Can you believe it’s April? Not gonna lie, I was hoping for a few more warm days and hints of spring, but in New York anyway, we’re assured it’s on its way … eventually. Actually the gray days are kind of fitting for this month’s installment of Debut-to-Debut, which isn’t afraid to go dark and deep!
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 Amelia Brunskill about her debut young adult novel The Window (Random House/Delacorte Press, April 2018).
From the jacket:
Anna is everything her identical twin is not. Outgoing and athletic, she is the opposite of quiet introvert Jess. The same on the outside, yet so completely different inside—it’s hard to believe the girls are sisters, let alone twins. But they are. And they tell each other everything.
Or so Jess thought.
After Anna falls to her death while sneaking out her bedroom window, Jess’s life begins to unravel. Everyone says it was an accident, but to Jess, that doesn’t add up. Where was Anna going? Who was she meeting? And how long had Anna been lying to her?
Jess is compelled to learn everything she can about the sister she thought she knew. At first it’s a way to stay busy and find closure . . . but Jess soon discovers that her twin kept a lot of secrets. And as she digs deeper, she learns that the answers she’s looking for may be truths that no one wants her to uncover.
Because Anna wasn’t the only one with secrets.
KIT FRICK: I love digging into sibling relationships in YA, especially those between twins. In The Window, we meet Jess, our narrator, and Anna, her twin sister who has just tragically died at the story’s opening. What drew you toward the idea of exploring this particular sibling relationship, which unfolds for the reader entirely after Anna’s death?
AMELIA BRUNSKILL: I’ve always been fascinated by twins, especially identical twins. There’s something about the idea of identical twins that short circuits my brain to a degree that’s actually pretty embarrassing. When I find out that someone I know is an identical twin, I pretend to be all normal and nonchalant, but inside I’m thinking: Who are you? What other wondrous secrets do you have?
While I don’t have a twin myself, I do have an older sister and growing up I definitely constructed a lot of my identity around the ways in which we were similar or different, and I’m sure if we’d been twins this would have been even more the case. So I really wanted to explore how someone might have to rebuild their own conception of themselves after the unexpected loss of their twin, and also wrestle with any new knowledge about their twin that emerged in the aftermath.
KIT: The adults in Jess’s life—her parents, the police, and the community at large—readily accept Anna’s death as a tragic accident, but the explanation given falls short for Jess, failing to resonate with the sister she knew. Let down by those who should be asking questions and pressing further, Jess is compelled to conduct her own investigation. Was it your intention to explore this friction between teen and adult approaches to tragedy, or was it something that arose while you were drafting?
AMELIA: In the wake of a terrible tragedy, there are often some people who want to track down concrete answers—whether or not there necessarily are any—and then others who want to simply try and move on as best they can. While this split doesn’t always divide along age lines, I think younger people are more apt to err on the side of wanting answers, since they are usually less jaded and accustomed to tragedies.
As I worked on this book, I found myself trying to play with uncertainty about which approach—moving on or digging further—made sense here. Is Jess’s need to investigate the circumstances of her sister’s death unhealthy and mostly due to the combination of her particular grief and her rather forceful approach to life? Or are there aspects to what happened that really do need to come to light? Are people telling her that she needs to move on because they are genuinely worried for her, or do they have other motivations at play?
KIT: Tell us something about The Window that isn’t apparent from the book cover or flap copy. We want the inside scoop!
AMELIA: Quite a bit about the book changed during the editing process, including me killing off several of my darlings, including a small child named Bella who lived across the street from Jess. Bella wore a lot of pink and used a lot of glitter glue, and she was super pumped about becoming pals with Jess. Given how Jess is so very not good at talking to gregarious small children, their conversations were (to me) pretty hilarious.
RIP Bella. You needed to go, but I will always think of you fondly.
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?
AMELIA: I really love how now that I’m a super fancy almost published author, it feels about 25% less embarrassing to introduce myself to other writers. For a few magical years, YALLFest took place right after a library conference that I attended, and I remember going to some of the panels and so wanting to be a peer with the writers (cue image of me, wide-eyed, hand stretched out toward them, mouthing “part of your WORRLLLD,” Ariel-style). They were just so cool, and they seemed so comfortable and happy hanging out together, and I did not feel like I would ever be part of that world. Fast forward to now, and I’m part of an amazing online debut group of young adult and middle grade writers, some of whom (like you, Kit!) I’ve gotten to meet in real life. And perhaps, if I’m lucky, I may even get to be on a panel with some of them one day!
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?
AMELIA: I think it’s been so interesting to see how an initial idea can evolve and transform throughout the writing and publication process. Originally, this book was intended to be noir-ish graphic novel (in my head it was Brick meets Veronica Mars, as drawn by Nate Powell, because I was pretty delusional about my artistic abilities). Then for a while it was on track to become 300 pages of pure feelings, with almost no plot. Then it became more like a strange version of Nancy Drew, and then it leaned to the contemporary side, and then finally, under the very wise tutelage of my editor, it twisted and settled more on the mystery/thriller side. And honestly, I’ve kind of loved every version in its own way.
KIT: Drawing from your own unique experience, what advice would you to give to future young adult debut authors, or debut novelists in general?
AMELIA: I would tell people to be flexible with how their story unfolds, and to keep pushing themselves to see if they can come up with more interesting developments and more complex characters. Also, I’d say that developing the ability to take, and incorporate, feedback well can be critical for taking your work to the next level. If you get feedback that you hate, sit with it for a while, sulk, and then try to tease out if you honestly disagree with it or if it’s actually on point and you’re just resisting it because it may mean a lot more work. (Spoiler: It will be a lot more work, but it may well be worth it!)
Amelia Brunskill was born in Melbourne, Australia, but she grew up mostly in Washington state where she picked a lot of blackberries, read a lot of books, and failed to properly appreciate the epic beauty of the mountains and the Pacific ocean. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in psychology and art from the University of Washington and her master’s in information studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She now lives in Chicago, where she eats as much Thai food as possible and works as a librarian. The Window is her debut novel.
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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).
The Window 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!