Interview with Jo Knowles

Interview With Debut YA Author Jo Knowles

by Debbi Michiko Florence

Jo Knowles earned a master’s degree in children's literature from Simmons College. She was the 2002 recipient of the SCBWI Work-in-Progress Grant for a Young Adult Novel, and the 2005 winner of the PEN New England Children's Book Discovery Award. She currently teaches Writing for Children at Simmons College and is a volunteer writing mentor at a women’s prison in Vermont. Lessons From a Dead Girl is her first novel.

Here’s what Kirkus says about her debut book: “Spare and evocative prose weaves the story of Leah and Lainey's turbulent and abusive friendship....Clearly and concisely written, Knowles's provoking exploration of children abusing children portrays the tense and finely crafted dynamics between the two girls. Lainey's character is extremely well-developed showing her metamorphosis from hypercritical and withdrawn to self-realized with a focused and knowing clarity. A razor-sharp examination of friendship, abuse and secrets.”

Congratulations on your debut YA novel, Lesson From A Dead Girl(Candlewick, 2007)! Can you please tell us a little about your journey to publication? Please tell us about The Call!

Thanks, Debbi! To be honest, I had nearly given up on this novel because I was having such a hard time figuring out how to cover such a large time span without lots of flashbacks. Cynthia Lord had read an earlier draft and when it came time for the PEN New England Discovery Contest, she suggested I work on the first ten pages and submit. I was feeling pretty doubtful, but figured it couldn’t hurt. I was shocked when I got the call from Kim Ablon-Whitney to tell me I’d won! From there the full manuscript was submitted to Candlewick. My editor was intrigued but felt the manuscript needed work before she could make an offer. So I revised pretty heavily and submitted again. This time, she felt I was closer, but had a few more suggestions. I was terrified to send in the second revision. I was pretty sure it was my last chance. When I got “the call” and my agent told me we’d done it, I had a hard time actually believing him. I still have to blink a few times when I see the hardcover on my bookcase. To see the book in a bookstore is even more difficult to believe. I have to touch it!

Lesson From A Dead Girl is a powerful story about friendship, control, and trust. Laine is at first thrilled when in fifth grade, popular Leah chooses her to be Friends Forever. But when that friendships leads to acting out in the closet and Leah’s need for control, Laine becomes confused. What led you to explore this kind of relationship?

I was doing research on child abuse for a brochure I was writing at my day job and came across an article about kids abusing kids. I was fascinated by the subject and read more. I began to think about how powerful and binding childhood friendships can be. How hard they are to pull away from. Almost immediately, a story began to take shape. I went home that night and started writing.

As the friendship progresses, Leah becomes more controlling and sometimes downright mean, yet Laine continues to be her friend. As the reader learns more about Leah, it’s hard to hate her. These characters are very real to me. What did you do, as a writer, to get to know your characters so well?

That’s such a hard question! I think the best I can come up with is that I revised a lot. Although the characters and their story came quite quickly to me, trying to convey, in a subtle yet understandable way, why Leah and Lainey behaved the way they did was a huge challenge. With each revision I tried to go deeper. I needed to fully understand how both of them had to be hurting and how that hurt would affect the choices they made. I knew it had to do with shame, which is such a painful and difficult emotion to harness, especially when their shame was different... but also similar. Carrying that shame makes “just telling someone” feel like an impossible task. And yet, telling someone, telling yourself, is the most important step toward healing. I really wanted to convey that experience in both girls’ cases. I don’t know if I succeeded but I hope so.

I think you definitely suceeded! Leah’s aggressive confrontations with Laine cause Laine to question her own sexuality. Laine has no one to talk to about any of her feelings or her big secret. What advice would you impart to your readers on keeping painful secrets?

I deeply wish no reader had any painful secrets, but I know that’s unrealistic given the statistics. My advice is to get help right away, by either talking to a trusted adult, or going to a school counselor. People can also call a free and confidential hotline, such as:

•The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child

• Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network at 1-800-656-Hope

“Leah Greene is dead.” What a great first line! How long did it take for you to come up with that sentence? And what were the challenges in telling the story once you gave up that fact?

I think that was the line or idea that came to me first. The idea that Lainey at least thought Leah was dead and how that would feel was the way I set the scene from the very beginning. What would you do if you your abuser/tormentor died? What if you thought you might have had some role in the death? That felt like the most compelling way for me to tell a story that was going to require a lot of back story to explain how Lainey ended up in her room, waiting for confirmation of the news. The biggest challenge in writing the story was figuring out how to introduce all those memories. At first, each chapter started out with Lainey in the “present,” wandering around her room, going for a walk, and having flashbacks. It just didn’t work. Finally I simply got rid of all those jumps back to the present, using that first scene as a prologue and moving from there to tell the story from beginning to end. It took forever to figure out that’s how it needed to be told, but what a relief it was to get rid of all those manipulative tricks and flashbacks.

Can you tell us a little about working with an editor? You revised your story many times before your agent submitted your story, but what was it like working with an editor on revisions?

I loved it! Working with someone who understood and appreciated what I was trying to achieve with this story, and who wanted to help me do it well, was the coolest thing ever. Getting notes from my editor was such a gift. Joan has a gentle but firm way of asking tough questions that make me look deeper and find a way to pull out the story. She challenges me to look as deeply as I can for the full story. With Joan, I’m not afraid to tell the hard parts. I don’t know how, but she gives me the courage, or maybe it’s permission, to tell the story that needs to be told and not worry about anything else.

You have an agent. Can you tell us how you found him? What advice can you offer to writers looking for an agent?

I lucked out immensely on the agent front. I had recently won an SCBWI Work-In-Progress Grant and Barry Goldblatt was a newish agent, looking to build his client list. He contacted me when he read the announcement about the grant in the SCBWI Bulletin. We talked on the phone for a bit, I sent him my work, and, happily, he offered to represent me. I know it’s pretty rare to find an agent this way, so my advice when looking for an agent is to do as much research as possible when narrowing your list and trying to find the right person for you. If you do get an offer, I highly recommend having a lengthy phone conversation with that person so that you can be sure your personalities, goals and expectations from one another match up.

What are some “Lessons from Jo Knowles” you can share with writers?

Don’t give up. Write honestly and from the heart. Be brave. Work hard. Be kind to others and to yourself. Celebrate every milestone. Read at least one book a week. Never deny yourself chocolate.

What do you love about being an author?

Well, it’s still incredibly new, but so far the best thing that has happened is receiving e-mail from teens who have read the book and thanked me for writing it. What else could you possibly wish for? That’s really a dream come true.

What are some challenges?

It’s hard not to get caught up in the downward worry spiral. It’s normal to wonder how well your book will do, but at some point you need to let go and hope for the best. Since the book came out, I’ve had a few days where I was really stressed about whether or not the book would get reviewed, or why the book wasn’t at my local Borders, or other things that are totally out of my control. And that’s just it. That’s the big challenge—to stop and realize that all that stuff really is out of your control. It’s hard, but I’m slowly getting better at it.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I love reading to my son. He’s eight now, and we’re having a blast reading some of my old favorites, as well as new ones. I love picking out gems from my childhood, or ones I read when I was studying children’s literature, and sharing them with him. It’s such a treat to be able to go on those book journeys together.

You’re teaching a class at Simmons College. Tell us about that.

I’m teaching Writing for Children in the M.A./M.F.A. Program at the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College. This is the first class graduates in the writing concentration take, so it has been a lot of fun watching the students get to know one another and share their work. The class is really a writing workshop so the students read and comment on one another’s work for the majority of the class while I moderate. We also discuss assigned books and talk about what we can learn from them as aspiring authors. I love every minute of it.

How can fans/teachers contact you? Do you do school presentations?

I can be reached via e-mail: jo at joknowles dot com. I’m happy to do writing workshops at schools, libraries and bookstores. I’m also visiting some book clubs, which I’m looking forward to.

What can fans look forward to next?

My next book is called Jumping Off Swings (Candlewick Press). It’s about four teens and how each of them is affected (in very different ways) when one of them discovers she’s pregnant. I don’t have a pub date yet, but most likely late Fall 08 or Spring 09.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Debbi rules! Keep reading!

Blush! You’re sweet, Jo! Thank you for your time! Congratulations again!

Thank YOU Debbi, for having me! It’s been fun! :)