Today we have an interview with my friend and fellow author S.K. Falls. She's here to talk about her book Secret for a Song!
Saylor Grayson makes herself sick. Literally.She ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she's been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she's ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.
Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can't bring herself to, not after she's welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives
For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her. But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor's is out?
What gave you the idea for Secret for a Song?
I’m a huge psychology buff; I
majored in it in college. When the idea for a character with Munchausen syndrome
popped into my head one day, I couldn’t get the idea to go away. I was
enthralled with the idea of creating an unlikeable character. People with
Munchausen struggle with a lot of different issues, a personality disorder
being one of them. I did a lot of reading on the subject, past what I’d learned
in college, and was even more fascinated with what I found. So I ended up
writing down a loose plot outline, and the rest is history. :)
You’re best known for your dystopian novel World
of Shell and Bone. Was it difficult to switch gears and write a
contemporary story?
Not really. I tend to jump
from story idea to story idea in my head a lot when I’m deciding what to write
next. I like stories with a big psychological pull, no matter what genre they
happen to be in. That’s pretty much how I view or think about stories—I ask
myself how the current condition affects the main character’s psychological
makeup.
So to me, it was a matter of switching
from Vika’s (the protagonist in World of Shell and Bone) psychology to
Saylor’s rather than switching genres, if that makes sense. In a way, Secret
for a Song was a bit easier because I didn’t have to keep track of the
world building aspects that I did in World of Shell and Bone.
With her illness and her issues, Saylor isn’t
always easy to relate to. What was it like getting inside her head?
I’d
had her in my head for so long that Saylor began to feel very,
very real to me. She was my constant companion through the day’s chores and
activities, and I had her “voice” going 24/7. So, in that way, it was easy—and
a relief!—to get her reactions down on paper. It was simultaneously emotionally
draining, though, because, like you said, Saylor has a lot of flaws and a lot
of internal pain. I’d never quite written a character like her—one who is so
obviously doing the wrong thing and is cognizant of the fact. That was an
interesting line to toe.
Which part of Secret for a Song was your
favorite to write?
My favorite had to be the
end, which is funny because some readers have written to tell me the end made
them cry. The end, to me, was like a big sigh of relief. I just felt like the
story had come full circle, and Saylor (and therefore I) could move on.
Are you planning any more contemporary novels in
the future?
Most definitely. I love writing contemporary fiction.
Right now I have a contemporary series planned with (again) a heavy focus on
psychology. J
Thanks
so much for having me, Kate!
Buy
links:
Bio:
A huge fan of spooky stuff
and shoes, I enjoy alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic
graveyards in Charleston, SC where I live and imbibe coffee. My husband and two
small children seem not to mind when I hastily scribble novel lines on stray
limbs in the absence of notepads.
Since no writer’s biography
is complete without mention of her menagerie of animals, you should know I have
one dog that doubles as a footstool, a second that functions as a vacuum
cleaner, and a cat that ensures I never forget that my hands are, first and
foremost, for pouring cat food.
Visit
S.K. Falls:
Thank you so much for hosting me today! :)
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