Author Interview: Barbara Stewart

 Today on WinterHaven Books we are excited to have the amazing Barbara Stewart with us!!  I absolutely loved her book The In-Between and I am so thrilled that she took the time to answer some of my questions!  I have to also say that her answers are some of my all time favorite!  Take a look!

Welcome Barbara!

1) Wow I was completely blown away by The In-Between, how did you come up with this haunting tale? 

Three things set this story in motion: I'd always wanted to write something creepy. I'd always wanted to write something with an unreliable narrator. And that first line has haunted me forever—since I was a kid, actually. A few years before I was born, my grandmother was in a really bad car accident. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She survived, but she was different. Something like that changes a person. My father used to tell me that my grandmother before the accident and my grandmother after the accident were two completely different women. That always fascinated me because I only ever knew one side of her. The funny thing is, though, I wasn't really aware of that while writing—how much of my grandmother had crept into the book. In retrospect I realized the stories I'd been hearing my whole life inspired some of what Ellie goes through.

2) I was really intrigued by the science behind the story, did you have to do a lot of research?

I didn't do a lot of research because I didn't want Ellie to be a textbook case of anything. Rather than starting with the premise that Ellie was afflicted with a certain mental condition, I wrote from her point of view, about what she was experiencing, and then worked to decide what kind of diagnosis she would receive and also what drugs and treatment her doctor might prescribe.

Now the Vanishing Twin Syndrome thing . . . that was a happy accident! I'd been doing a little research on parasitic twins—another creepy obsession of mine—when I stumbled upon that one.
(Okay I had to make a comment here about the use of the words parasitic twin!  CREEPY!!!  And I think I just might love Ms. Stewart and her awesome obsessions LOL!)

3) Which scene was the hardest for you to write?

Ellie's journal entry for Christmas was by far the hardest to write. I can't tell you how many edits that went through. I knew it couldn't be a repeat of Thanksgiving—the first major holiday she has to get through after the biggest loss of her life—and I also knew that it was time for her to feel some hope, however small, that maybe everything might turn out all right. It's easy to write about darkness, but writing about surfacing from darkness is difficult—for me, anyway.

4) Which scene was your favorite to write?

Pretty much any scene in which Ellie is playing around with language, when we get to see her love of poetry. She never actually writes any poems in her journal, but I wanted her love of words to shine at certain moments.

5) Did you always know things would end the way they did or did everything change once you got closer to the end?

After Part I, I developed a broad outline—just a general arc—but mostly the story unfolded as I wrote. I thought I knew where it was headed, but then the story took a turn and did not end the way I'd expected. The ending is far more hopeful than I'd originally intended, and that's a good thing. I don't think Ellie could've arrived—emotionally, that is—at the place where we leave her if I'd anticipated what was in store. If I'd let myself get too far ahead of her in the story, I think it would've lost some of its power.

6) Are you currently working on a new project and if so can you share a little about it?

Yes! I recently completed another YA psychological thriller—The Killing Part—about two girls stalked by something they thought was only an urban legend. As the story unfolds, though, the girls learn that reality is often more terrifying than myth.

Woohoo I don't know about you but I am dying to get my hands on The Killing Part!!  It sounds right up my alley and I will definitely keep my eye out for upcoming details!

Thank you so much for stopping by Ms. Stewart!  It was a pleasure having you join us today!

I loved The In-Between so much that I have decided to give a copy to one lucky reader!  Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter.  If TBD ships to you then you are welcome to enter!

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