Daniel Aleman Gets Serious (and Funny) with ‘I Might Be in Trouble’

Fans of Daniel Aleman’s books are about to get to know the author even better with his new novel, I Might Be in Trouble. “I will say with this one character; I was very intentional about making him a mirror of myself. I wanted him to basically be me.”

The novel follows David Alvarez, a young author whose debut success has dwindled and finds inspiration for new work after discovering a one-night stand has suddenly died in his bed. (For the record, this part of the novel is not based on Aleman.) But at its core, the dark comedy is about discovering your path even though it can sometimes feel uncertain.

“I took inspiration from many different places, but I will say that the first spark came to me during the pandemic. It was the first few weeks of lockdown, and I was walking through empty city streets, feeling lonely, feeling frustrated, feeling scared about the future, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘I was lied to.’ Like media and TV shows and books that said my 20s were going to be the best years of my life lied to me because that is just not my reality. And I started dreaming of what would a character in my situation do?”

And one thing Aleman realized was the best thing to do with some of the darker tones of the character would be to find ways to make it funny.

“I realized that I could write it as somewhat of a dark comedy and laugh at myself and laugh at my own circumstances. And on top of that, this character’s life, it’s already not going well. And on top of that, he has to deal with a dead body that he finds in his bed one morning. And that, to me, is just bringing out the satirical aspects of life in your 20s. It’s like, what could possibly make this worse? Waking up to find that your date from the night before is dead.”

Aleman, spoke with Newsweek‘s Parting Shot podcast about writing I Might Be in Trouble–his first adult novel after finding success writing young adult novels like Indivisible and Brighter Than the Sun–and what he hopes people will take from this book. (Beyond what to do after finding your date has died in your bed, but that’s helpful to do how to handle too.)

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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.

This is your first book of fiction for adults. So how does it feel to be adulting?

God, it’s terrifying. I’ll tell you that. So, I published two young adult books previously. It was honestly liberating to write for adults. I felt like I could be honest about what I’m going through right now. I was writing about certain things and certain experiences that I was having as I was putting my own character through these same things. And so that was very cathartic and liberating, in a way.

What is the difference between a young adult novel and an adult novel for you?

I mean, that is a great question. YA is easily enjoyable by people of all ages. I think the main thing is literally, as publishing would define it, just the age of your characters, like if you have a character who is in high school, that automatically will be categorized as Y, even if that character is going through adult problems, as in my first book Indivisible. That’s about a gay teen in New York City whose parents are deported back to Mexico, and he’s left to deal with the fallout of all of that and take care of his little sister. So he’s going through some pretty adult stuff, even though it is a YA novel.

How did the story for this book come about?

I took inspiration from many different places, but I will say that the first spark came to me during the pandemic. It was the first few weeks of lockdown, and I was walking through empty city streets, feeling lonely, feeling frustrated, feeling scared about the future, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘I was lied to.’ Like media and TV shows and books that said my 20s were going to be the best years of my life lied to me because that is just not my reality. And I started dreaming of what would a character in my situation do? What would that book look like? And it felt, honestly, at the start, a little absurd to me, because I was like, that’s just so sad. Who wants to read about a lonely 28-year-old who’s struggling in all aspects of his life? And then I found a lot of humor in that premise. I realized that I could write it as somewhat of a dark comedy and laugh at myself and laugh at my own circumstances. And on top of that, you know, this character’s life, it’s already not going well. And on top of that, he has to deal with a dead body that he finds in his bed one morning. And that, to me, is just bringing out the satirical aspects of life in your 20s. It’s like, what could possibly make this worse? Waking up to find that your date from the night before is dead.

What was it about the dark humor of this story that was thrilling in the crafting of the story?

I think part of it is just the push and pull of dating and of putting yourself out there romantically. Actually, when it comes to online dating, you go on all of these dates, a lot of them bad, but then you can find that one person that you’re excited about, that one person that you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I could really see myself with them.’ And then either it doesn’t work out, or they move away, or they stop answering texts, or they die in bed next to you. Like, that is the comedy of the whole situation that this character goes through. Even if you find a potential romantic partner in this day and age, it’s still gonna be pretty tough.

How do you find the balance between yourself and the character?

I will say with this one character, I was very intentional about making him a mirror of myself. I wanted him to basically be me. Even his initials, we share initials. He is 28 years old, as I was when I was drafting the first version of this book. He is a writer publishing his third book, as I am. There are moments when I ask myself, ‘Where do I end and my character, David, begins?’ And the reality is that there are some passages in this book and some circumstances that truly feel like they could be pages from my diary. It’s very real at times. And the fun part for readers is that they don’t really know which parts are truthful and which are not. But I will say that I’m terrified of my friends and family reading the book, because they will be able to know which sections and which experiences are a little bit closer to what I’ve been through, and it scares me just open myself up so vulnerably to them.

So if this is so close to who you are, are you terrified of someone dying next to you?

I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, especially when I was deep into edits with this book, I would wake up in the middle of the night and be like, ‘Oh my god. Is he [my boyfriend] breathing?’ I wouldn’t say it’s an actual fear that I have, but I think that when you’re working on a book for so long and all of this is on your mind, it does kind of trickle into your reality and your mindset a little bit. Luckily, he is alive and well and healthy.

Do you have plans to adapt this into a script? Because it reads like a show.

That is just one of the big dreams that I have, seeing one of my books adapted to the screen. And we’re working to make it happen. So hopefully we’ll get to see that. You pointed out that it feels sort of lived in and real, because I do think that part of my writing process borrows a little bit from method acting. I really do try to inhabit the character that I’m writing about. When I sit down at my desk to write, I just really live the story through their eyes. And I think that that does help bring some that intimate feeling to the narrative.

Considering many of your fans are younger, how do you attempt to attract an older audience, or appeal to some of your fans who have aged into adulthood?

I think what people will find in this book is that it’s very honest, and it talks about some experiences that so many of us have encountered as young adults, the loneliness of it, the difficulty of finding a partner, the moment when we perhaps look back at our expectations of what we thought life was going to be, and then look around at our reality and realize that there’s a disconnect there, and that disappointment of life is not what I thought it was going to be. Life is not what was promised. And I think that is something that I’m excited to share with this new audience, with this adult audience, just talking about these things that are oftentimes not shared out loud, but that so many of us experience. And the process of writing this book has opened up that opportunity for me with my own friends. I’ve had conversations where I’ve admitted like, ‘Oh wow, I feel lonely at times.’ And I’ve had people say, ‘Oh my gosh, I go through the same thing,’ or, ‘I’m not where I want to be in my career yet,’ or, ‘I’m scared about not finding a partner.’ And these are such common experiences that at times we find it difficult to share. And hopefully this book will open up those conversations.