Interview
What inspired WHEN ELEPHANTS FLY?
I have a good friend, Bea, whose mom has a mental health condition. Bea’s stories about growing up with her mom’s erratic behavior, the cruel things people said, and the times when her mother was placed in hospitals to change medications were heart-breaking.
Bea grew up afraid that she, too, would experience some of her mother’s issues. There’s approximately a 10% chance if a parent has a mental health condition that their child will experience some sort of a mental health issue, too. That number is small when tipping a waitress but huge when it’s your life, so Bea’s fears could have come to fruition. Despite her worries, Bea chose to live in the moment, pursue college, a career, marriage and motherhood.
Bea’s experiences made me wonder about all people who couldn’t overcome their fears—the kids who were frozen, afraid to take chances, who overheard conversations that led them to believe that they, too, would have compromised lives, or who gleaned all their information from the Internet instead of from trusted people who could educate and allay fears. The questions that arose, and my desire to create a universal story about the challenges and fears, big and small, real or imagined that freeze or derail lives, led to the creation of Lily, my protagonist.
Elephants were the second inspiration for my novel. My first job out of college was as a traveling writer for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Seeing wild animals, and especially elephants, in captivity was incredibly sad. When I quit that job, I promised myself that beyond donating to elephant conservation organizations, I’d do something to shine a light on the plight of elephants. Creating Swifty, a three-week-old elephant calf, allowed me to educate readers in a way I hope inspires love, empathy and action!
Would you tell us a little more about the characters?
When we meet T. Lily Decker she’s just turned 18 and entered the danger zone for young women with a family history of schizophrenia (approximately age 18-30). She’s determined to live a careful life—no boyfriends, alcohol, challenging jobs, or stress—until she’s thirty. But she’s not living at all. It’s only when Lily’s path crosses with Swifty, a three-week-old elephant calf violently attacked by her mother (just as Lily was once attacked by her own mother) that things change. Lily is drawn into the present and must decide whether to risk everything, including her freedom and sanity, on a desperate road trip to save Swifty’s life, perhaps finding her own version of freedom along the way.
Otis Walker is the young publicist for Wild Walker’s Circus, his family’s traveling show. While he has refused to be an animal trainer, his work supports the circus and gets the show out of hot water with animal rights activists. When everything Otis has supported is challenged, he has to face his past and decide who he wants to be in the present. That decision may cost his freedom and family.
Swift Jones, nicknamed Swifty, is only three-weeks-old when her mother, Raki, rejects her in a violent attack. Abandoned, Swifty’s grief threatens her life. Only Lily’s love and devotion can rescue her. But will Lily risk her sanity to save the calf, and ultimately can Swifty’s unconditional love in turn save Lily?
Did you find anything interesting while researching the story?
I learned that no two mental health conditions are the same and there’s no one answer for concerns. Treatment is as personalized as the experiences of those with challenges. The only commonality is that individuals struggling to live with their conditions are all incredibly brave.
*If you think you might have a mental health issue, please do talk to your family, a teacher, good friends, a coach, spiritual advisor or mentor.
You do not have to face your problems alone. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. It makes you smart and helps you control your own destiny.
While researching, I also learned a lot about elephants! Each elephant family is led by the matriarch and consists of mothers, sisters, and female daughters (the males leave the herd around age 13 when puberty begins). The family protects each other, can communicate from several miles away through low-frequency stomach rumblings, and returns year after year to the place where a loved one has died to mourn, and even cry. Elephants are incredibly intelligent with brains similar to humans in connectivity and number of neurons. They’re keystone species, which means that they play a vital role in the health of the ecosystems humans depend on for survival.
Due to poaching and habitat loss, elephants in the wild will become extinct in the next twenty years if nothing is done to save them. I support Space for Giants (
https://spaceforgiants.org) and Reteti Elephant Sanctuary (https://retetielephants.org). Both organizations are working tirelessly to save the majestic, intelligent, kind and loving elephant from likely extinction. Please check out their websites and donate if you’re inspired to be part of the solution!
What is your favorite part of the story?
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m just going to say that I love when some characters realize that living in the moment, fighting for something bigger than them, and choosing what’s right over what’s easy is the only choice worth making.
What books are you currently reading or looking forward to?
Right now I’m reading
The Fall of Innocence by Jenny Torres Sanchez,
Still Lives by Maria Hummel,
The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest and
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa.
What are you working on next?
Thanks for asking!! I’m super excited about my next novel. It’s tentatively titled,
The Gravity of Falling Objects (HarperCollins/Inkyard Press October, 2019)
Here’s the synopsis:
There are four reasons Danny barely knows her dad. First, her mom hates the guy. Second, her dad is Cougar Warren, famous TV survivalist. Third, Cougar wanted a son, hence her name. Fourth, Danny is an embarrassment. Her dad is athletic, charismatic, and handsome. Danny stinks at sports, has only one friend, and bears the nickname
Pigeon for the way she moved her head as a kid after losing one eye.
For her 16th birthday, Cougar finally invites Danny to be part of a TV episode featuring Gus Price, a teen movie star. Danny’s mom forbids it, but an unearthed secret leads Danny to defy her. She joins Cougar for what she hopes will be the start of a real father-daughter relationship.
When their small plane crashes in the jungles of Peru leaving most of the film crew dead, Danny, Cougar, and Gus must work together to survive their injuries and the jungle’s perils. Their ordeal shatters Danny’s perception of her parents, illuminates her unique skills, and teaches her that falling for Gus requires its own kind of bravery.
