Caroline Kepnes Talks You, Returning to Joe, and Writing Alongside an Adaptation Hit

This month we are taking a close look at the adaptation process by talking to some incredible authors who are at different stages of having their books translated onto screen. For so many, their books never make it past the option phase, let alone go on to become a 5-season series on the world’s largest streaming platform, like our cover author, Caroline Kepnes.

Her blockbuster, bestselling series You, made a huge splash in publishing and TV, bringing Joe Goldberg to millions. So we thought we’d ask her about writing a prequel to a story that has such a massive audience, writing a generation-making character that makes it the screen, and what it’s like to have this kind of global reach.

Let’s talk about You First. What made you choose to go in this direction with the series? What made you choose Joe’s origin story now?

I’ve always wanted to, but I was very hard on the desire. I finally figured out where I wanted it to go. My thing was—what is the kind of thing that happens that he would repress to that extent?

I went through a million different approaches. And wrestled with that writing thing where you’re like, this is not the book. This is not the book. And then I felt like I had it. This was the story.

And I thought readers—people who have asked why he is the way he is—would enjoy grappling with that.

That has to be such a huge journey considering how far you’ve gone in the series.

I had to think about who he was at that age and the way life could go different ways. That sliding doors element.

When you first started writing You, did you imagine it as a series?

That evolved. I feel like I’m a little… junky. When I started writing, I just loved it. I remember getting near the end and being so upset and so addicted to the voice of him, the sound of him.

I was like, I’m writing another.

That was the only thing that helped me finish the first one, because I was so sad it was ending.

I didn’t think of it as a series. I wasn’t mapping it out. It just felt organic to keep going. That’s who he is to me—the bad version of the Energizer Bunny.

Have you had a favorite book in the series so far?

Every one. Whatever I’m doing in the moment is my favorite—my new baby. They’re not actual babies, so it’s okay.

You, First was so much fun because I lived in New York back then. The time machine element of it. I think we all have this tendency right now to romanticize the past.

It felt fun to wake up every day and go to 2001, 2002.

Nostalgia is really having a moment right now.

Yeah. I think it’s the way communication has changed. We’re used to everything being at our fingertips. I love seeing people fascinated by a time when that wasn’t possible.

When you decide not to carry your phone, it’s active. Back then, you didn’t have that option.

And writing that for someone like Joe—who’s a communication addict—without a phone was really compelling.

He has such a distinct POV. How has that evolved?

It’s like a long-term relationship. One day I’d be like, oh, Joe did this wonderful thing, I love him. And the next day I’d be like, I’m creeped out, I can’t sleep.

My partner would be like, “are you writing two different books?”

No—they’re the same.

That’s how we justify things we do that are bad.

And over time, if anything, I feel like we’re all a little more Joe now than we used. Because we have the ability to be.

It’s almost encouraged now.

Exactly. You don’t go on a date without looking someone up.

Is there a point where you feel like the series should continue or you want to branch out?

I never want to do it because I feel I should. I want to do it because it’s burning inside of me.

After the first two books and the show started, I had another story—Providence. I wanted to challenge myself.

Then I really wanted to come back to You.

Right now I’m starting something new and it feels really good.

When you return to Joe, are you rediscovering him or returning to something comfortable?

A little of both. There are times when I’m like, this is who he is at heart. And then I have to remind myself—this is who he was at that moment.

That was the challenge going backward. I’d write something and realize—this is Joe now, not 17-year-old Joe.

A friend helped by reading it out loud. I’d just sit and listen and go—no, that’s not him yet.

So interesting.

Yeah, and I’d go back to journals, memories to be reminded how we’re always ourselves, but also evolving.

Did seeing the show change anything?

I feel like I’m the last person who would know. Maybe in 30 years.

There’s the experience of writing alone, and then it goes into the world and people respond.

The show is just a huge version of that.

What was it like hearing people talk about it?

I remember being in a grocery store and hearing two girls talking about Peach. I dropped my bag and walked away.

Like—what is happening?

Were there moments that surprised you in the show?

Yeah. Like introducing a child character. That softened him. In the book, if he had that relationship, he wouldn’t be so prone to murder.

But television is different. You need interaction.

What makes a strong unreliable narrator?

You have to like them, but not want to spend time with them. There has to be fascination and fear. And loneliness.

That’s the core of Joe.

Also contradictions—someone smart, relatable, but also completely off.

What did you learn about sustaining a series?

I get attached to characters, and then they’re gone. Joe clings hard and then lets go. I had to learn to do that too.

Do you switch modes writing male vs female POV?
I like the challenge.

Right now I need a palate cleanser—it has to be a female voice.

What’s the hardest part of writing?

The first draft. The highs and lows. You can feel amazing one day and then hate everything the next.

And the best part?

Copy edits. When things click and you realize connections you didn’t even know you made.

How do you build tension when we’re inside the antagonist’s mind?

The tension is in what he’ll do. We’re smarter than him. We know something’s going to go wrong.

He’s essentially looking for a mother—something impossible.

What surprised you most in your career?

When Stephen King tweeted about You. I was sick, Christmas shopping, and my cousin told me. That was life-altering. But also hearing from readers—that matters just as much.