We chat with author Joanna Pearson about Bright and Tender Dark, which is an enthralling, wire-taut debut novel about an unsolved murder on a college campus and its aftermath twenty years later
Hi, Joanna! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m a lapsed-poet-turned fiction writer living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Carrboro, technically, but if you know this area, you’ll know that’s basically the same place). By day, I work as an outpatient psychiatrist, and by the other part of my day, I fetch snacks for/manage the requests of my two kids, and by the other other part of my day, I read piles of books (mostly lit fic) or hang out with my husband, the best grump I’ve ever known. At night, I sleep. Very occasionally, in glorious stolen moments, I get to write!
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve loved writing and stories for almost as long as I can remember, but the itch really kicked in when I was in third grade. Back then, I sent elaborate stories and poems (usually about fairies, or valiant, clever orphans learning to live by burbling brooks in the woods) to Highlights, but they were impervious to my genius…so I just had to keep writing.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
- The one that made you want to become an author: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (not an original choice, I realize, but it’ll do the trick!)
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I am never not being haunted by The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor. Agghhh I can’t help but name a few more: Bobcat by Rebecca Lee, The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro, Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones, The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard….Okay, okay, I’ll stop!
Your debut novel, Bright and Tender Dark, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
I’d be cheating here if used bright, dark, or tender, so I’ll offer these key words instead: longing, loss, misunderstanding, myth, belief.
What can readers expect?
Twenty years after the murder of her freshman college roommate, Joy finds a letter that casts doubt on the details of the case, including the conviction of the man imprisoned for the crime. What follows is a literary mystery, but also a postmortem on a community disfigured by loss. It’s a story about how we tell stories, about the ways in which we’re hopelessly interconnected and yet oblivious to much of that connection. It’s about how we spin sadness into myth and find meaning in grief. If I were more concise, I’d simply call it an “elevated whodunnit.” You’ll find out who dunnit, but the real mystery being explored is what’s going on in everyone’s head.
Where did the inspiration for Bright and Tender Dark come from?
When I was in college, a friend told me she’d heard the advice that if you were ever being attacked, you should throw yourself to the ground and act like you were having a seizure or heart attack or something—anything to startle your attacker so he’d panic and run away. That little seed really stuck with me: partly because I wondered if it would actually work, and partly because I found it so strange and sad that at this place of such optimism and intellectual pursuit, a flagship public university, a place of idealism, that young women still felt they needed to trade such tips. That was (is), sadly, the brutal reality of the world, its threats and expectations for girls and women.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love writing from the perspective of characters who might be considered “bad guys.” One of my abiding principles as a writer is that no character should ever be fully evil, no character ever fully good (as in life.) There must always be some space for empathy. Even if a character is up to something that I would never condone, I want at the very least to understand. That, to me, is the real beauty and interest of fiction.
What led to your interest in writing a thriller / mystery novel?
I’ll be honest and say I really don’t think of it as a thriller! A literary mystery feels a bit more accurate. I’m attracted to an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty. I also think having a central, driving question (like the how/why/who of a murder) tends to goads action while revealing character—and that rich, psychological complexity is ultimately what I’m most interested in.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
The best part about going from the solitary work of writing a draft to the actual making of a book is the way it becomes a group project. Thank goodness for sharp editorial input in particular! There’s something so valuable about getting to work with people who have a simpatico vision, who can help you tease out the thing you’re trying to make from its murky initial form, but who also have a bit more emotional distance from it. I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten smart feedback from my brilliant agent, Marya Spence, and her equally brilliant assistant, Mackenzie Williams, fairly early on. They saw what I was attempting and believed in it. I then had the joy of working with Daniel Loedel (and his able assistant, Ragav Maripudi), who, I think, had a real sense for the structure and shape of the novel. Finally, while I’m shouting out brilliance, managing editor Barbara Darko is both savvy and eagle-eyed, with the patience of a saint. So many others are instrumental in all the behind-the-scenes magic of publishing (design! marketing! publicity!), I feel like I should namecheck them all, but instead I’ll just focus on the gift that is an attentive editorial process. I feel a lot of gratitude.
What’s next for you?
Probably the next thing I’m closest to completing is another manuscript of short stories, but I’m trying to get traction on another longform project!
Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?
So many! A few soon-to-be-released 2024 titles I’m looking forward to reading are Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwento.
