Go on a powerful journey of forgiveness and healing with The Light Through the Leaves, a transcendent novel of love, loss, and self-discovery by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Where the Forest Meets the Stars.
We chat with author Glendy Vanderah about The Light Through the Leaves, writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Glendy! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello, and thank you for providing this opportunity to talk to my readers!
I’m the author of two novels, the bestseller Where the Forest Meets the Stars and newly released The Light Through the Leaves. I grew up in Chicago, a born naturalist who preferred looking for garter snakes to playing with Barbies. I had a rough childhood, and I found escape in reading, writing, and studying the plants and animals in my wild-grown backyard. I studied ecology at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and worked as an endangered-bird specialist and assistant editor for a scientific journal. A few years after I married a bird biologist and had three children, my family moved to Florida when my husband accepted a research position at the University of Florida. As a busy mother, I had little time to do scientific research, and that was how I found my way back to my love of writing.
After the chaos that was 2020, have you set any goals for this year? If so, how are they going so far?
Whether through travel to distant locales or visits to favorite hometown haunts, writers need movement, conversation, and novel experiences to stay inspired. That’s why the stasis of the shutdown was difficult for me and many writers. My goal for 2021 is to have more experiences beyond my home. I’ve had my first vaccine and I can’t express how gratifying that moment was! After I’m fully vaccinated, I’ll travel more, but of course I’ll continue to follow suggested safety guidelines such as wearing a mask and keeping social distance.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
I can’t name just one. The main books that inspired my love of writing at a young age were Knee Deep in Thunder by Sheila Moon, The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and all E. B. White books.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
In grade school, I thought the best words a teacher could say were, I want you to write a story. At a young age reading poetry for children brought me to the joy of writing poetry. In fifth grade, I started a novel about the adventures on an ant named Isabel. When I showed the first chapters to my teacher, she told the class, Someday you will read a book written by Glendy Vanderah. That was one of the happiest and proudest moments of my childhood.
Your new novel, The Light Through the Leaves, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Earthy, inspiring, poignant, hopeful, healing.
What can readers expect?
The book follows the separate journeys of a mother and child after a family is broken apart. Their lives share common threads, especially through the healing power of nature, love, and friendship. Eventually their timelines weave together. So far, reader reactions indicate you should have a box of tissues nearby as you read! But don’t worry, the sad cries are balanced by happy tears.
Where did the inspiration for The Light Through the Leaves come from?
True friends’ stories about being tired or distracted and leaving behind children inspired the opening scene. The book’s settings were inspired by my country acreage in Florida and the land of my daughter’s rental house in rural Washington. I had been through a family crisis a few months before I wrote this book, and many of the emotions from that event poured into the story.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Writing two timelines while keeping the story cohesive was a challenge. Another was the book’s length. I’d intended it to be about 100k words, and when it went beyond, I was worried it would be too long for my genre. Also, I was trying to get the book to my agent before she went on maternity leave and the unexpected month of writing cut it close! I was relieved when my agent said the length of the book suited the story and my editor didn’t ask me to shorten the book radically.
If it’s not too spoilery, were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I strongly identify with situations in both Ellis and Raven’s lives. Ellis’s connection to nature as a way of healing has been a big part of my own life. And Raven’s resilience throughout her rough childhood was cathartic to write because I grew up with a mentally ill mother. I also loved writing the many boys in the story. I grew up with a neighbourhood group of boys and I have two sons.
This is your second published novel. Was there anything significant you learned from the writing and publishing process for Where the Forest Meets the Stars?
I learned so much! Key experiences were learning how to write within the bounds of a genre, how to edit a book, and how a book’s cover and description must fit the intended audience. I was grateful for excellent editors who taught me the magic of making a manuscript better. I’m still learning, but my writing has improved thanks to them.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
Best advice is simply to study your craft as much as possible. Learn the art of writing concisely and fluidly through books, writing blogs, and (good) writing manuals—but beware writers who tell you their way of writing should be your way. For example, I don’t write with an outline. If I’d believed outlines are essential to writing fiction, I’d never have written anything publishable! Write with or without an outline, whatever works best for you. Worst advice was something I read on an agent’s website. She was ridiculing authors who write about their profession. For a while she scared me off my idea of writing about a bird biologist. But I thought, what about “write what you know”? So I wrote Where the Forest Meets the Stars and my readers appreciate that I wrote from real knowledge.
What’s next for you?
My third book is in the editing stage with my publisher. It’s a love story with magical touches and strong themes of hope, redemption, and forgiveness. As in my first book, science and magic are presented in equilibrium.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I read eclectically and believe reading is personal. My tastes and opinions about books change. This is why I rarely recommend a certain author or book. I urge readers to explore genres. Also, I recommend they find books of poetry they like. I read verse every day. I think writers, especially, can benefit from reading poetry.
