The Nerd Daily had the pleasure of sitting down with Anna Jarzab, author of multiple novels such as All Unquiet Things and her anticipated release Breath Like Water, which releases on May 19th! We got to ask her all our questions on writing, swimming, her upcoming projects, and more!
Hi, Anna! Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Sure! I was born and raised in the suburbs outside of Chicago, where my most recent book is set, but we moved to Northern California when I was sixteen, so I’m sort of a Midwest/West Coast hybrid. Now that I’ve lived in New York for over ten years, I’m a New Yorker, too. I work in digital marketing at a publisher of children’s books, and I love to read, of course. I keep trying to become a minimalist but I can’t because I have so many books that I refuse to part with. Somehow they all fit in my teeny tiny studio apartment!
If you had to describe Breath Like Water in five words or less, what would they be?
Contemporary romance about two swimmers.
Now tell us a bit more about the book!
Breath Like Water is the story of Susannah Ramos, a sixteen-year-old aspiring Olympian who was poised for greatness early in her swimming career but has since been sidelined by a growth spurt that has changed her body and slowed her down in the water. Just when it feels like she’s at her lowest moment and all is lost, two people come into her life. There’s Beth, a young female coach whose alternative training strategy gives Susannah hope for a bright new future in the sport, and Harry, a new teammate who quickly becomes a friend…and then something more. Breath Like Water takes place in the year leading up to the Olympics and follows Susannah’s journey as she fights to get a spot on Team USA and falls in love for the first time.
How did writing Breath Like Water differ from your previous novels?
Every book has its own unique challenges. It’s safe to say Breath Like Water wouldn’t exist without my other novels, because it grew out of the experience of writing them. Many years ago now, when I first started writing Breath Like Water, I was reeling from the effects of a dark period in my writing career. I felt like a failure, like no one believed in me, and I certainly didn’t believe in myself. I channeled my frustrations and emotions the only way I knew how, into a book—one not about a failed writer, but an athlete who has reached the ebb of their career and can’t quit, but also feels no hope for the future. Writing Susannah and Harry’s story helped me process a lot of what I was feeling and look at the concepts of failure and success more objectively. From idea to publication, it took almost eight years, and the story changed a lot along the way. But I think this book saved me in a way none of my other novels have. Without this book, I don’t think I would’ve had the confidence to publish another book ever again. That alone makes Breath Like Water a success in my eyes.
Breath Like Water is said to be influenced by your own experience of swimming competitively as a teen. Did you struggle with the same pressures Susannah faces in the novel to excel?
No, not at all. I swam competitively as a kid and teenager, but I was a JV, extracurricular sort of swimmer, nowhere near as fast or as talented as Susannah and her teammates. I experienced no pressures, other than that pressure most athletes feel, which is to do your best and work your hardest and be a good teammate, even when you’re tired or don’t want to go to practice or would rather hang out after school with your friends. But the way Susannah puts pressure on herself comes from a very real emotional place for me, because it’s the way I have often felt about my writing.
You also address mental health in the novel in a very open and supportive manner. Without giving too much away about the plot, could you tell us about your research progress and how it felt to address bipolar disorder?
The mental health aspects came into the story pretty early on, as I was getting to know my characters, what they struggle with and what drives them. As someone who is not bipolar, it was a scary thing to tackle, because I couldn’t draw on my own experience and I had to get it right. The core of my research process was consulting the stories of people who have or whose loved ones have bipolar disorder, as well as doctors who treat bipolar patients, to understand what the experience is like from as many sides as possible. I was lucky to have several friends weigh in along the way, and we also had an excellent sensitivity reader on Breath Like Water who pointed me to even more resources, especially those that cover the more clinical aspects of treatment programs and hospitalization. This took several years, in which I was constantly searching out more and more information, and refining the book as I learned more. It was a long process, but it was 150% worth it if I managed to succeed.
Susannah and her teammates are faced with two very different coaches who both believe to be doing their best for their swimmers, even if their advice is sometimes harmful. What advice would you give your younger self?
Swim in college if you can—I quit after high school, but I think I would’ve benefited from continuing the routine and the exercise and the team aspect in college as well. And study abroad. I never did, and I regret it. But mostly, I would tell my younger self to work harder at cultivating a sense of inner peace with herself. I’m still struggling to do this, but I think I’d be farther along if I’d gotten started younger, instead of being so preoccupied with other people’s definition of success or worthiness.
I absolutely loved how you addressed the sacrifices competitive athletes have to make in order to be at the top of their game. So often, we only get to see the Olympics from the vantage point of our couch, seeing people shine but rarely do we think about the effort that goes into getting there in the first place. Did your view of competitions change after getting into competitive swimming yourself?
Since I did it from a young age, I think my experiences swimming competitively (and again, I must stress here that I was not fast or in any other way an impressive swimmer) shaped my view of competition from the beginning. But I will say that recently, I’ve reached back into my swimming past to determine my approach for the release of this book.
When I was a young kid, I swam in an in-house league, which is a program where you only compete against the other swimmers on your team. But in fact, you don’t compete against them, either, even though you swim races with them. Your times are only compared to your own prior times. So you only win a race if you beat your personal best; wins and losses have nothing to do with the other swimmers, only yourself.
I think that’s a great metaphor for a lot of endeavors, especially creative ones. I have a t-shirt from that time period (it still fits, which is pretty wild) that says “I am the best that I can be.” I decided that was going to be my approach to Breath Like Water. Is it the best book ever written? No, of course not. Is it the best book that I could make it? If the answer is yes, then it’s a success in my eyes, and I can take pride in it, no matter what happens.
Speaking of the Olympics, are you a fan of a specific tournament besides swimming when you watch the Olympics?
I love gymnastics and ice skating. Not surprising, since a lot of people do. I’ll be honest and say I’m not that interested in any other sports in the Olympics besides those three, even though I keep telling myself, every four years, that I’m going to pay more attention to water polo. I was a water polo player in high school, too, and I always tell myself to remember to watch some games, but they’re on at weird times or I forget or some other excuse and I never do. Next year for sure!
Family is a big aspect of Breath Like Water. Did you have a favorite scene between Susannah and her parents and sister?
SO MANY FAVORITES. One of the important things to me when writing Susannah’s family, especially her parents, was that they should feel very real and present. So there are a lot of family scenes in the book, actually, but I have three favorites. One is at the beginning of the book, when Susannah is arguing with her parents after her coach humiliates her in front of a bunch of people; they want to defend her and raise hell about it, and she feels very strongly that this will undermine her and make her look weak. There’s this great tension between them that comes from the fact that Susannah’s swimming career makes her so grown up and independent in some ways, but also the fact that she’s still a teenager and, in her parents’ eyes, a beloved child who is not done being raised. But even though they’re arguing, they’re doing it in this loving, respectful way that is so endearing.
Another favorite is a speech Susannah’s mom, Maria, gives towards the end, which I won’t say much about except that it’s my favorite piece of writing in the book. And then there is another moment with Susannah and her sister, Nina, toward the end that I just love, where Susannah crawls into Nina’s bed at night and confesses her fears, which she has mostly kept private, to her sister. Susannah and Nina are only two years apart in age and have this combative and slightly resentful but ultimately affectionate relationship, where Nina considers it her job as the older sister to sort of put Susannah in her place, to humble her, never let her get too big of a head. But she supports Susannah and comforts her when she needs reassuring and is on her side, too, and that comes out a lot more towards the end.
One of my favorite quotes in the novel is that “failure is an intersection” and it’s up to us to decide what to do when he “hit” that point. How do you deal with failure?
Like most people, I think, I don’t deal with failure particularly well. Susannah has a lot of my own personality traits, for better or for worse—the need to control everything and hold oneself to an impossible standard of achievement. I have plenty of experience being hard on myself. But as I’ve gotten older and failed a lot, I’ve learned to be more sanguine about it, to see it as a part of the process of doing things whereas before I would just beat myself up. I love that “failure is an intersection” quote too because it reframes the experience, transforms it into an opportunity for change rather than a traumatic stopping point.
Breath Like Water is set to release May 19th. Are you already working on another project and if so, can you share a bit about it with us?
I usually have a few projects going at one time. Most books take years for me to write. I’m currently working on an epic fantasy novel based on a Polish legend that I’ve been developing since I was in college, an adult contemporary fantasy set in New York, and a contemporary YA romance also set in New York. Right now I’m focused on the big fantasy novel, continuing to build the world and work on the plot. I think it’ll be really cool when it’s done but it’s taking a lot more prep work and research than other books I write—which is exhausting, but also part of the fun!
Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?
Yes, always! I just finished Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, which was fantastic. I also recently read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for the first time, and all I could think was how have I never read this before? Some other recommendations are Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore (I love a good historical romance), Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQueston, The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black, and my new favorite book of all time, The Skylark’s War by Hillary McKay.
