It’s March, and hoooo-boy, is it a great month for books! There are so many fantastic YA debuts and second and third YA novels out this month, it’s like a bookish whirlwind. Diving right into the fray, I’m so excited to share with you a brand new interview in the Debut-to-Debut series today!
If you’re joining us for the first time, here’s what this series is all about: as a debut young adult author myself, (See All the Stars is coming August 14, 2018!), I found myself eager to start a conversation with a variety of authors in the debut year before, during, and after my own about their books, YA and the writing life more generally, and the experience of putting a first novel out into the world. I wanted their wisdom, and I wanted to share it with other authors, emerging writers, and readers. So each month, I chat with a fellow young adult debut novelist, and then I share our conversation with you. You can find all the interviews in the series collected right here.
I recently corresponded with Heather Ezell about her debut young adult novel Nothing Left to Burn (Penguin/Razorbill, March 2018).
From the jacket:
The autumn morning after sixteen-year-old Audrey Harper loses her virginity, she wakes to a loud, persistent knocking at her front door. Waiting for her are two firemen, there to let her know that the moment she’s been dreading has arrived: the enormous wildfire sweeping through Orange County, California, is now dangerously close to her idyllic gated community of Coto de Caza, and it’s time to evacuate.
Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, as Audrey wrestles with the possibility of losing her family home, she also recalls her early, easy summer days with Brooks, the charming, passionate, but troubled volunteer firefighter who enchants Audrey—and who is just as enthralled by her. But as secrets from Brooks’s dark past come to light, Audrey can’t help but wonder if there’s danger in the pull she feels—both toward this boy and toward the fire burning in the distance.
KIT FRICK: One aspect of Nothing Left to Burn that struck me right away was the vivid sense of place. The Orange County, California setting is so vibrant—literally, it’s burning as the novel opens—but also the details are so richly conceived that the reader is treated to a truly cinematic imagining of Audrey’s landscape and home. So: Tell me a bit about your process for crafting setting, in general in your writing and/or as it applied specifically to the creation of this world.
HEATHER EZELL: Oh gosh, first, thank you SO much—that is incredible to hear. I wish I had a clear answer for my process of crafting the setting but, in truth, when I drafted this version of Nothing Left to Burn the setting interwove itself instinctively without my being totally aware of what I was doing.
I’ve always been very much obsessed with place, with how the smallest of intricacies of our surroundings so deeply inform us. Even in the earliest versions of Audrey’s story—before there was a wildfire—I was trying to pin down Orange County on the page, or, I should say, pin down the Orange County I personally know. As a teen, I loathed Southern California (and I’m still admittedly not the biggest fan; too much sun!) but I also was fixated on the particulars: the divides and overlaps in the stereotypes and true culture, how these polished luxury communities sit on the border of wild lands, the deep socioeconomic divisions, how I grew up under the threat of mountain lions and wildfires, the abstraction between the beach and the high desert-like land.
It’s only now in retrospect that I realize how cathartic it was to write Nothing Left to Burn—the act of bringing my own fraught feelings toward Orange County to life on the page and reconciling the ways in which my appreciation for this place evolved as I returned home as an adult. Orange County is so deeply under my skin that Audrey took on my obsessive awareness with little thought on my end. I like to say now that Nothing Left to Burn is my love song to Orange County, which is a bit strange considering the wildfire, but it’s the truth. I only realized how much I appreciate my childhood homeland when I wrote this novel.
In terms of craft, I will offer this—the finest, tiniest of details can make the greatest difference in bringing a place alive. The nuances that a reader may not expect. That and interweaving the setting into the action, ensuring that a description or elaboration is relevant to the character’s internal world, to what is happening, and not merely serving to set a tone. And, hey, have a map designed if you’re as indulgent as me!
KIT: Let’s talk structure. Nothing Left to Burn unfolds over the course of twenty-four hours, during the day that Audrey and her family are evacuated from their home, yet also utilizes interstitial chapters to dip back several months to the beginning of her intense relationship with her boyfriend Brooks. Through these chapters from Audrey’s recent past, we’re made privy to a textured view of the important relationships in her life—with Brooks, and also with her best friend Grace and little sister Maya. What inspired you to take this approach to the novel’s chronology and organization?
HEATHER: The truth is, I never intended for Nothing Left to Burn to take place over a single day, but when I was drafting this rewrite—or, really, this entirely new story for Audrey—around page 100, I realized that not only was I merely halfway through the evacuation day but I was writing significantly more flashback chapters than I anticipated. And it was with that delayed realization that the current structure clicked into place. So, the novel’s chronology and organization came about instinctually. As I wrote, dipping back into the past was always something of a light reprieve from the evacuation drama; it helps balance the present timeline’s weight—it offers readers a break from the go, go, go. Or so I’m told and I hope!
Drafting magic aside, during revisions, I did pull out index cards and give significant thought to every chapter’s placement, particularly the Brooks-and-Audrey chapters. I wanted to ensure that the development of their relationship—the highs and lows—coincided with the present fluidly. Because, ultimately, Audrey is only just reconciling each memory as she moves through this specific day and apprehends her own bravado and strength, as well as her culpability in their downfall.
KIT: Tell us something about Nothing Left to Burn that isn’t apparent from the book cover or flap copy. We want the inside scoop!
HEATHER: I wrote the first “version” of Audrey’s story when I was fourteen (in truth it was an entirely different novel). Back in 2016, there was no wildfire, no Maya, no Grace, no Brooks, no ballet … all that remains of that first manuscript is Audrey and Hayden (who is now super minor), and the exploration of the blurry lines of a co-dependent relationship. That first manuscript was titled A FEAR OF TEARS, which now makes me cringe!
Despite AFOT and NLTB being two different books, one chapter persisted and is nearly identical from what it was in its original form: Chapter 15, when Hayden drives Audrey home from the party at Derek Sander’s house. Back in 2006, she first called the 411 operator in an attempt to call a taxi company!
One element of Nothing Left to Burn that isn’t mentioned in the flap copy but is extremely significant to the story is Audrey’s struggle with depression, her discomfort with her body, and her feeling displaced in her identity. Her coming to terms with her not needing a solid thing (like ballet or firefighting or her boyfriend) to define herself is a critical part of the novel, as well as her finally acknowledging her need for help.
Oh, also! Despite what the cover may imply, Audrey never swims in Nothing Left to Burn and even mentions in the text that she hasn’t been in a pool in years, that she’s afraid to peel down to just a swimsuit. And yet I think the cover is perfect because, by the story’s end, she’d definitely be ready to dive into a pool … or even the Pacific.
KIT: What gives you the most joy about your life as a YA writer right now? What’s bringing you satisfaction at this moment in time?
HEATHER: Oh goodness. There is so much joy! But, the greatest joy is finally getting to share this story. It’s been a long road—I was querying at fourteen and am now twenty-six—and it’s still so surreal that this lifelong dream is actually happening and that I can finally put Audrey to rest. It’s liberating, incredible, and straight-up bonkers. And, oh has it been surreal to hear from early readers!
KIT: The publishing journey is unique for every author, but it’s safe to say that the road to book publication is filled with surprises, twists, and turns for all of us. What has surprised you most about the process of putting a first book into the world?
HEATHER: Honestly, there haven’t been too many surprises! By the time I signed with my agent, I was probably a little too aware of the publication process and admittedly a bit jaded, and I’m grateful for that. It was helpful going into this process knowing that, for instance, my marketing campaign may look very different from “the ideal,” or that a cover can change at the last minute, or that being stocked in Barnes & Noble isn’t guaranteed, and so much more. As an author, the only thing you can truly control is the writing (with perhaps some exceptions) and knowing this from the beginning has surely saved me from some surprises along the way.
That said, on a more personal level, I never would have thought it’d take so long for the reality of my being published to hit! It’s still is hard to wrap my head around. My disbelief has certainly been surprising—like, hello, Heather, you have finished copies, this is in deed happening.
KIT: Drawing from your own unique experience, what advice would you to give to future young adult debut authors, or debut novelists in general?
HEATHER: It’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the industry, the social media chatter, word count comparisons, follow-up deals, publicity campaigns that make your own look like a blip, follower count, beyond … it’s crucial to go into your debut year remembering what you can and can’t control. And when it gets tough, to remember why you came to writing, why you love it, why you love your story. Let yourself step away from time to time. Be kind. Retreat from time to time. There are only so many hours in a day and it’s crucial that you give yourself space within the whirlwind. Focus on the bonkers truth that your novel is being published. There is so much joy, so many highs—make sure to revel in it! And, as always, get yourself sitting down in that chair and write.
A Southern California native, Heather Ezell was evacuated for a fire at the age of three and subsequently grew up with an obsessive fear of wildfires. She has been chasing reprieve from California’s heat ever since—from the Rocky Mountains to Interior Alaska. Heather graduated from Colorado College with a degree in English literature and creative writing, and she currently lives in the Pacific Northwest where she writes, practices amateur ballet in the forest, and obsesses over the weather.
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Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. Her debut young adult novel is See All the Stars (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, August 14, 2018), and her debut full-length poetry collection is A Small Rising Up in the Lungs (New American Press, September 4, 2018).
Nothing Left to Burn is out now! Allow me to recommend your local indie, in addition to Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Stop back soon for future posts in the Debut-to-Debut Interview Series. I’ll be chatting with more fantastic authors throughout the year!