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\nAuthor May Cobb reveals the story behind her book The Hunting Wives, which became a smash hit Netflix seriesThe Cobbs were in dire financial straits before the show was sold, and the author credits the team behind the book and its adaptation for saving her family”The cost of special needs is high,” she says, of caring for her son who has autism. “We were literally digging for change out of our car for groceries”<\/p>\n
The Hunting Wives<\/a> author May Cobb<\/a> didn\u2019t know where grocery money was going to come from when a phone call changed her life.\n<\/p>\n Cobb started her writing journey 25 years ago, with a nonfiction book about a jazz musician she admits she \u201cstill has to finish,\u201d but after loving books like Gone Girl<\/a> and Girl on the Train<\/a>, decided to try her hand at thrillers. Her debut, Big Woods, came out in 2018 and while it was well reviewed, sales weren\u2019t enough to make a dent in their finances.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe were barely making ends meet to be perfectly blunt,\u201d the author explains. May\u2019s husband, Chuck, was working in the restaurant business while May stayed home to care for their son, then 6, who has autism and needs specialized care.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cSome months, we weren’t making ends meet. We got eviction notices, and my mom would come in and cover our rent, but the cost of special needs is high. We were literally digging for change out of our car for groceries.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Cobb was in the midst of applying for other jobs and not getting any traction when the idea for The Hunting Wives struck. She wrote the first part of the book in \u201ca feverish sprint\u201d throughout the summer of 2018 and after showing it to a friend, got the kind of feedback that would soon prove prophetic. \u201cGet your ass in there and finish this,\u201d Cobb\u2019s friend told her. \u201cThis is gonna sell for sure.\u201d\n<\/p>\n And a few months later, that prediction came true. Cobb pitched it to a handful of agents over Thanksgiving week and got the call from Victoria Sanders<\/a>, who\u2019d become her literary agent, on a particularly tough day.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI remember she called me on a Saturday, and we had had an incredibly challenging morning with my son. He just wasn’t doing well,\u201d Cobb recalls. \u201cI just felt so much despair, and she called, and she said, \u2018I see this as a big publishing deal. It’s going to be a big TV deal. It was one of those calls where you feel like everything’s gonna be okay.\u201d\n<\/p>\n May Cobb on the set of ‘The Hunting Wives’.<\/p>\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n That March, on Cobb\u2019s mother\u2019s birthday, she found out the book had sold at auction. While they waited for contract details to get solidified, Sanders fronted the Cobbs some money \u201cso we could live,\u201d she recalls. \u201cNo one does that. But that meant we could just exhale.\u201d\n<\/p>\n They weren\u2019t out of the woods yet, though. The COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Chuck quit his job to care for their son so Cobb could finish the book. They were \u201creally on the ropes\u201d when producer Erwin Stoff called, enthusiastic about producing the series.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n A scene from ‘The Hunting Wives’ starring Malin Akerman and Katie Lowes.<\/p>\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n \u201cThat was another call that was like, \u2018Okay, is this the universe calling me? Because he was like, I’m gonna sell this for sure. This is definitely gonna happen,\u2019 \u201d Cobb remembers. But when the book hit shelves in May 2021, it didn\u2019t make quite the splash everyone expected. While Hunting Wives did find its fans, it didn\u2019t hit the New York Times Bestseller list, widely considered the main indicator for a book\u2019s success.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI still did three more books after that,\u201d Cobb says. \u201cBut I felt like my career plateaued.\u201d The Cobbs were \u201cbleeding money\u201d as the pandemic and then the writer\u2019s strike hit the publishing and television industry hard, and her son lost access to many of the services he depended on, so both parents had to stay home with him at all times. With May under writing deadlines and Chuck caring for their son, \u201cThings got pretty challenging financially,\u201d she added. \u201cWe were still on the ropes into 2023.\u201d\n<\/p>\n A scene from ‘The Hunting Wives’ starring Chrissy Metz.<\/p>\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n That\u2019s when creator and showrunner Rebecca Cutter<\/a> came down to Texas to meet with Cobb and see the world where the book<\/a> \u2014 and eventually the show \u2014 took place. They got along like lifelong friends right away. \u201cI vividly remember we were on my sister’s ski boat, taking her around the lake, which the Hunting Wives was inspired by and showing her the big houses, and we were just spilling our life stories to each other,\u201d the author says. \u201cAnd she said, \u2018Okay, I understand the assignment and the mission is we’re going to do this, so we can take care of your son.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Then another miracle phone call arrived, exactly when Cobb needed it.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI’m literally feeding my son dinner, and I was just having one of those days. I was doom-spiraling \u2014 about money and the future and an uncertain publishing career. And I said to my husband, \u2018Can you take over? I need to go into the other room, and just kind of have a moment,’ \u201d Cobb says.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Malin Akerman and Dermot Mulroney in ‘The Hunting Wives’.<\/p>\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n \u201cI actually came to my bedroom and I was [looking at] our bank account, and I was almost having sort of a panic attack where I was just like, \u2018I don’t see how this is gonna work like this is.\u2019 But then I look down and my phone’s lighting up, and it’s Erwin.\u201d\n<\/p>\n He told her the show was going forward, starting pre-production that January and filming in March. \u201cI thanked him and then I had to hang up because I was bawling,\u201d Cobb recalls. \u201cAnd then I hollered out for Chuck and I just remember, like, staggering into the hall, collapsing in his arms and telling him we were going to be okay. And it just was, I mean, it was that life-changing.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now<\/a>!\n<\/p>\n The journey since then has been \u201cnothing short of surreal.\u201d Cobb was able to sit in on the writers’ room, see the production come together from start to finish and when she saw early episodes in the spring, told Cutter, \u201cThis is the kind of show that’s going to break the Internet.\u201d\n<\/p>\n She was right.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t even know how to describe it other than it’s beyond my wildest dreams,\u201d she says of the response, adding that she\u2019s incredibly happy with the adaptation. \u201c[Cutter] told me her vision for it, and my only response to her was, \u2018Well, where were you when I was writing the book?\u2019 \u201d she adds with a laugh. \u201cShe just was not afraid to celebrate the spirit of the wildness of the book, and I just love that because you could have really toned it down or done things differently. And I’m really glad that she did the opposite. She turned it up.\u201d\n<\/p>\n May Cobb on set for ‘The Hunting Wives’.<\/p>\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n But as they say, there\u2019s no rest for the weary \u2014 or working authors. Cobb\u2019s next book, All the Little Houses<\/a>, comes out in January. The author describes it as \u201cmy twisted, skewed love letter to Little House on the Prairie<\/a>. It’s got a trad wife<\/a> and rich bitches, and it’s really like a soap opera.\u201d\n<\/p>\n She\u2019s also hard at work on the sequel, and excited to try her hand at more screenwriting so she can bring her own work to the screen in the future and maybe even pen some originals. But above all, she\u2019s grateful for the team that\u2019s thrown their enthusiastic support behind her book and the show it became.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘The Hunting Wives’ by May Cobb.<\/p>\n Lionsgate<\/p>\n \u201cI can’t say enough about how getting a TV show made us,\u201d Cobb says. \u201cIt afforded us the opportunity to care for our son even more\u00a0\u2014 it’s really because of everything that’s happened. And that’s amazing. I can’t even put it into words.\u201d\n<\/p>\n