We chat with author Ethan Joella about The Same Bright Stars, which is an uplifting and emotionally resonant novel set in a Delaware beach town about a local restaurant owner at a turning point.
Hi, Ethan! Welcome back! How have the past two years been since we last spoke?
Thank you for having me again. Things have been great, knock on wood. The writing is going nicely some days, and my wife and I are enjoying watching our kids grow into adults. I’ve met a lot of great people, readers and authors and bloggers, which has been so rewarding.
Your latest novel, The Same Bright Stars, is out July 2nd! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
When will Jack’s life begin?
What can readers expect?
This is definitely the kind of book I like to write with characters who are doing their best and trying to figure out life. It focuses on Jack Schmidt who is in his fifties and has been running the beachfront restaurant that has been in his family for three generations. Jack shows up for work on the morning before Thanksgiving and doesn’t know if he can do it anymore: the grueling schedule, the physical labor, the constant decisions. He wonders if he should sell to a restaurant group that’s made him a very attractive offer, but he worries about his employees and his family’s legacy. While he’s trying to decide, he receives unexpected news from the past and forges an unlikely friendship.
Where did the inspiration for The Same Bright Stars come from?
I have been wanting to write a novel that takes place in my hometown of Rehoboth Beach for so long, and I had written a considerable amount of another book that had many characters and many intersecting stories, but it just wasn’t working. I decided to go for a singular focus and one main character, which neither of my previous books had. I started to think about a family restaurant on the beach that has a weathered, nostalgic feel: a place that’s not fine dining, but everyone likes to eat there on vacation. It was the day before Thanksgiving when I opened my laptop, and the opening scene came to me: a man getting out of his car and feeling the wind off the water, not knowing if he could do this work anymore and wondering who he might be without the restaurant.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
The Same Bright Stars has a scene of danger, a scene of a character learning really upsetting news, scenes of hope and friendship, and some touching flashbacks. I enjoyed writing those different moments as I like variety. I also absolutely loved the character of Nicole, who exploded to life from the minute she walked into Jack’s office. She works for a corporate restaurant group, but she’s not one ounce the serious person you’d expect; she has many layers. She’s always herself, always fearless, always laid back, but she also is a widow and has experienced a lot of pain. Her encounters with Jack always brought out an interesting side to both of them, and my favorite scene is where they end up at the Rehoboth Beach Farmers’ Market, Jack just following her around, watching her sample food and pet dogs.
Can you tell us a bit about your process when it came to outlining The Same Bright Stars?
I am very open to my characters surprising me and therefore surprising the plot. I try to stay away from outlining and synopses for the most part, but this book had a lot of past and present threads that needed to align and some important twists and technical elements that needed to come out right. I kept an email to myself entitled “What Still Needs to Happen,” and I checked over that with almost every new chapter.
This is your third published novel. What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned as a writer since your debut?
I’ve learned that it never gets easier. (I remember one of my favorite grad school professors telling us, “If you’re looking for easy, try another booth”!) It never gets to the point where you can phone it in. But that’s why it’s original, that’s why people will want to read your work—because you’ve labored over something special. I’ve also learned to trust the process. If you keep showing up for your writing, you’ll work out that difficult scene; or, even if you throw away a hundred pages, they might still lead you somewhere—maybe you needed the non-working stuff in order to get to the stuff that works. The good stuff comes from the challenges, I think, and trying something that you haven’t done before.
What’s next for you?
I’m well into a new novel, and I have a couple other ideas I’d like to get working on once that’s done.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I really enjoyed Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal. I was lucky enough to read an early copy of Elizabeth Strout’s new novel, Tell Me Everything, and it’s just as wonderful as you’d expect. I also loved See Loss See Also Love by Yukiko Tominaga.
