Daniel Kalla, author of Fit to Die

Kobo: Describe Fit to Die in three words. 

Daniel Kalla: Toxic diet culture.  

Kobo: Fit to Die delves into the world of influencer culture. What research did you do in advance of writing this book?

DK: Aside from extensive online research and days wasted scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, I consulted a couple of Zoomers—namely, my two daughters, who are both in their early twenties—along with a friend who specializes in social media marketing.

Kobo: The diet pill mentioned in the book holds some similarities to Ozempic, which has become quite popular in the news this year. Did you know about Ozempic before writing this book? If so, did it help to inspire Fit to Die?

DK: Yes, I already knew about Ozempic in 2021 when I started writing Fit to Die, but I had no idea it was about explode into the public consciousness and become such a widely used—and I’d have to add abused, in certain situations—medication. In fact, Ozempic plays a role in Fit to Die, too. The mega-star influencer character, Rain Flynn, was abusing Ozempic before she turned to the much more deadly poison DNP, which is at the heart of this thriller. It’s also a real chemical—an explosive from World War I—that is sold illicitly online for its weight loss and muscle building effects, despite being a poison that is almost as deadly as cyanide at the wrong dose.

Kobo: You write in the mystery/thriller genre. If you had to choose another genre to write, what would it be and why?

DK: I wrote a trilogy of historical novels—The Far Side of the Sky trilogy—which was set in World War II Shanghai, arguably the most cosmopolitan and fascinating city in the world at the time. Writing those novels involved a ton of research but was also incredibly rewarding. I would love to write more historical fiction one day.  

Kobo: Fit to Die is your fourteenth published novel. Has your writing process changed at all since your first book? 

DK: Yes and no. I still have the same approach to a first draft of a new novel. After I hit upon a high-level idea or theme, I will write a brief and relatively loose outline. And then once I begin to write the chapters, I hardly ever consult my outline, preferring to let the story develop more organically and trusting luck and fate to somehow pull all the threads together.  But I hope I have refined my craft along the way, and I feel more assured in the voice of the story than I ever have before.  

Kobo: What is on your summer TBR list?

DK: I have a big pile—this summer, my eyes might bigger than, well, my eyes. But a few of the highlights include Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, and Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena.