A wedding gone wrong, a film set and a horror story with a happily ever after. Tylor Paige joins Teddy to talk about Camera Stays On, blending slashers with romance, and why the twists sometimes surprise her too.

You can watch the full conversation on YouTube. The Q&A below has been condensed and edited for clarity from our conversation.

For readers meeting you for the first time, what can they expect from your books?

I’ve always been a writer. I started publishing in 2018, but I really found my groove in 2023 when I published my first horror romance.

That’s what you’re going to get from me: a horror story with a romance plot in every book, and a happily ever after. You get the scary stuff and the good stuff.

Which came first for you: the horror or the romance?

I was writing romance first. In horror romance, it’s important for both sides to have equal footing, but personally, I enjoy writing the horror part quite a bit more.

What sparked the idea for Camera Stays On?

The initial idea came from a song called “Something Blue” by Voilà. It came across my social media feed, and it was about a wedding and wanting someone else’s girl.

The song just exploded in my mind. I thought, “I want to write about a wedding gone wrong,” and then I built the rest of the story around that.

Does the story get straight into the horror?

Yes! It starts with a murder. It’s very fast-paced and follows the kind of structure you’ll recognise if you enjoy slasher horror.

I’ve watched a lot of horror movies because I really love them. As you watch, you start noticing the patterns. Slashers have those patterns for a reason, and recognising them helped me write in the genre.

Why did you choose an indie film setting?

My traditional publishing deal was for two books, and the first was set on a Hollywood set. I thought it would be fun to do the opposite with this one, where they’re making an indie film.

I wanted them to match a little, but not entirely. It isn’t a sequel; they just share that overarching theme of making movies.

Do you plan your characters before you start writing?

I have an idea of who I want them to be, but some of it comes out as I write.

I’m not someone who writes without an outline and hopes for the best. I do outline a little, but I leave room for things to move. If something changes, I go with the flow—and usually, it’s the characters who change things.

What about the murders and twists? Do you know how those will happen?

A lot of those develop as I write. My outlines are very brief, usually just one or two sentences based on the pacing: this person needs to die, this person needs to go.

Then I let the story take shape. However they end up going can be a surprise to me too sometimes.

What does a typical writing day look like?

I break things down by numbers: how many words or chapters I need to write, and how much time I need to do it. I can usually write about a thousand words an hour.

I have a tracker on my phone that counts down the days until I need to deliver my next book, so I calculate my daily targets from that. Sometimes I need three chapters a day, sometimes five. Every once in a while, I get lucky and only need one!

What was the biggest adjustment when you moved from self-publishing to traditional publishing?

The waiting. Traditional publishing moves slowly, while indie publishing moves very quickly.

I had to ask my readers to trust me that waiting a year for the next book would be worth it. That made me nervous, but the book has done really well. I’m still getting used to how long everything takes.

My writing process hasn’t changed much, but my marketing has. We tease things more and hold more secrets back, so I have to think about what I can share and when.

Has the slower publishing schedule been a welcome change?

When I was building my horror romance backlist, I wrote and published a book from start to finish every ninety days. That was very hard.

Being able to do it more slowly has been so nice.

What would you say to someone struggling to finish their first book?

Don’t get discouraged if it’s taking a long time. My first book took three years, and my second took six months. You get faster as you go.

That first book can take a long time, and that doesn’t mean you should give up.

Where can readers keep up with you?

Instagram is the best place to see what I’m doing, I update it pretty much every day!

My books are available across lots of retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and Audible, as well as indie stores that stock them.

• Instagram: @tylorpaige_author
• Website: tylorpaige.com