Q&A with Merrill Sapp

 

 

 

Merrill Sapp is the author of the new book Knowing Wonder: An Elephant Story. She teaches at Stephens College in Missouri.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Knowing Wonder, and how was the book’s title chosen?

 

A: African elephants may go extinct in the wild within a couple of decades, mostly because of what people from outside of Africa have done and are continuing to do. I can’t live with that knowledge and not do everything I can to raise awareness and inspire action to change it.

 

That was the inspiration, or compulsion really. I almost felt like I had to write it.

 

The main goal of the book is to close the distance people feel from humans and wildlife in faraway places, to help readers feel more connected to the unfamiliar. This is where the title came from, to feel wonder by knowing about lives so different than our own.

 

I truly believe what E. O. Wilson claimed about our sense of wonder—that it grows exponentially with knowledge. Some understanding of how elephants exist in the world only deepens the mystery of their amazing lives.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: I used every type of source to research the book—scientific journals, memoirs, novels about the area, historical reports, videos, interviews, and travel to places where elephants live. It was my travel that convinced me to write about the role of climate change in increasing conflict between humans and wildlife.

 

There are a million surprising things about elephants but what struck me the most about life in some of these beautiful and remote places is the ability of people there to talk about how the warming earth has affected them personally.

 

They can point out specific changes they’ve experienced—unpredictable rainy seasons and lowering water levels, not knowing if the rain will be enough next year. It is part of the stories of their lives.

 

This is a stark difference from home, where people don’t talk about climate change as a personal issue or seem to think they should do anything about it.

Q: The writer Alex George said of the book, “It is the elephants’ fate to be so deeply attuned to their environment and yet ultimately helpless when confronted with the rapacious greed and stupidity of men.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I appreciate Alex’s passion for the issues raised in the book. The problems facing elephants and other wildlife in Africa are man-made. Human activity is driving mass extinctions.

 

The fact that we know, and have for decades, about the role of man in destroying habits and precipitating ecological disasters and have done very little to change it is short-sighted to the point of being stupid.

 

Knowing Wonder illustrates the parallel between elephants and humans—those who are most affected by climate change have little power to alter its trajectory. This makes all living things in these places reliant on the will of others.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: I hope they enjoy the characters and feel that they’ve gotten to know them. Elephants are individuals with personalities who make choices and respond meaningfully to the needs of their young.

 

Many of the things we think make us uniquely human aren’t unique at all. For one example of many, elephants have “name-like” calls for each other, so that in a social group, an elephant knows when she is being addressed.

 

Elephants are easy to see as individuals. From there, we have to look within and ask what we are willing to do to protect them, which we can.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m still in research and discover mode. I’ll just say that my next project will focus closer to home.

 

In the preface of Knowing Wonder, I described how a fascination with elephants and learning about the ecology of these faraway places made me appreciate the life in my own back yard. That was sincere and I’m learning more about common wild beings that I take for granted.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: There are many local or regional organizations in Africa that are doing great work for people and wildlife there, like the Time + Tide Foundation in Zambia, African Wildlife Conservation fund in Zimbabwe, or WWAYI in Kenya.

 

I will try to keep a list on the book website of organizations of which I have personal knowledge or recommendations from people I know. If readers are interested in learning more about these groups, they can check the site at www.knowingwonder.com.

 

The book release party will take place at Skylark Books in Columbia, Missouri, on Jan. 16, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome. I will be doing a few store events in other places. Anyone who is interested can check the above website for details.

 

Also, Deborah, thank you for your interest in the book. I really appreciate it.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Lisa Cheek

 

 

Lisa Cheek is the author of the new book Sit, Cinderella, Sit: A Mostly True Memoir. She lives in Los Angeles.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write this memoir?

 

A: When I was a film editor, I would entertain my clients in the edit bay while we waited for revisions with stories of my family. They always found them funny and interesting and told me for years, I needed to tell my own stories, to write screenplays, but I’m more of a book girl even though I have written a few screenplays with others.

 

Six years ago, I was working on a novel when I lost my father. I went to see a psychic in hopes to hear how he was. She told me he said, “Heaven had the best library.” My father read a book a day so that made me very happy.

 

She also told me I needed to write this specific story now. So I did. I think it was a great place for me start as I have two more memoirs I’m working on.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The book had many working titles, but when we landed on this one, I knew it was perfect. It had Cinderella in it. It had a familiar dog communication, but most of all, it's what I would do all day every day as a film editor. I sat. And sat. And sat.

 

Q: The writer Julie Cantrell said of the book, “With a quick-witted tone and the creative lens of a gifted filmmaker, Lisa Cheek takes us through the mid-life resurrection of a woman who isn’t afraid to make her own way. In the end, she reminds us that we aren’t meant to do life solo and that true surrender requires far more strength than weakness.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: I cried when I read it. It’s one of the most extraordinary compliments I’ve ever received. 

 

Julie has been a teacher and mentor and no way could I have done this book solo or life in general. It’s all about connecting with others. Learning from others and in order to do that, one does have to be vulnerable. I love how Julie reflected that back to me in my own book.

 

Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?

 

A: It is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Publishing one's first book. Editing a film along the Tibetan boarder about Cinderella, another once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

 

When I edited my first feature film, which was written in the edit bay, it won The Slamdance Audience Award and was bought by Fox Searchlight before we left the festival in Park City.  I remember someone saying, “This is just the beginning.” And I said. “But it will never be like this again.”

 

So, I’m doing my best to live in each moment of putting a book out into the world. Learning how to do it and hopefully connecting with my readers.

 

There are so many takeaways for me. 

 

What others think of me is not always accurate or my business. 

 

Age is a number our society has interpreted and I needed to be me. Just me. 

 

Kindness is a universal language. 

 

And most of all... life is an adventure and I find it best with a dog. 

Rescuing dogs always involves rescuing ourselves.
 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on my second memoir, about one night of my life.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Thank you for asking me about Sit, Cinderella, Sit. I hope your readers have half the adventure I had when they read it and I look forward to meeting you IRL one day.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Pagan Kennedy

 

 

Pagan Kennedy is the author of the new book The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story. Her other books include 'Zine.

 

Q: How did you first learn about Marty Goddard, who developed the rape kit, and at what point did you decide to write this book?

 

A: For a couple of years, my job was to produce a weekly column for The New York Times Magazine called "Who Made That." I'd take an ordinary object (like sliced bread or the office cubicle) and trace it back through time to its origins. 

 

Even after I quit being the "Who Made That guy," I retained my fascination with the beginnings of things... and with the political agendas hidden in  designed objects. So I brought that kind of curiosity to the rape kit. 

 

Why the kit? In 2018, when I started this project, the sexual-assault evidence kit was very much in the news. Police departments had failed to test nearly a half a million kits, many of which contained evidence that could have led to the identification of serial predators. 

 

One day as I was reading a newspaper, I found myself asking, "How did the rape kit come into existence? Who made it happen?"  And those questions sent me tumbling down into a rabbit hole.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: My editor and I landed on "The Secret History of the Rape Kit" because we wanted to signal that even though Marty Goddard is the hero of the story, the kit is its main character. 

 

In my mind, the book is an extended opinion-piece essay; by following the rape kit through history, readers will gain a new way to think about the criminal justice system.

 

Of course, the book also offers up a gripping narrative. So we chose the subtitle -- "a true crime story" -- as a promise to readers that the book will be vivid and cinematic, as well as rigorously researched.

 

The story of sexual-assault evidence in America pushes the boundaries of the true-crime genre, because over and over again police departments stood in the way of justice. 

 

So I was hoping that the subtitle would inspire some readers to think about the true-crime genre in a new way. What is a "crime" exactly? What happens when the police departments throw out evidence or refuse to collect it? 

 

Q: The writer Rachel Louise Snyder said of the book, “Marty Goddard as a footnote in history takes her rightful place as a visionary thanks to Kennedy's relentless investigation.” What do you think of that description, and how would you describe Goddard’s legacy today?

 

A: Indeed, one of the many reasons that I wrote this book was to put Marty Goddard into the history books. I'm glad to say that has happened already. Marty Goddard is now generally recognized as a major figure in forensics. 

 

The curators at the Smithsonian Institute deserve huge props for helping to educate the public about this important history. They acquired one of the original kits used in the 1970s and are including it in a show that runs through next summer. I hope that everyone interested in American forensics will check out this exhibit.

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: In 2018, when I went looking for the person who had pioneered the rape-kit evidence system, Wikipedia gave all the credit to a police officer named Louis Vitullo. 

 

In fact, if you go onto the Internet Wayback machine, you can see what I saw back then: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rape_kit&oldid=847703482

 

But as I read through hundreds of old newspaper articles and interviewed people who had been involved in the development of the kit, I discovered a very different story -- and I stumbled across a fascinating, complicated and brilliant women named Marty Goddard who had devoted herself to make the rape kit a reality.  

 

That was just the first surprise of many. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A recent Pew Research study showed that well over half of all young American women now say that they don't want to bear children or become mothers. 

 

That's an enormous turn-around just in my lifetime; in the late 20th century, it was rare for a woman to declare her intentions not to have kids. I was the rare oddball in the 1990s who "outed" myself and pledged that I would never voluntarily have children; it just wasn't for me. 

 

Today, most young women (and other people with wombs) are embracing that identity. So what's going on? Why the shift?  

 

I wanted to explore such questions through a story with a cast of characters and a dramatic arc -- and I have found, indeed, a true-life story so compelling that I can't stop digging deeper and deeper into it. I was already working on this new book proposal when JD Vance began attacking childless cat ladies -- so that's added to my sense of urgency. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Hmmm... Can't think of anything. Thanks for the terrific questions!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Jan. 16

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Jan. 16, 1933: Susan Sontag born.

Q&A with Kat Mackenzie

 

 

Kat Mackenzie is the author of the new novel Work in Progress. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Work in Progress, and how did you create your character Alice?

 

A: I actually wrote this book to take a break from a darker, more serious book that I never finished. I wanted something light and fun that gave my tired mind a chance to go on a trip to the UK.

 

I was going through a difficult life transition at the time (not unlike Alice), and writing this was almost like a form of therapy. I wanted to be happier, I wanted to have an adventure and return to a place that I loved and considered home, and I wanted to add a bit of romance to my life, and of course, in the book Alice received the lessons that I needed to remind myself of at the time.

 

I hope that when people read Work in Progress they also get to feel like they’ve been whisked away for an adventure, fell in love, and learned some lessons along the way.

 

Alice herself did not like the character plan I had made for her. I had carefully drawn her out, but she kept breaking free of that mold and doing her own thing against my will. After a while, I learned to give her the space she needed to be as sassy as she wanted but still have heart, room for growth, and hope for the future.

 

Q: How did you choose the locations that Alice visits on her British tour?

 

A: I picked places that I love! I lived in Britain for about eight years when I was studying, and was lucky enough to get to travel around the country, exploring, camping with friends, taking road trips. With all but a few exceptions, the stops in this book are places that I stuck in my memory from my own travels.

 

However, loving a place was not enough. If I had pinpointed all the places that I loved on a British map, it would have looked like one of those unhinged murder maps with all the yarn, but once I realized that Robbie’s tour was a literary tour, that gave the map a bit more direction.

 

There were still far too many wonderful places to choose from, because what corner of the British Isles doesn’t have a plethora of fabulous books set there, and a collection of world-renowned authors that have called it home? I needed to narrow it further, so I tried to imagine how a stop in that location could help to move my story along.

 

Unfortunately, the tour was only a three-week trip and there were still so many places which I had to leave out that they keep me up at night! Will I one day get an angry letter from Glasgow asking why it was not included?

 

I’m an unabashed food lover, so most of the cafes and restaurants in the book are also real, and I encourage you to visit them all!

 

There is one place, Abbotsford, that I got to visit for the first time only after writing it as a location in my book. To see it come to life was almost like walking into a fantasy realm that I had built myself. It was a unique pleasure.

 

Also, regrettably, I have never been to the Welsh “book town,” Hay-on-Wye, but I have plans to fix that soon, and I could not deny my characters that pleasure simply because I had not yet been.

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Alice and Robbie?

 

A: Alice and Robbie’s dynamic is getting a lot of attention, both good and bad. Their banter is what I’ve been calling a “super-salty snark-fest.” This is an enemies-to-lovers romance, so what starts as genuine antagonism quickly morphs into sharp-toothed teasing with flirtation at its core.

 

I’m that type of person who always gets along best with people who give me a hard time - I love the playful battle of teasing. “Taking the Mickey” is something that the people of UK and Ireland are particularly adept at. So I think it fits in here, and gives the book a little bit of edge.

 

Q: What would you see as the role of humor in your work?

 

A: Fundamentally, I think it’s just a major part of my voice, in my writing, and as a human being. When I try to write scary stories, for instance, they always manage to turn into comedies along the way.

 

Within the story though, I think it helps to turn what might otherwise be a sad story about a broken woman who is totally overcome with anxiety and self-doubt into something light and dynamic that keeps us laughing through both the good and the bad - which, in all honesty, is exactly how I try to live my life, laughing through both the ups and the downs.

 

Also, I think it can serve to form a very special and unique connection between the writer and the reader.

 

I often think of it this way - if you were to go to a party full of strangers, you may be lucky enough to find a few people with whom you just instantly click. There will also be some who dislike you instantly and vice-versa. And, of course, most people will fall into that largest category of new people, with whom you need more time to decide.

 

The connection between a writer and their reader is like this. Writing is so personal - you’re getting to see into a writer’s thoughts. And some of my readers instantly click with the humour in Work in Progress, and some instantly hate it, and yet others need more time and may just be charmed and won over by the end.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now I am in the final throes of editing my second book which has been purchased by Avon and is due to be sent to my fabulous editor in only a few short days.

 

This book is also a travel romcom. It focuses on an American woman with a dating podcast who travels to Ireland during the annual matchmaking festival. There will be a road trip. There will be many hilariously horrendous dates. There will be a tall, grumpy farmer. And, of course, there will be a mischievous matchmaker.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Hmm. Perhaps it would be interesting to know that I travel to do my own research in the form of scouting missions before I write a book. This, as you might guess, is an unbearable hardship.

 

So, last year I went to Ireland for two months… during the matchmaking season… where I went to the matchmaking festival, and employed the services of a world-renowned matchmaker. I am nothing if not thorough. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Sarah Raughley

 

 

Sarah Raughley is the author of the new novel The Queen's Spade. Her other books include the young adult novel The Bones of Ruin. She has taught at McMaster University in Ontario.

 

Q: The Queen’s Spade was based on historical events--what inspired you to write this story?

 

A: The historical events themselves inspired me to write the story! I was thinking of a short story to write and remembered this figure I'd come across, a Yoruba princess named Omoba Ina whose name was changed to Sarah Forbes Bonetta, taken and gifted to Queen Victoria as her ward/goddaughter.

 

It's such a bizarre and exciting story but strangely, Sarah's story isn't really well-known. I thought, that's a travesty! I mean, this needs to be a Netflix movie!! It needs to be a musical! The world needs to know!

 

Especially because Queen Victoria had a strange penchant for adopting children of color across Britain's colonies and there's something kind of insidious about that.

 

So I wanted to tell her story but bring in that insidious part, making it text rather than subtext in Ina's story. A revenge thriller featuring an African princess. Who wouldn't want to write that!

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: There were books on Black Victorian Englanders, and a lot of academic research I did as a postcolonialist into 19th century Britain and Africa. I watched and read what I could about Sarah herself, though there's not a whole lot about her.

 

What surprised me about her is that she was in these elite British circles and talked about a whole lot in the papers at the time. But after she got married and moved to Africa with her husband, and especially after she died, it's like Britain no longer cared about their African princess any more. It was like she was erased from history....

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book says, “Raughley deftly weaves together information about and critiques of colonialism, power, and racism.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Much respect to Kirkus for seeing my greatness lol!!

 

Q: What did you see as the right balance between history and fiction as you wrote the book?

 

A: I love Bridgerton and I love period pieces of all kinds. I think sometimes writers take a colorblind multicultural approach and that can be really fun.

 

But with this book, especially given how Sarah was given as a "gift" and erased from history and held to these crazy standards, I really wanted to be real as to what life would have been like for a young African girl in the 19th century in these very rich white spaces. Probably not all that different from today.

 

The Queen's Spade doesn't do colorblind and it brings the realness when it comes to what life was like not just for Black people, but for different ethnicities, races, classes, genders and so on. But I think that's what makes the fictional aspect - the revenge thriller - have stakes that are so much higher.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm working on a companion novel for The Queen's Spade. It's so much fun and very similar and very different in some ways. Let's just say the more I learn about Sarah Forbes Bonetta's story, the more I notice that there are other interesting Black women whose stories need to be told!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope you love vengeful, chess-master Sarah/Sally/Ina as much as I do! The Queen's Spade is a YA/Adult crossover that's sure to keep you entertained throughout the blood, rage and romance!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Lynn Slaughter

 

 

 

Lynn Slaughter is the author of the new young adult novel Missing Mom. Her other books include the novel Missed Cue. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Missing Mom, and how did you create your character Noelle?

 

A: I’ve always been fascinated by stories about missing persons. Noelle’s dilemma especially resonated with me because of my close relationship to my stepmother who married my dad when I was 12.

 

Having never had a mother in my life, I was beyond thrilled to acquire one! I know that if she’d gone missing, like Noelle, I would have gone to any lengths to try to find her.  

 

In addition, Noelle is passionate about ballet, and as a former dancer, I identify with her love of dance. Her romance with Ravi, a fellow dancer, was also inspired in part by my own life. I met my husband in a dance company and have wonderful memories of the years we spent dancing together.

 

Threaded throughout Noelle’s story is the story of Savannah, a young woman nearly 20 years earlier whose romance with a boyfriend she marries right after high school turns out to be connected to Noelle’s investigation.

 

Savannah’s story was in part inspired by a high school friend who became involved with and married an extremely possessive young man. In our naivety, we actually thought his behavior was romantic and indicated his undying devotion. We didn’t recognize the warning signs of potential abuse, and indeed, his behavior escalated into full-blown physical and emotional abuse.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I actually did know how the novel would end before I started writing it.

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: I drew mostly on my own experiences as a dancer to flesh out Noelle’s character.

 

As for Savannah’s experience, I drew on research I had done for my first book, Teen Rape, a nonfiction book for the education market. I recall how surprised I was to learn about the pervasiveness of teen dating violence. Teens often don’t have the knowledge or experience to clearly distinguish between what constitutes a healthy versus unhealthy relationship.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: I hope that readers will be inspired by Noelle’s resilience and her ability to move forward in her life despite experiencing major losses and challenges.

 

In Savannah’s case, I hope readers will appreciate the importance of recognizing the warning signs of unhealthy and potentially dangerous romantic relationships.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m currently working on a sequel to my debut adult mystery, Missed Cue, which features the same homicide detective, Caitlin O’Connor.

 

In Death in the End Zone, Caitlin investigates the murders of two star football players whose bodies are discovered in a compromising position in the end zone of their high school’s football field.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m so grateful to you, Deborah, for your interest in interviewing me about Missing Mom. I’m also very thankful to have found a fulfilling second career as a writer after many decades as a dancer and dance educator.

 

As an author who published my first novel at age 65, I’m a strong believer that it’s never too late to become a writer!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb