Q&A with Cathryn Rakich

  

 

 

Cathryn Rakich is the author of the new novel Thirty Days to Home. She is also an editor and columnist, as well as an animal rescue volunteer. She lives in Sacramento, California. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Thirty Days to Home, and how did you create your character Marli?

 

A: I’ve seen hundreds of stray street dogs in my worldwide travels. Homeless dogs and puppies abound on the streets of Central and South America. In India, I witnessed shopkeepers chase nursing moms away with brooms and mange-ridden puppies laying on the sides of roads. In Africa, canines with ribs protruding traveled alone or in packs searching for anything edible.

 

My husband and I were in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, where my book is set, when I came across a street dog with an injured back leg. Something snapped in me. This wayward mutt was one too many. I had to do something. But by the time I was able to act, the compromised canine had moved on, to who knows where, from where I first saw him.

 

I was frustrated. Heartbroken. Helpless. Angry. As a longtime animal-welfare advocate and activist in my hometown, I was distraught. As a writer, I was motivated. What could I do to help these creatures who no one owned, no one cared for, no one cared about?

 

“Thirty Days to Home” became my mission, my message, my way of bringing attention to the homeless street dogs and cats throughout the world who suffer through no fault of their own.

 

My main character, Marli, was created to demonstrate the strength and resilience of women who face and overcome the most daunting challenges. In “Thirty Days to Home,” I needed a protagonist who had endured life’s very worst but found the strength to rise up and live again, this time on her own terms.

 

Q: As you mentioned, the novel is set in Puerto Escondido, Mexico--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: My husband and I spent a week in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, experiencing the magnificence of its land, ocean, culture and people. Unfortunately, Mexico is also one of many countries where stray dogs are omnipresent. They are invisible creatures that live, suffer and die in the towns and countrysides, with no hope of a better existence.

 

The setting was an important way to bring my story to life through a magical town and all the experiences it has to offer, while weaving in the plight of street dogs and a woman’s mission to save herself and her new canine companion.

 

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

 

A: The title, “Thirty Days to Home,” has a dual meaning.

 

First, our protagonist, Marli, wants to take her newfound furry friend, Puerto, home to San Jose, California. But to bring a dog across the border of Mexico into the United States, there is a 30-day waiting period after a rabies vaccination. So Marli and Puerto are “thirty days to home.”

 

But in the end, California is no longer the “home” she once knew. Instead, Marli finds the meaning of home truly is “where the heart is.”

 

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

 

A: Thirty Days to Home is my first fiction novel and I probably went about writing my story all wrong. Every writing workshop I attended advised mapping out the scenes from beginning to end with post-it notes and storyboards.

 

I knew the main objective was to bring attention to the plight of street dogs through a woman overcoming tragedy and finding strength in loving and caring for a stray animal companion. But I did not know how I would get there until I started writing. The story unfolded as I went along, including the mystery behind the death of her son.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My writing continues with a monthly column, “Animals & Their Allies,” published in a local magazine, Inside Sacramento, with a circulation of 80,000. I focus on news, events and people related to animals, domestic and wild, including local rescue groups and shelters, the animal overpopulation crisis, and low-cost spay/neuter, among other critical topics.

 

Ideas for my next fiction novel are in the planning stage, but will, of course, involve animals.

 

I am also a ceramic artist with a focus on animal sculptures. And I recently established a nonprofit foster-based rescue group, Misfit Mutts Dog Rescue, which pulls dogs at risk of euthanasia from Sacramento-area animal shelters.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: For the past 15 years, my husband and I have rescued, fostered and found devoted families for nearly 100 dogs and countless cats and kittens in our community. Our city, state and country have a long way to go before we stop killing companion animals because our shelters are overcrowded and there are not enough homes.

 

But the United States is a far cry from other countries where millions of stray dogs and cats fend for themselves, left on the streets to endure hunger, sickness, and injury until they die alone.

 

I wrote Thirty Days to Home as a tribute to those animals—and hope for the day when kindness and compassion extend to all creatures.

 

Please spay and neuter.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Kristine Rudolph

  

 

 

Kristine Rudolph is the author of the new middle grade novel The Twin Stars and the Soccer Superstar. She lives in Atlanta and in Austin, Texas. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Twin Stars and the Soccer Superstar, and how did you create your character Cassaty?

 

A: Before I wrote for kids, I took a stab at writing for adults. I have a law degree and also love true crime, so the natural path was for me to write domestic thrillers, right? Except. Gah! It turns out I am just not able to go as deep and dark as publishers and agents want. I realized I didn’t want to live in that space, mentally.

 

Writing a “light mystery” for younger readers was the perfect solution. The Twin Stars and the Soccer Superstar started with a “what if?’ question — “What if you are a superfan and your hero goes missing? — and evolved from there.

 

I have two daughters who play soccer. They are four years apart, about the difference between Cassaty and Katey in the novel. My oldest daughter is a high school senior and started playing when she was 4, so I have watched *a lot* of girls' soccer over the past fourteen years.

 

Watching my children develop on the field as players and witnessing how soccer has impacted their growth definitely informed my character development. 

 

Q: The author Zachary Steele called the book a “beautifully written story about the lengths to which we will go to process grief, and the weight it carries in all that we do.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Zach is a wonderful person who wrote a lovely novel called The Weight of Ashes. It’s got a real Stand By Me (the movie, not the song) feel to it. The main character is dealing with the loss of a sibling which, spoiler alert, is a big theme in my book. I love that Zach saw the parallels between our books even though they tell very different stories.

 

In addition to being an author and the founder of Broadleaf Writers Association, Zach is bookshop manager at the legendary Hub City. So to have him call my book "beautifully written” means the world to me. 

 

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 outline, but I always outline in a rough form leaving lots of room for me to get to know my characters better. With this book, I really kind of started with the ending and worked backward. So, yes, I knew how it would end when I started typing. The “soccer superstar,” Katey Korey, was very vivid in my mind’s eye, and I knew exactly how she would behave at the novel’s end. 

 

I usually have a solid sense of a book’s beginning and ending when I take pen to paper to outline. It’s that messy middle, though, that gets me every time!

 

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

 

A: In his book, Booktalk: Occasional Writing on Literature and Children, children’s author Aidan Chambers develops the idea of an author’s second self.

 

It’s a really interesting concept. He argues that many books for children feature a character who is there to say the things the author would say if he or she were in the story.

 

Because children’s literature features mischief, shenanigans or just plain immaturity, an author needs to insert a reasonable foil. Think about some of your favorite children’s books and I would wager you can come up with a few examples.

 

In this book, Cassaty’s sister Amelia is the author’s second self. She is the truth-teller. Throughout the novel she is encouraging the others to live authentically and to let themselves feel their feelings instead of trying to paper over them.

 

My great hope is that Amelia will resonate with my readers and they will feel slightly less bound to expectation, both real and perceived, when they finish the last page.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am trying to find a publishing home for a book I adore, called Myra & Birdie, which is historical and contemporary and brings the Orly airport tragedy to young readers.

 

The crash at Orly had profound implications for the city I live in, Atlanta, and left 33 children orphaned. But these kids’ grief was really papered over and there is precious little written about Orly. I really want to get this story out there.

 

As for writing, I am in the early stages of a political novel involving high school debate and First Amendment issues. Timely, right?

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: My aunt and uncle live in Fredericksburg, Texas, which is the real city on which my fictional town of Barons Creek is based. Fredericksburg is a magical place with loads of history. It was settled by Germans and still retains elements of that heritage.

 

The dance hall in the book, Russell Hall, is based on Luckenbach, Texas, the site of a very famous dance hall. My aunt’s father made Luckenbach famous and she’s kept his spirit alive in the town, so it’s really fun to honor that legacy in this way.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Alexander Kopelman

  

 

 

Alexander Kopelman is the author of the new book For Real: Helping Children Remain Their Authentic Selves in a Limiting World. He is the founding president and CEO of the nonprofit organization Children's Arts Guild. He lives in New York City. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write For Real?

 

A: I think the seeds of the book go all the way back to my growing up in what was then the Soviet Union. In an authoritarian system well-practiced at controlling not only the actions but the thoughts of its people, the very idea of understanding and growing an authentic self was not really an option.

 

When I arrived in the United States as a 13-year-old Jewish refugee, I had the opportunity--and the necessity--of shaping a whole new identity in a new language. (When we came to New York, I knew two words, “please” and “hello.”) The idea that I was free to choose who and what to be was honestly overwhelming.

 

The first 10 years of this new life were all about becoming as American as I could be. And then a few years after college, I realized that while I was busy learning how to become undetectable as an alien, I had not learned anything about who I actually was.

 

With no tools for self-reflection or emotional growth, I flailed about for a good chunk of my 20s, inflicting quite a bit of pain on myself and the people around me.

 

When I finally made my way into therapy, a key theme that emerged was that I didn’t know how to be a man in the world. As I later heard many men say, I was convinced that I hadn’t gotten the manual. That eventually led me to the Mankind Project and a life-changing weekly men’s group.

 

And that’s where the inspiration for For Real took shape. We met in one of the art rooms of a generous elementary school in New York City. Sitting on small wooden chairs, week in and week out, we supported each other in navigating through our lives and becoming the people we wanted to be.

 

What struck me was how difficult it was for accomplished, successful, strong men to feel, name, and express basic emotions like fear, anger, joy, and sadness (most of us didn’t seem to have as many problems with feeling shame). And I began to think that there must be a better way, that we should focus on prevention rather than intervention.

 

The idea was simple: Help children learn to understand themselves and feel comfortable with who they are as they grow. That led to my founding, with a group of dedicated people, the Children’s Arts Guild. For Real is the product of the work we have done in developing that simple idea over the past 15 years.

 

Q: The author Gary Shteyngart said of the book, “As someone still recovering from the bias I encountered during my debilitating attempts at socialization as a child, this book is a boon to anyone who wants to provide better childhoods for their children and students.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: At SXSW EDU earlier this month, I was talking about the book out in public for the first time. A man stopped by our booth in the Exhibition Hall, read the title on the advance reading copy on the table, and said, “Oh, this is a book about remembering.”

 

I think Gary’s description gets at the same idea. To do better by the children in our care, we must remember what childhood was like for us and endeavour to learn from what worked and what didn’t. For Real offers readers a structured, empathetic way to do the remembering and some tools for learning from our experiences.

 

Q: What impact do you think the pandemic had on the classroom, and what do you see looking ahead?

 

A: Back in 2021, I heard a guest on Krista Tippett’s On Being describe the pandemic as having created “species-level” stress. I think we are continuing to experience the effects of that stress in every single system, inside and out.

 

Educators and child-development experts continue to tell me that the children they work with tend to be about three years “behind” what we have previously considered the normative trajectory of development. That shows up differently depending on how old the kids were during the most difficult years of the pandemic.

 

What educators are reporting now are soaring rates of anxiety and depression among children, behavioral issues, difficulty socializing, and learning delays.

 

For a time, the focus of the education system turned almost exclusively to addressing learning loss. I am beginning to see signs that people are recognizing that if we do not address children’s ability to regulate their emotions, to feel safe, and to manage social interactions in healthy ways, we will not be able to help them learn.

 

I also think that we have an opportunity to ask whether our classrooms are designed to meet the real needs of children. In For Real, I explore the arguments made by thinkers like Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., that our model of education, created to meet the demands of the labor market of our ever-more industrialized society, is poorly suited to supporting the ways children actually learn and develop.

 

The strain of the pandemic exposed even more starkly the ways in which the system is failing our children. Rather than patching back together, I hope we can find a way to reimagine and rebuild it.

 

Q: What do you see as the importance of authenticity for young people?

 

A: Parker Palmer, the noted author and founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal, describes authenticity as “living on the outside the truth you know on the inside.” What I love about this elegant statement is that for me it captures the freedom and ease that come from living authentically.

 

Obscuring parts of ourselves and constantly reading the rooms we are in to determine which versions of us might be acceptable and accepted takes enormous amounts of energy.

 

When we encourage young people to be comfortable with themselves and support them in developing the tools to live authentically, we help them free up huge stores of creativity, curiosity, and joy.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: The publication of For Real marks the launch of the Authenticity Works Initiative to spark a movement of caring adults dedicated to helping children thrive by helping them understand what is true for them on the inside and to living in harmony with that truth.

 

Authenticity Works aims to inspire a wide-ranging public discourse through a broad range of activities to

Educate - through the book, speaking engagements, workshops, online content, and future publications and programmatic products

Collaborate - by building a community of like-minded individuals, organizations, and institutions through convenings, conferences, and partnerships 

Advocate - by working together with our community to push for systemic changes in areas such as education, social services, healthcare, and childcare.

 

We will also be inviting people to join the Authenticity Works Alliance as a means to support grass-roots activism to address the needs of children in local communities.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: People often ask me whether this work and For Real is intended for a particular age group. I really hope that as many people as possible understand and embrace the idea that we need to support children from birth to early adulthood in being comfortable being themselves and that in order to do so we need to work on being comfortable in our own skins in order to model it for kids.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

June 11

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
June 11, 1925: William Styron born.

Q&A with Stephanie Mack

  

 

 

Stephanie Mack is the author of the new novel Twenty Something Else. She hosts the podcast Underline That, and she lives in Orange County, California.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write Twenty Something Else, and how did you create your character Sutton?

 

A: Twenty Something Else was born at the intersection of two things: my own approaching 40th birthday and my lifelong love for It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve always been fascinated by the ripple effect of our choices—how one yes or no can shape decades and impact thousands.

 

As I stood on the brink of 40, I found myself reflecting not with regret, but with curiosity. Who was the 21-year-old version of me? What parts of her are still alive and well? What parts have evolved?

 

Sutton began as a bit of an extension-of-self character—same stage of life, similar questions, similar passions. But very quickly she took on her own heartbeat. I gave her my curiosity, my love for beauty and the arts, and my deep loyalty to family. But I gave her ample space to wrestle differently, to respond differently, to grow in ways uniquely her own.

 

She is familiar to me—especially after so much precious time together—but she is not me. That distinction was important.

 

Q: What do you see as the relationship between your novel and the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life?

 

A: At its core, It’s a Wonderful Life asks one profound question: What would the world look like if you had never existed?

 

Twenty Something Else asks a sister question: What would your life look like if you had chosen differently—perhaps never existing in certain ways, yet fully flourishing in others?

 

Both stories explore the sacred weight of ordinary decisions. George Bailey sees how his kindness and quiet faithfulness shaped an entire town. Sutton sees how her “small” choices—love, marriage, motherhood, sacrifice, ambition—shaped her own becoming, created whole humans, and changed other lives.

 

I didn’t want to recreate the film or even mirror it. I wanted to honor its spirit. The reminder that our lives matter. That our unseen choices matter. That kindness, obedience, courage, and even detours ripple further than we’ll ever fully know.

 

Q: The author Bethany Turner called the book a “one-of-a-kind gem that sparkles with wit and wisdom that feels uniquely millennial but will undoubtedly appeal to readers of all ages.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: First of all, I adore Bethany and all her books, so I might frame that quote!

 

Secondly, I do think this story carries a distinctly millennial lens—the nostalgia, the outfits, the “did I do this right?” internal dialogue, the weight of social media comparison, the balancing act between ambition and presence. But I also believe the deeper themes—identity, marriage, second acts, gratitude, grief, faith—are timeless.

 

We may move through the world and process it differently than our mothers did. We may question and experience things our grandmothers didn’t. But women across generations have always wrestled with who they are becoming—and how to weigh and balance the elusive all. If this book feels millennial in tone but universal in heart, that’s the highest compliment.

 

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

 

A: I hope readers walk away with gratitude instead of regret—with a total exhale and full belief that they’re really something else.

 

I hope they feel permission to look back on their 20s—or 30s, or 50s—not to rewrite them, but to understand them. I hope every reader sees that the woman she is today didn’t happen by accident. She was formed through brave choices, hard seasons, faithful obedience, laughter, heartbreak, and love.

 

Most of all, I hope readers close the book thinking: My life counts. My story matters. And what’s ahead is still unfolding. Forty is just the beginning. I feel that deeply.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m continuing to write fictional stories centered on women navigating modern life with honesty, humor, and hope. I’m currently developing my next novel—my first truly “summer” book! It’s another emotionally layered story exploring identity, love, and reinvention in a Southern California setting.

 

I’m also deeply invested in my podcast, Underline That, where I have the joy of interviewing authors and thinkers about craft, calling, courage, and so much more. I love exploring “the things worth underlining”—anything we pause to highlight, literally or metaphorically. I’m honored by the weekly conversations I have with women who blow me away. Storytelling is truly my passion, and it takes many forms.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: That I’m 40 now—and I love it! The milestone didn’t feel like a closing door. It felt like an invitation. To clarity. To deeper friendships. To creative boldness. To saying no to what no longer fits and yes to what matters most.

 

If there’s one thing I learned while writing Twenty Something Else, it’s that we don’t have to fear the next decade. We get to steward it. We get to celebrate it! What a gift. Turns out it really is a wonderful life.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Eliza Knight

  

Photo by Michael Devaney

 

 

Eliza Knight is the author of the new novel Lost in the Summer of '69. Her many other novels include Confessions of a Grammar Queen.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lost in the Summer of ‘69?

 

A: There were so many ideas filtering through my head that inspired Lost in the Summer of ’69, and after a walk-and-plot with a writer pal of mine, the pieces started to fall into place.

 

Following my novel Confessions of a Grammar Queen, I knew I wanted to write another book that took place in the ‘60s, so I started to do some exploratory research about what happened in that decade of change.

 

I came across the summer of 1969, which was filled with not only music festivals, but other changes in the country, including the first year Yale allowed women to matriculate. I’ve always been fascinated by women’s stories, mothers and daughters, ways we change and empower each other, and I knew I needed to write a generational story.

 

There’s also a thread of exploring stories together and how reading can spark conversation, so you’ll see that in a number of ways.

 

Every novel I write has a little piece of me in it, and that year, there were some personal things going on in my life as well that sparked inspiration and the need to explore—my father-in-law’s battle with Alzheimer’s and my daughter going off to college. As the ideas snowballed, so too did the urgency to write this story.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamics among the various generations of women in the novel?

 

A: At the start of the novel the dynamics between mothers and daughters is tense.

 

On the one hand you have Eleanor, the matriarch of the family who is keeping her diagnosis a secret and now she’s run away, not trusting her daughter to let her live her life on her own terms.

 

Then you have Leanne, a housewife, about to be an empty nester who is also struggling to connect with her own daughter, Nora, who is about to go off to college.

 

Each of them carries their own secrets, desires, and need for self-discovery and change. Sometimes those needs don’t align with each other, which results in some butting heads. But as they embark on this epic summer road trip, they learn more about not only themselves, but each other.

 

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

 

A: The research for this book consisted of reading several books about the summer of concerts, as well as reading the books that Leanne and Nora bond over in the car. I did extensive research on what the road trip itself would entail, as well as the music industry.

 

I learned so much about the creation of rock n’ roll, as well as how the industry changed for women through the decades. I was fascinated too by the change in fashion from 1960 to 1969.

 

I also learned a lot about dementia and Alzheimer’s. I’ve experienced dementia and Alzheimer’s in my own family, and you study what’s needed emotionally and medically for your own family, but to study it more personally from other people’s experiences and to recreate it on the page was eye opening and heart-wrenching.

 

Leanne’s character was the biggest surprise for me. She started out one way, and ended another, and I really enjoyed watching her flourish.

 

Q: What do you think was special about the summer of 1969?

 

A: I think it was a special summer of change across the country! Women’s rights, civil rights, and a cultural revolution that was inspired and spurred on by the music. There was a sense of freedom, of growth. The music changed, clothes changed, even the way we danced changed. In the immortal lyrics of The Doors, it helped us Break on Through to the Other Side.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on two stories right now. One is a gothic historical, disaster mashup, and one is a women’s fiction novel of self-discovery! I can’t say more than that now, but I’m very excited for both!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope readers feel a genuine connection to the story, the characters, and to the emotions threaded throughout. I hope that those connections spark conversations between mothers and daughters, or with friends about their relationships, their hopes, their dreams, their desires for change or stories they want to share.

 

I want my book to be the jumping off point for people to revisit the music or maybe listen for the first time. To read the books mentioned. I want readers to reminisce about the stories that shaped them, and to reflect on not only who they were, but who they’re still becoming.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Eliza Knight.  

Q&A with Emily Renk Hawthorne

  

 

 

Emily Renk Hawthorne is the author of the new novel From the Depths, the second in her Of Mountains and Seas duology. She is also a dentist, and she lives on California's Central Coast. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write your Of Mountains and Seas series?

 

A: I grew up reading fantasy and always wanted to write my own fantasy novel. Being half Chinese and from California, I wanted to write a story that a younger version of me could relate to, so I mixed Chinese mythology with a California setting. 

 

Q: How did you come up with the plot for your new novel, From the Depths, and how did you create your character Nivi?

 

A: The plot for From the Depths continues from where Of Mountains and Seas left off. I read through Of Mountains and Seas and made notes of any plotlines that hadn't been tied up and made it my goal to complete them all in From the Depths. 

 

Nivi is a character in Book 1, whom I based on a younger version of myself: a teenager trying to figure out her place in the world. In Book 2, I continue her character development and have her face larger challenges.

 

Q: How did you create the world in which the stories take place?

 

A: I started with places in California that are familiar to me and then slowly wove the magic and mythology in. I tried to imagine what a parallel society hidden in plain sight would look like and what measures would keep the two worlds separate.

 

Q: Do you usually know how your novels will end, or do you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I sometimes have a rough idea of where the novel is heading, but as the characters develop, I'm always surprised by how they take control of the narrative and change the plot.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have several new ideas that all include a bit of magic or the paranormal, but there are two that I'm actively working on: a winter romance with a touch of magic and a medieval retelling of a well-known romance with a twist that hasn’t been done yet.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I live on the Central Coast with my husband, our daughter, and two elderly dogs. :-)

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb