BooksBarbecue
Back Someone Had to Do It
Chapters (39)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. About the Authors
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  37. THE STORY BEHIND SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT
  38. SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT: THE PLAYLIST
  39. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

By the end of our session on the couch, we essentially had a beat sheet with all the major plot points we knew we wanted to hit. Also, tons of notes on characters and scenes we knew we wanted to explore. Tone was instant too. We knew right away that our goal was to write something fun, sexy and fast-paced that would resonate with our generation—millennials and upper Zoomers—because there aren’t a lot of thrillers on the market that actually target our demographic. But it was also important that the book touched on certain themes like privilege and entitlement and the inequality of our justice system because that’s the reality of the world we live in. The book is part escapist, but it’s also grounded in very genuine critique of the corrosive effects of racism and extreme wealth.

Writing this book together completely from scratch was definitely harder than we anticipated, but also, extremely worth it. We both went into it a little naive; we assumed that because we generally have similar tastes and writing styles, writing this novel would be a breeze, but we found ourselves disagreeing on a lot of small things (that, of course, felt gargantuan in the moment). It doesn’t help that we both have very strong opinions about everything and can both be incredibly obstinate when we feel we’re right. It took us a few weeks of cursing each other out in a Google Doc before we learned how to communicate our concerns and disagreements in a respectful way and how to truly compromise. It’d be hard to point out any line and one of us to be able to say, “Yes, I wrote that,” because that’s how collaborative the process was. The voice of the book really came together so well because we both built off each other and, in the end, combining both of our viewpoints and sensibilities elevated the book tremendously.

SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT: THE PLAYLIST

  1. “Twenty One,” Khalid
  2. “Whole Lotta Money (Remix),” Bia featuring Nicki Minaj
  3. “deja vu,” Olivia Rodrigo
  4. “Tumblr Girls,” G-Eazy featuring Christoph Andersson
  5. “Modern Loneliness,” Lauv
  6. “Super Rich Kids,” Frank Ocean
  7. “I’m a Mess,” Bebe Rexha
  8. “Rich White Girls,” mansionz
  9. “happier,” Olivia Rodrigo
  10. “lovely,” Billie Eilish and Khalid
  11. “New Normal,” Khalid

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS