Rihannon Navin

Rhiannon Navin's new novel is Only Child.

From the transcript of her interview with NPR's Michel Martin:

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Four days ago, we received word about another one of those stories that we hate to report and you hate to hear - 17 people, many of them teenagers, were killed in a school shooting. And as journalists, I have to be honest with you, we often struggle to make sure that things don't seem mundane, they don't become ordinary, things especially like this that should never happen to anybody despite the fact that this follows a familiar pattern. And we find ourselves trying to make sense of it.

And remarkably, in this moment, there's a work of art that gives us insight. It's a novel. Just eight days before last week's tragic shooting in Florida, Rhiannon Navin released her debut novel "Only Child." It's a story about the aftermath of a school shooting told from the perspective of a 6-year-old who survived the shooting but his brother didn't. And Rhiannon Navin is with us now from our bureau in New York. Rhiannon, thank you so much for speaking with us.

RHIANNON NAVIN: It's an honor to be here. Thank you, Michel.

MARTIN: And, you know, it seems almost a ridiculous question, but I do have to ask, you know, what made you want to write this book?

NAVIN: Well, you know, it was a very kind of personal experience that I had a few years ago when my twins - when they just started kindergarten, they, you know, were 5 years old. They were sitting on their rug and deciphering their first words and just, you know, innocent and happy to be there. And then they experienced their first lockdown drill. And, you know, a voice comes on over the loudspeaker, it says lockdown. And their teacher locks the door, turns off the lights, ushers them into a closet or instructs them to hide under the desk.

And that same afternoon, I found my little guy, Garrett, hiding underneath our dining room table. And I said, you know, Buddy, what are you doing under the table? And he said, I'm hiding from the bad guy, Mommy. And, you know...[read on]

Visit Rhiannon Navin's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Rhiannon Navin & Oscar Wilde.

--Marshal Zeringue