The setting was intense! How did you learn about places like Silver Lake and why did you want this to be the setting?
I know the Adirondacks quite well having walked there many times. I love the wildness of it, but it also frightened me, imagining getting lost and being alone. It’s the sort of place you can imagine an axe murderer prowling!
There were so many twists and secrets [in Gone for Good], how do you manage keeping track of them all?
I drew maps, had index cards with plot points, and ultimately made loads of mistakes and had to rewrite again and again.
What would you say to students writing in verse who aren’t sure how or where to begin?
Just begin. Free verse mimics speech so it doesn’t have to follow any poetic convention. I often find that young people who speak in non-standard English make the best poets.
