Saturday, February 25, 2023

Sarah Lyu

Sarah Lyu grew up outside of Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She loves a good hike and can often be found with a paintbrush in one hand and a cup of milky tea in the other. Lyu is the author of The Best Lies and I Will Find You Again.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I have this habit where I come up with a title, pitch it to my editor, and then almost immediately hate it. We spent a few months going back and forth before landing on I Will Find You Again. It’s a bit long, but I love it—there’s a sense of loss and grief but also determination and hope. It encapsulates what the story is ultimately about: an intense love story and the aftermath of a deep, cutting loss.

What's in a name?

Chase Ohara, the main character and narrator of I Will Find You Again, has a name that’s a little on the nose. She’s always in pursuit, always hunting achievements like she’s starving. For her, it’s never enough. Reach a summit and she’s already plotting her next ascent. It’s also part of the novel that her father named both her and her sister traditionally male names (her sister is named Aidan, but chooses to go by Dani) as a not-so-subtle and misguided way of “encouraging” them to do anything, be anything, as if male names could shield them from any sexism or misogyny in their future. Her last name is Japanese and a nod toward No-No Boy by John Okada. There’s a memorable scene in that book where a character with the same last name is turned away from a hotel in the era after WWII because he’s Japanese, despite having called and made a reservation. They’d mistaken “Ohara” for the Irish “O’Hara” on the phone. So close, yet so far away. It’s a great metaphor for Chase’s experience. She was born in the US, like both of her parents, but there’s still this barrier, however slight, that separates her from her White classmates.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Shocked, probably. I wrote this novel in part for my teenage self, and it’s the book I needed back then. Like Chase, I was obsessed with achievements and the veneer of success—too deep in to see how it was destroying my sanity, poisoning my soul. When I was younger, I was a more impatient writer, always in a rush to gather enough material for a story, but now that I’m older, I realize that some things just take time. I wouldn’t have been able to write this book until now, until I had enough time to grow and enough distance to both understand and empathize with my teenage self.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Endings are hard. Usually, I know what happens before I start a story, but once I get to that point, it can be a little excruciating to write it out. There’re a lot of emotions: it’s often the most intense part of the novel, and it’s the end of the draft, when I’m exhausted and excited, nervous and hopeful. For I Will Find You Again, I didn’t change the beginning or ending much. With each draft, I added more and tried to layer in complexity while keeping the plot and emotional arc largely intact. But the very last scene did change pretty late into the process and came from a casual comment from my editor. Chase is a runner, and the story opens with her running in the dark, alone. She’s anxious, depressed, suicidal. When we leave her, she on another solo run, but this time, she’s not running from anything, not running toward anything. There’s a sense of space and freedom and hope. It was a perfect moment of symmetry—I love endings that echo back to the beginning.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

The way I create characters is to take a part of me and give it to them. It’s my “in” with them. They might like totally different things, might have goals that are foreign to me, but if I understand a particular piece of what makes them tick, then I can build everything else around it. I need to have that strong sense of empathy for a character, even if I vehemently disagree with them, in order to create someone believable. In many ways it was easy to write Chase and Lia because the pieces I gave them are part of a push-and-pull within myself: the perennial debate of pursuing the idea of success vs. giving up the rat race to find joy in the moment. But for Chase’s father, who can be seen as a kind of villain in the story, I had to dig deeper. Why does he push her so hard? Why does he push himself so hard? It was important to me that he didn’t seem like a caricature of a mean, demanding parent. For him, my “in” was his all- encompassing fear of genuine starvation. His scarcity mindset came from a hungry childhood, and even though he knows logically he’s made enough money to attain financial security, he’s still that scared little boy at his core. It’s hard to empathize with a terrible parent, but it’s easy to empathize with a scared and hungry child.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a big influence. Chase and Lia live in Long Island, and they venture out to Montauk as often as they can. “Meet me in Montauk,” a refrain from the movie, is something they text each other as a Bat-signal to escape their daily, high-achiever grind. I was also inspired by Justin Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow, a crime film about Asian- American teens who start a cheating ring that takes a dark turn. Aside from movies, I’m really inspired by the everyday politics of being Asian-American. The model minority myth, the perpetual foreigner, Asian adoption by White parents—these are subjects I explore in the book. It was also important to me to tell stories that aren’t just centered on the immigrant experience; those stories are crucial but can in some ways re-enforce the idea that Asian- Americans are perpetual foreigners. My goal was to widen the types of stories Asian-Americans are seen in. I wanted to write characters who aren’t necessarily clashing culturally with their parents but whose experience are still completely informed by their Asian-American identity.
Visit Sarah Lyu's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Amy Poeppel

Amy Poeppel is the award-winning author of the novels The Sweet Spot, Musical Chairs, Limelight, and Small Admissions. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Rumpus, Literary Hub, and Working Mother. She and her husband have three sons and split their time between New York City, Germany, and Connecticut.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I thought of the title for The Sweet Spot early in the process of writing this book. I wanted a title that worked on multiple levels, and most importantly, one that set the right tone for the novel. Greenwich Village, the setting of my story, is in many ways the sweet spot of New York City; it’s beautiful, a little gritty, and very lively at any time of day or night. In the novel, there’s a dive bar in the basement of the family brownstone called The Sweet Spot, and it’s a place where all manner of fun and happenstance can occur. The many characters in the novel are trying to find their own sweet spots, the exact place where “duty and delight” converge, as Thomas Mann said.

What's in a name?

I love coming up with character names – and I often change quite a few once I realize the names don’t quite fit the characters as well as I originally thought. I spend a lot of time naming my characters, even the pets. (In The Sweet Spot there’s a hamster named Pixel, a dog named Bumper, and a deceased guinea pig named Milkdud.) Two children in the book, Waverly and Horatio, are named after streets in Greenwich Village as both a tribute to the neighborhood and as a kind of wink to highly original names. How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel? I think my teenage self would be quite surprised! My book is irreverent in ways that my rebellious younger self would definitely appreciate.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I find endings much harder to write than beginnings. I rewrite my endings over and over again to make sure I have the exact mood and closure I want for that last chapter, last paragraph, last sentence. In The Sweet Spot, Felicity is our (3rd-person) narrator for both the prologue and the epilogue, the only two chapters I wrote from her perspective. I had to balance my desire to give all the characters satisfying outcomes, while having Felicity, a woman who is wonderfully ambitious but also quite egotistical, stay true to herself. The question was could a hint of her potential warmth come through in the very last moment?

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Some of my characters are a lot like me. I write about women of all ages and want to show them as they find humor and strength in difficult situations. I’m the kind of person who needs to laugh, even when I’m upset about something. I always try to keep my sense of humor in the face of absurdity, hardship, and even pain. Like my characters, I’ve had to reinvent myself many times in my life.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I was inspired during my formative twenties by female-centered movies of the late eighties, stories in which strong women are in situations that force them to start over, rethink their choices, and rebuild their lives. I remember watching Baby Boom, Working Girl, Moonstruck, and Broadcast News and thinking that I wanted to write stories featuring women on the brink of change. I am also inspired by my family. From my kids to my pets, my grandparents to my in-laws, my family provides me with are an endless supply of ideas.
Visit Amy Poeppel's website.

The Page 69 Test: Musical Chairs.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Peggy Rothschild

After losing their home during a California wildfire, Peggy Rothschild and her husband moved to the beach community of Los Osos along the central coast. When not at her desk or out walking, you can usually find her in the garden. Rothschild is a member of Sisters in Crime National and Sisters in Crime Los Angeles.

Her new novel is Playing Dead.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

From the very start, this book was titled Playing Dead. It was one of those magical moments where the title popped into my head and matched the story—since dogs, dog-training, and murder all figure into the plot. The title evokes both a trick you can teach your dog as well as a survival technique a character might use—pretending defeat in order to strike or escape.

What's in a name?

I spent a lot of time thinking about Molly’s name. I liked the idea of alliteration and since she had originally lived in Brockton, Massachusetts, I wanted a last name that sounded East Coast-ish with a bit of history to it. Molly Madison fit the bill! I didn’t realize until after book one was already published, that I hadn’t just picked the name Molly out of the ether. When I first met my husband, Molly was the name of his golden retriever. Doh! Molly’s new hometown, Pier Point, came more easily—inspired in both name, location, and architectural style, by the Pierpont area of Ventura, California.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Finding the starting point for the story is the bigger challenge for me. I don’t want to start the story too soon and bore readers with details of the character’s life pre-mystery, and I don’t want to start the story too late, leaving readers wondering “What’s going on?” That’s not to say endings don’t have their own challenges, but—hopefully—by the time I get to the story’s climax, there’s a logic and inevitability to it. But who knows? This may change over time. For now, I find myself tweaking, cutting, and rewriting the beginnings more.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Molly is much braver than I am. She’s also more coordinated and athletic! But we do share some characteristics. Her sense of humor is very much like mine—as is her total lack of—or interest in learning any—culinary skills. (She and I both rely heavily on the microwave.) I also share her love of animals and her need to keep them safe.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

My husband was the first person to say to me, “You should write a mystery.” I loved reading them and watching them. When we would watch one together, I’d apparently make a noise or move in such a way that he’d know I’d already figured out the ending. Though I loved writing, it had never occurred to me I could write an actual book. His encouragement sparked me to take a mystery-writing class and begin my journey. On a more “about this book” note, my friend Nancy was a huge inspiration for the Molly Madison series. She invited me to meet her at an agility trial and, as I watched, I got the idea to write about a handler and her agility dog getting entangled in a murder mystery. So, without that day, I don’t know what I’d be writing about right now!
Visit Peggy Rothschild's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Jenna Miller

Jenna Miller (she/her) writes Young Adult books about fat, queer, nerdy girls who deserve to be seen and have their voices heard. When she’s not obsessing over words, she can be found making charcuterie boards, befriending people online, cross stitching, or adventuring in the Minneapolis area. Miller’s debut novel is Out of Character.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

In the roleplay world, speaking "out of character" is when you have a conversation with another roleplay as yourselves rather than your characters. It hints at the bonds between online friendships and how close people can become when letting the group become a friendship rather than just a gaming/writing group. The title is also a reference to how the main character, Cass, is keeping secrets from family/friends in her physical/"real" world to hide her online roleplaying addiction, which for her is considered incredibly out of character as she is not typically someone who lies or hides parts of herself.

What's in a name?

Most of my characters are names that sounded right for their personalities with little meaning behind them. The one that stands out to me for Out of Character is Greg Jensen. I wanted a name that had a token Midwestern football bro vibe to it. For some reason, he's also the only character who I refer to with his full name.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Teenage Jenna would be both surprised and proud. Like Cass, I am fat and a lesbian. Unlie Cass, I wasn't comfortable with my body in high school, and I didn't realize I was a lesbian until I was 30. I simply didn't think about it or realize it, so I think it would surprise me, but I'd also be proud because I've always been supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community. I'd also feel relieved to know I got to a place in my life where I love myself for who I am, and that fat, queer teens deserve to see themselves in these types of stories.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I usually have a pretty good sense of how to start and finish a story, but I almost always need to tweak the beginning somehow. Setting the stage in the right moment with the right characters can be a challenge, and I sometimes need to shift things around to get it right.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Cass has many pieces of me, but she's also very different, which I've already touched on some above. We share similarities like having anxiety, being familiar with online roleplay addiction, and overthinking... a lot. As for the rest of the characters, there may be a trait or quirk that relates to me, but mostly they are completely different.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I'm inspired by my own interests and the people around me. I pulled some things from my own experiences and relationships, and I love adding in memories from my youth and fictionalizing them. I'm also inspired by other media such as movies and music, but I try not to get too close to anything in particular.
Visit Jenna Miller's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Leslie Vedder

Leslie Vedder (she/her) is a queer ace author who loves fairytale retellings with girl adventurers and heroes! She grew up on fantasy books, anime, fanfiction and the Lord of the Rings movies, and met her true love in high school choir. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in creative writing and currently lives in Colorado with her wife and two spoiled house cats.

When she's not reading or writing, you can find her watching anime and sci-fi shows, walking in the woods and pretending they're enchanted forests, or playing old video games. She always collects all the Skulltulas in Zelda and all the Dalmation puppies in Kingdom Hearts.

Her debut YA novel The Bone Spindle was an indie bestseller. The sequel The Severed Thread comes out this week.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I think the title, The Severed Thread, slips into the mind like a dangling thread, and the more you pull it, the more it unspools. The tagline for this book is: which threads of fate will hold and which will break? The villainess of the book uses golden thread to spin her dark curses. And a single ever-so-breakable thread of destiny connects the now-awakened prince and the girl who saved him. The word severed just says it all. (Though I can’t take credit for that title—it’s all thanks to my wonderful team at Penguin!)

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

My teenage self would be over the moon for this book, and especially for Shane! When I was growing up, in addition to reading a ton of fantasy, I was a big fan of Xena, and I would have been all about a book that didn’t just have a girl warrior, but also an unapologetically queer one. (Something there wasn’t a lot of when I was a teen!) Writing her was a dream come true.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I find beginnings way harder than endings. When I’m just starting out, I’m still finding the characters’ voices and seeding clues and worldbuilding for the whole story. By the end, I feel like I have all this momentum behind me. For The Severed Thread, I must have written at least five different versions of the opening chapters, but the end—which involves a high-stakes gambit, a battle, and an epic showdown—came together just as I imagined.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I’d like to think there’s a little bit of me in both my heroines—but really just a little bit. Fi is a bookish, no-nonsense historian, and while I share her love of books, I definitely do not have her cleverness. Shane is a queer ax-wielding huntswoman with a hot temper, who can pick a fight with anyone and is fiercely loyal to those she loves. She’s everything my teenage self dreamed of in a heroine!

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

The Severed Thread has lots of treasure hunting in old ruins, solving riddles and books codes, and big knock-down drag-out fights! It’s very much my love letter to action movies like Indiana Jones and The Mummy that are one long chase scene from start to finish, with the characters getting into trouble everywhere they go!
Visit Leslie Vedder's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Cailean Steed

Cailean Steed is a writer, teacher and aspiring dog owner. Steed lives near Glasgow with their husband and son. They have also resided in Aberdeen and Dublin, and hope one day to live somewhere with less rain.

Steed’s work has been published by New Writing Scotland, Boudicca Press, and Barren Magazine. Their mother would like them to write something more cheerful.

Steed's new novel is Home.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

That's a really interesting question, because the title changed so many times! Home was a suggestion by my publishers, and I loved the simplicity of it, and the way that 'home' can mean many different things to different people. It does a lot to set up the story as a place that will happen at 'home', but in the book that refers both to the place that the main character Zoe has built a life for herself, and the isolated compound of the cult she ran away from, which is not very homey at all! Zoe returns to one home, while desperately seeking the entire time to get back to the other one.

What's in a name?

Naming is really important in Home, principally because the female characters in the cult have names bestowed upon them and taken away without their control. I wanted to give a sense of how powerless the women were kept, and how they are treated as possessions in a way. Many characters don't have names at all, only titles, such as Father (the leader of the cult) and the Hand of God, Father's right-hand-man and enforcer, who takes an unusual interest in Zoe (or Catherine, as she is known as a child in the cult). Taking control of your name becomes a way for characters to show they are taking control of themselves.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

I started writing what eventually became Home when I was 13. My teenage self would probably be surprised by how much it has changed - initially it was about a secret British government training facility for child assassins, which seemed very plausible to me at the time. That idea got ditched as I worked on the story into my twenties, but I kept the central character, and kept the idea of children being raised in a very strict and isolated environment. So I think my teenage self would be pleasantly surprised!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Endings are harder because they take so long to get to. I generally have a fair idea of what the ending will be, but I'm not a detailed planner so the vagueness of the idea is like a general target to reach for. Beginnings I love writing, but I do tend to start a story a bit early, so a lot of it gets chopped off in the edit. That's ultimately for the better, though it can be painful to see it go!

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

This is a hard one to say. I don't think I'm very like my characters, though I do use bits and pieces from my own experiences to build them. Zoe is quite socially awkward, and observes people closely in an attempt to understand social interactions, and that definitely has parallels with my own experience! I think it's quite a useful position for a writer to be in, though - somewhat on the outside looking in.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I enjoy watching movies and tv, and I think some of the best writing out there is in tv at the moment! I've really enjoyed the series The Bear recently, set in a restaurant. The characterisation is so natural and subtle, and the humour and tension builds out of real-life situations really elegantly. I'd definitely recommend it!

With regards to writing Home, I did think about politics as I was writing - mainly while in the editing stage, where I could step back and think about what I want people to take from my story. There is a huge and concerning backlash against LGBTQ+ people right now, and I wanted my characters to be representative of LGBTQ+ people living their lives and being happy.
Visit Cailean Steed's website.

--Marshal Zeringue