Q&A
Jan Gangsei
Jan Gangsei has been making up stories as long she can remember—thanks to a childhood in rural Vermont, where she had to invent her own entertainment (when she wasn’t busy putting on backyard shows with her best friend or trying to get out of stacking wood). While her early attempts at book-writing might not have gained publication, Jan was already pondering the Big Questions from a young age (she’s still waiting for someone to explain the meaning of Wednesday)…
Q What inspired you to write Dead Below Deck?
Jan: Right before the pandemic, my family and I went on a cruise from New York to the Bahamas. It was a fabulous trip—and one that wound up being a stark line in the sand between the before-Covid and after-Covid times.
During those early days of lockdown, I kept thinking how great it would be to rewind time and return to the before days when we were out in the middle of the ocean—enjoying fabulous meals, shows & sunshine—blissfully unaware of what awaited us back on shore. The idea for a group of teens (with secrets and grudges) who go on a spring break trip-of-a-lifetime on a luxury yacht that ends (or should I say, begins?) with murder evolved from there!
Q You wrote the book in reverse chronological order. What did you find the most challenging in doing so?
Jan: It was actually pretty fun writing in reverse and something I’ve always wanted to do. In fact, from the very beginning, this is how the story unfolded in my mind. Of course, there are some challenges unique to a backwards narrative. For example, you can’t have a character learn something in Chapter 1 and then reflect on it in Chapter 2—because the second chapter happens before the first. Occasionally, I’d catch myself having a character reference something they shouldn’t know yet. But thankfully, that didn’t happen too often!
Q Can you share more about the dynamic between Giselle and Maggie? What was it like to write about their relationship? Did you draw on any personal experiences from your teen years?
Jan: Ah, this one’s a little tough without spoilers!
But I will say this—Maggie and Giselle each see something in the other that they believe fills an empty space in their own lives, and they get very close, very quickly. Of course, since they are both harboring secrets, their obsession with each other is not destined to reach a happy conclusion.
I’m glad to say I’ve never had a friendship that ended with someone being pushed off a yacht! However, I do very much remember how intense and sometimes all-consuming teen friendships can be—very different from the friendships we form as adults—and how gutting it is when those friendships implode.
Why did you decide to include journal entries from Giselle as a method for unfolding her and Maggie’s story?
Jan: Since the story begins with Giselle missing, the journal entries were a great way to include her first-person perspective and to also give backstory of the days and months leading up to the trip. At the same time, while Maggie’s narration about the trip is moving backwards—in the present day, she’s reading the journal and searching for clues.
Q What can you share about the setting–the yacht and the various stops along the cruise? How did you research the locales?
Jan: While I’ve never been on a luxury yacht (sadly, I had to rely on Google for that research!), I have lived in both Key West (one of the port stops) and Vermont (where Maggie is from). I’ve also visited Nassau and Grand Cayman (the other port stops in the book).
Q Talk about structuring this book – how did you plot it out, since the narrative unfurls in such an unusual way?
Jan: The yacht’s journey provided the perfect framework for plotting the book! Maggie’s story is told in reverse, from Day 5 to Day 1 of the trip, while Giselle’s journal entries start earlier in the school year and move forward until the day the yacht departs. I purposely didn’t use chapter numbers. Instead, Maggie’s chapters are broken down by the day, time, and position of the yacht. Giselle’s journal entries are interspersed throughout, along with news reports, police interviews, and anonymous messages. The various threads all converge at the end for the final (and hopefully surprising!) reveal.
Q Closed-room settings are popular for mysteries. What were the advantages and disadvantages of setting your mystery mostly on a moving ship?
Jan: I love a good locked-room mystery! Trapping the suspects (and victim) in one place is a great way to up the tension and raise the stakes—particularly on a moving ship, where there is no place to go (except overboard!). Of course, this means it’s difficult to introduce other characters/suspects along the way. But to me, that’s the fun of it! All of the players are there from the beginning, so the story becomes more about peeling back the layers of deception to get to the truth.
Q Fantasy casting! Are there any actors you envision playing your characters?
Jan:
Giselle Haverford – Ester Expósito
Maggie Mitchell – Sadie Sink
Emiene Karousos – Priah Ferguson
Vivian Page – Mckenna Grace
Rita – Simona Tabasco
Christopher – Rudy Pankow
Wyatt Garcia – Xolo Maridueña
Senator Haverford – Chris Pine
Britney Haverford – Sydney Sweeney
Q Can you share anything yet about your next book?
Jan: I’m working on another mystery set in an exclusive boarding school that has a bit more romance than Dead Below Deck—a romystery, if you will. I also have an idea for an adult psychological thriller knocking around my brain that I’d love to try my hand at one of these days!
Jan Gangsei's Latest
Dead Below Deck
It was supposed to be the best-ever girls’ trip: five days, four friends, one luxury yacht, no parents. But on the final night, as the yacht cruised the deep and dark waters between Florida and Grand Cayman, eighteen-year-old heiress Giselle vanished. She’s nowhere to be found the next morning even after a frantic search, until security footage surfaces . . . showing Maggie pushing her overboard.
But Maggie has no memory of what happened. All she knows is that she woke up with a throbbing headache, thousands of dollars in cash in her safe, a passport that isn’t hers, and Giselle’s diary. And while Maggie had her own reasons to want Giselle dead, so did everyone else on board: jealous Viv, calculating Emi, even some members of the staff.
What really went down on the top deck that night? Maggie will have to work her way backward to uncover the secrets that everyone—even Giselle—kept below deck or she’s dead in the water.
