Heidi W. Durrow: The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

This week I had the chance to chat with author Heidi W. Durrow, thanks to www.WriteNowToday.com.

What inspired you to write The Girl Who Fell From the Sky?
I was inspired to write the book after reading a newspaper story about a family that died in a tragic accident, but the young girl survived. I was haunted by the fact that this little girl still had a future—but what would her survival look like? I wanted to give her a voice. I wanted to write a story that gave her a chance to identify with something other than that terrible tragedy.

What can readers expect from this novel?
I think they can expect to be drawn into a story about a young person who is struggling to define herself beyond the labels that she’s been assigned. It’s very much a coming-of-age story. But it’s also a bit of a love story and a mystery. It’s a mystery because you think you know exactly how the accident happens at the beginning of the book, but it becomes much more complicated. And it’s a love story—well, really an odd love story—because it’s not focused on two characters falling in love, but I hope that you as the reader fall in love with my protagonist, Rachel—that you become her cheerleaders and a kind of support system that she doesn’t have on the page.

How long did the process take you from draft to sale?
Forever. I started the book in 1997 and first struggled to write it, struggled through dozens and dozens of rejections. And struggled to revise and refine it—I finally hit on gold when I submitted to the Bellwether Prize for Fiction and Barbara Kingsolver chose the manuscript as the winner. She is my hero!

What do you do to keep writing when motivation wanes?
I make a plan! I give myself deadlines from Poets & Writers magazine, and I send out my work MORE. It’s strange to say but the more rejections I got, I also knew that I had to be closer to an acceptance.

This is your debut novel, how did you feel the first time you saw your book on shelves?
I was ecstatic. I saw it for the first time at the Los Angeles airport and I just went over the moon. I asked the bookstore manager if I could sign the copies—and they agreed. And then I managed to attract a little crowd—the strangers in the bookstores started congratulating me. I realized I was making a scene and finally ducked out. I sure hope one of those folks bought the book!

Have you been surprised by the accolades?
I have. I tried to write the very best book I could, but it’s really gratifying to hear that others have connected with it, and get it, and love the characters as much as I do.

What is your advice to budding authors?
I would say that the most important thing is to not share your work too early. I know it sounds weird to say, but the hardest part about writing is writing. What I mean is that the blank page is scary and if you’re getting criticism about your work too early then you won’t go back to the blank page. You may not feel confident enough or motivated enough to continue. Write and write more. And don’t stop when you get a no or a rejection. Try to figure out whether the no or rejection has information you can use to make your work better.

So what's next for Heidi W. Durrow the author?
In all honesty, there’s been some clamoring for a sequel. It’s not something I really considered when I was writing –really, at least, not until I heard from so many readers that they would like a sequel. So that’s a possibility. I would love to spend more time with some of the characters, in particular Brick. But meanwhile, I’ve been at work on a historical novel set in the late 1800s in Paris and London. The main characters are a mulatto strongwoman, a hairy Laotian girl, and Edgar Degas!