(NewsNation) — The series “Pieces of Her,” based on the New York Times bestseller by Karin Slaughter, just came out on Netflix and it is already number one on the top 10. U.S. list.

It tells the story of a young woman who realizes there is much more to her mother’s past than she thought she knew.

Slaughter is an American crime writer and an executive producer on the series. She talked about “Pieces of Her” during an appearance on “Morning in America.”

“I think that we’re all really interested in the secret lives of people,” she said. “And that’s what I like to write about.”

“Pieces of Her” is about a mother-daughter relationship, but it’s also about the secrets we all keep from each other.

“We all have a moment where we realize ‘Holy crap, my mom had a life before me, you know, she might have gone to bars and hooked up with guys and done all the things I’m doing and I’m not really comfortable knowing that,'” she said.

“Pieces of Her” puts you on the edge of your seat right from the get-go.

According to Slaughter, the idea for the story came from her dad. She says he was getting older and he started telling stories about a time before she was born.

It dawned on her that he had a life before her and she had the thought, “What’s that like if you find out something really bad that you didn’t know before?”

Slaughter is known for her third-person style of writing, which is present in the series.

“I love when you’re reading a book and you can’t wait to get back to the other character,” she said. “I had to write it in a way that you were rooting for them no matter what.”

Slaughter has written 21 novels, but this Netflix series is her directorial debut.

“As an author, I love details. I love seeing how things get made,” she said. “It was amazing to see.”

Slaughter got to go behind the scenes while they were filming the series.

“I did get to go on set one day which was really cool,” she said alluding that more directing could be in her future. “I was involved as much as I wanted to be.”

“It’s amazing to see it all come together,” she said. “And I’m really happy with what happened.”

Slaughter’s fictional thriller writing has a way of bleeding into her real life.

“I keep a waterproof notebook in my shower so if I come up with any ideas in the shower, I can write it down and not forget it. They’re called Aqua Notes. It’s where I get all my thriller ideas.”

Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote and Jacob Scipio star in “Pieces of Her” which premiered on March 4.

Watch the complete interview with Karin Slaughter in the video player at the top of the page.