Q&A with Hanna Johansson

  

 

 

 

Hanna Johansson is the author of the novel Body Double, which has been translated from Swedish to English by Kira Josefsson. Johansson has also written the novel Antiquity. She is based in Sweden.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Body Double, and how did you create your characters Naomi and Laura?

 

A: I was inspired by thriller films from the late ‘90s, and wanted to write something that would leave the reader with a similar feeling afterwards.

 

The novel is made up of two parallel narratives where one follows a nameless narrator and one follows Naomi and Laura, who meet by accident and then become entwined in each other’s lives.

 

I approached the creation of Naomi and Laura very much as something aesthetic and superficial – like, “these people would fit in such a thriller, and this is what should happen to them” – rather than trying to think of them as real people, which I would normally do.

 

Q: The reviews of the book have compared it to the work of Alfred Hitchcock--what do you think of that comparison?

 

A: I completely understand it! It is a suspense story with elegant women and doppelgängers, like Vertigo, and it plays a lot with movie clichés and references.

 

Body Double is the name of a Brian De Palma movie – that I hadn’t seen when I wrote the novel, though – and some readers have mentioned David Lynch, whereas I was more influenced by European movies.

 

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 went into writing Body Double knowing absolutely nothing, and made lots of changes and rewrote the manuscript several times. 

 

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

 

A: Obsession has so much to do with fantasy and fictionalization. When you become obsessed – and regardless if it’s something kind of benign, like having a crush on someone, or more serious, like believing in a conspiracy theory – you begin to spend a lot of time creating scenarios and imagining things. Which really is what makes an obsession so pleasurable, despite everything.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on two different things, both also stories of obsession, you could say: a love story, and a novel about a hypochondriac.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Erica Wright

  

 

 

Erica Wright is the author of the new novel The Museum of Unusual Occurrence. Her other books include the forthcoming poetry  collection A Buyer's Guide to the Afterlife. She teaches at Bellevue University, and she lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Museum of Unusual Occurrence, and how did you create your character Aly?

 

A: In October 2020, eight months pregnant, I watched a Halloween-adjacent movie and ate a bowl of popcorn every night.

 

I’m not big on gore, but I love Halloween. Tim Burton was in heavy rotation, but I also remember Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, and Winchester. I decided that I wanted my next novel to have a similar tone, eerie but a little playful.

 

My favorite leisure activity is wandering around a museum, no matter how big or small. Bonus points for the unusual. So I leapt at the chance to create my own imaginary one. While writing, it seemed like a real place, and I wish that I could visit.

Aly sprang to life fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. There she was in the lobby of her Museum of Unusual Occurrence, trying to fix the temperamental chandelier, annoyed but determined.

 

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 met E. L. Doctorow once. He taught at my college, and I made an appointment for office hours, deciding that I probably wouldn’t get the chance to meet him any other way. I asked for writing advice, which he graciously provided. I’m a little embarrassed by my boldness now, but what a cool memory.

 

Anyway, I sort of live by his memorable depiction of writing as “like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

 

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

 

A: My books mostly begin with the setting. Perhaps because I don’t know where a story might lead, I need the place and time to ground me. My fictional Wyndale is loosely inspired by a real place in Florida, the so-called “psychic capital of the world.”

 

I grew up in a small town where ghost stories and folklore flourished. That experience helped me think about how the characters might be connected, whether they like it or not.

 

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

 

A: I hope that readers enjoy the mystery, first and foremost. I didn’t intentionally set out to write about second chances, but that theme emerged at some point, and I wrote toward it.

 

My characters aren’t always kind to themselves, but I want them to be. Perhaps we can all have a little more grace for ourselves and others.

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m feeling lucky to be working on the second book in the series, as yet unnamed. Somebody new comes to Wyndale, a doctor obsessed with the notion of near-death experiences, that is, people who claim to have died and seen glimpses of the afterlife.

 

When he dies (for real), the general consensus is that he was trying to create one of these experiences for himself and things went awry. Aly, and eventually the local police department, suspect otherwise.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: It’s a busy year for me! I also have a collection of poems coming out in July, A Buyer’s Guide to the Afterlife. The poems began as responses to archival images from the American Museum of Natural History and then became more personal meditations on what it means to start a family in a tumultuous world. There’s plenty of fear, but also hope.  

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Dana Mele

  

Photo by David McQueen

 

 

Dana Mele is the author of the new young adult novel The Beast You Let In. Their other books include People Like Us. Mele is based in upstate New York.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Beast You Let In, and how did you create your characters Hazel and Beth?

 

A: First of all, thank you so much for hosting me! I was inspired largely by setting, and by living in a very small, isolated rural community during lockdown. Isolation is a very tough thing for the human psyche under the best of circumstances and I think we all had just a small taste of it during that time period.

 

Some of us experience it more than others. Being a queer or trans person and living in certain geographical locations, especially in the current moment, it can be isolating to not know who of your neighbors is a safe person to simply be around and who might not be.

 

I created Beth and Hazel as almost dual sides of the same person - they both want to exist in their family, school, and community but they have different reactions to how those groups treat them. 

 

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

 

A: I didn’t choose the title! I don’t have a good track record choosing titles that stick—my title for People Like Us was “Skeleton Dance” and my title for Summer’s Edge was “The Lake House” so I’m used to my publishers wanting to go in a different direction and I welcome it. 

 

My title for Beast was “Veronica,” named for a girl who died in Hazel’s and Beth’s town years ago and whose death served as a catalyst for the plot of the story.

 

I believe The Beast You Let In represents multiple things— allowing yourself to feel angry about things you should be angry about; looking at monstrous things you would rather look away from, and, in a more literal sense, possession by a monster. 

 

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 knew how the first draft would end. I did end up changing the ending in a late revision, at the suggestion of my editor. It’s such a better ending!

 

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

 

A: Speak up for your neighbors who cannot speak up for themselves, if you can safely do so. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My next book! I can’t say more about it now but I hope I can soon!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The Beast You Let In is out April 7, 2026. You can order it now at your favorite book store or request it at your local library. Speak out to protect trans kids and oppose book bans! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Alice Blumenthal McGinty

  

 

 

 

Alice Blumenthal McGinty is the author of the new children's picture book Tractor Zack on Sunshine Kibbutz. Her other books include A Synagogue Just Like Home. She lives in Michigan and in Illinois. 

 

Q: In your new book’s Author's Note, you say you were inspired you to write Tractor Zack on Sunshine Kibbutz by a visit to a preschool in Israel. Can you say more about that?

 

A: I was lucky enough to be one of the authors selected to go to Israel in 2017 on PJ Library's first Author Israel Adventure. The 10-day guided tour of Israel was designed to inspire authors to write about Israel and for me it did exactly that! 

 

Inspired by the deep connections I felt that many different people have with Israel, I wrote the picture book, My Israel and Me (also illustrated by Rotem Teplow and published by Kalaniot Books in 2021). 

 

Tractor Zack on Sunshine Kibbutz was inspired when our group visited a kibbutz and spent some time at their preschool. Outside on the playground was an old tractor, and my goodness, those children LOVED to climb and play on the tractor!

 

I began to think about the tractor, and how it had come to be where it was on the playground of the preschool.

 

So many of my stories begin with questions, often those deeper level "how" or "why" questions. In this case I pondered about the tractor and asked, "How did this come to be?"

 

I could assume that the tractor hadn't begun its life on the preschool playground. It must have been a working tractor for many years, plowing the fields on the kibbutz. I could see the wear and tear from its years of use.

 

But eventually, age and repair must have prevented it from being of use anymore on the fields. Many farmers might have gotten rid of the tractor then, saying it was of no use.

 

But that's not what happened on the kibbutz. Instead, the tractor was brought to the preschool, where it began a whole new life, loved and appreciated by the children. 

 

As I thought about the possibilities for the story, I could see that it represented something larger - the idea that on a kibbutz, everyone has a job to do, no matter their age or ability level, and everyone is valued for their contributions to the community. That type of cooperative community, to me, is the beauty of kibbutz life.

 

And we can take it even further, offering the hope that in ANY community anywhere, we will value people for their contributions, continuing to allow them to be a part no matter what their age or ability level. We all need to feel that sense of purpose and belonging.

 

So, with that deeper grounding, I knew I wanted to write the story of Tractor Zack on Sunshine Kibbutz. 

 

Q: Is Sunshine Kibbutz based on an actual kibbutz?

 

A: I see Sunshine Kibbutz as a composite of many kibbutzim, especially those which do farming activities, but any which follow the model of a cooperative community.    

 

Q: What do you think Rotem Teplow’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: I LOVE her illustrations! The way she brings the characters to life is wonderful! Tractor Zack is SO expressive, conveying all of the emotions he experiences along his journey, from worry to sadness to pure joy.

 

And Farmer Freya and her grandson Ben -- Rotem has given them great personality and vitality. They seem real to me! I also love the way Rotem brought in fun, playful elements, like incorporating the dog throughout the story.

 

She's made this story into a beautiful, expressive, active, and engaging book with vibrant colors that bring the story and its setting and characters to life. Rotem's style is very child-friendly so I'm hopeful that when the book comes out, kids will love it and truly connect with the story. 

 

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

 

A: I hope kids will come away feeling a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction from the story and its resolution.

 

I also hope they'll take away an appreciation of the idea that everyone, no matter their age and ability level, can and should be valued for their contributions, welcoming new possibilities as we change over time, just like Tractor Zack.   

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm telling an interesting true story which not many people are aware of -- the story of the Levy family, who owned Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, for 90 years and saved it from ruin - twice.

 

Uriah Levy was one of the first Jewish commanders in the Navy and revered Thomas Jefferson for bringing religious freedom to America in the early 1800s, which allowed Levy to follow his passion and serve his country.

 

When Levy learned that Monticello was in shambles after Jefferson's family had sold the home to pay his debts, he knew he needed to honor his hero by saving his beloved home.   

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Alice Blumenthal McGinty. 

April 8

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
April 8, 1939: Trina Schart Hyman born.

Q&A with Franklin Foer

  

Photo by Evy Mages

 

 

Franklin Foer is the author of the book How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, which is now available in a new edition. His other books include World Without Mind. He is a staff writer at The Atlantic, and he lives in Washington, D.C.

 

Q: Why was this new edition of How Soccer Explains the World created?

 

A: I wrote this book more than 20 years ago! Damn, I'm old. During the long life of this book, the World Cup has never been hosted by the United States. This is the year, at long last—and, obviously, the peg for the new edition.

 

I first fell in love with soccer during the 1986 World Cup. The ABC feed was grainy, the coverage was spotty, but, boy, did it excite.

 

What I remember most is the passion in the stands. That's what sparked my lifelong fascination. The stakes felt so high. People cared so deeply that I began to suspect that soccer was about more than the game being played on the pitch.

 

With this new edition, I hope I can explain the political, cultural, and sociological import of soccer to a new generation of readers, just connecting with the sport for the first time.

 

Q: What’s different in this new version of the book?

 

A: This book has a new introduction, which updates its thesis to account for some of the biggest changes to the global game since 2004. Nation states—Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Qatar—now own clubs. American private equity has entered the game in a major way. Fans think about soccer differently; they obsess over the finances of their favorite teams. 

 

Q: Has the relationship between soccer and globalization changed at all since the first edition of the book was published?

 

A: Soccer was always at the forefront of globalization, and that hasn't changed. What's fascinating is how the book's core argument holds up. Globalization, as experienced through soccer, presents this paradox: the more the game is integrated into an international economy, the more people remain loyal to their local institutions.

 

Wrexham is a terrific example. It's owned by Hollywood stars and the subject of a television series—and yet it's the perfect emblem of a bedraggled corner of Wales, looking for hope and dignity. In a homogenized world, people still cling to their tribes. 

 

Q: How do you think the current state of U.S. politics will affect the 2026 World Cup?

 

A: This World Cup, sadly and unsurprisingly, will be all about Donald Trump. FIFA has spent years currying favor with him. I'm sure he will do his best to exploit the moment in the spotlight.

 

I've found it somewhat confusing that Mr. America First is a fan of the global game—though, to be sure, the game is a cesspool of corruption.

 

There's also the fact that the New York Cosmos, of the North American Soccer League, were hugely popular when he was elbowing his way onto the city's scene in the 1970s.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm working on a history of American Jews in the years after World War II. It's a fun book to research, since it encompasses Saul Bellow, Paul Simon, Betty Friedan, and Henry Kissinger, among others. My editor says it's the book I was born to write.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Franklin Foer. 

Q&A with Wendy J. Fox

  

 

 

Wendy J. Fox is the author of the new novel The Last Supper. Her other books include the story collection What If We Were Somewhere Else. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Last Supper, and how did you create your character Amanda?

 

A: This actually started as a character sketch and a 2013 NaNoWriMo project—which I quickly abandoned five or six days in—but how I was attempting to manage the page count goals for NaNoWriMo was to structure each chapter as a single day.

 

I was participating in it to challenge myself; I’m typically a very slow writer and more of a 150-word-a-day person than a 1,200-word-a-day.

 

Ultimately, I used very few of the sentences that were just about word count, but I ended up keeping that basic structure of each chapter being a single day. Over the time it took for the manuscript to cohere as a novel, how I conceptualized what a day meant changed.

 

The Amanda character also evolved, but her genesis came from thinking a lot about how we live our lives and the choices we make with our time.

 

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

 

A: I notoriously struggle with titles! My first book, The Seven Stages of Anger, some readers confused for a self-help in the vein of the five stages of grief. It was a play on that, but the book is literary short stories.

 

Authors will say that writing a pitch letter and the synopsis is harder than writing the book. I agree those industry requirements are difficult. But titles! Way harder (for me) than a pitch letter.

 

The title was actually a suggestion from a beta reader, who noted that Amanda’s style of worship is to the oracle of Google. So, it’s not a nod to Jesus and the apostles, but rather the reliance we have on the search engines in our pockets. It also references a critical scene. As my beta reader pointed out: in our modern lives, sometimes it is the internet that is holy.

Q: How would you describe Amanda's relationship with her husband, Kyle?

 

A: Amanda and Kyle have conflict, but their conflict is pretty ordinary. Who among us has not, in a long-term relationship, felt deeply annoyed, frustrated, angered, or even hurt by our partner?

 

Amanda is not unique. She is carrying the mental load and the caregiving load in her household, and that’s not a new story nor a new scenario for women.

 

Kyle is actually not a terrible guy, he’s just somewhat checked out; Amanda has a pressurized feeling because she needs more in her life than what she has. Kyle, to be fair, has the same feelings, but the novel is not focused on his stakes.

 

It’s a thing that happens in marriage or long partnerships: you take one another for granted, you stop remembering why you fell in love. Amanda and Kyle are so average in this way. I think of them as a warning against complacency rather than a case study.

 

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 almost never know how a project will end—I am usually writing to discover. I start with characters, a basic sense of plot, but then it is figuring out how the people fit into the action. It’s never the other way around for me. I don’t try to figure out how the action fits the people.

 

To be more direct about the question: I made many changes. A lot of it is coming to a deeper understanding of the characters. Plots necessarily change as the characters develop.

 

What would have made sense for 2013 Amanda, emerging on random pages, is not what made sense for her as the novel came together. When I was ready to pitch in 2023, she was much more formed, and her story followed.

 

A novel or a short story is a door that opens the reader into a world, but the door has to hang on some kind of hinge. That might be action. It might be character. I think both are fine, as long as it’s all working in confluence.

 

However, what changes to the ending really came down to was recognizing Amanda’s search for both economic and creative agency.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now I am working on a series of novellas. I’m interested in this form because I love both long short stories and short novels. That said, a novella is neither of those things, but it’s that space where I can spread out more than a short story (my first writing love), but also not go into the consuming world of writing a novel.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I would like to acknowledge how hard it is for creatives. I feel very privileged to have publishing partnerships with SFWP, Press 53, and Underground Voices. My next milestone birthday is 50, so I’m without question on the back half of my life. For writers who are a lot (or even a little) younger than me, please keep going. Keep writing. It really does matter.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Wendy J. Fox.