You never know what we'll churn up in cleaning a stall
Cassia’s father grew up in a conventional middle-class family in the middle of the country. It was much, much different from her mother’s upbringing not that many miles away.
As they say, opposites attract. So, from your experience, how about an example?
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As a reader, you probably don’t pay much attention to the bones of a book — the number of chapters it has or how many sections they fall into. For a writer, of course, these can be central considerations. Ideally, there’s a beginning, middle, and end for each chapter and each section as well as the entire book itself.
In my psyche, one ideal structure is the symphony — typically, but not always, four movements, each one different, having an underlying unity that ends in an exciting climax. (Oh, there are some gems that do end quietly — so much for expectations!) A typical novel, on the other hand, may be twenty to thirty chapters of roughly 20 pages apiece running in chronological order, not that I’ve ever stuck with that convention.
In What’s Left, my novel I set out hoping you could start or end in any chapter, yet in some way they’d join to build the tension and resolution of the whole. The model that inspired me appeared to use chapters as mosaics or panels that could be moved around independently, if the reader desired.
I can’t quite see doing that in the final version my work, though a reader might leap over a chapter or two, if needed, and still pick up on some action — if, that is, the chapters are complete enough in their own right. Think of a string of short stories.
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If you’ve had a chance to read What’s Left, give me your feedback.
Does this structure work for you? Would you rather I’d broken the novel out into two, three, or four shorter books as a series? Did you skip over any parts? Would rearranging any parts work better?
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The hippie movement opened Cassia’s father’s horizons. He wound up trekking through the Himalayas. Many others hitchhiked through Europe.
What’s the most exotic place you’ve been?
Living in New England, I’ve found many people have ghost stories to tell, especially if they’ve inhabited an old house.
Maybe that’s why I found it so natural to see her family in that vein when it comes to my novel What’s Left. So what if hers takes place out in Indiana?
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Have you ever experienced apparitions or something else that might be described as haunted? Have you heard others tell about their encounters? What do you think?
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Nita didn’t tell him much about her family. She knew he’d like her younger sister.
Have you ever been thrown into a social situation you knew little about – but that changed your life? The kind where the door just opened for you?
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In my novel What’s Left, Cassia’s extended family revolves around a big Victorian house, one that’s undergone extensive restoration.
Do you ever dream of living in a big old house? What most attracts you?
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The hippie movement brought tensions to the family before Cassia’s future father showed up on the scene. He had no idea he never would have been welcomed by everyone even a year or two earlier, much less encouraged to stay.
Have you ever been welcomed in a situation where timing was everything?
In my novel What’s Left, they aren’t a typical Greek-American family. Not exactly. But they’re not like Cassia’s classmates’ homes, either.
How would you say yours differs from a “normal” family?
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After playing a central role in two previous novels, Nita returns in What’s Left, where she develops a special bond with her niece, once Cassia reaches adolescence.
When you were younger, was there an adult you admired who never looked down to you because you were “just a kid”?
Cassia, the voice of my novel What’s Left, is more formally named Acacia. I think it fits her to a T.
Are there any combinations of first name and diminutive or nickname in your circles you especially like?
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Jnana's Red Barn 