NEED TO KNOW
- Colleen Hoover has a long-awaited new book out Jan. 13, Woman Down
- The novel, which follows an author dealing with a “viral backlash” to a film adaptation of one of her books, may appear to mirror the author’s real life
- “I think people might expect this book to mirror my life more than it does,” Hoover tells PEOPLE. “But overall, there are very few similarities between my life and this book.”
Colleen Hoover knows what you’re thinking: the themes in her newest book sound awfully familiar.
Woman Down (out Jan. 13 from Montlake) follows an author named Petra Rose who’s forced to take a hiatus after “a viral backlash over her latest film adaptation,” the official synopsis teases. “Branded a fraud and fame-hungry opportunist, she learned the hard way what happens when the internet turns on you. And she’s been uninspired to write ever since.”
In Woman Down, Petra retreats to a secluded cabin to write her next suspense novel. But then Detective Nathanial Saint shows up carrying disturbing news and an even more unexpected jolt of creativity. Before long, “their research sessions blur the lines between fantasy and reality.” And of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch — or a free muse. And Petra soon realizes there’s a steep cost that comes with hers.
“I think people might expect this book to mirror my life more than it does,” Hoover tells PEOPLE. “But overall, there are very few similarities between my life and this book.”
At first glance, a reader could be forgiven for believing otherwise. After the 2024 theatrical release of It Ends With Us, the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni film adaptation of her novel of the same name, the stars’ legal battle all but overshadowed the film itself.
Hoover told Elle in November that she is “embarrassed” by the film today, thanks to the public drama surrounding it. “I can’t even recommend it anymore. I feel like [the lawsuit] has overshadowed it,” she told the outlet. “I’m almost embarrassed to say I wrote it. When people ask what I do, I’m just like, ‘I’m a writer. Please don’t ask me what I wrote.'”
Montlake
As she looks forward to the release of Woman Down, Hoover explains that the new book actually started as a short story almost a decade ago, “before my career had really taken off.” But revisiting the material “proved to be cathartic,” for the author today.
“As an author, I think any time we write about another writer, we draw from experience and definitely insert some of our own thoughts,” she adds. “That’s not to say I agree with what my characters say or do, but it’s impossible not to bleed into the voices you write, even just a little bit.”
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Among the differences between Petra and her creator? Hoover does prefer to start and end writing a book in the same spot, but she doesn’t retreat to a secluded cabin to do so. “I write so many notes and use a ton of index cards, so I don’t like to move around too much or I have to reorganize my already chaotic form of outlining,” she explains. She doesn’t role-play her characters and doesn’t agree with her protagonist that she needs firsthand experience with a subject to write it well — and that’s a good thing, given her subject matter.
“Every human experiences things in such unique ways, it’s hard for me to believe I’d have to experience something to know how a character would or wouldn’t react to it,” Hoover explains. “If I’m inventing the character, I’m inventing their experience and history and memory as well, and coming up with all those parts of a character is what I find the most fun about writing. I definitely do not want to step into the shoes of my characters, considering they all experience a good deal of drama and/or trauma. I don’t want the firsthand knowledge if I can avoid it.”
One thing Hoover is looking forward to as the book arrives is connecting with readers over her new work — especially since that connection has been more challenging to find in recent years.
Callynth Photography
“I wasn’t prepared for the ways that attention would impact my mental health,” she says, adding that she took social media off her phone a couple of years ago for that reason. “I used to get a lot of my motivation from social media, but social media has changed so much over the years, and the negativity surrounding any subject or post, not just the book world, tends to put me in a headspace that doesn’t leave me feeling creative.”
But that doesn’t mean she isn’t excited to talk about the book with her readers.
“I think connection is important, and I’m confident I’ll find new, more positive ways to find that in the book world again, especially with Woman Down’s release,” she adds. And for those who are worried they’ll have to wait another couple of years for another CoHo release? While she’s “shifted a lot of my focus to screenwriting and producing, and that’s been a fun change,” books remain Hoover’s first love and she’s not giving them up anytime soon.
“Writing can be so rewarding, but being in the public eye can also sometimes make it terrifying,” she says. “I think it’s okay to have a love/hate relationship with it. I don’t mind walking away from it every now and then when it’s not working out, but I’ve always come back to it. So far.”
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Woman Down hits shelves on Jan. 13 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
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