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Why did you write a story about a teen’s onset of bipolar in 1963?
Bipolar is more commonly recognized today, but in 1963, when the mood disorder was called manic depression, it wasn’t. I wanted to write not only about the onset of bipolar in Aurora’s life and her special guides, but also about the culture and ways of that time.
Why did you make the setting in NW Louisiana?
My early years were formed there and I knew I always wanted to use it as a background for a novel. Like any part of the U.S., it has its own distinct (and for me, beloved) personality and language.
The dialect is Southern American English, yet it is almost…old fashioned?
That was the speech of my grandparents, whom I use to pattern Aurora’s grandparents’ language. They were educated, but they still carried the distinctive, countryside language of their ancestors and the region. For example, “He didn’t go to do it” would now mean “He didn’t mean to do it.”
What about the mystical guide in the woods, Mr. Hematite and his assistant Mr. Dragonfly?
They are two central characters who are Aurora’s guides to understanding who she really is. They are crucial to her physical, mental and spiritual awareness of life and her being bipolar. They are indeed mystical and they’re pretty cool; I certainly grew to love them. Yes, authors do such!
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