Q&A with Ava Dellaira

 

 

 

Ava Dellaira is the author of the new novel Exposure. Her other books include the young adult novel In Search of Us. She lives in Altadena, California.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Exposure, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: I first got the idea for Exposure during the 2016 election cycle, at a time when social media had really taken off as a new kind of public square, and our divisions were as loud as ever.

 

I wanted to write the book as a way to think about what it would mean to empathize with the human beings behind the headlines (or social media storms), or on the other side of any of the many battle lines being drawn.

 

After I had the idea for the story, the characters arrived pretty quickly to tell it. They all have parts of me and of people I love in them, but they are also very much themselves. 

 

Q: The writer Stephen Chbosky said of the book, “In a time when so many cultural conversations turn black and white, this brilliant book provides a way to truly see two sides of a story.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I think it’s a great description! Certainly a flattering one that expresses an important part of what I am trying to do in this book.

 

Culturally, we are having a number of important and difficult conversations, but sometimes the inherent complexity in the most sensitive tops can get flattened or edited out, and we are asked to choose sides— right or wrong. With this book, I wanted to make space to live inside of the complexity, to examine the gray areas. 

 

Q: You’ve written for adults and for young adults--do you have a preference?

 

A: I’ve loved both experiences. As I have “grown up” in my own life, had children, lost parents, and attempted to process the events in our shared world from a midlife perspective, I felt inspired to tackle more adult themes in my work, and I loved being able to sink into the complexity that is inherent in Exposure. 

 

But my children would love for me to write a book for them, so I may return to YA again at some point, perhaps when they are getting closer to their teenage years.  

 

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

 

A: I hope that Exposure makes it feel a bit more possible to do the work of holding space for more than one truth at the same time. I hope that it makes readers feel seen, and helps them to see others. I hope that it helps to create some space for readers to process the complexities in their own lives. I imagine the book not as an opening, but as a way to begin conversations. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am working on a new adult novel, but I’m still in the sprawling, messy early stages of writing where a story gets born. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Exposure is a book that takes place over many years and delves deeply into the lives of its characters, so it explores many different themes, like the intensity of both young female friendships and of new motherhood; the multifaceted, long-lasting effects of grief; artist ambition and what it means to persevere; the effects of race and class; the meaning of unconditional love…

 

When I first sent an early draft to my agent, he described it as an “ambitious” book, which at the time I took to mean he thought it was not working… but now I consider that description a compliment. I hope you enjoy it! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Ava Dellaira.