Q&A: Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Author of Cold Truth

Q&A: Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Author of Cold Truth

To start out, can you please describe Cold Truth in one sentence – it’s tricky, we know!

After her father goes missing under suspicious circumstances during an icy Canadian winter, a Winnipeg city tour guide is forced to search for him, unaware someone has gone on the dark web to stop her interfering.

What does your writing process look like? Do you listen to music? Start with characters or are you plot driven? Do you write in a specific place or during a certain time of day?

Both Cold Truth and Dark Mode started from the big plot twist. From there, I figure out what kind of characters and plot I need to make the story work. I live with chronic illness so I have to work when I’m well enough, and after nearly a decade of that, I’ve gotten used to the unpredictability. That said, I prefer writing in the mornings, ideally in quiet or with a little instrumental jazz – though the neighbours enjoy providing a background of lawn mowers and power saws.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you became a writer?

As a kid, I lived in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and was a keen reader from a young age thanks to my parents filling my childhood with books.

When I was in grade one, the school district published an anthology of student writings, including a single-paragraph story of mine called ‘The Wizard Who Had a Cat’ (I was into high fantasy, apparently). Seeing my story in a real book was all it took. I decided I was a writer.

After four unpublished manuscripts in my early adult years, I began to doubt my seven-year-old self’s certainty. But I kept working hard to develop my skills, and in 2019, my first book was published.

Harlow and Blaise are such cool names! How do you select the names of your characters?

Thank you! Google is convinced I’m pregnant because I spend a lot of time on baby name websites. I really enjoy main character names that are less common, because it helps them feel distinctive, so I’m always on the hunt for standout names.

Who do you think would play the main characters in a TV/film adaptation of Cold Truth and why?

Brie Larson, star of Captain Marvel, would make a perfect Harlow, because she’s a sweetheart with a steely core. Chlo Grace Moretz has Blaise energy, that real younger-sister, centre-of-her-own-universe vibe.

What kind of research do you do and how long do you spend researching before you begin to write?

To write Cold Truth, I bought cryptocurrency (which was exactly as difficult as I expected), learned to fire a handgun (much easier), and interviewed tour guides around the world (fun fact: a Winnipeg city guide told me the most common question he gets from Aussies is about the local housing prices).

I tend to only do minimal research before I start writing, because my stories so often change as I work through the plot. They tend to surprise me as much as I aim to surprise readers!

The digital threats your characters face are particularly terrifying. Do you ever properly scare yourself while researching for novels like Dark Mode and Cold Truth? And have you taken any extra precautions based on this research?

I properly scare myself just trying to exist as a person with a phone and over 150 passwords and a lost driver’s licence that for sure ended up on the dark web. I channel all of that fear into my novels. It’s either that, or hide under my desk and cry.

And I do take precautions, although I wouldn’t call them extra. They’re things we should all be doing, like making sure I keep my software updated, using a password manager (and not one inbuilt in a browser, as those are prone to hacks), and letting it create complex passwords that are minimum 12 characters, but ideally 16 or more.

Since I wrote Dark Mode, I’ve talked to so many people who still use a handful or even just one password for everything. These days, that’s the equivalent of leaving your front door swinging wide open when you’ve left the country on holiday.

What is the most important thing you’d like readers to take away from reading Cold Truth?

We’re all sharing much more about ourselves online than we think. So in an era when anything can be faked, we need to be ever more aware of the potential for scams.

You are the master of a twisty plot and your readers love you for it, but what do you look for in a good book? What have you read and loved recently?

I’m very much vibing with my readers! What I want most in a book is a story that hooks me and keeps me turning pages until I reach the end, a book that I’m going to find myself staying up way past my bedtime to finish because I just have to know what happens.

A few books that have hit that sweet spot for me lately are 17 Years Later by JP Pomare, Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent and Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra.

Finally, can you share what’s next for you?

In very exciting news, the production company that has optioned Dark Mode for TV has received Screen Australia funding to produce a pilot script. And I’ve got another new thriller coming out in early 2026, so get ready for more cybercrime.

Buy a copy of Cold Truth here.

Reviews

A Chilling and Brilliant Thriller: Read Our Review for Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Review

28 January 2025

A Chilling and Brilliant Thriller: Read Our Review for Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

    Better Reading Preview: Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

    Review | Preview

    10 December 2024

    Better Reading Preview: Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

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      Your Preview Verdict: Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

        Publisher details

        Cold Truth
        Author
        Ashley Kalagian Blunt
        Publisher
        Ultimo Press
        Genre
        Fiction
        Released
        29 January, 2024
        ISBN
        9781761151682

        Synopsis

        When you can fake anything, how do you know what’s real?

        Harlow Close has made a career as an influencer uncovering the secrets of Winnipeg, dubbed ‘North America's strangest city’. The region is renowned for its sub-zero temperatures, dropping to minus 40 degrees – sometimes for months at a time. Yet, it’s not just the frigid winters and geographic seclusion that render Winnipeg peculiar.

        When Harlow’s father mysteriously disappears amid a brutal cold snap, suspicions of foul play arise. It’s not like Scott to miss phone calls – and he’s been even more cautious since that time he was catfished by a romance scammer. Unhappy with the pace of the police investigation, Harlow launches her own search, enlisting her sister Blaise’s reluctant help.

        As Harlow struggles to uncover what happened to her father, she’s forced to question everything and everyone around her – including herself. 

        Ashley Kalagian Blunt
        About the author

        Ashley Kalagian Blunt

        Ashley Kalagian Blunt is the author of How to Be Australian and My Name Is Revenge, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Woollahra Digital Literary Awards and was a finalist in the 2018 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award. Her writing appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, Australian Book Review, Kill Your Darlings and more. Ashley teaches creative writing and co-hosts James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico.

        Books by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

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