all these like crazy things you wouldn't think of so it was like a hybrid yeah so I did that spider-man stuff I did that and then after that I went into a like a very small six-person startup company selling
a device that disinfected medical hospital rooms. And then after that, when I was done with that, I was like, you know what? Time to reinvent myself again. Medical sales not for me. And I Googled companies that let you bring your dog to work. Like you Googled that? Yeah, in Indianapolis. Like companies in Indianapolis where I can bring my beloved dog to work. I love this so much.
And I found this software company. They're a custom software company. So I went and did business development for them. And it was when I was working with them that I started the podcast. So there was like a year overlap where I was doing both. Okay. I like growing up. I just like I never thought I was a creative person, but I don't think I allowed myself to be.
I didn't think there was a future or a viable future. Right. I think like my parents were just very practical. We grew up very poor and it was like you got to find like you got a good career or something that's going to be. like stable, something you can like, no matter where you go, you can get a job. Well, looking back though, like it was right in front of me.
Like I have video after video where I wrote a mystery story and made my sister and my cousin were like all acting it out and I'm directing it. I even like inserted commercials because Apparently back then I knew you had to pay for it somehow. Somehow, some way you're going to fund it. Yeah. So like all the signs were there and it wasn't, you know, until I fell in love with podcasting.
But what made you leap, take the leap into podcasting, right? Cause we, you started Crime Junkies around the same time I started my first show in 2017. And I'll be honest with you. I only did it because my co-host asked me, she reached out to me and was like, Hey, do you want to start a podcast? And everything that I learned about in, you know, going to school for radio, TV and film was like,
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Chapter 5: What inspired Ashley to start podcasting?
And B, kind of just waiting for someone else to make the show I wanted to hear. Okay. And then I finally got to a point where I was seeing that there was no barrier to entry into podcasts. Like anyone could do it. And why not try to make the show that I as a listener want to hear, which has kind of been my premise for so much of Crime Junkie and like the community is it's me. Right.
I know what I want. I know what I was looking for. And it's how I've decided even to go into books, into publishing. Everyone initially was like, we just want a true crime book from you, Ashley. Well, it makes sense. Right. And I was like, no, you're not understanding. You're putting my listeners in a box. They're not just into true crime. I'm a crime junkie and I love fiction novels. Right.
100%.
And you've been doing a press tour. So what's that been like?
It's been wild because I'm on tour for Crime Junkie right now. And as the book came out, so like Friday, we did Radio City Music Hall. And then, which was wild. And then I like had to go to Boston and did Boston. Then I came right back to New York. And then it was like the Today Show and then an event with Gillian Flynn. I thought you were on a press tour for your book. I am now. Okay.
But I'm also on tour for Crime Junkie.
Okay. So people can go see Crime Junkie live. I've got two more shows left. So why did I not know this? I don't know. It's so weird because like on social media, I'll have like we did tour last year and they're like, how did I not know you're coming to my city? And it's like the algorithm. If you don't see it, you don't see it and you completely miss it.
And what's wild to me, too, and this is like we're going on a social media tangent.
We've been studying a lot the way that like the algorithm is the algorithm is changing things. It doesn't matter if you even follow the person. You won't see it. Why, though? I'm following this person for a reason, and I feel like the algorithm overrides even what you're subscribed to or what you're following.
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Chapter 6: How does Ashley balance true crime content and mental health?
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Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash famous today. That's rocketmoney.com slash famous. rocketmoney.com slash famous. Okay, so was there any point during this writing process for The Missing Half that you were like, this is it, this is going to be the book?
I mean, I... I don't feel like I am a creative enough person to like figure it out as I go. I would not have started writing it if I didn't think it was the book. Okay.
So you already knew before you even started. Yeah.
Like, so as I'm saying, like once I have that idea, I'm like this idea or the couple of points I have is like, are like great enough that I know this will be a banger if I can figure the other pieces out. And for this one, I felt like I had the beginning of a couple twists in the end. And I was like, as long as I make it all make sense together, it's going to like surprise people.
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Chapter 7: What sets The Missing Half apart from other thrillers?
Chapter 8: How can listeners engage with true crime responsibly?
Because he's so far removed from her as his daughter. It almost feels like she's a granddaughter, I think I read online.
Uh, I don't, I don't know that it's like, I don't mean, I don't think that's what it is. I mean, like at some point she, I don't think she, he, she feels like a granddaughter to him. I just, she just never got to grow up. Like they only have six years of memories. Um, but it was like, you know, it was like, we went, we, we traveled out there and I thought it was a great interview.
I got to ask him some tough questions that I didn't really get answers to. Um, but it was also interesting to hear him say like verbatim, like word for word, the
So, I mean, it's... Did your feelings change compared with what you thought before you interviewed him?
No. I think my feelings changed as I started really digging into the case. But, like, the more I dug and dug and dug... I still don't know what – again, I can't – I would be lying if I said I know what happened in that house.
I don't think he did it. That's just my thoughts. I won't put you on the spot and ask you what yours are because if you have meetings about it, I don't want to like jeopardize whatever you have going on. But I don't think he did it. He might know what happened, but I don't think he did it. That's, those are my thoughts on it.
I truly don't know.
Oh, you don't know.
Like I, I truly have no idea what happened. I, but I still think that something happened in the house that nobody wants to talk about. I do too.
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