Music and Murder with Hannah Mary McKinnon

About This Episode

Internationally bestselling thriller author Hannah Mary McKinnon returns to Uncorking a Story to talk about her latest novel, Only One Survived — a story about an all-female pop rock band where one member starts thinking the group is worth more dead than alive.

Hannah also writes holiday romantic comedies under the pen name Holly Cassidy, and she and Mike dig into how she flips between murder and happily-ever-afters, why she wrote song lyrics for a fictional band, and what it's like to have work optioned for the screen. They also bond over Nicolas Cage movies, Hallmark films, and the concerts that shaped them.

Key Takeaways

1. Failure lit the fire. Hannah's writing career only exists because her previous business failed. That pain gave her the determination to never fail again — and seven thrillers later, she hasn't.
2. Negative events happen for us, not to us. Hannah and Mike agree that the darkest moments often carry hidden gifts — if you're willing to look for the lesson.
3. Writing both thrillers and rom-coms is about balance. After six months of music, mayhem, and murder, switching to a happily-ever-after is a creative reset. The two genres feed each other.
4. She wrote song lyrics for a fictional band. For Only One Survived, Hannah deconstructed how real songs work and wrote six sets of lyrics for the bittersweet — a skill she'd never attempted before.
5. Research is half the fun. Hannah knew nothing about the music industry when she started the book. A longtime friend who manages bands became her guide — and the inspiration for a character.
6. You don't need to be a method writer. Hannah doesn't change her writing environment between genres — she just gravitates toward different reading and viewing material to match the tone.
7. Some of her work has been optioned for screen. She can't say which or what format, but something is in the works. Stay tuned.