Q&A with Andrew Forrester

  

 

 

Andrew Forrester is the author of the new novel How the Story Goes. He is a former English teacher, and he lives in Austin, Texas. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write How the Story Goes, and how did you create your characters Whit and Merritt?

 

A: In fourth grade, I had my first brush with obsessively reading a series. It started with Katherine Applegate’s Animorphs books, then expanded to include The Chronicles of Narnia, Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet, the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, and many more.

 

For me, this was a quintessentially childlike experience, because I had so much time to read, and I was able to fully devote myself to a book or series in a way that’s impossible now with all the, you know, life going on. But man, was it special back then.

 

Cut to a few decades later, and you have me, an English teacher on winter break, trying and failing to make a manuscript work. In truth, it was my fifth or sixth manuscript, and I had been trying for some time.

 

I needed a different creative direction, and I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but those early years of obsessive reading combined with other, more grown-up interests. Things like the movies of Nora Ephron, the small towns in cozy mysteries (minus the murder), and a working knowledge of the publishing industry (honed, yes, by years of disappointment).

 

The concept of someone having to finish his late wife’s masterpiece came to me pretty fully formed, but then I needed to inhabit that idea with good characters.

 

First came Whit, who was easy: who would be the most miserable in this context? He needed to be a writer, someone mildly grumpy and a little depressed but essentially loveable, et voilà.

 

Then I needed someone to balance him out, someone capable and funny who was at least partially defined by her love of reading. Merritt took a little longer to flesh out, but in the end (don’t tell anyone) she’s my favorite.

 

Q: Were your character Helen’s books based on a particular series?

 

A: They were mostly based on that cultural phenomenon we saw with Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson: midnight parties, fan websites run amok, stuff I don’t think we’ve really seen since. But that global blockbuster book series thing is what I was going for.

 

When I was imagining The Greenwood Castle Saga, I actually thought a lot about a book I read in my fourth grade Language Arts class called The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt (of Tuck Everlasting fame!) and then John Peel’s Diadem series, which is not super well known.

 

I honestly don’t remember a ton about their plots or characters, and I can’t speak to how good they are, but I do remember the feeling they gave me, about magical worlds and groups of heroes on important quests, and I carried that with me into Helen’s books about Ursula, Rupert, and Christabel.

 

Q: The writer Ashley Winstead said of the book, “How the Story Goes is a gift for book lovers.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Um, it’s my dream description, and I promise I did not pay Ashley to write it. Honestly, it’s what I was aiming for. I am such a fan of books about books. I mean, I am here because I like reading, and then when a book itself is about someone who also likes reading? It almost feels like cheating.

 

I think that, if How the Story Goes has an aim, it’s to celebrate all the things a book can be for someone: an escape, a job, a way to connect, a balm for our hurts, and so on. So I’m really glad Ashley saw that in the novel, and I hope other readers do, too!

 

Q: The novel is set in New England—how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: I have a friend who’s read all my other manuscripts, and he mocks me relentlessly because the ones about teenagers are almost all set in, like, the bleakest parts of suburban Houston.

 

That’s where I grew up, and so much of young adult fiction is about that feeling of longing for more: what better backdrop than a six-lane freeway or the parking lot of a failing barbecue chain?

 

But for this book, a lot of the fun was imagining what my life like a writer could look like, and it turns out I would very much like to live and work in a town that is partially Stars Hollow and partially Three Pines, with a little bit of the Cape Cod town where my aunt and uncle live thrown in.

 

My hope is that the setting helps the book feel cozy and warm, while the stakes and characters balance out the charm with real-world problems.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Well, speaking of setting, I am revising a manuscript that is also set in Whelk Harbor, in which some of our friends from How the Story Goes may or may not appear… It shares the same cozy bookishness, but this time, it’s about a historian and an English professor trying to solve a literary mystery. And there are museums, lots of museums.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m just genuinely so excited that this book is coming out and that real people in the world will read it. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to dig into this little story I made up in my head. It means the world.

 

If people are interested in following along on my author journey, my website is www.andrewforresterbooks.com and my Instagram is @andrewforrester. I’m doing a mini-tour in a few cities, and I’d love to meet readers in those places.

 

I am also so down for visiting book clubs virtually (or in person, if you’re in the Austin area!). Please reach out through the form on my website or even over Instagram. Happy reading!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Laurie Frankel

  

Photo by Natalia Dotto

 

 

Laurie Frankel is the author of the new novel Enormous Wings. Her other books include This Is How It Always Is. She is a former college professor, and she lives in Seattle. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Enormous Wings, and how did you create your character Pepper?

 

A: When my grandmother first got sick with what we later learned was cancer, I was struck by how similar the symptoms were to those of early pregnancy (nausea, exhaustion, dizziness, brain fog, and a general sense of feeling off) and how much better, if weirder, news that she was pregnant would have been.

 

Like pregnancy, old age is a great – and much more unusual – lens through which to talk about issues of agency, choice, and bodily autonomy. These issues are such pressing ones, but we often only talk about them one way and through one lens, and that’s never good. 

 

Pepper really wrote herself. I kicked her off – I was very close with my grandmothers, and both of them are all over this book – but then Pepper really became her own person in the best way. It’s such a delight when that happens, and because the book really is about strength in people you least expect, it’s also especially apt. Pepper is a total asskicker.

 

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

 

A: Enormous Wings has this element of magic or unrealism at the heart of its conceit (77-year-old gets pregnant) but is otherwise realism. Even that element of strangeness is grounded in realism (there have been a number of women even older than Pepper who’ve gotten pregnant and given birth).

 

One day, trying to explain all this to my husband, I was using as a metaphor Gabriel García Márquez’s short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”

 

I love that story not only because of that interplay of genres (magic realism) but because it observes that human reaction to the miraculous is often, well, the opposite, which is some of what happens in my novel as well.

 

I also love the winged imagery of flight, folded strength, lifting up, and spreading over. The title appears a number of times in the book, all very different from one another. I always like when I’m reading and come upon the title.

 

Q: The writer Leila Mottley said of the book, “Laurie Frankel has written a masterpiece of humanity with just the right dash of weirdness. This is the ultimate interrogation of abortion access in a red state set in the most unexpected place: a senior living community.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Isn’t that the most amazing quote? I am so grateful to Leila for those words. This book is definitely weird, which I hope is a compelling reason to read it. (Here’s to weird books!!)

 

I love books that tell a different story than the usual, especially about topics, such as abortion, where I think I’ve already heard it all before, so I’m thankful Leila saw all of that in these pages, and I hope other readers will as well.

 

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

 

A: I hope they’re entertained and amused and moved and inspired to call their grandmothers and/or to be or aspire to be badass grandmothers themselves. I hope they see, be, and look for strength in unexpected places. I hope they consider matters of agency and bodily autonomy and aging and love and sex and family from new and surprising angles. But especially the part about being amused and entertained. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: The next novel. Always the next novel. They take too long (at least, they take me too long) to take much of a break in between one and the next, and besides, when the real world is senseless, it’s nice to have one mostly in your control.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I’m grateful for this blog and these kind, smart questions. Thank you so much!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Laurie Frankel. 

Q&A with Terri Lewis

  

 

 

Terri Lewis is the author of the new novel When They Came Home. It is based on the lives of her grandparents. She also has written the novel Behold the Bird in Flight. She lives in Denver, Colorado. 

 

Q: Why did you decide to write this novel based on the lives of your grandparents?

 

A: As a kid, I loved to visit my grandparents, Edith and Milton, in tiny Enterprise, Kansas. Edith was a loving housewife, a dispenser of hugs and cookies and life advice; she watched the afternoon soaps. Milton was quiet, like to walk, and to take us grandkids downtown (all three blocks) to show us off; I don’t remember ever hearing a word about his service in WWI.

 

The decision to write the novel came when I was long grown: my mother handed me a battered candy box, saying, “You write. There’s a good story in here.” Inside I found a pile of official documents, handwritten journals, a postcard, a lawyer’s letter, and a clutch of black-and-white photos, all concerning my grandparents.

 

I was shocked by the story they told: mental breakdown, a struggle to find healing, and the ongoing denials of his pension which left the family destitute. Love and my grandmother’s determination, including a successful suit against the government, saved the family.

 

I began thinking about how the stories of battles and soldiers were often a source of novels, but the struggles of wives and families when the soldiers returned are seldom told. So I wrote the novel to give my grandmother’s determination and bravery a voice, and to honor them both.

 

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

 

A: I started by reading about WWI which saw the first tanks, the first airplanes—the pilot shot from the cockpit with a pistol or rifle. I looked into the battle of Argonne where my grandfather fought and found the horror of trench warfare: mustard gas and mud and endless waiting under bombardment by bombs identified by sound and given names like Whizz-bangs and Big Berthas.

 

I delved into shell shock, newly described during WWI and at first considered a sign of cowardice, of shirking. With no understanding of its treatment, doctors prescribed everything from hydrotherapy to electric shock, and men were told not to talk of the war so as not to bring up distressing thoughts, the exact opposite of how PTSD is treated today.

 

On the personal side, the candy box material lacked details about the family’s daily life while my grandfather was ill. My mother and her sister were still alive, so I recorded an interview with them. They were best friends, talking every day on the phone, and the tape is full of laughter and memories. Many details in the novel, such as the couple driving the eggs to market and the stolen dolls, came from that interview.

 

The biggest surprise was that the family didn’t always live in Enterprise. They followed my grandfather from treatment to treatment through not only Kansas, but also Iowa and Missouri; my mother and aunt spent many summers with relatives so Edith could concentrate on supporting Milton during his various treatments.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between Edith and Milton?

 

A: It was loving and affectionate, but even as a child, I recognized Edith as the driving force in the family. My mother once said she was sorry that when her father finally came home, she hadn’t been kinder, more welcoming to him, but he’d been away so long, that she naturally looked to her mother for guidance. She also said they’d decided never to tell of Milton’s illness so the grandkids wouldn’t be afraid of him.

 

Without knowing the whole story, I couldn’t understand the depth of my grandparents’ love, how she fought for him, took care of him, protected him. Those early struggles were so well contained that for me, at least, no whiff of trauma was ever evident. If you read memoirs or advice columnists, that kind of abiding love and healing is rare.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the novel called it a “lean, powerful novel about war's psychological aftermath.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Oh my goodness, I love that. I wanted readers to consider the “aftermath” of war. Soldiers can bring home horrendous experiences that reverberate through their family; those experiences are seldom told.

 

I also worked very hard to condense the language and develop a voice that would let the reader inside the family’s life. The Kirkus reviewer got it.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Before I was a writer, I was a professional ballerina, and I have written a novel set in the world of dance that’s coming out in March 2027.

 

It tells the story of two dancers, friends and rivals, who get pregnant, one before Roe and one after. Their choices affect their friendship, careers and life paths. I loved reinhabiting my dancing days, remembering the feeling of class and rehearsal and the joys of performing.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I often talk with my friends who write historical fiction about the difference between the truth and accuracy. That is, facts are important, but sometimes to get at the truth of a character or a feeling, or even an entire life, the facts need to be tweaked.

 

Fact: My grandfather eventually healed enough to function in the world and lived to see his grandchildren grow and thrive.

 

Truth: he lived a constricted life, unable to go into crowds or to explore the world and that’s the reason the novella ends as it does.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Terri Lewis. 

Q&A with Katie Yamasaki

  

Photo by Michael Chung

 

 

Katie Yamasaki is the author and illustrator of the new children's picture book Ripples. Her other books include Dad Bakes. She is also an educator, and she lives in Brooklyn.

 

Q: What inspired you to create Ripples?

 

A: Ripples came about from many moments of witnessing great care—children taking care of one another and their home environments. Grown-ups of all walks of life taking care of the children around them. Incarcerated women in the arts program I co-facilitate building meaningful systems of care in the most challenging of environments.

 

What I started to notice was how the acts of care we share between humans are very much the same as the acts of care we do for the environment. The tending, cleaning, feeding, giving space, celebrating, observing, etc. These are acts that children grow up understanding and knowing how to do by the care they have received from their grown-ups.

 

I wanted to create a story that gave kids the agency to care collectively for the earth by seeing that much of what needs to be done are things that they already know how to do. I also wanted these young readers to think about how their small acts become big when working in community.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between your characters?

 

A: Each child, centering Ayla and Aunty Koko, has a grown-up with them who is showing them some kind of basic care. The children are being fed, celebrated, tended to, listened to, given space, etc.

 

In receiving this care, the children are learning to become caretakers themselves. When the need arises, the children come together to address the matter at hand: the polluted water.

 

We see that the care has a ripple effect both on the environment, and also from grown-up to child. The small moments of loving presence and action between the characters grow into a big act of collective care.

 

Q: Did you work on the text first or the illustrations first--or both simultaneously?

 

A: I usually write the story first and do a really rough set of sketches. Eventually I finalize the sketches and text in a back-and-forth way with my editor and art director. The finished art—in this case done in collage and acrylic paint—usually takes me about eight months. The whole process is about a year.

 

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

 

A: I hope that readers will consider their small acts of care as important. The small acts of loving attention can cause a ripple effect both in the lives of the people in their community but also in the environment around them.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m currently promoting Ripples 😅 and putting finishing touches on my next book, Invisible Crown, which is coming from Norton Young Readers in Spring 2027. I also teach art at a couple of women’s prisons in upstate New York and am always working on that.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: When I was young and eager to do things kids like to do—pick a wildflower, leave something out rather than put it away, leave a light switch on—my mom would say, “Just imagine if everyone did this.”

 

She also applied this to acts of kindness. Holding a door for someone. Giving up your seat on the train. Picking up a discarded bottle at a park. “Imagine if everyone did this.” I have found that thinking to be a North Star in my consciousness that helps to guide my small acts.

 

I’ve been asking young readers how they might respond to a friend at school who is sitting alone at lunch or having a tough day. They all know what to do—their capacity to care is instinctive. And then when we start to think about the ripple effect that care can have, it becomes exciting. Small things we can already do truly add up.

 

I was lucky that my mom laid that foundation in my consciousness at a young age and I hope that Ripples might do the same for these young readers.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. This Q&A was conducted in partnership with Katie Yamasaki. Readers who join us on this virtual book tour will have the chance to win one of 10 hardcover copies of Ripples by Katie Yamasaki. One grand prize winner will receive a hardcover copy of Ripples, a double-sided Ripples poster, and hardcover copies of five of Yamasaki's other beloved picture books—Dad Bakes, Place Hand Here, Everything Naomi Loved, Mural Island, and Shapes, Lines, and Light.

May 7

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
May 7, 1812: Robert Browning born.

Q&A with Kristy Woodson Harvey

  

 

 

Kristy Woodson Harvey is the author of the new novel Summer State of Mind. Her other books include Under the Southern Sky. She lives in North Carolina.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Summer State of Mind, and what do you see as the relationship between this novel and your novel Under the Southern Sky? 

 

A: I read an article years ago about a NICU nurse who adopted an abandoned baby, and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had several conversations with friends in that field who told me similar stories along the way, and I loved the idea, but it was several years before the premise for the novel began to come together.

 

Plucky-but-burnt-out nurse Daisy was the first character that came to me. Somehow, when I started writing Daisy, Mason Thaysden from Under the Southern Sky simply was the man I saw for her. There was no way around it! So I decided to revisit him because I adored him and wanted a happy ending for him.

 

And then there were so many echoes between Daisy’s story and Aunt Tilley’s from that same book. I have gotten perhaps the most emails ever from people wanting more of her, so it seemed like a fun idea. She has always been a favorite of mine, so getting to hear from her not just about her was fantastic! And I got to revisit dreamy Cape Carolina, the setting of Under the Southern Sky.

 

I do want to say, though, that it absolutely is not a sequel. You can pick Summer State of Mind right up with no backstory from Under the Southern Sky at all!

 

Q: How would you describe the Thaysden family?

 

A: The Thaysden family has the kind of loving chaos that I just adore in a family. Their family is big and loud and secretive and dramatic, but, at the end of the day, they would sooner die than let something happen to each other. They are wildly fun to write–especially when they are all around the dining table at their family home, Dogwood!

 

Q: The writer Marie Bostwick said of the book, “Summer State of Mind is a celebration of family, community, and the kind of magical, messy, complicated love that makes life real and worth living.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I just couldn’t love this description any more! And I think (hope!) it’s so spot on.

 

My books almost always surround characters who have an ethical dilemma before them. Because, so often, while we like to believe there’s the “right” answer and the “wrong” answer, I have found in my own life that, in any choice, in any situation, there are generally about a million shades of gray.

 

Each of these characters comes to a moment—or have to relive a moment from the past—where he or she reached a fork in the road. And there is no perfect answer, no “right for everyone.” What then? How do you decide when your back is up against the wall?

 

To me, there is magic in that messiness. And sometimes heartbreak, too. But, if you’ve read my books before, you know that I like nothing more than to tie it up by the end, deliver a happy ending, or at least a satisfying one.

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the novel, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: I did some further research on delusional disorder as it pertained to Aunt Tilley, but, really, more on how grief can manifest in these sort of undefinable mental illnesses that are hard to put in a box.

 

I also got to visit some sweet hospital nurseries like the small-town one where Daisy is now working and chat with the nurses there and found some really interesting books of essays by nurses that I loved.

 

And, weirdly, baseball is one of the few sports that I don’t know a whole lot about, so, of course, that’s what this one is about! Fortunately, I had a friend whose son was going through the recruiting process while I was writing, so that was so, so helpful.

 

But Daisy’s and Mason’s careers don’t take up nearly as much space on the page as I imagined they would. And there are times when I have to fudge some facts a little for the sake of story. But I always love learning new things when I write!

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am SO excited because I have a fifth book in my Peachtree Bluff Series, Falling for Peachtree Bluff, releasing on September 15. And I have an Amazon Exclusive short story, “Leave It Up to Love,” out now exclusively on Kindle and audio.

 

I am working on edits of my next project, and I absolutely adore it. I’ve been thinking about it for years and can’t wait to share more!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I have a lot of fun adaptations in the works. A film adaptation of A Happier Life with MGM/Amazon and a series adaptation of The Summer of Songbirds with Hulu are the farthest along. But I am having so much fun reimagining so many of my stories in a new way. I can’t wait to share with my readers!

 

Thank you so, so much for hosting me here and using your platform to shine a light on my work. I’m so grateful!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Florence Migga

  

Florence Migga is the author of the new middle grade novel The Summer Scrapbook. She lives in Florida. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Summer Scrapbook, and how did you create your characters Ava, Becca, and Cat?

 

A: The novel I had written prior to The Summer Scrapbook was a lot of fun to write, but it was also the type of story that took a lot of research. After all the work and editing, I wanted to write something that was purely fun and felt easy and light.

 

The story started with Ava: her summer situation is based on something my family did when I was about her age. But I’ve always loved the idea of friendship stories, and I knew that since Ava is having such FOMO she needed some amazing friends and what she thought would be the best summer that she was having to leave behind. From there, Becca and Cat came on board, and the story took off.

 

Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, “The group’s alternating viewpoints—enhanced by multimedia ephemera, such as the trio’s letters to one another, personal notes, and ticket stubs—offer an intimate look at growing independence and an affirming portrait of friendship in transition.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I love it! That one sentence succinctly describes the heart of this story. I especially love the words “intimate” to capture the girls closeness; “growing independence” to explain what happens to the girls as they find themselves in separate places for the first time; “friendship in transition” because that implies that friendships (like all relationships) are dynamic and not a static thing, because humans are not static; and “affirming” because I love the idea that it might empower girls to explore different and new to them facets of themselves.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic among the three friends?

 

A: There’s a line from an old song that I love, which goes “Take every chance you dare, I’ll still be there when you come back down.” One of my good friends drew me a pretty picture with all the lyrics for that song when I was going off to college, and it and the idea of it has always stuck with me. 

 

I see Becca’s, Cat’s, and Ava’s friendship like that — a place to be unconditionally yourself where you are unconditionally loved and accepted, even as you grow and life inevitably changes you. 

 

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

 

A: A lot of changes along the way! I knew the general plot line and character arc for each girl, but all the details came in as I was writing. Especially their friendship and how it stretched, expanded, and evolved over the course of the summer. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently writing another middle grade story that starts with a group of besties at a sleepover — but the similarities between it and The Summer Scrapbook end there, and that’s all I will say about it for now! 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I also have my debut picture book, The Fortune of Immy Nakatudde, coming out in 2027. It’s been a totally different experience from writing a novel, but just as wonderful a journey! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb