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| So Close to You by Rachel Carter |
Rachel Carter: I
grew up in Vermont, in a log cabin in the woods. My dad makes maple syrup every
spring, and my first job was working on a ski mountain. I always knew I wanted
to be a writer; I started my first novel in high school. It was very, very
terrible––about a secret society of teenagers who live in the forest––and I only
got through about twenty pages.
I studied English at UVM (the University of Vermont), and
then I moved to New York to get my MFA in nonfiction creative writing at
Columbia University. I really loved living in NYC, writing and learning and
growing. That’s where I made the connections that would eventually help me
publish my first book, So Close to You, in 2012. About two years ago, I decided
to move back to Vermont. Now I’m living in the mountains again and working on a
new young adult trilogy.
Realms: Your
trilogy, So Close To You, is a young
adult series involving time travel. What do you think is the defining feature
that separates it from other time travel stories?
Rachel: I really
do love all time travel stories. There’s something about the idea of a romance
transcending space and time that just appeals to me. But I think what sets So Close to You apart is the government
conspiracy aspect of it. Lydia, my main character, stumbles upon something
called the Montauk Project––which is a real life conspiracy theory. People
believe that Nikola Tesla faked his own death and created a time machine under
the ground of Camp Hero in Montauk, New York. I think by basing it on something
real (or realish!), it lends a sense of possibility to So Close to You that might not have been there otherwise.
Realms: What appealed
to you about writing from the point of view of a YA character?
Rachel: I’ve always
been fascinated by coming-of-age stories. Even when I was in grad school and
writing nonfiction, all of my essays were about my teenage years. It’s not that
the biggest events in my life happened in high school, but that’s when I felt the most strongly about everything
that did happen. I love capturing that heightened sense of emotion, when every
event––like getting asked to a dance, or having a fight with a friend––has such
huge meaning for your characters.
Realms: Do you think adults have
something to gain by reading YA stories?
Rachel: Yes. I
wrote a long essay about this for the New Republic actually,
but here’s the gist: YA is a complex, interesting genre with more layers and
themes than it’s often given credit for. There’s something for everyone in YA,
whether you happen to be a teen or an adult. And there should certainly be no
shame in loving YA, regardless of your age.
Realms: What do
you think your readers will connect to the most about Lydia, the main character
in So Close To You?
Rachel: In the
beginning, Lydia is very naïve and driven, almost to the point of being reckless.
She doesn’t understand––or is unwilling to understand––the consequences of
meddling with time. Her world has been a safe bubble for so long; when that
safety is destroyed, it takes her a while to comprehend what that means. By the
third book, Find Me Where the Water Ends,
Lydia is almost a completely different person. She’s more cautious and more
capable, but also closed off and angry. I always find myself connecting with
characters who go through a huge transformation in a book or a series, and I
hope readers feel the same about Lydia.
Realms: What is
it about YA Fantasy that draws you?
Rachel: Before So Close to You, I never thought I would
write a sci-fi or fantasy novel. I always assumed I would write realistic
fiction––it seemed closer to my writing background and I do love telling
complicated love stories. But then I heard about the Montauk Project, and I
couldn’t pass up the chance to write a time travel story. There are so many
choices when your world has a little more leeway––whether that’s magic or
science fiction or mystical creatures. It opens up the plot, allows your
characters to become special in a very unique way, and, honestly, it’s just
really fun to write.
Realms: You also
have an MFA in nonfiction writing. Do you find that your nonfiction writing
skills crossover into your fiction writing?
Rachel:
Sometimes! I wrote a lot about being a teen myself, so I think that has helped
me empathize with the emotions and milestones my characters are facing. On a
writing level, it can be both helpful and a little tricky––when I’m writing
memoir or nonfiction, I have a tendency to over-explain my feelings. That’s
something I had to train myself not to do in fiction, instead showing a
character’s feelings through action, description, and dialogue. But certain
things stay the same regardless of genre: at the end of the day, people just
want to read a good story.
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| Rachel Carter |
Realms: Can you
tell us about what you are currently working on?
Rachel: I’m
knee-deep in a fantasy novel right now, and I should have a first draft
finished by the spring. I can’t say much about it, though I can tell you that
it involves a lot of magical elements––something I’ve never written before!
Realms: Which author(s) influence you
the most?
Rachel: There are
so many! I love magical realism and lyrical writing, so I’ve always loved
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Michael Ondaatje, and Angela Carter. I read their writing
to get into the headspace to write myself. In terms of YA writers––I love John
Green for his realistically quirky, portrayal of modern teenagers, Carrie Ryan
for her creepily lush prose, and Holly Black for her insane imagination.
Realms: What is your favorite YA
fantasy story?
Rachel: Probably
the Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore. So beautifully written and such
a fully realized world. There’s a huge fantasy boom in YA right now, but her
books came out years ago, when it wasn’t really the trend. Despite that, people
just flocked to her series from the beginning. She does fantasy right: a strong
heroine, a compelling romance, and villains who are more than they seem.
Realms: If there was the kind of magic
in this world that is in storybooks, what would you want to be or be able to
do?
Rachel: That’s a tough question––there
are a lot of powers I would want (flying, teleportation, telekinesis) and a lot
I wouldn’t want (reading minds, anything I couldn’t control). I think it would
be cool to be a witch, but only if I never went over the dark side. Magic is
very unpredictable––it might be the kind of thing that seems like a blessing
but is actually a curse.
So Close To You is a novel about a girl, Lydia Bentley, who stumbles on the Montauk Project, which is surrounded by several conspiracies. Her grandfather believes it was the cause of his father's disappearance. As the two search for clues at Camp Hero, an abandoned military base, Lydia is transported back in time to 1944, a few days before her great-grandfather's disappearance....
You can buy So Close To You on Amazon, and/or check out what else Rachel Carter is up to on her website.
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