Q&A with Kate White

   

 

Kate White is the author of the new novel I Came Back for You. Her many other novels include Between Two Strangers. She is the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write I Came Back for You, and how did you create your character Bree?

 

A: Though I sometimes recall where the spark for a particular novel came from, with this book I just don’t remember it. It was simply there one day, the idea of a mother finding out that the serial killer believed to have killed her daughter eight years ago might not have done it.

 

I always find it so mind blowing when an idea just pops up, though I probably planted seeds for it at various times.

 

This was a very emotional book for me to work on because Bree’s search for the truth is a very tough one.

 

Beyond the idea of her trying to find out who the real murderer is, I was intrigued with the concept of  someone discovering that everything she believed was wrong. I had the misfortune of dating someone in my late 20s who turned out to be incredibly dishonest and deceptive (ha, never made THAT mistake again).  

 

When you go through something like that, you aren’t just facing the fact that a person you trusted isn’t who you thought they were. It’s about realizing that your life wasn’t what you thought it was for a period of time. I wanted to explore that.

 

Bree ends up in such a terrible tailspin when she learns she might have had things wrong. She knows she can’t move on in until she figures out the truth and that means traveling back with her ex-husband to the college town in upstate New York where her daughter was murdered eight years before.

 

Q: Part of the novel is set in Uruguay—can you say more about why you chose that setting?

 

A: I’m so lucky that I get to live in Uruguay every winter. And it’s a beautiful country, plus a very safe and progressive one, and the awesome tranquility allows me to work very intensely on my books while I’m here.

 

As much as I love Uruguay, however, I’d never considered setting a book partly here, but as I thought about the challenge Bree faces and how much she has to risk in order to find the truth (including spending time with her ex-husband!), I decided I wanted her to have to travel a very long distance to return to the college town where her daughter died. It would just make the stakes higher for her.

 

So Uruguay sounded perfect. And it was great to try to capture the landscape and tranquility in Uruguay in the first six chapters.

 

Q: The writer Kimberly Belle called the book “a taut, deeply felt whodunnit filled with grief, reckoning, and painful truths that come to light only when it’s too late to ask the questions.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I was so grateful for that description because I always want my books to be two things: a good story that gets the reader to feel for the protagonist and think about the themes even after the book is finished, but also a terrific puzzle to be solved, a true whodunit.

 

I’ve been really pleased by how many readers have written in to say that the ending both took them by surprise but also seemed very credible. I don’t mind when readers guess the ending because, hey, you expect some people to do that, but it’s always fun to think of a book being a riveting surprise for a reader.

 

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

 

A: I hope they find Bree’s story so gripping that they even stay up past their bedtime to read the book, but I also hope they’re really intrigued by who the killer must be and are as eager as Bree is to uncover that person.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I just completed my 2027 psychological thriller, Gone Silent. It’s a story about a woman named Gideon who is ghosted by her best friend of many years and has no idea why.

 

She pleads with her friend to tell her what she did wrong, but before she can get an answer, her friend dies after a fall from a hiking trail. Now Gideon is even more desperate to know the truth.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I’m eternally grateful for all the readers in the world and people like you, Deborah, that help readers find out about authors. It means I get to be a full-time author, which I love. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Kate White. 

Q&A with Marian Mitchell Donahue

  

Photo by Tiffanie Drayton

 

 

Marian Mitchell Donahue is the author of the new novel Backstitch. She lives in Brooklyn. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Backstitch?

 

A: The inspiration really started with my family. I grew up in a family of artists. My parents were both in the theatre, my sisters are both visual artists, I have a grandfather who was a painter, it goes back years.

 

I wanted to capture a very specific family dynamic that happens when domestic life and artistic life overlap, especially when there are young children in the mix.

 

My childhood was spent surrounded by people in the process of making art, so I was gifted an inside look into the actual physical and mental work it takes to translate something from an idea to a realized piece.

 

I wanted the book to have that same behind-the-scenes element. I wanted it to be about the work of creating art, crafting identity, and building a family.

 

Q: The author Margot Livesey said of the book, “Backstitch is a wonderfully intelligent and enthralling novel about the costs of making art, both for the artist, and for her daughters...” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love that description! It cuts to one of the main concerns of the novel, which is what it feels like to serve as the model or muse for a work of art. As a young woman the mother, Alice, was a model/muse for a photographer boyfriend and later uses her own two daughters as models/muses in her own work.

 

Through these two generations of women I could explore different facets of that specific relationship between the creator, the inspiration, and the creation. Who owns which parts of the process? Who owns the final piece?

 

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

 

A: The novel went through three working titles as it was developed, which ranged from cringey to close-but-not-quite-right.

 

Ultimately, I was looking for a title that was pulled from the world of the book but also revealed something about the story's structure. My novel, like a backstitch, starts in one place and loops backward in time, showing some of the same scenes in duplicate from different perspectives.

 

I also use the museum exhibit as an organizing structure in the book, and as the reader goes through the exhibit, they loop each time they read a chapter, first reading a description of the artwork in the present day before returning to see the past.

 

The title made sense from a character perspective since I’d given Alice such a strong connection to hand sewing, so the scene where she teaches Violet the backstitch becomes a touching moment amongst some more fraught exchanges between them. 

 

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 knew I wanted to start and end the book with the two sisters, but the exact blocking of the end scene was something I discovered through the editing process.

 

The book moves around a lot in time, moving backwards and forwards, so I wanted to have certain images and behaviors repeated both as character choices and to give the reader a sense of development.

 

The sisters were the first characters I’d created in this world, their childhood perspective serves as the introduction to the story, and so it felt right to end with them as adults dealing with their pasts and facing the future. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’ve been having fun with shorter forms while I launch Backstitch, so I recently started writing poetry for the first time. I am also developing my second novel.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’ve been working on this book for nine years, from first draft to publication day. I’ve changed a lot as a person and as a writer through that time, but something consistent is my community of writers and readers that I’ve built over the years. I’m very grateful to them and am looking forward to adding even more new connections in the future. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Lala Watkins

  

 

 

Lala Watkins is the illustrator of the new children's picture book Go Bananas!. Her other books include Hello, Sun!. She lives in Florida.

 

Q: How did you end up illustrating Go Bananas!?

 

A: I had a few books I was working on and then in 2022, I was asked to work on this project. They thought my bold, playful style and fun kid-driven humor would give the book a unique voice that is goofy yet brimming with heart. I love working on silly books so to have the opportunity to make one with bananas was something I couldn’t deny!

 

Q: The School Library Journal review of the book says, “This cheerily colorful riff on the infectious camp song will have little ones joining in....Pull this one out when the classroom or story hour needs a reset and some giggles.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think it's perfect! Kids need a silly break, to make mistakes, and understand you’re not alone so call out to your friends. We can do this together!

 

Q: Can you tell us about your illustrating process?

 

A: I did a lot of sketching ideas for how these bananas would look like. Are they people in banana suits? Are they silly bananas? After sketching on procreate and on paper, I decided to move to procreate and create bold bananas. It was so much fun to do and I really wanted to make the silliness ooze off the pages.

 

I did use both traditional media and digital. I made the textures overlaid on some of the art, especially the bananas. I scanned textures of pencils, paints, and crayons, etc., that I made on loose paper.

 

I saved them in a folder on my desktop and when I finished drawing the illustrations digitally, I would add the textures in photoshop and see what looked best. I looked at ‘60s & ‘70s retro bold art as references, which you can see throughout even in the lettering.

 

Q: What got you interested in illustrating children’s picture books?

 

A: I had the opportunity to intern at Cartoon Network my junior year of college, that really opened my eyes to the fact that I wanted to create for kids and the kid at heart. It found what made my heart go “!”  but I didn’t know what that would look like for me.

 

When I returned for senior year of school, I ended up taking up two children’s book electives: writing for picture books and drawing for children’s books. I didn’t know anything about children’s picture books beyond that.

 

My path went in a different direction once I graduated. I got a job at Sanrio, Inc. as a product designer and worked at some pretty cool places as an illustrator, designer, and developer.

 

I posted my work on my Instagram and that was how my agent, Erica Rand Silverman found me through a client of hers, Mika Song. Mika played matchmaker and now I’m part of the wonderful Stimola Literary Studio.

 

I started creating art professionally as a children’s book illustrator in 2021, six years ago and I’m so grateful that I get to do that because it really feels like I found the thing I was meant to do. I’ve learned so much about picture books since then, and continue to learn.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on a few projects right now that are a little hush hush that I can’t wait to share with you all in the future.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: My favorite color is blue–all the blues, including cerulean blue (a fave). If I had to pick a vegetable to fight it would be jicama. I love looking at the sky.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Linda Elovitz Marshall

   

 

Linda Elovitz Marshall is the author of the new children's picture book Talia and the Passover HUG-gadah. Her many other books include Talia and the Rude Vegetables. She lives in upstate New York. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Talia and the Passover HUG-gadah?

 

A: Talia and the Passover HUG-gadah is the fourth in a series of books featuring energetic, curious Talia. Talia doesn’t yet know much about Jewish holidays and is thrilled to help Grandma prepare for them.

 

In the first book, Talia and the Rude Vegetables (KarBen, 2011),  Grandma asks Talia to go to the garden, please, and get root vegetables for use in a sweet Rosh Hashanah stew.

 

Talia mis-hears the word “root" as “rude” -and wonders how a vegetable can be rude (does it shove the other vegetables?). She soon learns the sweetness of the holiday…and the wishes for a sweet new year.

 

In Talia and the Very YUM! Kippur (KarBen, 2016), Talia thinks the holiday will be “YUM!” and learns the meaning of a “fast” day.

 

In Talia and the Haman-Tushies (KarBen, 2017), Talia learns about Purim as she helps Grandma bake Haman-taschen (which she hears as Haman-tushies and vows never, ever to eat one).

 

Talia needed a Passover book and, in characteristic Talia-style, she mis-hears the word “Haggadah” as HUG-gadah…and decides the holiday is all about hugs!

 

Q: What do you think Francesca Assirelli’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Francesca Assirelli’s illustrations, as always, add light and warmth and humor. Francesca’s wonderful illustrations explore the joys of being together and the warmth of the family traditions. She made a very sweet story even sweeter.

 

Q: How did you create your character Talia?

 

A: Fun question! The first Talia story began as a story featuring two grandparents, one of whom was hard-of-hearing. It was also one of the first stories for children that I’d ever written.

 

I was fortunate to be able to attend a special SCBWI conference for Jewish Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators…and I brought the “Rude Vegetables” manuscript.

 

At the conference, I met with one of the founders of KarBen, Judye Groner, and discussed the manuscript. Not one to mince words, Judye said she didn’t like it and explained why. I took notes, very good notes.

 

Back at home, I revised the manuscript, exchanging the grandfather for a child who was kind, curious, and eager to help. That child took the name of my then-newborn granddaughter. Talia!

 

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

 

A: I hope readers will learn the story of Passover and understand the importance of freedom, as well as the importance of telling the Passover story year after year in a warm, family situation.

 

Passover is one of my favorite Jewish holidays (maybe my most favorite) because, to me, it’s all about family being together, celebrating freedom…and lots of hugs!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m currently working on a nonfiction picture book about marine life. When this is done, I have several things (including another Talia book and a middle-grade project) that I’ll be working on.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope you’ll look for my forthcoming story about another spunky girl. Tentatively entitled Kylie and the Very, Very OLD (actually Prehistoric) Saber-Tooth Cat, it is a nonfiction account of 7-year-old Kylie and her discovery of a very important fossil. (South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2026). 

 

And…look around. There’s always something interesting to uncover! We just never know where…or when…or what it will be.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

March 27

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
March 27, 1926: Frank O'Hara born.

Q&A with Sally Kilpatrick

  

 

 

Sally Kilpatrick is the author of the new novel Little Miss Petty. Her other books include Nobody's Perfect. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Little Miss Petty, and how did you create your character Stella?

 

A: This novel began with a question, an idle musing: What if there were someone you could hire to get a petty sort of revenge on the people who’ve wronged you? Pretty sure it originated from something I’ve often said to my husband: Karma doesn’t work fast enough for me.

 

Fiction is a great place to get the sort of catharsis you can’t get from the real world, and that’s how Little Miss Petty was born. Stella then emerged as my Little Miss Petty. She had her own ideas about how the story should go, as characters so often do.

 

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

 

A: It doesn’t always happen like this, but the title came first.

 

For me, it’s a humorous play on the old Mr. Men and Little Miss books that my mom used to check out of the library. Sometimes those characters were nice; often they were naughty.

 

Naturally, there was a lesson to be learned, and every book character should learn something over the course of their arc, so it all made sense to me.

 

I like to keep things light, but there’s usually a somewhat serious message underneath the humor. As authors, we don’t always get to choose our title, but, in this case, the title was the main selling point.

 

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

 

A: The novel reminds us—me, especially—that I’m not in charge of karma nor any laws of the universe. It’s hubris to think otherwise.

 

Also, our Western interpretation of karma is not correct. In reality, karma isn’t immediate reward and punishment but more reliant on each individual’s intention. Of course, this is a rom com, so I don’t get into the subtleties or nuances of the actual concept of karma.

 

While drafting this novel, I did read a lot about Eastern interpretations of karma, including the Bhagavad Gita, but I am a dilletante at best. Anything beyond one woman’s wishful thinking for cosmic accountability is above my pay grade.

 

Q: The author Valerie Bowman said of the book, “Smart, hilarious, and surprisingly poignant, Little Miss Petty is the cozy revenge fantasy I didn’t know I needed.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I adore that description. It’s definitely a cozy revenge fantasy because I’m using the social media definition of “petty” rather than the dictionary definition. All forms of retribution must be logical and not overly harmful; Stella’s job is to punch up rather than punch down.

 

I gotta love the other descriptors, too.

 

As a writer, my goal is to entertain and to leave my readers on a hopeful note. It’s gravy if there’s something meaningful they can also take away from the story.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My next novel will be called See Box City about one woman’s attempt to survive moving cross-country. Just kidding. I have some ideas marinating, but I don’t have a current work in progress because I have moved cross-country and am living amongst the boxes.

 

I do have a finished mystery that I’m finetuning. I’ve also toyed with a sequel to Nobody’s Perfect, and I always have at least three ideas for a Christmas novella, but I’ll be working on those more in the next month or so. (If someone is interested in the novel See Box City, call me. I’ll make it work.)

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Oooh, so much. Um. I have the rights back to my entire backlist, and they are all getting audio editions. If anyone’s into country-fried small-town romance, I’d be honored if folks to give them a shot.

 

Speaking of audio, the narrator for Little Miss Petty, Amanda Stribling, is an alumna of the University of Tennessee, as am I. I’m pretty pumped about that and the sample of her work that I heard.

 

Finally, if you preorder from The Ripped Bodice here in California or The Book Worm in Georgia, you can get your very own vinyl sticker that says Little Miss Petty. Both feature the calico kitten from the book, the one I named after Brené Brown. You can find that information at www.sallykilpatrick.com.

 

You can also find me on Instagram, Threads, and sometimes TikTok. My user name is @superwritermom, which is either a joke that has outlived its origin or wishful thinking on the “super” part. Oh, and thanks for having me!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Paul Coggins

  

 

 

 

Paul Coggins is the author of the new novel Chasing the Chameleon, the third in his series featuring his character Cash McCahill. Coggins is a criminal defense attorney in Dallas and a former U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Chasing the Chameleon, the latest in your series featuring your character Cash McCahill?

 

A: In the prior Cash books (Sting Like a Butterfly and Eye of the Tigress), Cash crossed a cartel, which slapped a seven-figure bounty on his head.

 

To survive, he faced a choice of running until his legs and luck ran out or hiding in plain sight. He went with the latter, by surgically altering his face and stealing the identity of a dead cop. A threat to someone close to Cash forces him to shed his fake identity and return to his old life.

 

A key inspiration for the book is a movie called Seconds from the 1960s that has haunted me since I saw it as a kid. It was a box office bomb upon release but has become a cult classic. In the film, an over-the-hill banker undergoes a procedure and becomes a young, handsome artist portrayed by Rock Hudson.

 

In Chameleon, the opposite occurs, with easy-on-the-eyes Cash in his prime resurfacing as a much older cop.

 

Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage is another inspiration.

 

Q: Do you think Cash has changed over the course of the series?

 

A: Cash is a risk-taker, who had better change if he plans to survive into his 50s. He grows within the confines of each book and over the course of the series. Orphaned at 8, Cash was raised by his now-deceased grandmother. He builds a surrogate family among the eccentrics, castoffs, and untouchables in his small firm.

 

Two years in a federal prison for jury tampering shook Cash to the core and lifted his law license for three years. The time served also deepened his commitment to fight for the underdog. He owes his life to his cellmate and protector behind bars and has vowed to give the lifer at least a shot at spending the last years of his life on the outside.

 

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

 

A: Before embarking on a story, I prepare a detailed outline that falls apart in the first 10 to 20 pages. The advance planning part is the lawyer in me talking.

 

However, the outline is more of a security blanket than a structural tool. At most, the outline helps me think about scenes, characters, and the relationships among them.

 

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

 

A: First, I hope the readers like Cash, warts and all, and decide they would want him in their corner if their freedom was on the line.   

 

Second, I share with the reader my insights into our judicial, police, and prison systems, again warts and all. There is a caveat, of course. Justice gets done only when all players in the criminal justice world do their jobs. The courtroom is Cash’s true home and the one place where he stands up to Goliaths.

 

Finally, Cash’s small law firm is his family, complete with a curmudgeonly senior partner/surrogate father; a Latina Jill-of-all-trades, who may or may not be in the country legally; and a trans woman, who works as a paralegal in the firm while attending law school.

 

Families come in all sizes and shapes. Cash’s tight-knit crew, though small in number and far outside the corridors of power, fights way above its weight.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have completed a draft of the next Cash book: Canary in the Courthouse. Something is rotten in the courthouse, where a powerful law firm and its Fortune 100 client have two thumbs on the scales of justice. A federal judge fears for her life and calls on Cash to expose the corruption.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Why do so many lawyers try their hand at writing legal fiction? Trying cases by day and writing novels at night offers balance. One pursuit is public and performative. The other, solitary and contemplative.

 

Trial work makes me a better writer and vice versa. A wise law professor told me that 99 percent of being a lawyer is selecting the right word at the right time. That turns out to be 100 percent of being a good writer.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb