I didn’t do it alone, I can tell you that. My editorial agent (Melissa White at Folio) and my editors at Random House (Jenna Littice, Caroline Abbey, and Chelsea Eberly) are amazing. They knew what I wanted this book to explore and they helped me built the plot to make that happen. I began by listening to, and talking with, some really kind and generous current and former foster youth, by listening to my own daughter and some family members, and those kids’ words and stories became Muiriel’s life.
The plot became a chronicle of Muirirel’s last year in foster care before aging out, which let me highlight past key moments in her placements, and interactions with various adults working in the system, to explore how she and other kids maneuver their lives around those events and relationships. I wanted to hit all the lie-debunking, but still have a story about a human person that felt alive and true, and that ‘one last year’ time-frame, with it’s built in do-or-die decisions, lent itself well to what my editors and I were going for.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
I mean . . .over three years, my agent and editors and I tore this book apart and started over from scratch at least three, maybe for times. I can get really myopic about one character, or one place, and get soap-boxy about truths I want to make clear, and I can really ruin a plot that way. My team of editors help me see the actual story picture in all my books. Have I mentioned Let us all thank our lord and savior Beyoncé for editors? Because seriously.
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
This will sound douche-y and I’m sure all writers say this but for real, I have a big problem with too many ideas. I have about two dozen paper notes and as many phone notes and laptop files with fast outlines of books I feel desperately compelled to write. Ideas are never the problem – focusing on one without getting sidetracked by others is the thing – that, and letting perfection be the enemy of the good; I have a WIP I am in love with and I’ve been working on for three years that I can’t get right but I just need grow a spine and finish it, mostly right or wrong or not, because it’s just going to get torn apart and re-written anyway, so what is my problem?
My husband and I talk about that a lot. He is a creative director for video games and when people say to either one of us, “Oh you write books/make games? I have the best idea for a story! It’s about this weasel who has thumbs…” and it’s like okay sounds great, you go do that because I’ve got too many ideas waiting under the window already.
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
Perfect follow up! I decide by picking up the mantle of whichever story I can’t stop thinking about the most (IN the shower, while driving, like it just can’t leave me alone no matter what) and I go all in and then I try to not start something else until I’m done with the thing I’m currently dedicated to finishing . . .otherwise I’ll never have anything finished, just a bunch of half-done stories and that would get me down. Some people can write multiple books at a time and I think that’s amazing. But the way I quell the temptation to jump around is letting myself at least make notes or outlines on other stuff as much as I want – but my dedicated writing time is for The Thing only.
I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
First of all, I Stan a queen with five cats, your Instagram feed gives me life. And B. I can’t write very well without my sweet, sweet babies beside me. I have three pals I write with: James Taylor the Cat (She’s a girl) then there’s our two little dogs from the Milo rescue in San Francisco: Henri and June. Henri sits in my lap and I rest my laptop on him, or he sits behind me as lumbar support. God, I love them so much!
