On location with Kill Story with J.D. Maduro
On location with Kill Story with J.D. Maduro
When I moved to Amsterdam in 2011, I was 33 years old, freshly divorced and flat broke. I arrived in May, during an entire week’s stretch of warmth and sunshine, which I would only later learn was considered a freak weather event by Dutch standards. The whole city was seized by a moral imperative to find a seat on an outdoor terrace and cling to it until the last dying light of day.
Amsterdam (c) J.D. Maduro
It didn’t take long for me to find my own perfect spot – a wobbly wicker chair at a canal-side Cafe Pieper on the Prinsengracht, ideal for waving to people on boats and watching bikers and car drivers yell at each other. Within a week, the waiter knew my coffee order by heart (a koffie verkeerd) and I was convinced that I’d been exactly right to choose Amsterdam as the setting for my next phase of self-reinvention.
Cafe (c) J D Maduro
Then the weather changed, bringing wind, rain, hailstorms, and all the metaphorical life obstacles that came with it. It would take time before I finally found my community of expats, before I really believed I could call Amsterdam home. This era of not-quite belonging, of being dazzled by a gorgeous city but feeling like I couldn’t quite penetrate its veneer, inspired my novel Kill Story.
Social hub (c) J.D. Maduro
In 2016, I found work as a copywriter for a new start-up called The Student Hotel. The company has since been rebranded as The Social Hub, but its business model remains the same: it is part student residence, part short-stay apartment and part hotel. The vision was to bring these intersecting elements together to create one giant “everyone should love everyone” spirit of community (yes, that was the unofficial company logo – everybody should love everybody. I have it stitched on a tote bag somewhere).
Social hub (c) J.D. Maduro
When I first started working at TSH, I was very much sucked into this utopian vision. It was, after all, exactly what I had been craving when I first moved to Amsterdam – the promise of a built-in community for the lost, disconnected and recently expatriated. But then I wondered what the dark side of the vision would look like, what would happen if the community turned on itself. This idea ultimately inspired the main setting in my novel – CoHab, the co-living community where my protagonist, Skye, works.
Social hub (c) J.D. Maduro
In Kill Story, I use CoHab to explore toxic start-up culture and its hard-partying excesses. In real life, the parties and team-building events hosted by TSH were never quite as debauched as the fictionalized version. Yes, there’s a secret party room hidden in the Amsterdam Oost location, but the vibe is pretty chill (despite the dancing pole in the room). I once booked the room for a weekend with my family – my two kids and my in-laws loved it!
The summer company boat party was another beloved tradition (in Kill Story, this event gets a little out of hand). Boat parties are pretty standard for corporate events in Amsterdam – there really is nothing more glorious than sailing down the Amstel River on a sunny afternoon, passing around drinks and snacks, eagerly adding songs to a Spotify playlist.
Of course, there’s always a risk that the weather won’t cooperate. This is why either a covered boat or a diehard attitude is required. We often rented party boats from Flagship Amsterdam, which also offers public boat tours.
Bikes (c) J D Maduro
My main character in Kill Story is completely dependent on her rusty, second-hand bike for transportation, weather conditions (and levels of intoxication) be damned. At first glance, biking in Amsterdam might seem chaotic and even downright perilous. Bikers are notorious for ignoring traffic rules and showing little-to-no courtesy towards pedestrians. How bikes manage to weave through car and tram traffic often seems like it requires access to a mystifying secret choreography. But honestly– there’s no better way to discover the city.
Most hotels, like The Social Hub, have bike rentals available directly on the property. If not, there is a bike rental shop on basically every corner. For an easy warm-up practice ride, head to city parks like Vondelpark. And once you get a feel for it, follow the Amstel River down to Ouderkerk aan het Amstel for an easy, scenic bike ride. Car traffic is rare and the views are lovely!
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