Q&A with Bonnie Jo Campbell

  

Photo by Fran Dwight

 

 

 

Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the new novel The Spirits. Her other books include The Waters. She lives outside Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Spirits, and how do you see the novel relating to Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol?

 

A: Thank you so much for interviewing me, Deborah! I appreciate all the good work you do for readers and writers!

 

Well, after all that rough-hewn grit lit I’ve written, I had a hankering to write a Christmas story. I hoped it would be simple and cheerful and possibly even lighthearted. It had to have a happy ending—Christmas stories absolutely must have happy endings!

 

But as usual, my story got dark and brutal and difficult for my characters in the Michigan countryside. For a while I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to wrangle a happy ending out of it.

 

But I was inspired by A Christmas Carol. Now that is a rough story in which people are hungry—starving even—and freezing cold; children are in danger of dying. What could be more dire than that? Not to mention the dire danger that Scrooge’s soul faces.

 

But with the grace of imagination and a faith in human nature, Charles Dickens redeems a very challenged soul in a situation that is dire and wrenches a happy ending out of the swirling ghost-filled chaos. So, I had something to shoot for.

 

I find that once my own story is in conversation with other stories I love, then I can begin to see light at the end of the tunnel. And isn’t that what the Christmas season is all about, as the nights become long, isn’t it about coming through the darkness into the light!?

 

Q: The author Pam Houston said of the book, “I relate to [the character] Sister so fully and deeply, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. A haunting and a healing, all at once.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Gosh, I’m so flattered and thrilled that Pam liked the book. And the fact that she related so profoundly to it means that, even though I’m writing about extreme events, about something that is out of the realm of normal experience, the work connects emotionally to real-life situations and relationships that folks like Pam have had.

 

That is why we read, of course—we need to experience extreme things on the page instead of real life, where there would be terrible consequences! Stories can show us more outrageous versions of our real-life experiences, allowing us to cope alongside the folks in the story.

 

Sometimes in real life we would like to respond with violence or violent words, but we don’t want to suffer the fallout, and so it can be cathartic to read about someone responding harshly on the page.

 

I’m especially glad that Pam found the book healing because that became my purpose in writing the book, to show how a person—even a whole family—can heal from even the most difficult or most soul-crushing experiences.

 

As for the “haunting” part, I’m so glad I have succeeded in being spooky—the supernatural is something I’ve been hesitant to employ in my work, but let’s face it, we are living in surreal times, and sometimes we need to explore something a little outside our ordinary reality.

 

Q: What do you think the novel says about family?

 

A: People are complicated, filled to the brim with their passions and their hurts and their blind spots, all of that tangled into what we might call a personality!

 

As they grow up, they learn to sublimate some of that to behave in a way that helps them get along in the world, but when they come home, a lot of that falls away and the hurts and passions and blind spots come out of hiding. When any family gets along it is a miracle! In a beautiful world, family members can actually relax and be themselves and still get along.

 

The rewards of a family coming together are profound — families are the places where people know us best and can still accept us, or so we hope. That is why so many of our favorite stories are family stories. (Little House books, all of Jane Austen’s work, for starters).

 

Also, a family story allows for a lot of variety for the reader. We know so-and-so is clever and can lighten the conversation, while we know what’s-her-name is the peacemaker, something that is often needed. Maybe another family member seems a little dull, but that dullness may be an important stabilizing force.

 

I don’t know what more my work can add to the study of the family, but I know I love these characters and find it fascinating how they do fit together into a perfect whole unit; ideally this means that the family allows for a place for everyone to feel welcomed and safe.

 

In the difficult times we live in, with so much fighting and anger in the world and often at home, too, creating this family and seeing them work together to survive a difficult night is a Christmas gift to myself.

 

Q: As someone who has written novels, short stories, and poems, do you have a preference?

 

A: When I was working on The Spirits, the novel seemed so important that I feared I would die while trying to finish it, both from the effort and because I feared I would take 40 years to figure out what happened to this family, the Whitbys.

 

And I strongly preferred writing a novel because so much is possible in a novel, and so much that matters desperately can be worked out.

 

But the truth is, whatever I am currently working on feels the most important. I recently finished a poetry collection, and I wondered if I could ever write prose again, as I was enjoying paying such exquisite attention to each line as a line, and language became medicine for me, and I found I could disconnect from ordinary logic.

 

As for short stories, I wish I had more situations that would make short stories because nothing is more satisfying than a good short story, but those ideas aren’t coming to me.

 

I used to work on a lot of different things at once—I used to keep poems, stories, novels, and essays all going, but now, once I have a novel going, I feel compelled to focus there, and put in the hard work on that. Novels seem to hold up over time—people keep reading novels for decades, even centuries if you’re lucky!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Lately I’ve been working on essays about my mom—essays, there’s another form I love to write. I’d like to write a full-length book about being my mother’s daughter, but that doesn’t feel like a sharp enough focus for a book. I am writing about various aspects of our relationship, and I’m going to see where all that goes. I am reading her journals, and that is pure joy.

 

I also have just finished that book of poetry I mentioned, but we live in a world where there are many books of poetry, so I’m not sure what I should do with it.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m working hard trying to get my donkeys healthy in time for my book tour, when I will have to neglect them a bit. Jack and Don Quixote are 28 and 26 years old now, so they are getting up there.

 

Donkeys are survivors, and they are desert animals, and that means that the two things that can do them in are moisture (too much rain, snow, and humid weather) and overeating. Too much protein or sugar affect their hooves badly. I love my two boys, and I hope they have another decade of stomping around my pasture.

 

Oh, and today, as I’m writing this, I’m about the celebrate my 39th wedding anniversary with my Darling Christopher—he’s pretty great, too!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Bonnie Jo Campbell. 

Q&A with Tara Goedjen

  

 

 

Tara Goedjen is the author of the new novel Please Enjoy Your Stay. Her other books include the young adult novel No Beauties or Monsters. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Please Enjoy Your Stay, and how did you create your character Mia?

 

A: My intention was for Please Enjoy Your Stay to feel like a cross between a thriller and a ghost story, so I’m so thrilled every time a review mentions comparison titles like Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and gothic thrillers like Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key.

 

I put all of my favorite tropes into Please Enjoy Your Stay: it has a true crime podcast, a book within a book, and hidden identities. And after I decided on a castle-turned-hotel with a fraught history as the setting (or perhaps it decided on me!), I knew I wanted a character who likewise felt haunted by her past.

 

Mia’s a very itinerant character too, and in some ways her constant restlessness has mirrored my own life, but for different reasons. She’s strong despite hardship, and trying to fix everything by herself, and I loved the blend of stubbornness and determination in her. 

 

Q: This is your debut novel for adults--why did you decide to write an adult novel rather than another young adult novel, and do you have a preference?

 

A: When I started developing the backstory of Please Enjoy Your Stay, I loved the idea of a true crime author at the height of her career, staying at an infamous hotel to research a cold case for her next book, only to end up being confronted by a devastatingly personal crime: the murder of her teenaged son, witnessed solely by her niece, Mia.

 

That scaffolding seemed like a better fit for an adult audience, so I leaned into that.

 

And actually, I enjoyed having fewer parameters while writing for adults—it’s also the stage of life I’m in, so it came very naturally to me—but the dual timeline in Please Enjoy Your Stay let me play to my strengths as a YA writer too.

 

Using a dual timeline structure allowed me to move between 13-year-old Mia when she first visited the hotel, and Mia’s inevitable return, years later, as an adult who is desperately searching for answers.

 

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

 

A: I had a hazy idea of how I wanted the story to end, but the biggest change from start to finish was adding a second timeline. The novel was initially written solely in Mia’s POV, but a couple of beta readers (who are also authors that I trust!) suggested that I might want to add a POV from Mia’s Aunt Iris—the controversial true crime author in the novel. 

 

So now there are sections from Iris’s journals throughout the novel, which give us those glimpses of Mia as a teenager, and show us Iris’s own experiences at the hotel as well.

 

And even though I initially resisted adding sections from Iris’s POV, they became my favorite passages in the book. Since Iris is a controversial true crime author known for her rather strange writing methods, I enjoyed getting to talk about books and the creative process through the lens of the “Queen of Murder,” as Iris is called by a (fictional) article in Vanity Fair.

 

Q: How would you describe Mia’s relationship with her aunt?

 

A: Mia and Iris only have each other—they don’t have any other family when the novel opens in the present day—but at the same time, they’re each dealing with their own demons, so to speak, and they’re not always entirely honest with one another.

 

I wanted their relationship to feel nuanced, and I liked being able to show how Mia acted around her aunt as a teenager, versus how she acts around Iris as an adult, as usually the dynamics of those parent-child relationships that we have in our lives can shift (or stay stuck) as we age.

 

Overall, there’s quite a push and pull between Mia and Iris, which becomes a source of tension and keeps the reader guessing along the way.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on another gothic-tinged thriller, currently set near Vancouver Island in British Columbia. There’s a wedding gone wrong, and a haunted lighthouse, and so far it has been a lot of fun to write!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I absolutely love hearing from readers, and I’ll be making some appearances when Please Enjoy Your Stay comes out in October, so please stay in touch over on Instagram @taragoedjen, or subscribe to my newsletter (there will be giveaways!) over on Substack, or via my website: taragoedjenauthor.com. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Vicky Oliver

  

 

 

 

Vicky Oliver is the author of the new novel Firebrands. Her other books include 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions. She is an editor at LIT magazine, and she lives in Manhattan.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Firebrands, and how did you create your characters Helena and Summer?

 

A: I have always been a student of history, and in particular, New York history. My ancestors on both sides of my family lived in New York City for many generations. As the person in my own family with a passion for history, I am always the one to whom everyone sends their old photographs, letters, and ephemera. The most fascinating research is often lurking in my own desk drawer!

 

New York City during 1908 was a time of great upheaval and change. Three movements were occurring in the city at the same moment: the early women’s movement, the early labor movement, and the anarchy movement.

 

In the course of my research for Firebrands, I discovered that Alva Belmont, the incredibly wealthy dowager who cared deeply about women’s rights, also stood with the shirtwaist factory workers in the strike of 1909. I thought that was highly unusual, since there was a class divide between the ladies who fought for women’s rights and the girls who labored in factories.

 

As I became deeply involved in my research I felt it would be interesting to have Helena James inspire some of this change in Alva. I also thought it would be fun to have a character such as Summer, brought up in the same household as Helena, but with wholly different values. Summer longs for the creature comforts that many middle-class ladies dreamed of.

 

While some of the scenes in Firebrands are torn from the headlines back then, the heart of the story is really the bond between these two sisters. I wanted to show the closeness, the love, and sometimes the frustration that exists between two girls who are very close but have different mindsets.

 

Q: Can you say more about how you researched the novel? What did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: Since I live and write in New York City, I go and visit all the locations I write about. If the building is still standing, that’s a great help. But even if it isn’t, I like to go and check out where it used to stand. I feel the vibe of the setting, and it helps place me so that I can capture it more richly.

 

This is also true of the scenes in the novel that are set in Providence, Rhode Island. I call this first-hand, boots-on-the-ground research. I do first-hand research as much as I possibly can to give my setting a real feel.

 

I also read nonfiction books about the time period as well as novels written about the period. I find menus, diaries, travel logs and do ancestry research as well.

 

The thing I learned that surprised me the most concerned the Pinkerton method of tracking their labor spies. I thought, “I have got to include this,” and so I did.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between the sisters?

 

A: I find the relationship between the sisters loving but fraught. They love each other so very much, but their values are quite different. Helena is trying her best to protect Summer, but sometimes Summer views it as interference.

 

It is my hope that the novel asks readers to consider how far one individual should go to save someone who may not want to be saved, and that it raises questions about responsibility, morality, sisterhood, and love.

 

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

 

A: The novel ended differently in the first draft than it did ultimately. I started writing the story the day after I was accepted into the New School MFA program in 2020. About three months into the program, the professor said, “Okay, class, now write the ending of your novels.” So I drafted one.

 

But, as I got deeper and deeper into the characters, I saw that some of Helena’s agency rubs off on Summer, and the original ending had to change—a lot! In all seriousness, I revised the story about 350 times, so quite a lot changed—characters, plot, complications—and I feel it’s all for the better.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Two novels. A stand-alone work of fiction with some of the same characters along with many, many new ones. And a wholly new work of historical fiction with all new characters.

 

I am 97 percent finished with the stand-alone and about 40 percent of the way through writing the first draft of the wholly new work. I hope I won’t have to revise the wholly new novel 350 times, but I’m willing to if I have to!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: It’s my belief that writing a novel is an adventure. I learned a lot while writing Firebrands—about New York history, for sure, but also about my characters and myself. I hope that readers will enjoy spending time with my characters as much as I have and will come away with an appreciation for this pivotal moment in history.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Naomi Gruer

  

 

 

Naomi Gruer is the author of the new children's picture book Hear Me Roar! I'm a HANUKKAHsaur. She is also an educator.

 

Q: What are some of your favorite Hanukkah traditions?

 

A: I love lighting the candles, then turning the lights out in a room to watch them glow. Gathering together with extended family to celebrate is a highlight. And I love latkes with applesauce and jelly doughnuts!

 

Q: What do you think Mel Zohar’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Mel did a wonderful job showing Miles’ expressions! He goes from believing he’s different Hanukkah dinosaurs to wanting to participate to uncertainty when things go awry to relief when the day (or Hanukkah activity) is saved. The way Mel framed scenes on a page adds to the playfulness of the story.

 

Q: How does your experience as an educator inform your writing?

 

A: Take the example of the bean bag! My editor asked what I had in mind as an illustration to “whomp.” I shared that my preschool kids were whomping onto the beanbag in our classroom, and our “calming corner” was no longer calm—lol! Listening to what makes the kids feel the way they do runs through my mind when writing.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Thanks for asking! I wrote a picture book where a child’s kind act inspires his friends, family and community to get involved. I’ve written an early chapter book proposal about a girl who loves nature, especially insects, and I’m working on a Shabbat board book.

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: When I’m not writing and teaching, I love taking long walks with my dog Penny Lane, working with clay on a potter’s wheel, hiking, baking, and knitting.

 

And I’m always on the lookout for animals. Some of the animals I’ve spotted in my neighborhood are chipmunks, squirrels, bunnies, groundhogs, deer, raccoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes, black bears and a coywolf!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with Naomi Gruer. Celebrate all eight nights of Hanukkah with a roaring good giveaway! Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win one of eight prize packs, each including a signed hardcover copy of Hear Me Roar! I’m a HANUKKAHsaur by Naomi Gruer and a bookmark featuring a fun Dino Hunt game. Each winner will also receive a goodie bag filled with a small toy dinosaur, wooden dreidel, and gelt, plus a handmade plush pillow featuring soft turquoise fleece and custom fabric decorated with dinosaurs from the book’s endpapers.

Oct. 13

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 13, 1909: Herblock born.

Q&A with Bryan Reilly

  

 

 

Bryan Reilly is the author of the middle grade novel The Junkyard.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Junkyard, and how did you create your character Maytag?

 

A: The Junkyard was primarily inspired by a moment of sheer and utter disgust. In 2007, a news story covered a professional football player who’d been arrested for running an illegal dog-fighting ring. This man and his associates subjected these poor dogs to atrocities that were tough to think about.

 

Still, I couldn’t get the story out of my mind. And through all the nauseating images and thoughts of, why didn’t anyone in the group of “friends” put a stop to this?

 

I found a story that made me feel rebellious—one that put me in the corner of mistreated dogs everywhere. I found a rebel in Maytag, a pacifist pit bull who would rather die than hurt another dog.

 

I knew her refusal to fight would shine a light on the disgusting and villainous people organizing and cheering on these brutal fights. And I knew her anti-violence stance would spark opposition and make the story interesting.

 

Q: What do you think Rich Denver’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Rich’s illustrations capture the grittiness I always envisioned for The Junkyard. And in a world where AI can create illustrations in seconds, Rich has given The Junkyard a level of originality and craftsmanship I’m extremely proud of.

 

As his illustrations came in chapter by chapter, they were great, as I’d expected, but what surprised me was that he hand-painted each one! He didn’t even use graphic design software! Every illustration in The Junkyard was hand-painted in brilliant watercolor on its own canvas.

 

Rich really took the time to pour his heart and soul into each illustration, and the book is better for it.

 

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

 

A: Yes, it was always important for me that the story ended with Maytag staying true to her newfound pacifism—that she showed how kindness could be a form of courage. As I wrote, her nonviolent stance sparked a creative windfall of ideas for how other characters could oppose her, emulate her, and take part in the story’s action-packed conclusion.  

 

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

 

A: It’s okay to stay true to yourself. In the face of peer pressure, bullying, and all the negativity that can creep into a young reader’s (everyone’s) life, it’s okay to stay true to your values, stick to what you believe in, and say “no” when it feels right.

 

The friendships or “found families” that last and are the most rewarding are with people who love us for who we are. In my experience, “staying true to you” inspires people, too.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently outlining the sequel to The Junkyard. What happens to these characters next? Should the sequel take place among the same piles of junk? Or should the dogs somehow be transported to, say… The Shipyard, meet new characters, and have new discarded vessels and aquatic-themed piles of junk to explore, hide, and survive in?

 

These are questions I’m going back and forth on—should the sequel leave the world I created?

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The book’s dedication is to my son, Jack, and it features the lyrics to a famous song followed by an ellipsis. The message I wanted to impart to Jack doesn't appear in the dedication, but in the uncited lyrics that follow the ellipsis.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with Bryan Reilly. Readers who follow along on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win one of three signed paperback copies of The Junkyard. One lucky grand prize winner will receive the ultimate book-lover’s bundle: a signed paperback copy of The Junkyard plus a $50 Amazon gift card and a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card!

Q&A with Nancy Thayer

  

Photo by Kit Noble

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy Thayer is the author of the new novel Nantucket Christmas Stroll. Her many other books include Let It Snow. She lives on Nantucket. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Nantucket Christmas Stroll?

 

A: I love Christmas!

 

My birthday is in December, and I’ve always been grateful for the days of celebration during the darkest days of the year. Christmas is all about nurturing the soul. The birth of a new baby is always a miracle.

 

Composers have written glorious Christmas music. Writers like Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas, Chris Van Allsburg, and Clement Clarke Moore have written classic stories and poems celebrating the spirit of Christmas. And the fragrances of pine and cinnamon and gingerbread---and hot chocolate!—warm our bodies and our hearts.

 

Plus, presents! Scientists will one day prove that buying and giving and getting presents releases all the good chemicals our brains need to be happy. I’ve already written three Nantucket Christmas novels. The third one, Let It Snow, is a Hallmark movie called Nantucket Noel.

 

Q: How did you create the Parsons family, and how would you describe the dynamic among the family members?

 

A: Honestly, I think I wrote this book because I miss my children and my sister, who was a nurse and who always sent dozens of presents to us every year. She lived in Kansas City and because of her I have Patrick Mahomes knee-high socks and T-shirt (red, very festive). She always brought laughter to our Christmas.

 

We used to hold a large Christmas party at our home every year when our two children were teenagers, continuing when they were college graduates starting their new lives.

 

When they were young and at home, I had cookie cutters shaped like Santa and stars and bells, and I made a baked Alaska which I brought flaming to the table for Christmas dinner. For several years, the kids and I made gingerbread houses.

 

A word to the wise—it’s a lot of work to make a gingerbread house from scratch and don’t even try to keep the peaked roof on the walls with icing. It never works. Use Elmer’s Glue instead. It’s white and no one will know the difference.

 

And punch!  Decades ago, a friend gave me the recipe that’s used in Nantucket Christmas Stroll. It is perfect for parties, but not for just two people.

 

Our children are grown now. My son and his husband live far away. My daughter and her husband have six children and they live in the same state, but still a day’s trip away. They now give an annual Christmas party which Charley and I travel to. Many of our friends have moved away to Florida for the winter. Yes, we’re that old. I wrote this book to relive and keep the Christmas party tradition.

 

But I wanted to make the party realistic, so I needed to have some drama and surprises and difficulties, but what holiday—what day—is ever perfect? I love romance, and I’ve lived in Wisconsin and in Finland, so I drew on those memories.

 

As for the characters—the first person I wanted to write about was a male nurse. I think we need more male nurses and Lucas was the first person who arrived on the page. I knew right away that his father would be upset that his son, who was supposed to take over the family business, wanted to be a nurse.

 

As I was putting the family together, my daughter, at the age of 42, gave birth to her sixth very adorable child. I know that more women are having babies later in life.

 

A minor character is Beatrice, an older woman like me, who causes a crisis and does it with style. The mother Jane is probably a lot like me. If you throw a party, things are bound to go wrong. Just go with it.

 

One year we had 12 people for Christmas dinner and I roasted two geese. I’d never cooked a goose before and I didn’t know how much fat they had. When I took the pan out of the oven, some of the goose fat spilled onto my foot. It hurt SO much, and I had to keep smiling as I put the damned geese on the platter. My advice—don’t cook a goose unless you’re wearing boots.

 

Q: What do you think is special about Nantucket during the holiday season?

 

A: Nantucket is an island, and that makes the season special. The Coast Guards hang an enormous Christmas wreath on the Brant Point Lighthouse, the first sight you see on arriving.

 

The shop windows are cleverly, beautifully decorated, and best of all, during the Stroll, Santa Claus and his wife come by boat! They are taken across the water by a Coast Guard cutter and met at Straight Wharf by a cheering crowd.

 

Nantucket is a very small town. You can walk off a ferry and two steps later, there you are, with the town just a few more steps away. A chorus wearing Victorian costumes strolls along, singing holiday songs. Christmas trees line the streets and a very large tree covered in lights stands at the top of Main Street, just a short walk from the ferry. (I’ve heard rumors that the tree talks to children.)

 

And Mitchell’s Book Corner on Main and Orange has many wonderful books to buy, including quite a few about the Christmas Stroll.

 

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

 

A: Hope is the word, isn’t it? Christmas is all about hope, about new life and joy, about light in the darkness. I hope my readers laugh while reading my book, and I hope they find people in the book who are a lot like they are. . .and they love them.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My 2027 novel, Seaside Romance, comes out next May. Mandy Meriweather is 24 and an agent wants to see the novel she’s writing. Mandy goes to Nantucket to stay with her fabulous Great Aunt Violet for the summer to finish her novel. But more people arrive and the beautiful old Victorian house needs repairs and life is complicated. And some people fall in love.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’ve always wanted to write about “normal” women and families. I’m not sure I qualify as “normal” anymore, but I’m not sure anyone does. I love my readers so very much and I’m grateful to you for reading my novels.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Nancy Thayer.