Q: What is your answer on the question of nature vs. nurture?
A: My thoughts are complex, but I think the main issue for me is this: our nature inevitably becomes a part of our nurture. When you grow up knowing a lot about the sins and flaws of your family, it has a dark impact. I wrote about Evelyn as a way to continue working through my own personal experiences of growing up in the shadow of trauma. In my case, it wasn’t a violent act but instead family dysfunction. I grew up being told that my maternal lineage was troubled, to put it mildly. For me, these facts loomed large in my psyche as a child as I worried that I was “doomed” to be a flawed person, to follow in the footsteps of my mother’s dysfunctional family. I often wondered how I could escape this fate, and while my real-life circumstances weren’t as dire as Evelyn’s, many of the anxieties she wrestles with are close to my own.
Q: You have also written a coming-of-age memoir. What do you have in common with Evelyn?
A: We are both quiet and observant. We are both prone to obsession and can easily become infatuated with certain ideas, objects, and people.
Q: When you sat down to write this novel, did you have a plot in mind or do you prefer to go wherever an idea takes you?
A: When I began writing, I only had the general premise in mind and the notion of Evelyn devising a test to see if she’s capable of murder. The rest happened as I wrote through multiple drafts. I like the feeling of making choices as a writer while my characters are also making choices within the story. We’re all just making it up as we go.
Q: What part of writing do you most enjoy, and what part fills you with angst and dread?
A: I most enjoy drafting, because it’s a process of discovery. I love immersing myself in the imaginary world I’ve created, exploring any idea that excites me. I get addicted to the feeling of infinite possibility that comes with facing a blank page and flashing cursor. Editing is the part I dread the most, because it forces me out of that space and into my logical and analytical side, which is important, but just not quite as fun.
Q: What did you edit out of this book?
A: In a very early version of this book, Evelyn’s grandmother, Emerald, was actually a character present in Evelyn’s life. Mira was more of a detached mother and Emerald did a lot of the raising of Evelyn. When my agent suggested taking Emerald out as a main character, I decided to make her estranged from Mira and Evelyn, which made Emerald a perfect target for Evelyn’s test.
Q: How has your master’s degree in poetry affected the writing of this book?
A: I wrote very short poems in graduate school, challenging myself to remove any unnecessary words. When you write with that type of economy in mind, you get very serious about word choice—not just any word will do, so you choose words that can do a lot of heavy lifting, so to speak. I kept that idea close to me while writing Girl at the Edge. I wanted to avoid extra words.
Q: You’re in an indie rock band with your family members. How does your interest in music influence your writing?
A: I’ve always had a deeply personal connection to music. Some of my most vivid early memories are coming home from kindergarten and watching MTV while my father slept on the couch. When I’m going through something difficult, I find the lyrics and melodies of favorite songs can talk me down from the ledge. Music is oxygen for me—a necessary ingredient of life—and so it affects everything I make.
Q: When you were growing up, what were your favorite books? Can you see how they have influenced your writing?
A: I had a few favorite young adult books growing up—Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien, and the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary. I also read a lot of favorite adult books as a child: The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers, The Naked Face by Sidney Sheldon, Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Carrie and Pet Sematary by Stephen King. When I remember these books, I don’t recall the stories in detail, but rather the emotions these writers made me feel while reading. These books influenced me because they made me want to replicate that—to make the readers feel something.
Q: Name a book not your own that you wish everyone would read.
A: I wish everyone would read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. If you last read it in high school, read it again. I think Bradbury mastered the art of the short novel with this book. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a passage that doesn’t feel urgent and necessary.
Q: What are you writing next?
A: I’m working on a novel about a woman who moves to Florida to escape the increasingly grim circumstances of her life in rural Pennsylvania. She soon discovers that although you can run from trouble, trouble will always find you. It’s a thriller, but I can’t reveal much more than that. I’m making it up as I go.