Q&A with Terri Farley

  

 

 

Terri Farley is the author of the new book Horse Girl: How Velma Bronn Johnston Became Wild Horse Annie and Outsmarted the Mustang Killers of the West. Her other books include Wild at Heart. She is also an educator, and she lives in Nevada. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Horse Girl, and how did you become interested in Velma Bronn Johnston (1912-1977)? 

 

A: I’ve always loved horses, especially wild horses. Like many young horse-lovers, I read every horse book our local librarian handed me.

 

I lived on the outskirts of Los Angeles, California, so the story of Wild Horse Annie, a young woman who saved America’s mustangs from being slaughtered for dog food, grabbed my admiration.

 

As an adult, I moved to Nevada and actually met her. Afterward, I couldn’t stop thinking, What a champion! What a warrior! Velma was brilliant and sarcastic, but humble about her accomplishments.

 

Not a word of  protection existed for wild horses until she made it happen.

 

She worked full days in the office, did all the duties of a co-rancher and stayed up late into the night writing letters and opinion pieces as she drank black coffee and fought residual pain from polio.

 

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

 

A:  Once the Phantom Stallion series made me a successful fiction writer, an editor took a chance on my nonfiction. We hoped that I could tell the true story of a Western heroine and make it read like irresistible fiction.

 

With the help of Velma’s niece, a physician, and Velma’s best friend’s daughter, I began.  I was allowed access to Velma’s personal papers, shorthand notes and family photos. Part of what I expected -- the story of a 1950s woman’s love for the wild lands and wild creatures of the West – emerged, but I learned more.  

 

Velma’s shyness surprised me, but her diary explanations make total sense. The aftereffects of polio changed her face and twisted her torso. She could still run and ride and walk, but she knew, on first acquaintance, people stared. Velma described herself as “an awkward girl who tried to conceal her zigzag spine by walking defiantly.” 

 

Horse Girl does a lot of myth-busting. Like many young horse-lovers, I read Marguerite Henry’s book Mustang as fact, not fiction. I believed Velma grew up on a ranch. In fact, she lived in a in a Reno, Nevada, neighborhood within walking distance of a university, banks, stores, and restaurants.

 

The ranch myth extends to the cruel lie that “Charlie Johnston married her for the family ranch.” There was no family ranch! The Double Lazy Heart Ranch was a labor of love for Charlie and Velma. Together they saved money and chose land along the Truckee River where Velma first saw free-roaming wild horses. Charlie built the barn and house while Velma worked as a secretary in town to keep funds flowing. 

 

Something that delighted me, especially as a writer for young readers, was Velma’s physical bravery. Her conviction to save captive wild horses sent her and Charlie on night raids to free mustangs from horse killers’ corrals. The couple insisted they weren’t horse thieves since the public lands and the wildlife on it belonged to the American people. Including them.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from Horse Girl? 

 

A: I hope that readers of all ages, absorb some of Velma’s determination to stand up for what they believe. This woman with physical challenges, a full-time job and bullying that didn’t stop in school, ignited a successful worldwide campaign.

 

Velma’s nickname started as a cruel joke. At a crowded hearing in the state capitol, an opponent saw her enter and said, “Well. if it ain’t Wild Horse Annie, and don’t she look just like one.”

 

The slur referred to her face, and of course it hurt, but Velma realized if she embraced the name, everyone would know who she was and what she stood for. She took it, used it and became known internationally by the nickname.

 

When asked how she could keep up her relentless, yearslong campaign on the range, in classrooms and boardrooms, Velma said, “To fight for what matters, you must have an unshakeable faith in the very rightness of what you are doing.”

 

I want readers to know it wasn’t easy for her, but she did it anyway.

 

Q: How would you describe Velma Bronn Johnston’s legacy today?

 

A: Every time a legislator refers to laws dealing with our wild horses, the restrictions of the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act – spearheaded by Velma – must be addressed.

 

Although financial interests of all kinds – primarily mining and agribusiness – have lobbied and succeeded in changing the 1971 Act, Velma gave today’s advocates for public lands and wild horses a platform to brace our feet on. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: The Year of the Horse brought me the opportunity to write picture books. The Phantom Stallion’s Family is a companion series for the youngest readers. These fictional stories about the lives of wild horses contain undercover science.

 

Example: in Feather the Foal, a baby mustang neighs into a cave and thinks there must be lots of horses in there. She learns about echoes. As a recovering middle and high school teacher, I believe people can’t care if they don’t know. If we see something wrong, we had to educate others about it.

 

I’m incredibly fortunate to have wild horse books for all ages. I don’t lobby, photograph or conduct scientific experiments, but I hope my fact-based stories influence readers to stand up for voiceless creatures of the wild.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: My books are all beautiful! The covers, interior art, and maps within both The Phantom Stallion series and The Phantom’s Family series are created by real artists – not AI. 

 

Horse Girl’s cover, layout, and perfectly presented old photographs were made possible by a dedicated team at the University of Nevada, Reno.  As a writer who’s had her own work pirated for AI without permission or compensation, I stand up for artists who create with their heads, hands and hearts.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with JaNay Brown-Wood

  

 

JaNay Brown-Wood is the author of the new children's picture book Acacia: A Rapunzel Tale. Her many other books include Mahogany: A Little Red Riding Hood Tale. She is also an educator, and she lives in California.

 

Q: What do you see as the relationship between your new picture book, Acacia, and your book Mahogany?

 

A: Oh, the relationship between Acacia and Mahogany! First, they are both fractured fairytales, taking the core aspects of well-known fairytales and then adding in some twists.

 

As someone who didn’t grow up seeing very many fairytales that featured characters that looked like me, one of the twists you see in both books is the main characters are young Black girls. Not just that, they lean into elements of their Blackness and their talents to help them overcome their obstacles.

 

For instance, Mahogany uses the melanin in her skin among other things to blend into the shadows to outwit the Big Bad Wolf. Then, in Acacia’s story, the girls connect over hair and braiding to devise a plan to get Acacia safely out of the tower.

 

Finally, one of the twists I love about both books is that no prince comes to save them, they work together to save themselves (in Mahogany’s case) and each other (in Acacia’s case).

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between your characters Acacia and Mahogany?

 

A: The best way I would describe Acacia and Mahogany’s relationship is the following: instant sisterhood. Mahogany compliments Acacia’s storytelling talent, the girls love each other’s hair, Acacia learns how to braid because of Mahogany—and Mahogany tells Acacia about the big, wide world out there. These two girls connect and build a friendship that I believe could (and will) last and last.

 

Q: What do you think John Joven’s illustrations add to the story?

 

A: John Joven’s illustrations are fantastic! He captures so much whimsy and humor and fun in the books, and he does it in a way that doesn’t feel too scary for children.

 

For instance, a Big Bad Wolf or a witch could easily be scary for a child to see. But John captures the essence of the villains without making it frightening. For instance, I love how he included a vest and a tie on the Big Bad Wolf in Mahogany and purple skin-tone for Ma Gothel in Acacia.

 

One of my favorite spreads in Acacia is when she sticks her head out the window, with her twist-out spanning from her head like a halo. The best! John really captured these characters expertly!

 

Q: What role does Acacia’s hair play in the story?

 

A: We get to see the role hair plays in a few ways. Initially, Acacia’s hair plays the role of the classic Rapunzel tale, the long braid that Ma Gothel uses to climb in and out of the tower.

 

But the twist (pun intended) comes when Mahogany and Acacia change up her do, unbraiding Acacia’s hair and rocking a natural style called a braid/twist-out. It shows the power of her hair: without that long braid, Ma Gothel was unable to reach her as easily.

 

Additionally, hair played the role of being a connector for the girls. They complimented each other’s hair—admiring each other’s different hair texture—and Mahogany helps Acacia unbraid her hair. I also enjoyed including how Mahogany’s skill of sewing and braiding was what helped them get free.

 

So, all in all, this story embraces and celebrates the rituals around Black hair, highlighting the power it can have, as well as how it can serve as a sisterhood connection.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am fortunate that I am always working on new stories.

 

At the moment, I am working on more Love Puppies books with Scholastic, as well as some additional titles I’m excited to share in the coming years including This Voice Leads, a follow up to This Hair Belongs (Astra Publishing); the Where in the Neighborhood series, including Amara Visits the Library and Amara Visits the Beauty Salon (Peachtree Publishing); as well as a Christmas story called Quick! Santa’s Coming Tonight (Bloomsbury).

 

Finally, I’m also working on some longer works as well.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: As a speaker, author, and educator, I love sharing what I know and what I do with the public. I have a free newsletter I send out that includes information about my process and books; educational information for parents, educators, librarians; free giveaways; and more!

 

Further, I travel the country and do author visits to school, programs, libraries, and community events. I also offer professional developments and workshops for authors, educators, community members, and more.

 

If people are interested in learning more about me, they can check out my website www.janaybrownwood.com or they can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with JaNay Brown-Wood. 

Oct. 1

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 1, 1924: Jimmy Carter born.

Q&A with Denise Derya Brandt

  

Photo by Tonya Bolton

 

 

Denise Derya Brandt is the author of the new novel Istanbul Dreaming. She spent more than two decades working in international development, and she lives in Kentucky. 

 

Q: How much did your parents’ experiences inspire you to write Istanbul Dreaming?

 

A: Quite a bit! I always knew I wanted to write something inspired by my Turkish mother and American father. I was interested in how two people from different cultures and countries found each other, fell in love, and stayed married for more than 50 years. Unfortunately, I lost my father in 2010 and my mother in 2016.

 

Then in 2021, when I was visiting my relatives in Turkey, I discovered a photograph of my mother in a wedding dress, standing next to a man who was not my father. She looked young and terrified. After some convincing, my aunt revealed that her father had forced my mother into an arranged marriage, which she eventually fled from.

 

This wasn’t a complete surprise. My mother had always told me that she had run away to Istanbul because her father tried to arrange her marriage to a man she viewed more as a brother than a husband. But that photo was evidence she hadn’t run away prior to the marriage after all.

 

That photograph and the questions that followed became the inspiration for Istanbul Dreaming.

 

Q: What did you see as the right balance between fiction and history as you wrote the book?

 

A: Initially I struggled because I felt beholden to the facts as I knew them from my parents. I was trying to adhere to the events and dates I knew to be true, whether they made for a good story or not.

 

Then someone in my writing group reminded me that I’m writing fiction, not biography, and I can make things up! She was right, of course, and this gave me the permission I needed to let go of my parents’ literal story and instead write this fictional story inspired by them.  

 

With the exception of Ayten’s and Earl’s first names, my character names are fictional with personalities drawn from composites of people I know. In some cases, I had a photograph of a person and imagined who they might have been. I kept the broad arc of some true events while inventing most other events, dialogue, and interiority.

 

In the end, I hope I struck the right balance between fact and fiction, one that allows the reader to be transported to 1950s Turkey.

 

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

 

A: Even though I fictionalized my parents’ story, I still wanted to include the authentic, historical details that bring historical fiction alive, so I conducted a lot of research.

 

I tried to include relevant details I knew about my parents’ lives and about other historical people and events, such as the Bursa fire, Buddy Holly’s and President Menderes’ airplane crashes, and real economic and political struggles of the time, including student protests and Turkey’s first military coup in 1960.

 

One valuable source of information was The New York Times archives, where I read 1950s news about Turkey and the US, and saw advertisements and prices that I was able to integrate into the story.

 

I did learn a few things from my research that surprised me. For example, the Bosphorus Bridge, the first bridge to connect Europe and Asia, did not exist until 1973. When I realized that, I had to do a bit of rewriting! Also, from a New York Times article, I learned about the devastating fire in Bursa in 1958, so I decided to reference that in the story.

 

My father once told me that the rent for my parents’ first apartment in Istanbul was two cans of instant Folgers coffee. From reading news articles about Turkey, I learned there was a coffee shortage at that time; the landlord’s desire for coffee rather than cash suddenly made sense!

 

But perhaps the most surprising thing I learned was there are striking parallels between the Adnan Menderes era (1950 – 1960) and the Erdoğan era in Türkiye, with both leaders promoting populist ideas and supporting religious conservatism in opposition to secularist or Kemalist movements.

 

Understanding the present helped me imagine what it must have felt like to live through the Menderes years. It’s interesting how history has a way of repeating itself or at least leaving echoes.

 

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

 

A: More than anything, I hope readers walk away deeply moved by Ayten’s courage and feeling like they’ve been transported to 1950s Turkey.

 

I wanted to write a story about the cost and necessity of claiming a life for yourself, especially amid the pressures women caught between tradition and modernity faced then and still face now. I hope Istanbul Dreaming prompts readers to reflect on the sacrifices we make or don’t for the lives we truly want.

 

I also wanted the love story with Earl to matter but not be Ayten’s prize. Her prize is her confidence, her self-worth, and her determination, and I hope readers feel the difference.

 

Beyond respect for Ayten’s personal journey, I hope readers come away with a deeper appreciation for Turkish history and culture and feeling inspired to visit and learn more. If they close the book feeling hopeful, curious, and genuinely challenged, I’ve done my job.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: As I prepare to launch my debut novel into the world, I’m finding it difficult to focus on a new, long-form project, and that’s okay. For now, I’m writing personal essays, journaling, and focusing on the work of bringing Istanbul Dreaming to readers.

 

But I have a few ideas I’ve been turning over: two that share the same spirit and tone as this novel, one that pulls me toward memoir, and one that centers around a dog (my palate cleanser project). I haven’t fallen in love with one yet, but the right story has a way of making itself impossible to ignore, so I’m staying open and showing up until that happens.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I spent more than 20 years working in international development, leading lifesaving women’s health projects in Afghanistan, Liberia, and Myanmar (with shorter stints in other interesting places), before I sat down to write this novel.

 

The transition from leading teams and multi-million-dollar projects to sitting alone at a desk, learning the craft of fiction, was humbling in ways I hadn’t anticipated. But it taught me something about the courage it takes to begin again, which, I realize, is exactly what Ayten does.

 

When USAID was dismantled in early 2025 and my contract was terminated, I didn’t polish my CV; I reached for my manuscript. Sometimes the path forward only becomes clear when the old one closes. I’m still in the middle of this new chapter, but I’m moving toward it with commitment and intention, just now at a treadmill desk instead of around the world.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Harriet Tyce

  

 

 

Harriet Tyce is the author of the new novel Witch Trial. Her other novels include It Ends at Midnight. She is also a barrister, and she lives in London.

 

Q: How did Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible inspire you to write Witch Trial?

 

A: I had decided on the basic story already – it was going to be the story of a murder trial with teenage defendants told from the point of view of one of the jurors.

 

This was feeling a bit flat, though, as if something were missing, and it was after I went to see a production of The Crucible with my son that I realized what was needed. Witchcraft! I brought in a supernatural element and there it was – the story of a murder trial of two teenage girls who believe that they are witches.

 

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

 

A: It’s fundamental. I tried to set the story in London and it just didn’t work. Edinburgh is perfect for this. It’s got a long, dark history of witch trials, it’s a beautiful city full of fascinating features and architecture. It’s Jekyll and Hyde, Burke and Hare, body snatchers and the macabre.

 

It’s also my hometown and I see this book as a love letter to my place of birth, however dark and twisted it may be.

 

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 had no idea. It revealed itself to me as I wrote, and surprised me as much as I hope it surprises the reader.

 

Q: The writer Araminta Hall said of the book, “I was totally immersed in the story, but it also made me think about the power of fear, the protection of privilege and who we chose to trust.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I was delighted that this was her takeaway from it as it’s exactly what I wanted to interrogate within the novel.

 

Matthew, the main protagonist, is a white, middle class, middle-aged professional man who has a certain view of the world and how it works for him, and each of the other jurors adjudicating on the murder trial has their own perspective and life experience too.

 

I wanted to look at the unconscious biases that people bring to the table in what they view to be the truth and who they believe.

 

The two girls in the dock look very different – one is blonde and beautiful (the pretty privilege, as it were), the other is more alternative in her appearance and generates a stronger reaction in people.

 

I think it’s important for us to look at our own prejudices and perhaps to stop to examine whether we are falling into the trap of making rapid assumptions about others based on their appearance, and this is essentially one of the core themes of the book.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m writing a sequel to Witch Trial, which starts 10 years after this book ends, because there are a number of characters whose story I want to continue.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: There’s a What If behind this novel which is this – What if the girls from The Craft were put on trial for murder? 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Jessica Rao

  

 

 

Jessica Rao is the author of the new novel Nowhere to Go but Everywhere. She is also a journalist, and she lives in the New York City area.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Nowhere to Go but Everywhere, and how did you create your character Helena?

 

A: Helena made her first appearance in 1994. I had just graduated from college and was living in the basement apartment of my parent’s Brooklyn brownstone. One night, while I was sitting on my $75 Salvation Army couch, listening to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, I scribbled some lines in a marble notebook about a character named Helena.

 

She lived inside that notebook for 15 years until I became a mom who still had a hankering to write. I signed up for a writing workshop at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Helena showed up again in some stories I wrote there.

 

Like Helena, I went to the University at Albany and like Helena, I waited tables a few blocks from the Capitol. Unlike her, I didn’t drop out of college, nor did I do what she does in the novel. Except wear a beret. We both have a thing for black berets.

 

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

 

A: The novel’s title was taken from a line in On the Road by Jack Kerouac. A wonderful writing mentor, Jimin Han, suggested that I mine the novel after three failed attempts to give the book a name.

 

Though my characters are ‘90s kids, a couple of them have a deep reverence for Jack Kerouac. They want to go West and live the beatnik road trip dream.

 

Q: The author Jacqueline Friedland said the novel has “echoes of The Catcher in the Rye”--what do you think of that comparison?

 

A: I think it’s a huge compliment. I know the novel can be polarizing, but it’s hard to deny that it’s an important piece of literature. It was one of my favorite books in high school.

Is it an apt comparison? I think yes, and I think it’s the voice. Helena Vinci, the novel’s protagonist, has a salty, if immature, take on things, that’s not unlike Holden Caufield. They both say “it killed me.”

 

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 had an idea but didn’t know exactly. I actually wrote a previous version that had a different ending. It’s in a box in my family room closet.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on another novel. Though I’m not sure where it’s going yet, it feels like it’s going to be a coming-of-middle-age story. Is there such a genre?

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m thrilled to be publishing my first novel, but I’ll add that even though it’s not out yet, it’s already been a wild ride. Tremendous excitement coupled with nerves, and so many to-dos. I now get why my author friends compare publishing a book to having a baby. Talk about not sleeping. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Claudia Hinz

  

 

 

Claudia Hinz is the author of the new novel Safekeeping. Also a journalist, she lives in Bend, Oregon.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Safekeeping, and how did you create your characters Tenley and Privately?

 

A: This story has been with me for a long time. Maybe as long as 50 years since I was a child eavesdropping on conversations in my family’s living room.

 

My parents hosted gatherings for veterans and the families of POW-MIA (Prisoners of War and Missing in Action). I was fascinated by the strangers in our home, and, also, uncomfortable with the fact that some men went off to fight while others stayed home, safe.

 

In the course of researching Safekeeping, I came across a photo of graffiti on a base in Ramadi, Iraq. The graffiti read: “America isn’t at war. The Marine Corps is at war. America is at the mall.” These words felt like a personal indictment, because I was, quite literally, at the mall, going about my business while other Americans my age were on the front lines of war.

 

If America was at the mall, while the Marines were at war, how could I get my character, Tenley, a former television personality, wealthy socialite, and mother of four, to care about a war being fought far away?

 

When I started writing Safekeeping and was exploring the relationship between my two characters, Tenley and Privately, a handsome, young Marine, I realized that the only way Tenley would start paying attention to war was to introduce a draft. If there was a draft, she might also begin to care about the experiences of a veteran, a man young enough to be her own son.

 

It took me years to figure out how to tell this story. I have not served in the military, so imagining the inner world and experiences of a young Marine required a lot of research.

 

I spent a year reading books about Iran and Afghanistan, and interviewing veterans of these wars. I watched a lot of movies and documentaries and listened to podcasts and conducted more interviews. I endeavored to create a fully realized, compelling, complicated character.

 

I spent a lot of time with Privately and it was only when I felt that I had approached his character development compassionately and with my best intentions, that I felt ready to introduce Tenley and begin imagining how these two people from different walks of life might come together in exciting ways.

 

Tenley was an easier character for me to imagine. Like her, I am a mother, and I worked as a television journalist for many years. Tenley seems to have it all––a beautiful family, wealth, privilege, security––and yet, she has regrets about giving up her career to stay home, and as an ageing woman, she is struggling with everything from her identity to her changing body.

 

On many levels, Privately holds out the promise of the very things Tenley has been yearning for in her life.

 

Q: Why did you decide to set the novel in 2027?

 

A: As I wrote Safekeeping, and throughout many drafts of the novel, I played with different time frames. Ultimately, I wanted readers to recognize the contemporary setting of the novel. The terms of my fictional world are not so different from the current state of our country.

 

When I first explored the idea of the draft, it felt like an entirely fantastical plot point. Now, of course, with news of eligible young men registering by the end of this year, the draft feels more and more likely.

 

Q: The author Dawn Tripp said of the book, “With grace and insight, Claudia Hinz maps the taut practiced codes of intimacy and marriage, identity and desire, in a beautifully rendered story of the private risks a mother will take for the sake of freedom and the singular integrity of what she believes and those she loves.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: This lovely praise says as much about Dawn, a gorgeous novelist and thoughtful reader, as it does about my book. She saw straight to the heart of Safekeeping. Her identification of the “practiced codes of intimacy and marriage, identity and desire” is particularly gratifying to me as a writer because these are topics that fascinate me.

 

In one scene in the novel, Privately comes to dinner at Tenley’s home. His attention is drawn to these “practiced codes” between her family members, the way she interacts with her husband, all the unspoken things that are conveyed between people who know each other so well, the small things that “map” the nuances of these complicated relationships.

 

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

 

A: I can’t wait to hear what readers think of Tenley and Privately! It is my hope that the novel prompts conversations about how civilians, those who haven’t served in the military, come into contact with military personnel and veterans.

 

What are the limits of our interactions with veterans? Saying “thank you for your service” in the grocery store or at a Veterans Day parade? How might we initiate conversations that bring civilians and veterans into meaningful connections?

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently working on a novel set in 19th-century Morocco about a young Sephardic Jewish woman. It is my first foray into writing historical fiction, a genre I love. In preparation to write this book, I spent a lot of time tracking down obscure sources and accounts from the early 19^th century.

 

I’ve been fortunate to visit Morocco on two occasions. On my more recent trip to the country, I tried to imagine my character’s path through the Tangier marketplace, to the hammam (the public baths), and to synagogue where she prayed with her family. I’ve tried to picture her daily routine and explore her thoughts and dreams.

 

In many ways, writing historical fiction does not feel so different from writing contemporary fiction. As novelists of every genre, we are seeking to inhabit a character and bring her to life on the page. I won’t get every detail from the 19th century right, but I am continuing to research as thoroughly as possible in order to create a compelling world in which the reader feels fully immersed.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Writing doesn’t get easier. And the journey to publication can be long and bruising, which is why we all need to be cheerleaders for one another throughout this long process.

 

I hope I can be supportive of fellow writers, especially those who are struggling with rejections, finding an agent, or checking their email every hour, hoping that someone will want to publish their work. Keep going! Your story matters.

 

To the readers of Safekeeping, I am honored that you have chosen to devote your valuable time to my book. It is thrilling to think you will have a completely different experience reading this book than I had writing it.

 

I would love to hear from you. I hope you’ll reach out to tell me your thoughts. And maybe you will consider starting a conversation with a veteran, someone you’ve seen in your community but haven’t known how to approach. I’d love to hear about that too. Thank you.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb