Rachel Bateman is the author of the young adult novel Make the Fireflies Dance. Her other books include the YA novel Someone Else's Summer. Also a writing coach and podcaster, she lives in Montana.
Q: What inspired you to write Make the Fireflies Dance, and how did you create your character Quin?
A: Most people don't realize that Make the Fireflies Dance is actually a reimagining of a lesser-known classic. When I was in college, I read the short story "The Kiss" by Anton Chekhov. I loved it, right up until the end, which I hated.
Not because it went in a way I didn't want it to, but because it didn't seem to go in any way. It just stopped with no real resolution, and that annoyed me to no end.
So much so that, more than a decade and a half later, I was thinking about it as I was driving down the highway one day when it hit me: I could write a modern version of "The Kiss" and give it an ending that would satisfy me.
Quin was a fun character to develop. Part of her was informed by the character Ryabovitch in "The Kiss"--she was a hopeless romantic from the start because he was a hopeless romantic. From there, she came together in bits and pieces as I thought more about who she was and how she'd react to what happened in the theater.
A lot of her backstory actually came from her name; once I decided to name her Quincy, it all clicked together: the history-loving father who named her after his favorite president, and all of that.
Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: Hopeless romantic Quin is a lover of romantic comedy movies, and since so much of that love came from watching the movies her mother loved, she grew up with the romcoms of the '90s and early '00s.
When I think of that era rom-com, one song always comes to mind: "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer. (Which wasn't actually in that many romcoms but felt like it was absolutely everywhere for a few years there.)
Make the Fireflies Dance is a line from that song. It actually came first, and Quin's mother describing love like fireflies rather than butterflies came from it.
Q: The writer K.L. Walther said of the book, “Bateman’s romantic comedy, with touching threads of the power of friendship and grief woven in, will bring light to your life.” What do you think of that description?
A: I was so thrilled to read K.L.'s blurb because it fully encapsulates exactly what I was trying to do with the book. I love writing a plot that feels very light but that has a much deeper backstory and through line.
Several of my books have the same theme to them: that we can experience both grief and joy at the same time. Up until Fireflies that theme was unconscious to me as I wrote. This was the first time I made a conscious effort to bring it across, and I'm happy that it resonated.
Q: Did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: Um...a bit of both. The ending was the most important thing for me to try to nail, because it's the part of "The Kiss" that I was so dissatisfied with. I knew I wanted an ending that both honored the story Chekhov told and gave me what I wished his story had for so many years. It was a fine line to walk, and I'm incredibly proud of what I came up with.
At the same time, I know it doesn't resonate with everyone. Some readers dislike the ending of Fireflies for a similar (but notably different) reason to why I dislike the ending of "The Kiss" and I'm okay with that. I'm very happy with how it ends.
As for changes, the broad strokes of the ending didn't change, but the details definitely did. Because, despite months of plotting and planning before writing the book, I realized about halfway through the first draft that I'd actually planned the wrong love interest for Quin!
My original plan for Operation Mystery Kisser and the details of how that all plays out was much different, so I had to change a lot of things leading up to the end. The core of it stayed the same from the start though, because that core honors Chekhov's original story.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm writing the first draft of an adult thriller, and I'm absolutely loving it! It's a different world from my young adult stuff, and it's a lot of fun to play in this sandbox.
I also write screenplays, and I'm currently splitting my time between drastically different projects: writing a Cozy Christmas Romance (think Hallmark Christmas movie) and pitching an intense, gory slasher to producers.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Aside from my own writing, my favorite thing to do is help others write their books (and screenplays), so I started a podcast to do just that.
Breaking Writer's Block has short, daily episodes to give writers the inspiration, knowledge, and encouragement they need to overcome the blocks and resistance stopping them from writing. It's a blast and I love doing it!
Breaking Writer's Block is available anywhere you listen to podcasts.
I also offer 1:1 coaching via Voxer (so writers have direct access to me anytime during office hours, rather than waiting for their weekly or biweekly coaching call, as is typical) and am getting ready to launch a low-barrier membership for writers who want the benefit of coaching without the cost of traditional coaching.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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