In conversation are Betty Culley and Eric Smith who have new YA releases out in the world this month! Betty’s Three Things I Know Are True explores grief and forgiveness with it written in verse. As for Eric’s Don’t Read The Comments, which releases on January 28th, it focuses on the world of gaming, along with the harassment that often comes with being on the internet. The pair discuss their new releases, their favourite verse novels, and how they explored challenging topics.
Betty Culley: Hi Eric! I finished your novel this weekend! I must confess I’ve never played a video game, but I felt like I had by the end of the book. I really wanted to go searching for livable planets with stores of minerals (did someone say lakes of gold?) and water. Did you invent the game Reclaim the Sun? Did you do gaming research for the book or did you draw on your own experience?
Eric Smith: Ah! That’s amazing to hear. I was hoping people who aren’t gamers would also respond to the book, so this makes me wildly happy.
So with the faux game in the novel, it’s actually pulled from a number of different games into one big ol’ mashup dream. It’s heavily influenced from games like World of Warcraft (the guilds, the running around in the world together, the way the chat channels work), No Man’s Sky (the sci-fi exploration elements, the randomly generated worlds and monsters), and Eve Online (the way the economics of the world operate, online auctions for digital money), though all of those games kind of have a little bit of the other in them.
Even then, there was still research there. While some of the game exists in VR, that gaming technology isn’t quiiiite available right now, so I had to keep it grounded. I had a great editor who pushed me to do that. I am a massive gamer though, so lot of this was my own experiences thrown into a made-up place.
But wait, wait… speaking of things we’ve never really done… YOUR BOOK IS IN VERSE, BETTY. Oh my goodness, how I wish I could write like this. I too finished your book this weekend. Can you dish a bit about the experience, writing like this? Have you always been drawn to writing in verse? Also I noticed you have a MG coming out about a kid who spots a meteorite… is that in verse too?
BC: You really blended a lot of different very cool concepts in Reclaim the Sun! I liked the randomly generated planets and the way a group of gamers could interact with each other and come to another person’s rescue! The way you could name planets and ‘purchase’ enhancements was also fun to read about.
THREE THINGS I KNOW ARE TRUE started as prose in its very first pages, but another writer in my critique group suggested I try it in verse, since my prose tends to be spare. Once I began in verse it felt like the perfect form for Liv’s voice and I can’t imagine it written any other way. My MG is in prose and was from the beginning.
A question for you! Your book talked about doxing and online harassment, which can be very scary. I really felt for Divya as she faced the menace of online trolls. Is this something you or anyone you know have ever experienced?
ES: Thanks so much! Fun fact, it was actually called Reclaim the Sun. Like, the book. But we wrestled a lot with trying to make a cover that worked that portrayed the fact that it’s really a contemporary novel, and not sci-fi, which is what Reclaim the Sun sounds like.
Oh my goodness that is such an amazing way to come to that. I try to write poetry in like… cards for friends and family, and I fail terribly. I can’t get over that you just dug in and made it work. I am wildly jealous of this skill.
As for doxing and online harassment, oh yes, it’s horrifying. I’ve experienced my fair share of online harassment, as a person of color who has something of a platform. It’s really hard to avoid. But I also have some privilege in that space. My fairly white-passing name and the fact that I’m a man, makes me less of a target. A lot of Divya’s experiences are drawn from friends who have dealt with this in a major way, as creators or journalists. And there are a significant number of them. It’s heartbreaking.
And a question back to you, let’s talk about family! Because hello, family is a MASSIVE piece of your gorgeous book. We have Liv wrestling with what’s happened to her brother after (and I know this isn’t a spoiler because it’s on the jacket copy, breathe easy interview readers!), he accidentally shoots himself with a neighbor’s father’s gun… and that neighbor also happens to be a rather dear friend, maybe very dear to a certain Liv. And the mother! She has such a difficult time with the whole situation. How hard is it to dig into those kind of family dynamics, surrounding grief and anger? How do you dig into all of that, especially while writing in such a lyrical, sparse format?
I’ll try not to circle back to the “oh my god this is in verse” point too many times, but I’m really just blown away.
Okay, an additional question. One thing I think we both sort of explore here, is the idea of a relationship building through trauma, right? Liv and Clay are having a hard time figuring out how to get back to where they were after this accident shatters their families and really, the entire community. Aaron and Divya are wrestling with harassment in digital spaces, and eventually, in the physical one, while exploring their friendship and growing feelings. What draws you to explore relationships in that way?
BC: I do like the name Reclaim the Sun for the game, though. It’s a great metaphor for coming through darkness into light. But DON’T READ THE COMMENTS is a perfect title and fits so well in the cover design. Did you envision the cover this way?
I’m sorry to hear about your own online harassment, as well as people you know. The character of Detective Watts in your novel took the online harassment very seriously. There were times I wanted to call her up my myself and tell her what was really going on!
Thank you again about the verse! I am grateful to the verse novelists I’ve read who showed me this was another way to tell a story. And maybe all those haikus I used to write were good practice!
Family relationships are definitely important in my book, and those relationships change in an instant when Liv’s brother Jonah accidentally shoots himself. Liv is thrust into the role of caretaker and protector. In my work as a pediatric hospice nurse, I saw the effect of a sick children on everyone in the family, including siblings. My book dedication is “to those who find the beauty in a life they didn’t choose or expect’ because that’s what I saw. There was heartbreak for sure but I saw the way tragedy can also bring out what is best in us as humans—compassion, forgiveness and love.
It’s compelling to see how Divya and Aaron navigate their relationship, and how they slowly build trust. I liked how they grew their friendship both online and in the physical world, and how there were forward and backward steps in both worlds.
You mention Liv’s mother and what she is going through. Divya’s urge to help her mother rebuild her life is very touching. It felt like both Aaron and Divya had lives they couldn’t always share with their parents and walked a fine line between wanting to show who they really were with their parents and protecting them.
Do you envision writing more about Divya and Aaron or any of the other character in the book? Rebekah? Or are you working on something completely different?
ES: Thanks! The cover was an interesting journey, there were a LOT of variations before it got a title update, and even after, lots more. And I felt so bad because I am maybe the worst person to give art to for critique and thoughts. Because I love everything. Every cover they gave me I was like “yup that’s the one!” I’m not sure what I really had in mind, other than I wanted the two kids on the front.
What about yours? What was that journey like?
It’s funny, when it comes to Detective Watts, she’s actually named after my wife’s cousin, Jessica. She’s this really strong and inspiring figure in both our lives, though she isn’t a detective, she works with kids. She’s more like a sister-in-law than a cousin. Which leads me into a question for you! You mention your experience working as a nurse, seeing the effects on families… is anyone in here drawn from the real world? People close to you?
Who are some of your favorite in-verse novelists that you read before digging into your own? I’ve read a handful, and absolutely loved Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough.
I do think about those two a lot, but I think I’ve definitely got a standalone on my hands. 🙂 I did start fussing over a second novel concept that had a cute cameo in play, so we’ll see what happens there. It could be a fun Easter egg, and I like those a lot.
BC: When I first saw the cover art for THREE THINGS, I shed some happy tears! I’d hoped for a river image and this design was so perfect. It felt like the artist Chris Kwon completely got the feel of the book, since it takes places along the Kennebec River here in Maine and is where Liv and Clay meet in secret. Another happy surprise was the brush strokes of river water inside the pages and all the details of water drops on the cover. Shout out to Chris Kwon and Alison Donalty and Danielle Mazzella di Bosco for the gorgeous art and design.
And I have to mention that at my first book launch people here were excited to see the cover image of the Kennebec, which flows by only two blocks from the bookstore! Many of the people who came to the launch had worked in the local mills along the river or had grandparents who worked there as children. Have I said how much I love the cover?!!
To answer your question—no one in the book is a fictionalized version of anyone in the real world, though it’s true that each child I cared for definitely changed me as a person.
There are so many great verse novels out there, as you mention BLOOD WATER PAINT. I loved Karen Hesse’s OUT OF THE DUST, Thanhha Lai’s INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, and Jason Reynolds’ LONG WAY DOWN.
It’s been wonderful talking with you and getting a behind-the-scenes peek into DON’T READ THE COMMENTS. What do have planned for your book launch day?
ES: I’m so happy you have a cover that you’re so smitten with! I love when that happens.
As for my launch day, I have a little celebration at the Barnes & Noble in Philadelphia, where I live, and then a few fun book tour stops afterwards! I’m visiting Books of Wonder in NYC, Brookline Booksmith in Boston, and The Fountain Bookshop in Richmond, all in the same week. It’s going to be a busy couple of days.
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Betty Culley lives in central Maine, where the rivers run through the small towns. She’s an RN who worked as an obstetrics nurse and as a pediatric home hospice nurse. Three Things I Know Are True is her debut.
Eric Smith is a Young Adult author and literary agent with P.S. Literary living in Philadelphia. His most recent novel, Don’t Read the Comments, was published by Inkyard Press in January 2020. His new anthology, Battle of the Bands co-edited with Lauren Gibaldi, is due out in 2021 with Candlewick. He has short stories forthcoming in the anthologies Color Outside the Lines by Sangu Mandanna (Soho Teen) and Body Talk by Kelly Jensen (Algonquin). His other books include the IndieBound bestseller The Geek’s Guide to Dating (Quirk), Inked (Bloomsbury), the adoption-themed anthology Welcome Home, and the novel The Girl and the Grove (Flux). You can listen to him on Book Riot’s HEY YA podcast with Kelly Jensen.
