Interview with Chloe Fowler

I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Chloe Fowler, author of the debut novel, Chasing Fireflies.  (See my full review posted 10/21/21) This young adult work releases in softcover, hardcover, and Kindle today!   She was kind enough to grant me a written interview, and I am so excited to share our time with you.  So, with great pleasure, I introduce to you, Chloe Fowler!

Parker Dawn:  Let’s talk about your new book Chasing Fireflies. Can you tell us a little about the book itself, its characters, and what inspired you to write this story?

Chloe Fowler:  Chasing Fireflies is a story told in parallel about two teenagers, Rainey and Liam. In many respects, the two of them are chalk and cheese. Rainey comes from a very well-off family with loving and supportive parents, while Liam has a tragically dysfunctional family and next to nothing. On the surface, it is a love story many of us are familiar with, the quintessential opposites attract/star-crossed lovers’ allegory. However, despite their differences, they share a similar experience in that both of them deal with circumstances that have left them feeling powerless. This is what draws them together. Rainey’s sister Maverick was born with a congenital heart defect, and the prospect of losing her is a constant fear for Rainey. Meanwhile, Liam is desperate to get away from Springbank and disprove his fears that he will end up like his father, but he can’t bring himself to leave his mother who is stuck in an abusive relationship. I think everyone has experienced feelings of powerlessness at some point or another in their life. We like to think that good things happen to good people, and that if you work hard, you can achieve anything, but life can be cruelly and indiscriminately unfair. I think it’s a testament to the human spirit that we can overcome such insurmountable adversity and keep striving. It’s what makes life so beautiful.

PD:  The guilt Rainey felt about being healthy when her sister struggled with a bad heart is a key point in the story. How did that come about? Was this the original thought when you first developed the idea for this book?

CF:  Yes, from the book’s genesis, Maverick was going to be sick. I have been very lucky in my life in that I’ve enjoyed good health, and I’m ashamed to say that most days, I take it very much for granted. It’s easy to assume that you will have a long life full of opportunity, that your body will faithfully carry you through 80+ years without issue. You plan for a future that stretches to some vague time many years from now. But good health isn’t a given; many people have to contend with illness on a daily basis and have to face their mortality in a heartbreakingly imminent way. Friends of my family had a young daughter whose heart was failing. I remember hearing that they were waiting on a transplant list, and there was no guarantee she would get a heart in time. I became keenly aware of my own heart beating doggedly away and felt a sharp sense of guilt and gratitude. I think that feeling would be amplified if the person was a close relation.

PD:  Liam is considered a bad apple and is socially shunned due to his family history. Yet, he is still morally strong, protecting those weaker than himself. How did Liam evolve for you while writing his character?

CF:  Out of necessity, Liam is a very self-sufficient character. He is extremely apprehensive about being a good person, and questions what it means to be good. It’s unfortunate because he is a good kid, but if you live in a town where people are constantly assuming you’re bad because of who your parents are, you’re going to start to doubt yourself, and Liam has no role model in his life to help him (he has to turn to books for guidance). I think when you’re faced with that degree of self-doubt, you become hyperaware of how your actions reflect your morality, and you tend to overcompensate. Liam is also forced to be around classmates, many of whom have so much more than he does. It would be exhausting to endure their sense of entitlement day in and day out, so he takes it upon himself to champion the have-nots like Joshua.

PD:  Speaking of Joshua, I consider him to be an integral part of the story. Without him, I am not sure we would ever understand the depth of Liam’s character. What was your thought process while creating Joshua, and do you think we will ever hear more of him???? (I would really love to hear more of Joshua!)

CF:  Liam and Joshua’s relationship is wonderful. Liam sees that, like him, Joshua doesn’t fit in at school, so he takes him under his wing much like an older brother. Being an only child, Liam is extremely isolated, and we catch a glimpse of both relief and wistfulness when Rainey tells him he’d be a good older brother. There is certainly relief – he wouldn’t want a sibling to have to go through what he went through – but there is also strength in numbers, and I think Liam ‘adopted’ Joshua as a way of filling in that missing piece, of having and wanting a brother-in-arms to commiserate with. Also, Liam knows what it’s like not having someone to help you, and extends that help to those he sees in need. I think this is what you mean when you talk about the depth of Liam’s character. People who have been the victim of injustice can sometimes take the selfish route and say, ‘why should I help you when I was never helped?’ but Liam goes the other way. It’s extremely admirable, especially for one so young. Whether we’ll here more of Joshua or not, I haven’t decided!

 PD:  I know that editing is a huge part of a finished product. Just from my own reviewing experience, I sometimes cut out stuff I love simply because it doesn’t fit or isn’t conductive to the text. What did you end up having to edit OUT of this book?

CF:  I never wrote extensive scenes that I later had to cut, but that’s because I planned the book out so comprehensively from the get-go. However, there were scenes I wanted to include, but knew I didn’t have the room for, or the timing didn’t fit. For example, I wanted to show the respective families at Christmas. I wanted to illustrate the stark contrast between the two during a holiday that has a tendency to magnify family conflict and financial strain. I pictured the Hayes Christmas comprising of tins of Spam and aspic jelly, and Liam getting a soccer ball from his mom (a well-meaning gift, but given he doesn’t play soccer and you’d more likely give it  to a ten-year-old rather than a seventeen-year-old, it demonstrates a profound disconnect in her relationship with her son). On the other hand, Rainey would have a large family dinner with well-considered, expensive gifts. Not that I wasn’t able to touch on these class differences throughout the book. Take Rainey’s Leica M6, which she bought with her allowance. One of my beta readers is a photographer and she said, “Chloe, you realize that camera is worth over a thousand dollars?” To which I replied, “Exactly.”

PD:  Did any of your characters surprise you while you were writing? Did you suddenly say, hey, I didn’t know he/she had that interest?

CF:  Chase was the character that surprised me most. While I plan most of my characters in advance, he developed significantly while I wrote him. Initially, he was simply a foil to Liam’s character, and since bullies are often a product of their upbringing, I knew his father was going to be abrasive and domineering. However, I didn’t feel this was sufficient, or was giving him the credit he was due as a character. I also wanted to weave the central theme of how we cope with forces outside of our control into his story, so I introduced his mother, Alice. I don’t want to give too much away, but this made Chase Liam’s mirror image, only where Liam sought to gain control of his life by internalizing his struggles, Chase lashed out and compensated for his lack of control by exerting control over others. It lent the story a certain symmetry that I found pleasing.

PD:  What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? Do you have a writing ‘kryptonite’?

CF:  To be honest, it’s all difficult! From beginning to end, though for different reasons. When I’m coming up with an idea, I get flickers or flashes of inspiration, which I then must weave into a cohesive plot. Then I hash out a detailed plan. I’m a stickler for following the laws of causality, so I’m constantly fussing over why a character is behaving the way they are, their backstories, their motives. Everything must make sense, and everything has to flow naturally. Then when it comes to writing, it’s all about endurance, fighting through the writer’s block, and finding time. I’m not a  full-time writer, so I have to eke out time when I’m not distracted by my day job, or chores, or whatever else is piling up on my to-do list. Usually this means waking up at 5am. Luckily, I’m a morning person, so I can manage. But you know what? I love it. I love every minute of it. Even when I’m ready to pull my hair out because my brain is racing at three o’clock in the morning thinking about a scene I’m working on, and I know I have a meeting at eight. It thrills me.

PD:  You are a very talented writer. What other writing opportunities have you had besides publishing this debut work? What sort of writing background do you have?

CF:  Thank you! I wish I could give you some glamorous history of success, but it has actually been a long and arduous road to completing this book. I started writing when I was fourteen and made several attempts at getting a manuscript traditionally published before now. Unfortunately, I was never successful (I have a bin of rejection letters that would keep a fire burning through a nine-month Siberian winter). I continued to write while getting my degree in English and History at the University of Alberta and in the years that followed. Last year, after completing Chasing Fireflies, I ventured to query several literary agents (63 to be exact), but no one was interested in even reading the manuscript. Rather than throw in the towel, I decided to self-publish. I didn’t have much to lose by doing so, and I still felt, despite evidence to the contrary, that it was a story worth sharing.

PD:  Can you tell us about your next project?

CF:  I have two projects in the pipeline right now. The first is an adult contemporary novel that follows a young widow coming to terms with her late husband’s infidelity. She flies across the country to see an old school friend who owns a café and meets a Korean restaurant owner. Like Rainey, I love Korean dramas. I love the food, the culture and I am learning the language, and I wanted to explore and incorporate it into a book. The second project is a follow up of Chasing Fireflies. Truthfully, I hadn’t considered writing a sequel, but I’ve received enough feedback from readers hoping for one that I’ve decided to move forward with it. It is not, however, going to focus on Liam and Maverick. It’s going to centre around one of the secondary characters. For now, I’ll leave it at that

PD:  Where can we expect to find Chasing Fireflies?

CF:  Chasing Fireflies will be available in all e-book formats – it is currently up for pre-order on Amazon Kindle – but will also be available on Kobo and other e-reader platforms. Come October 25th, it will also be available in softcover on all online retailers (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Chapters & Indigo). I am hoping to have a few brick-and-mortar stores pick it up, but that decision is in the hands of their respective requisition teams!

PD:  Where else can we find you? (Social media, blogs, websites, etc.?)

CF:  You can follow me on my website www.chloefowler.ca. I have a blog on writing, reading, and all things related. The week of the book release, I will be posting daily, with special content including a Chasing Fireflies soundtrack, recipes from the book, and more, so please check it out.