Welcome, friend! Today I bring you a collaborative post with author Jessica Stilling. We are chatting about her literary fiction novel, Between Before and After.
Get to know the author: Jessica Stilling
Welcome Jessica!
What inspired you to write this book?
My children and the city of Paris. For more context, I took my two young children to Paris for the first time a few years ago and I remember thinking the entire time we were there, “Gee, I wish these kids didn’t have to grow up, their childish joy is so wonderful.” That got me thinking about nostalgia and how it works in one’s life, especially when we think back on our childhoods. The story came out of those ideas. I remember getting on the plane at the Orleans Airport with the kids in tow and the idea for this book becoming more and more clear as the journey went on.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
I began this book in the Fall of 2016. It took me about six months to write the first draft, but then I went in with a backhoe and really did a number on the book in the editing process. I changed many significant plot points and in an early draft, I had the reveal-reveal happen much, much earlier, but that caused some POV (Point of View) related issues, so I pushed it all back a bit more. I added character and took them out and added them back, then took them out again. Notre Dame is a very important symbol in the book and there are scenes where the main character, Sebastian Foster, directly remembers his time at Notre Dame as a child and wishes for it back and realizes you can’t really get the past back. Then, after the fire at Notre Dame (in real life), those scenes became even more poignant because there was this bruised and beaten-up cathedral where there had been a glorious one, just like there was this bruised and beaten man where there had been a happy childhood, and that just drove the point home so much more. Adding those details took a lot of work, but it was worth it.
What makes your story unique?
There are many things about the story, like the use of split timelines, from the protagonist’s past and present that help drive the story, but the most unique part is the reveal at the end and how the protagonist responds to it. No spoilers!
Who would enjoy reading your book?
People who are into literary fiction, with a bit of a character-driven and philosophical bent will love this book. Also, people who read to see the world, who want to experience other places through fiction will love the way Paris is portrayed and how much you feel like you’re there.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
I hope people come away really thinking about nostalgia and how we all long for our pasts and when is that is healthy and nice and when is that more complicated. This novel also explores the role of art in the artist’s life, but also in how art can truly help us live other timelines and lives.
What is something you have learned on your author journey so far?
Writing is a wonderful and magical thing. You get to live in so many worlds and truly explore awesome people (characters) and…you have complete control of them. Getting published is hard, the rejection is hard, the editing process is hard, the near misses can break your heart. HOWEVER, the hardest part of writing is marketing your book. Putting yourself out there, doing events, dealing with rejection from bookstores and reviewers and potential readers, that is the truly hard part. Writers love to write, that’s why we do it, but the rest of it is where the work comes in.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received related to writing?
“Do not worry, you have written before, and you will write now. All you must do is write on true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” — Ernest Hemmingway, A Movable Feast (also a book set in Paris)
If you could give a shout out to someone(s) who has helped in your writer journey, please feel free to mention them below!
My writing workshop has been there for me for so long. I love them as only one can love a writing workshop. Rob, Michael, Denise, Brad, Eric, Tim, Andrea and Alejandro. Also, my very good friend Susan, who not only MCs my book parties, but has always been an A+ friend. My children inspire me every day, as do my family.
Between Before and After
Literary/Upmarket Fiction, 2022
Between Before and After follows Indie film director Sebastian Foster, son of the famous author Regina Foster, as he embarks on a project to turn his mother’s award-winning novels into films. As he works on his third film in the project, a biographical novel that takes place in Paris and deals with the traumatic death of Sebastian’s five-year-old sister, the project and aspects of Sebastian’s personal and private life start to break down. Sebastian is confronted with a man from his past who holds the purse strings as far as funding for his films is concerned. He also learns that his mother has more secrets than he realized and as he dives deeper into this project, he learns that there was so much more to his sister’s tragic death than he realized. As the past starts to unravel before him, Sebastian must confront his issues with his mother and his desperate need to recreate a past that may not have been as idyllic as he remembered.
Trigger Warning: Fire, death of a child, family drama, drug use, drug sales, physical violence, fighting
Book Excerpt from
Between Before and After
“Bastian,” she said after a couple seconds. “I’m making a salmon salad. Would you like some or are you fine with just bread and cheese?”
François was in the act of uncorking a bottle of white wine.
“Bread and cheese for dinner? I’ll have salad. I’m sure Lucy will be happy with cheese. You can skip the bread.”
“Oh, hush you, you’ll love Paris. We’ll return to New York so refreshed.”
“Refreshed and ready for anything.”
“What are you reading? If you do not mind my seeing,” François asked. A surge of annoyance run through me at such an invasive question.
“Raiding Dragons. It’s a book about Viking ships.” I begrudgingly showed him the cover.
“Ah, can I see? Can I see?” François asked, hobbling over he took the book from my hand. I hadn’t realized how old he was. This man had gray hair, thick glasses and saggy skin, but it wasn’t until I watched him walk that I got a real sense of his advanced age. “There we go, ah…I have heard of this man, Philibert Clausen.”
“Yeah?” I asked. Maybe this guy would talk to me about Vikings. My father and I sometimes had these kinds of intellectual heart-to-hearts, but we hadn’t really spoken of anything deep since Philip passed. I’m sure my father was scared of opening up the dead stepfather can of worms. “You know, he says here that the Vikings had a way of bending wood, they treated it so it would curve and that’s why they built ships that could go on the ocean and down rivers. That’s what really freaked out the Europeans. They’d never seen ships like that.”
“Is that so?” François asked. “You know, I never thought this guy was much of an intellectual. If you really want to know about Vikings, you have to read a more reputable historian.”
“I don’t think my son is up for reputable historians just yet,” my mother replied, half-laughing as she washed the lettuce as I turned to go.
When I got to the living room, I had expected to find the television on. Knowing Lucy, who at five years old could figure out our entire entertainment set up in New York, she’d’ve already gotten an English language children’s show on. If in fact, there was an English language child’s television show to be found at that particular time slot. But the television was off, and the blackness and the silence of the room, took up all the space. “Lucy?” I asked, looking around. Just then my little sister shot out from behind one of the curtains over the French doors, laughing as she ran into the kitchen. My mother stood next to the counter still chopping salad ingredients as François sat at the table, drinking white wine as he lifted the oversized page of a newspaper. My sister ran to the oven again and started playing with the knobs. At first nothing happened, but a soft, sour stench wafted through the area. Lucy twisted the knobs again and again before the fire shot up farther.
“Lucy!” my mother called, turning to the oven. “Lucy Marie, what are you doing? I told you not to play with that. Do-not-play!”
My mother ran over and turned off the oven before any damage could be done as my sister stood in the middle of the kitchen, arms crossed, a great, childish pout on her face. “Lucy be good! Don’t touch that again,” my mother warned, looking back at my sister. “Do you understand how dangerous that is?”
“No!” my sister cried. “No. I want Daddy! Daddy didn’t come!”
My mother looked at me with eyes so lost and confused. I wasn’t sure if she thought I could help her, but the words caught in my throat as well. She’d explained to Lucy what had happened to her father weeks ago. Philip had sat her down while he was sick and talked to her. We watched one of those After School Specials on death and Heaven and being in a better place. A therapist had been briefly employed but we thought Lucy was okay. We thought she knew.
“It’s okay, Lucy, we talked about this, Daddy died sweetheart. He was very sick, and he died,” my mother said, getting to her knees in front of the little girl. “It’s okay. Daddy is happy, wherever he is, he’s happy.”
“Where’s Daddy?” Lucy asked again and my mother threw her arms around her and held her close.
Interested?
Thank you for hanging out with us today. Find Between Before and After on Goodreads and Amazon. Connect with Jessica on her website and Twitter.
If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. Check out other book excerpts here.
Cover image: Photo on Unsplash
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