Marc Klein’s The In Between is a heartbreaking story of love and loss, and perfect for fans of If I Stay and Five Feet Apart. Soon to be a motion picture starring Joey King, we chat with author Marc Klein about The In Between, the movie adaptation, and so much more!
Hi, Marc! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I was born in New York City, but raised in Margate NJ, a tiny seaside town on the Jersey shore. After I graduated from NYU film school, I moved to Los Angeles and spent five years struggling as an assistant before I sold my script Serendipity, which was turned into a film starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. Since then, I’ve written many films in many different genres, but my focus has been on love stories and female-driven material.
As we near the halfway mark of 2021, how has your year been so far?
Putting aside the tragic state of post-lockdown Los Angeles, things are going well. We shot the movie version of “The In Between” this past Spring in Atlanta. It was quite a struggle. We were under strict Covid protocols by the studio – all-day masking, daily blood tests, etc. – but somehow we managed to pull it off… Then, a few weeks after I got back from Atlanta, the book dropped. It was the culmination of more than three years of work. To be honest, I’ve been feeling a little bit numb lately – and it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized it was because I missed Tessa, the protagonist of the book and movie. We’ve been together for so long. I guess I feel lonely without her.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
“The Illustrated Man” by Ray Bradbury! It was Bradbury’s short stories that began my lifelong obsession with books, movies, and tv shows… As for the one book I can’t stop thinking about, that’s easy: the Neapolitan quartet by Elena Ferrante. Those four books are more than a tour de force. They prove that a great writer only needs interesting characters in order to tell a gripping story. Somehow, Ferrante makes the tiniest plot points seem epic. I have never felt so inside a fictional character in my life.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
When I was in 9th grade, my family moved from New York to New Jersey and I found myself depressed, bored, and friendless. One day, my creative writing teacher mentioned that the school’s literary magazine was looking for short story submissions and there was a $5 prize. I don’t know what possessed me to write that first story – probably the desire to escape my sadness and alienation – but I ended up winning the prize. It was that early success that encouraged me to keep going.
The In Between is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
I can do it in three: Love Never Dies.
What can readers expect?
Well, first and foremost it’s a story about first love. Is there anything more powerful – and memorable – than your first love? Of course not! But the book is also about the afterlife, and how our deceased loved ones reach out us via ADC’s (after death communications.) While researching the topic of the afterlife, I stumbled onto the Buddhist concept of the bardo. The “Tibetan Book of the Dead” describes the bardo as an intermissive period between death and rebirth. According to the Buddhists, the bardo experience lasts a total of 49 days. After reading that, I started wondering what the bardo might look like – and what I’d do there for 49 days. Most likely, I’d want to reach out to the people I loved; the people I left behind. And that’s when the core question of the novel took shape: how do the dead mourn the living?
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Well, early on, I found myself struggling with how to make both storylines (the love story and the ghost story) feel cohesive. The solution came when I realized I could tell the story in dual timelines, going back and forth as needed. The before chapters take place prior to the accident that kills Skylar, and depicts Tessa and Skylar’s summer romance. The after chapters take place subsequent to the car crash, when Tessa believes that Skylar is reaching out to her from the other side. This alternating before-after structure allowed me to fully explore both stories, while also keeping the pages turning.
The In Between is going to be a movie! How is the production process going and what are you looking forward to the most in seeing your story come to life on the big screen?
I spoke to the director Arie Posin this morning. He’s in the middle of editing the film and there’s still a lot of VFX to be added, so I haven’t seen the finished film yet! That said, I was on the set for the entire shoot and I think people are going to be blown away. The chemistry between the two leads – Joey King and Kyle Allen – was palpable. There were days when crew members (and I’m talking tough Teamster-types) would start crying around the monitor. Our intention has always been to make a film as fun, moving, and timeless, as “Ghost.”
What’s next for you?
I’m currently developing a tv adaptation of Nick Bantock’s “Griffin & Sabine” books. It’s been a long journey, but I think we’ve finally partnered with the right studio and we’ll be taking the project out to streamers shortly.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Well, in addition to the Elena Ferrante books, I also love all the Russians – Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev. Mark Helprin is a personal favorite of mine, as is Isaac Bashevis Singer. Above all, though, I’m obsessed with magical realism, so Isabella Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez are my literary Gods.
