Debra Jo Immergut is the author of The Captives.From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: How was the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?--Marshal Zeringue
A: The Captives was not my original title. It was one of a list of new possibilities that I sent my editor after Ecco purchased the book and we really got to work on it.
We all thought it did what a title should do--encapsulate the story, but without giving too much away. The reader understands early on that Frank and Miranda are both captives of their pasts, and Miranda is clearly a captive of the corrections system.
But then the title takes on additional shadings as the reader travels through the book's pages. So we all felt like it was the perfect choice for this work.
Q: Did you need to do much research to write the book?
A: The most important research I did was visiting and working in prisons. I tutored and taught incarcerated people, and I was in...[read on]