We chat with author Madeline Kay Sneed about Today Tonight Forever, which sees one wedding weekend leading to one dramatic reunion for two families in this bighearted ensemble cast novel about love and forgiveness
Hi, Madeline! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I’m Madeline Kay Sneed, the author of THE GOLDEN SEASON and TODAY TONIGHT FOREVER. I’m from Houston, Texas, and that makes up a good chunk of my personality – I love Beyoncé, I love the city’s sports franchises, and I love eating Tex-Mex on Friday nights. I write about Texans, specifically queer Texans, and the small dramas that make up their everyday lives. I’ve been influenced by the writing of Jesmyn Ward, Toni Morrison, Mary Oliver, Flannery O’Connor, Leo Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Yaa Gyasi, John Steinbeck, and so many other writers. When I’m not writing and reading, I love curating the perfect playlist, running very slowly, cooking new recipes, and spending time outside.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My mom is a great story teller, a great reader of stories, and a great writer, so I think listening to her and learning from her cultivated in me a rich imagination. Growing up, I would play make believe games with my brother, where we would craft our own epic quests (I, of course, made myself the protagonist), and immerse ourselves in these really detailed worlds. As I started reading more on my own, I realized that all that play had been stimulating stories within me, and that acting out those fantastical worlds was its own form of storytelling. I was never happier than when I was delving deep into that imaginary space. It’s always been apart of my life, and I never dismissed it or diminished it—or had it dismissed or diminished by my family, which preserved it in a really pure way. I don’t think there’s ever been a version of myself that hasn’t loved creating and consuming stories.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Magic Tree House
- The one that made you want to become an author: Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Sula – Toni Morrison
Your latest novel, Today Tonight Forever, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A dramatic Southern beach wedding.
What can readers expect?
Humor, wedding drama, insights into the lives of each of the characters, as we go into six different points of view. You’ll see the wedding and the story from every angle. Also, there are a lot of Emily Dickinson references. She was my emotional support poet during the pandemic, and I had to give her a little love here.
Where did the inspiration for Today Tonight Forever come from?
Because I went to Baylor University, where everyone seems to get engaged at 22 and married 6 months after graduation, I’ve attended and been in many weddings. The one thing I observed, especially from being in weddings, is that, though the wedding is supposed to be about the couple, people are often thinking about themselves – the small dramas that make up our lives. It’s harmless, but consuming, and I found that to be a really fertile place to explore with my fictional friends.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I absolutely loved getting to go into the minds and lives of each of these characters. Because there are so many POV shifts, I had to pay a lot of care and attention to these characters and their contradictions. What motivates them? What defeats them? What picks them back up again? I started by writing Athena, who is essentially the protagonist, but I was surprised and delighted by how much I adored each character for different reasons. They became very really to me both in their private lives and the friendships they share with one another. They have histories and they have hopes and it was a lot of fun excavating all of that.
This is your second published novel! What are some of the key lessons you have learned between writing the two?
In order to write, you have to write. I did a lot of “marinating” on TODAY TONIGHT FOREVER after THE GOLDEN SEASON was published, but in the end, I had to start fleshing out that ideating on the page. The second novel is sort of about learning all the same lessons from the first over again. The first draft will be terrible, but that doesn’t make you a terrible writer; revision is the most illuminating and necessary process; a novel doesn’t happen in a day, but it helps when you commit to it every day. I think the second novel just hammered home how important it is to give yourself a break between books, and then, when an idea anchors itself into you, commit to that idea, even if it’s just for five minutes a day, or writing down an illegible note in a journal. I think every writer has to find their flow that works for them, and for me, it’s all about giving myself the gift of time. I work full time, separated from writing, so I have to be really intentional and disciplined about when and where I can get my writing done.
What’s next for you?
After years of threatening everyone that I love that I was going to do it, I’ve finally started writing my detective novel, set in Houston, Texas.
Lastly, what 2024 book releases are you looking forward to?
So many, but mainly Something Kindred by Ciera Burch, a writer who knows how to craft a hauntingly good story with deft, depth, and a masterful command of language. Y’all should all pre-order it – it’s going to be great!
