Q&A with Corinne Sullivan

  

Photo by Ahdout and Sabrina Toto

 

 

Corinne Sullivan is the author of the new novel Yours Always. She also has written the novel Indecent. She is the senior news editor at Cosmopolitan, and she lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Yours Always?

 

A: I got the idea while watching a Netflix true-crime doc called Lover, Stalker, Killer about an online dating love triangle gone very, very wrong. I loved the idea of trying to capture the complexities of the twisty case in a novel…and perhaps even adding in an additional few twists along the way.

 

Q: The author Flora Collins said of the book, “Sullivan does an excellent job of wriggling her way into each character's head, making even the most despicable dating app user sympathetic to her readers.” What do you think of that description, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: I’m all for unlikable characters, but I feel as though—if you’re trying to strive for moral ambiguity—those characters must at least be explicable in their actions, even if the reader doesn’t endorse them.

 

I like to create characters that are frustrating, stubborn, and even foolish at times, but still sympathetic in their own way despite their flaws.

 

Q: The novel is set in Austin--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: Setting isn’t always of huge importance to me, but for this novel, the location really mattered.

 

Austin is rich with all these quirks and contradictions—the bats, the lake, the old money folks with their traditional Texas values amid the new money Silicon Valley exiles with their counter-culture spirit—plus, it’s hot, which always helps ramp up the tension.   

 

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 thought I knew how the story would end (I had it all mapped out before I began drafting)...but as I approached the conclusion, I ended up deciding that the ending needed one final twist.

 

I also originally did not include Amanda’s perspective as part of the story but decided that her voice was needed.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have another novel in the works right now that’s once again inspired by a true story, following a new mother, a house fire, and a possible kidnapping plot. I’ve never written about the postpartum experience before (I’m a mother of two!), so it’s been grueling at times to revisit but also incredibly cathartic.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Yours Always is my debut thriller but my second novel. My first novel, Indecent, follows a recent college grad who takes a job at a boy’s boarding school, and while it’s not a thriller, it’s still plenty twisted. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Laura Vogt

  

 

 

 

Laura Vogt is the author of the new novel In the Great Quiet. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

Q: How much was In the Great Quiet based on your own family stories, and what did you see as the right balance between fiction and history?

 

A: Minnie, the main character of In the Great Quiet, was inspired by my ancestor, my great-great-grandmother. She’s woven together from both family stories and historical research. I read hundreds of interviews and journals of homesteading women from the 1890s frontier.

 

The balance was very instinctual: I gathered information, and Minnie boldly came to life. Minnie, as a character, was insistent. I wanted to honor the legacy of my ancestor but was even more interested in chasing down a story I wanted to read, in building a character that would be inspiring, relatable, and historically accurate. 

 

I’m passionate about rewriting the history of the everyday woman. I’m fascinated by what life would have been like for an ordinary, everyday mom on the 1893 Oklahoma frontier. What life may have been like for an “ordinary” woman in 1593 Ireland. I’m deeply curious and committed to uncovering untold stories, overlooked women, those lost to time.

 

I remember the moment I first heard of my ancestor Minnie Hoopes. Over a decade ago my grandmother Verla and I were chatting in her sitting room, while she shared old family stories.

 

She told me of her grandmother, and I immediately saw Minnie: A vivid, emotionally fraught portrait of a woman on the frontier, leaning forward over her horse, red dust clouding, as she chased down adventure. I glimpsed a moment in a woman’s life, felt as if I glimpsed her pain and her yearning—and I desperately wanted to know more.

 

At that time I was writing another novel, and so Minnie waited patiently.

 

In 2019, I began my research of the Oklahoma frontier, which included interviewing my grandmother and compiling family stories. My historical research added color and nuance, but by then the character of Minnie had already been walking alongside me for some time.

 

My research hunted down an answer to the question: Why would a woman of the 1890s go on such a dangerous adventure? What was she running from? When she saddled up her horse on September 16, 1893, readying for the race, was she terrified or excited?

 

Autumn of 1893 was a desperate time: an economic depression and a drought. So was she hot and sweaty? What did the crowd and the prairie sound like?

 

In the first-person accounts I read, pioneer women experienced the gamut of emotions: some were giddy and exhilarated while others were haunted. I want to tell stories about elemental desires: longing, hunger, hope. To consider questions women grappled with in 1893 that we still grapple with today—questions about ancestry and time, memory and belonging.

 

While writing, I didn’t often consider the balance between the “true” life of Minnie and what I imagined. The character of Minnie was so forceful and compelling.

 

If you read In the Great Quiet, you’ll see she’s bold and tenacious. She wasn’t one I could look away from or tell to quiet on down. It was only when I began to share my novel with readers that I considered that question.

 

Now, I often think about the tension between truth and inspiration. Many readers adore that In the Great Quiet is inspired by my ancestor. And it is. But to me, a possibility of how a woman lived—any ordinary woman—is just as fascinating as a factual, biographical account of my ancestor.

 

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

 

A: In my research of homesteading women, I sought out first-person narratives of the frontier, such as journals and interviews. I read over a hundred history books, scoured photographs and newspapers, and took research trips to western Oklahoma, to visualize the topography and nature throughout the seasons.

 

My background as a historian is in the history of mentalities, a specific approach to cultural history that uncovers how those of the past looked upon their world. I love to dig into how people interpreted their environments. 

 

What surprised me the most was the dynamic quality of the women’s voices: their unbridled passion, their lush hope, their brutal terrors. Their emotions seemed right at the surface, easier to glimpse than I expected. There are many rich accounts of pioneer women full of gratitude and wonder, along with foreboding for life alone on the frontier.

 

These stories, ripe with emotion and wide-ranging adventure, all the iconic expansiveness and hazards of the Wild West, are where I situated this narrative of Minnie. I wanted to capture a compelling woman vibrating with life—someone you couldn’t help but root for, someone you must follow on their journey. 

 

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

 

A: I drafted In the Great Quiet in 2020. I had a newborn son, a 5-year-old daughter, and a 7-year-old daughter. My oldest was diagnosed with type one diabetes in January of 2020. And so, as you can imagine: There was no quiet that year. 

 

For some time before the pandemic, I had been researching and dreaming up Minnie’s story. I had hoped to explore the tension between isolation and community. It was something I often thought of as a mom.

 

When I typed out the phrase “in the great quiet,” Minnie alone in the vast frontier, the prairie silent, lonesome, but startlingly alive with the sounds of nature, there was almost a sigh in my soul.

 

In the Great Quiet. 

 

What is that? Where was it? Could I please, for five minutes, run through the woods and find it?

 

I like how “in the great quiet” is a bit hazy, a bit amorphous. How each reader might have a slightly different understanding and relationship to this indescribable “great quiet.” 

 

For me, it’s a deep sigh. A longing. 

 

Both a physical place—the broad meadows and lost forests of the Oklahoma frontier. But also, “great quiet” is some place deep within. A peace, a resting, a hope.

 

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

 

A: Hope. 

 

Life can be so incredibly brutal and bleak. I write to sweep readers away so completely into a story that they come back transformed. As an artist, I seek the widest, most expansive dreams. I long for In the Great Quiet to jostle readers right in the heart. 

 

One early reviewer shared that “In the Great Quiet swept me away so completely that closing the book felt like coming back from another lifetime.” My goal is to create an immersive, transportive story, where readers are tugged alongside Minnie, where they grapple with questions and when they close the book, they are someone new.

 

Another reviewer shared that In the Great Quiet “captures the ache of struggle so beautifully that it almost feels like you’re living it right alongside the characters. And yet, through all the pain, there’s this persistent thread of hope that reminds you how resilient the human heart can be. Watching each person slowly find their way, stumble, and rise again felt so genuine and heartfelt. By the end, I found myself both teary and comforted, as if I’d walked through something sacred with them.” 

 

And that’s exactly what I want to do: Take my readers on a journey, that when they come up for air at the end it’s as if they walked through something sacred.

 

The reader closes her review with, “It’s one of those rare stories that stays with you long after you’ve closed the book, leaving you quieter, softer, and somehow more hopeful than before.” 

 

I cried reading that review. To leave a reader “more hopeful than before” is my grandest dream. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m drafting my next historical novel, which takes places in 19^th century Ireland. The story follows a resilient, curious botanist in a world that’s dangerous, moody, and romantic.

 

As with all of my work, I’m exploring what life was like for an everyday woman, long ago. The novel takes place both in the environment of first-generation female academics and the lush, undiscovered landscapes of Ireland. It’s loosely entangled with my ancestors, who were boat builders along the Irish coast.

 

There’s an evocative sense of place, a dash of wilderness survival, and a deep friendship between two women. And of course, plenty of romance.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m incredibly humbled and honored to be here, sharing my story with you. I’ve dreamed of writing novels for most of my life, and I’m thrilled to now be sharing In the Great Quiet with readers.

 

I have a book club guide on my Substack, with discussion questions, behind the book information, icebreaker games, a family recipe, and a bookish craft. I cannot wait to connect with readers and book clubs. You can most often find me on Instagram, sharing a sunset timelapse or book recommendations.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Tess Perko

  

Photo by Lara George Photography

 

 

Tess Perko is the author of the new novel Learning to Whistle. A former journalist and English professor, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Learning to Whistle, and how did you create your character Leonie?

 

A: I write stories about women who find empowerment. My character, Leonie, is named after a dear friend of mine, Leona, who was 50 years older than me. We became friends when I was in my 20s and she was in her 70s.

 

Leona lived in a tiny makeshift house built by her husband in a poor neighborhood of East Los Angeles. She lived humbly, but taught me how to live a rich life of friendship, humor, and kindness toward others. Some of the most fun and endearing moments of my life were shared with her.

 

Leonie, the character, is also inspired by my daughter, Rachael, who had the courage and spunk to live in Argentina for two years after she graduated from college. Leonie’s grief for her mother’s death is based on my own grief experiences. I know how devastating it feels to lose someone you cherish.

 

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

 

A: I often discover a title early in the process of writing a story, which helps me focus on the story’s purpose.

 

Relating to this story, I’ve always wished to be able to whistle because whistlers appear to be happy people. I blended the idea of whistling (and being happy) with the journey of Leonie’s healing from her sorrow over her mother’s death. Leonie wants to learn how to whistle, but she also yearns to overcome her abject heartache. 

 

Q: The writer Suzanne Simonetti said of the book, “Rich with heart, sensory detail, and insight, this story is both tender and uplifting.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I’m thrilled with Suzanne Simonetti’s endorsement.

 

I am a deep empath and can feel the joy and pain of other people’s lives, and I use this ability in my writing. In this novel, I allowed my empathic skill to create scenes and characters that helped me to deepen the meaning of the story.

 

For example, at the Iguazú waterfalls, Leonie meets a strange woman wearing a cloak that imitates the wings of the butterflies flickering around her. This woman gives Leonie advice about how she must change in order to heal.

 

I think Suzanne Simonetti discovered my empathic nature and how it was infused into the story. She also noted how I enjoy writing sensory detail, particularly describing nature and the fine minutiae of character. 

 

Because the story explores such deep feelings, I wouldn’t have been courageous enough to write it 10 years ago. Before, I worried that readers would think my own life was a mess if I wrote about these things. Today, I derive personal strength from being able to write about sad, painful, and joyful events. With my writing, I’m participating in the human story.

 

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

 

A: This is a story for women of all ages. I hope my readers take Leonie’s story as one example of how to get through a painful experience and how to live a full and rewarding life afterwards. One kind of empowerment.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Currently, I’m writing short stories about grieving. I also have an idea for a short story about a character who doesn’t learn about the power of kindness until the last months of her life.

 

In addition, I’m working on blog pieces that discuss various aspects of the writing life. One focuses on writing a strong first chapter. Another discusses how to build a female writing community.

 

My big project is my next novel, a story about a young woman who grows up with an authoritative father and leaves home so she can find out who she is and gain back her self-respect. The story is based in Alaska.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I get my writing talent from my dad. When I was 9, he was going to miss my birthday. He was in the Air Force and stationed in England while we still lived in California so he wrote me a birthday poem of more than 10 verses. Each stanza had four lines and every other line rhymed. I saved that birthday card for years, but I’ve now lost it.

 

When I was little, my mother sat me down to write letters to her sisters because she didn’t like writing. I didn’t know what to say, but, step by step, she stood by the sink in the kitchen doing chores and gave me ideas until I had a whole letter. I continued to write my aunts letters until this year when her last sister died.

 

I never get writer’s block anymore. My biggest problem is finding the time or the energy to write down all the ideas that come to my imagination. I love being a writer.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

April 3

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

April 3, 1783: Washington Irving born. 

Q&A with Donna Jones Alward

  

Photo by Snickerdoodle Photography

 

 

Donna Jones Alward is the author of the new novel Ship of Dreams. Her many other books include When the World Fell Silent. She lives in Nova Scotia.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Ship of Dreams, and how did you create your characters Hannah and Louisa?

 

A: I really loved writing my first historical fiction, When the World Fell Silent, which is set during the Halifax Explosion of 1917. There is a surprising amount of crossover with the Titanic tragedy in Halifax, especially since the bodies that were retrieved after the sinking were brought here and many are buried here.

 

In addition, the method of identifying victims and cataloguing their effects (The Barnstead Method) was developed by a local registrar, and sadly that method was used only five years later during the Explosion. I always knew that my second historical fiction would use it as the historical setting.

 

The creation of Hannah and Louisa, however, was a lot more complicated. I originally started the story with two other main characters, and it just wasn’t working. I went back to the drawing board.

 

At the same time, I’d just read Kate Thompson’s The Wartime Book Club, which had two best friends as main characters. These women were very different but utterly devoted to each other.

 

I loved that aspect and used a similar dynamic in creating Hannah and Lou – friends whose differences at times complemented each other but caused a lot of friction in other ways.

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

 

A: There is a lot of information about the Titanic’s journey and sinking; I read a lot of nonfiction, some fiction titles, some primary source material, and did lots of online searches (including Encyclopedia Titanica).

 

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic here in Halifax has a permanent exhibit on the second floor, and the Titanic Cemetery is here (as well as a huge amount of material at the local archives).

 

I think something that really surprised me, however, was that the first-hand accounts I read told me very little. I had been expecting personal insights, and a glimpse into the emotions of those who boarded the lifeboats. Instead, almost all were very fact-based, short, and offered little new information.

 

It made me wonder if sticking to those very obvious points was their way of talking about it without going too deeply into the collective trauma of that horrible night.

Q: What do you think still fascinates people about the Titanic, more than a century after its sinking?

 

A: I’ve been thinking about this a lot. We tend to both memorialize and glamorize tragedies, and there are so many things about the Titanic that capture and hold our interest, mostly to do with superlatives.

 

It was the biggest ship; the grandest ship. It was unsinkable. On board, some of the richest, most successful people in the world ate the best food and stayed in the finest cabins. There was so much hype leading up to the sailing.

 

Then, to have the unthinkable happen, again in superlatives: the worst nautical disaster, loss of life, etc. including many men of note (most of the first-class women managed to get into boats). All the money in the world could not buy those men’s safety.

 

And then, when we look at second and third-class passengers, we can see ourselves in them, and that makes it personal.

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Hannah and Louisa?

 

A: In a word: Loving. Hannah and Louisa have been best friends since boarding school. And while they are very different, they seem to respect and appreciate their differences – even view them with affection. For the most part, they accept each other for who they are.

 

But no one is perfect; sometimes differences can cause friction or cracks in even the strongest relationship, and it’s when they start keeping secrets from each other that they get into trouble. They have never kept things from each other before, and that wears on them both.

 

Ultimately, though, they navigate this horrible disaster together, and both are left changed. I really loved writing those transformations – letting them grow and exploring how their friendship changes as well.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on my next book which is set during WWII and the lead up to D-Day, with a Canadian angle and settings in three countries. Ack!

 

Good news though – if all goes well, readers will see some cameos from Ship of Dreams characters, 30 years later…

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Readers can find me at my website at www.donnajonesalward.com and on FB and Instagram. My website has a downloadable book club kit for both my historical fiction titles, and I’m available for virtual book club visits – just head to my Contact page for all the details.

 

I’m also happy to send signed book plates and bookmarks to book clubs, so please feel free to reach out!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Emily Carpenter

  

 

Emily Carpenter is the author of the new novel A Spell for Saints and Sinners. Her other novels include Gothictown. She lives outside Atlanta. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write A Spell for Saints and Sinners?

 

A: Honestly, it was such a fluke, how this book came to be. When Kensington was looking to buy my first novel, I had pitched a totally different second book to my editor.

 

But then, when it came time to write that book, I had this wild inspiration--an idea about a psychic witch working in Savannah who gets carried away with her brush with a very wealthy, powerful family.

 

The germ of the story came to me after randomly watching the movie Taxi Driver for the first time. Something hit me hard with that film, watching the Robert DeNiro character grapple with his outsider status, his lack of power.

 

Of course, his solution was to puff himself up in this hyper-masculine way, start collecting guns and stalking a politician which, as a viewer, you're just consumed with dread watching this disaster snowballing right before your eyes.

 

It got me to thinking about how women are so different in our reaction to feeling powerless and left behind by society. How we turn inward or to the natural world and more pagan traditions to find our power.

 

I love Stephen King's Carrie--it's one of my favorite books, but again, there's this theme of female rage and powerlessness (or a shocking level of telekinetic power).

 

It was such an odd thing, how these two pieces of art combined in my mind, but that's exactly what happened...and I got this picture of an isolated, awkward young woman who's at such an economic and social disadvantage in her life for all these reasons and what she does to grab onto the power she truly believes can save her. She's like the female Travis Bickel, and that's how I pitched it to my editor.

 

Thankfully, everybody was on board and excited about the idea, even though Ingrid turned out to be more of a morally gray character rather than a full-blown sociopath like Travis. 

 

Q: The novel is set in Savannah, and you’ve said you’ve always been fascinated by that city--can you say more about why you chose to set the book there?

 

A: When I came up with the character of Ingrid, I automatically knew she would live in Savannah. I set most all of my books in either Georgia or Alabama, and I knew the city pretty well from going to the SCAD Film Festival for many years.

 

It's also a city, like Charleston and New Orleans, that's a very haunted, witchy kind of place.

 

And, like so many cities, there's a big divide between the folks who keep the tourist industry going--the workers in the service industry, etc.--and the people with generational wealth.

 

I also will give myself any excuse to spend time in Savannah, as it's just gorgeous and filled with beautiful old buildings and squares, but, like the rest of the South, has such a dark past. This is not some quaint little beach town. There's heavy, heavy energy there, in certain places.

 

Q: How did you create your character Ingrid?

 

A: I say she's Travis Bickel crossed with Carrie White--in fact I gave her the last name White in tribute to Stephen King's character. In fact, she has a lot in common with Carrie.

 

I knew she would have been abandoned by her mother, raised by an eccentric, but loving, grandmother which leads some of her schoolmates to bully her.

 

I knew she would be struggling to pay her bills, feeling desperate and panicked and maybe also being willing to use some questionable spellcraft her grandmother taught her to ensure her survival.

 

I fell instantly in love with her, in spite of her insecurity, in spite of her occasional unwise decisions. I just instantly wanted her to know she was loved and to win. 

 

Q: The writer Susan Crawford said of the book, “With lush writing and colorful characters, Carpenter creates a solid stage and then deftly peels back the layers to reveal a different world entirely, one that will stay with you long after the last page.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: First of all, I have a huge amount of admiration for Susan's writing, so I'm humbled by her quote. I really try to write thrillers that are both page-turners but also about something deeper and meaningful. Something about what it means to be human in this world.

 

For example, this book really gave me a chance to play around with class issues and wealth inequality and basically just how damn hard it is to pay your bills these days.

 

Meanwhile, wealthy people are entertaining themselves with yacht cruises and staged war games and how frustrating it is for the people living right next door to them and serving them at restaurants or catering their parties.

 

But don't get me wrong--I'm thrilled if readers zip through my books and have a hell of a good time, but I'm always gratified if they see more and the story makes them think in a deeper way about things. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm super excited to have another book with Kensington in 2027. It's a Southern Gothic twist on Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca set in the world of Alabama's legendary Muscle Shoals roots music scene, following an aspiring musician and an infamous producer as the lines between fame, art, love, and murder blur.

 

I started banjo lessons for research and am having so much fun with it even though I'm pretty terrible. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I'm more thankful than ever for readers. We are all a community and I couldn't be more convinced that books bring people together. So if I'm in your town at a local indie bookstore, I'd love to meet you. I should have my tour schedule on Instagram and Facebook as well as my website: www.emilycarpenterauthor.com. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Emily Carpenter. 

Q&A with Elizabeth L. Block

  

 

 

Elizabeth L. Block is the author of the new book Gilded Age Fashion. Her other books include Beyond Vanity. She is an art historian and is senior editor at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Gilded Age Fashion?

A: I wanted to write a beautifully illustrated and accessible gift book for readers who love the Gilded Age, fashion history, and period dramas.

Q: How did you choose the items to highlight in the book, and do you have any particular favorites?

 

A: I made a point of choosing gowns and accessories that are true standouts, whether they are gowns by the House of Worth in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or by lesser known designers in historical societies around the country.

 

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

 

A: I took the opportunity to reach out to colleagues at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland History Center, and learn more about their holdings of 19th-century women's fashion. I was pleased to be able to reproduce five gowns from their collection in the book.

 

Q: What accounts for the current fascination with this period--The Gilded Age TV series and now your book? Do you see any parallels with today’s world?

A: I think the era of massive wealth for only a tiny percentage of the US population in the late 19th century is resonating now because we are experiencing a similar, pronounced divide between the over-the-top lives of the few billionaires and the daily experiences of the majority of the population of regular, working citizens.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am deep into researching women's underclothing and will venture into writing about 20th-century styles. I really love the fashion trends of the 1950s and ‘60s.

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: It is so rewarding to hear questions and comments from readers. I enjoy learning which women's fashion history topics are top of mind, so please stay in touch through my Gilded Age Fashion newsletter and/or my Instagram page.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Elizabeth L. Block.