1). What inspired you to write The Mad Girl?
I wanted to write a story about something that I was interested in and was full of moral ambiguity. It was my first novel, so I needed to make the process fun and interesting. I’ve always been interested in what drives people to act in certain ways, how their lives and environment affect their decisions. People who’ve been traumatized by something in their life, are obviously changed by the experience. Society doesn’t always recognize, understand, or empathize with how it affects the person. Friends or adults in their environment could help, fail to help, or take advantage of their plight. I envisioned a story about a teenager who had been traumatized as a child and struggled to overcome that experience. The people who she turned to failed her. The throughline that I worked with was: Can a teen ever escape their mistakes, now that they have been become deadly?
2). Was The Mad Girl the original title or were there other titles?
The title varied over time starting with The Devil’s Playground, then moving through The Playground, Madness, and finalizing on The Mad Girl. The first title was from something I read: A mind broken by events is the playground of the devil. That seemed to reflect what I wanted the story to reflect – that trauma can create a situation that is a fertile ground for additional emotional and mental pain.
3). What was your writing schedule when you wrote The Mad Girl?
I wrote every day with very few exceptions. During the writing of The Mad Girl, I woke at 4 am and start writing for about ninety minutes. Then I would get ready and head to work. I work at my day job from 7 am to 5 pm. After that, I would either go for a run or to the gym for an hour. After returning home, I wrote from 7 pm to 8 pm. After that, I might finish some work from day job then go to sleep. On the weekend, I wrote approximately 5 hours each day. During my hikes on the weekend, I use an app called Voice Dreams – a text to speech app – to recite my latest chapter or paragraphs. I find this valuable to hear the flow of my sentences and catch clumsy phrasing.
4). When writing the novel, do you like to map out your fiction plots ahead of time, or just let it flow?
I started The Mad Girl with a high-level story arc sketched out but mostly just let it flow. About halfway through, I created a two large spreadsheets with all of the characters, events, and timelines. One timeline was a day-by-day flow while the other was a year-by-year flow. I was losing control of the characters and plot details, so I needed to introduce more structure in my writing. I believe this was essential to completing the novel.
5). Were there alternate endings you considered for The Mad Girl or was the final ending always the same from the start?
The ending was the same from the start. Without giving away the ending, there are two ways to interpret the ending, so an alternate ending is somewhat built-in to the ending.
6). Silly-Game question: From the novel The Mad Girl, could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the page number of this random sentence?
"You think Stark could've killed him?"- pg.182
7). What would you want your reader to take away from reading the novel?
There are always chances to make better decisions.
8). If (or when) The Mad Girl becomes a film or TV series, would you like to make a cameo?
Yes. I would like to have a cameo like M. Night Shyamalan in a few of his films. His cameo in The Village would be about the limit of my acting talent.
9). What was your favorite book when you were a teenager? Do you have a favorite book now?
When I was a teenager, my favorite book was The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The character of Father Benkovsky, the deranged priest in The Mad Girl, was inspired by both Conrad’s and Francis Ford Coppola’s Kurtz. My current favorite book is Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I love that almost all of the characters are damaged and fighting their own demons, and how the story is filled with unexpected twists and turns.
10). What’s the best advice you have ever received about writing?
I’ve read this in several books on writing but it was most resonant when my son, an emerging writer/ director, told me to write the story I would like to read. At times, I felt a pull to write a story for others. This advice helped reorient my writing to what I wanted to read.
11). What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation? And why?
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is an amazing adaptation of an amazing novel. The film amplifies the characters in the book like few other adaptations. Anton Chigurh is as menacing of a villain as you can imagine. I also like how the characters’ decisions which turn out to create collateral damage and they struggle to find their path after. This was an arc that I used in The Mad Girl.
12). What author would you love to invite over and chat with? And why?
Megan Abbott has been my favorite author for years. In addition to reading her novels several times, I’ve listened to many of her interviews and author events, thoroughly enjoying each. Not only does she write phenomenally dark and exciting novels, but she is a very fascinating conversationalist. I would love to invite her over for a chat.
13). What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?
I have two BS degrees, in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, and a MS degree in Electrical Engineering. I work in the high-tech industry and have 49 patents in that field.
14). What is the one book you would give to anyone and everyone as a gift (besides yours)?
Difficult question. In today’s environment, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a must-read book so that would be the one that I give to everyone.
15). For anyone that hasn’t been to Albuquerque, what would you suggest for him or her to go, eat, or do there?
I would suggest having dinner at Sadie’s of New Mexico which has the best Mexican and Southwestern food in the state. A lightning storm in Albuquerque is an incredible sight. The lightning bolts are huge, clear, and hang, reaching from the sky to the ground for what seems like many seconds. Hiking in the Sandia Mountains is a strenuous but rewarding experience.
16). If all the books in the world were to disappear forever, and you’ve the ability to save two books. Which books would they be?
Avoiding religious choices, I would save two multi-language dictionaries to preserve language.
Appreciate Mr. Stanasolovich aka Mr. Colvin for answering those questions. You can find out more about him and his work by visiting his website.