Q&A with Caroline Frost

 

Photo by Bob Turton

 

 

Caroline Frost is the author of the new novel The Last Verse. She also has written the novel Shadows of Pecan Hollow. She lives in Pasadena, California.

 

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

 

A: I have always been moved and haunted by the genre of murder ballads, and have been a lifelong fan of classic country/folk/bluegrass music.

 

As a writer, I am in awe of how the great country songs tell so much, so powerfully, with so few words. And how by the particular way the lyrics unfold, and by coupling it with a few well-ordered notes and chords, a song can devastate, inspire, awaken.

 

 I feel a kinship with songwriters while at the same time I know their gifts are just out of my reach. I think I could become a good lyricist if I really worked at it, but making music—to me, it’s magic.

 

I knew Twyla had to be gifted, but I wanted her in an environment that stifled her creativity. I needed her to fight for it.

 

It was also important that she not be obviously pretty. So often making a character attractive on the outside is a shortcut to making them likable or valuable. Twyla's looks are her least interesting feature. 

 

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

A: Researching this book was such a kick. I listened to lots of country music and studied lyrics, tried to put a finger on what makes a great song work.

 

I took a solo trip to Nashville and spent almost a week walking around downtown, listening to live music, talking to longtime residents and music industry insiders, going to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I was even allowed into the archives and spent hours watching old footage and reading trade publications from 1977.

 

So much of my research was simply being there, absorbing the energy of the place.

 

A couple of career musicians and Nashville locals were generous enough to let me reach out with questions. I'd sent bizarre texts like "Was there a Piggly Wiggly within twenty minutes of town in 1977?" or "Which guitar string is most likely to break and would it draw blood?"

 

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

 

A: I like to let readers decide what to make of it, but I will just say in my experience, to make art is to touch the divine.

 

Q: The writer Katy Hays said of the book, “An irresistible southern gothic dripping with atmosphere, Frost deftly weaves together class tensions, the struggle for country music stardom, and the vulnerability demanded of every artist trying to hit it big.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Katy was SO kind and I love this description. Atmosphere is always a draw for me, when reading and writing. It's the flavor of the novel. The country music scene in 1970s Nashville had built-in appeal and it didn't take much work to deliver.

 

Even though my writing is not textbook Southern Gothic, I always love the classification because the genre was a huge influence and informs my fascination with the grotesque, the unsettling, the profane, and with the dark history that is baked into the Southern experience.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I'm shuffling between projects. There's a novel I'm dying to write but it's more horror/suspense and is set a century earlier than my first two novels. Still, it feels very much in line with my fixations: driven, complicated women; female rage; southern/rural setting; gritty but hopeful narratives.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I love to be in touch with readers! Come follow me on Instagram at @carolinefrostwriter and join my newsletter or drop me a message on www.carolinefrost.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Caroline Frost.