I really just started it out with Kasey, and went with what felt natural for me/the story. But yes, for instance, the night they kill Trey had to be from Kasey’s point of view. And the scenes where someone had to see/overhear Caroline being abused by Trey at their house had to be from Kasey’s POV too. Kasey begins and ends our story so those huge moments that set so many things in motion had to be from her POV.
Though there’s a lot of pain and hardship in this novel, overall it is a story about love in all its forms. Did you have a difficult time balancing the light and dark parts of the story, or striking the right tone?
I really didn’t have a hard time balancing the light and dark parts because life is so light and dark! One moment, the funniest thing could happen and the next…the saddest. People can laugh at a funeral or be at party and feel crushing sadness. Life is so rarely one total thing without being another, so letting the story and the characters experience every shade of their light and dark emotions—sometimes at the same time—didn’t scare me off at all. It made the most sense for me and the characters.
When writing, what thoughts did you have about revenge and when it’s needed or justified?
In the book, I have Ada think of the Bible verse “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” I thought about that a lot while writing the book. I completely understand the desire for revenge and I love that desire in books and movies and country songs! My faith won’t let me justify it in real life; even when it’s needed…I have to let God take care of it. But wow, I love writing fiction…and letting these women get their revenge. I loved it.
The idea of sisterhood is a big driving force in this story. What inspired the creation of RACK, and what do you want readers to take away from the friendship among these four women? Did you have your own “RACK” growing up?
These women had to love one another so deeply they’d do anything for one another…so I had to create that intense, unbreakable bond. And when it comes to calling them RACK, I just think it’s so cute to have a name for a friend group! So when I found out I could do that with their names…jackpot! I write about girlfriendships often in my work and have written a lot of short stories about friendship, so writing a whole novel about friendship was dreamy. I love all of the women in RACK individually and I love their little sub-units and the group as a whole too. There’s so much to love and they are so dear to me…they’re a part of me forever now.
And I did have my own “RACK” growing up, yes! I’m still in touch with those girls and love them so much. I’ve been lucky enough to always have some amazing women in my life. My girlfriendships are so very important to me, forever and ever.
Many of your characters have nicknames—for example, “Caro,” “Roses,” and “Dandelion.” How did you choose these? Do you have any nicknames, or use them often with friends and family?
“Caro” is short for Caroline and I just think it’s so cute. Caro has a lot of nicknames because of her red hair, and her grandmother calls her “ladybug.” And I went with “Roses” instead of “Rosie” for Rosemarie, just because I love roses and thought it was pretty and special. I also have Rosemarie’s girlfriend, Esme, use one nickname for her （“Rosie”） and Leo has another （“Ro”）。 I was just playing with the intimacy there…how intimate and personal nicknames can be. And with Kasey…Silas is the only one who ever called her “dandelion”…so it’s very special to her—something only they share—also creating this intense intimacy I needed them to have…something kind of magical.
My husband and I have sweet, little, inside-joke nicknames for each other and have since we started dating back in high school. And we gave both of our children nicknames before they were born…that we still use. Wow, I love a good nickname, I really do. I’m always putting nicknames in my books!
How did you approach dealing with the sensitive topics of physical and sexual abuse through a fictional lens? Was there anything you wanted to convey—or any tropes you avoided?
I always want to make sure I’m being extra sensitive to those topics when they appear in my work…and I try very hard to leave/make room for a lot of big feelings. I was very careful to avoid any sort of victim blaming, and even in the moments when Caroline wanted to blame herself I had her girlfriends correct her very quickly. And later, when other women blamed themselves for something a man had done to them, I always had a character remind them that it wasn’t their fault. That was important to me because these are the characters and the world I created, and it’s not the real world, so I could make a gentler, more understanding space for them, so I did it. The world is the world and I cannot control the world, but I do get to control what happens in my books.
More than anything else, I wanted to convey how big and important love is （no matter what kind of trauma a character has been through）…how healing love is…how real love doesn’t give up on people…how people can heal and hope. Those things are possible. I don’t think I could sit down and write anything （or remain a well-adjusted human） if I didn’t believe those things, even if just a little bit.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Some rest and hopefully a lot of traveling! And after that, Book Seven and beyond…More books filled with intimate human connection and wonder and beauty. I’m looking forward to all of it!