YA AUTHOR INTERVIEW: An interview with Karen Gregory - author of young adult novel 'Countless'.

Welcome to my first ever 'YA Authors in Conversation' post.

​​
I am so very pleased to host YA author, Karen Gregory on my blog, all the way from the UK.


Her debut novel, Countless, is a beautifully written and confronting tale of one girl's struggle to conquer her own mind, and the rather unusual source of love she finds along the way. 

Karen was kind enough to answer all my questions about her novel and writing process, and I think you'll find her answers both thought-provoking and interesting.
I know I did! 

Karen Gregory's YA contemporary debut, Countless, is available now, and her second novel, Skylarks, is out in May 2018.​

Karen Gregory Interview.
Questions asked by Poppy Nwosu.

​
I recently read your YA contemporary debut novel, Countless, which I found extremely moving.

It deals with anorexia and teen pregnancy, both topics I must admit sounded quite heavy for me to read, yet I flew through this and found myself thinking about it for days afterwards.
It is a beautiful book with a deeply flawed, fragile yet unbelievably strong protagonist. One aspect I really liked about your story was just how quiet and real it seemed, avoiding the pitfalls of overly dramatising events.

For me, it made each small (and huge) conflict within your novel all the more devastating.
​

• QUESTION: I wondered if you made a conscious decision to portray your protagonist’s journey in such a realistic, no holding back way or if it just happened naturally?

KAREN GREGORY:
It’s a really interesting question in terms of what comes along as you’re writing an initial draft and then how you shape it later. I wrote the first draft of COUNTLESS pretty quickly and the rawness of it wasn’t something I consciously chose; Hedda’s voice basically came out that way. However, once it got to the revising and editing stages I put a lot of thought into trying to get the balance right between portraying Hedda’s thoughts and emotions around her eating disorder in what I felt was a realistic, but sensitive way. But yes, Hedda’s voice did feel quite natural to me and clicked quite early on. 

• QUESTION: Often stories with a pregnancy at their centre conveniently end their tale with a baby delivered safe and sound and everyone happy. Yet you kept writing.... why was that?

KAREN GREGORY:
The simplest answer is because this is what came to me when the initial idea appeared. I had the basic structure in my head right from the beginning, and that didn’t change much during the editing. For me, the most important part of the story was an exploration of different forms of love and so if it had ended when Rose was born, I would only have told part of the story I wanted to tell. 

• QUESTION: I think my favourite part of your book was how you portrayed the disease itself. Could you explain a little bit of your inspiration and decision making process behind that choice? (NOTE: Hedda's eating disorder is viewed by Hedda herself as a shadow called Nia that sits on her shoulder and whispers in her ear)

KAREN GREGORY:
​The story itself was inspired in part by some of my own teenage experiences, and those of people I knew during that time, though I need to stress it’s not based on me or anyone I know. I did a lot of research too, into eating disorders, which informed the way I portrayed Nia and the line I tried to walk between realism and avoiding things people could find triggering.
 
One of the issues I’ve found through my research and in discussion with girls and women in my life before and after COUNTLESS was published, is how common that ‘Nia’ voice is for so many people. Maybe not to the same extent it is for Hedda, but the constant drip-drip around weight and appearances. And I think that’s resonated with a lot of people, even if they have never had an eating disorder. It’s such an insidious thing.

​

• QUESTION: When you first began writing Countless, was it with publication in mind?

KAREN GREGORY:
Ah, I have a fun story about this! I actually wrote COUNTLESS while I had another book out on submission to publishers. It was a way of coping with the anxiety and constant inbox refreshing and I think that might have had something to do with the initial tone of the book! At that point I had an agent and of course wanted to be published, but I really wrote the first drafts of COUNTLESS for me, as a story I felt I had to get out. Once I was working with Bloomsbury, I then needed to edit with the reader in mind, which was a completely different challenge.  
​

​

• QUESTION: I am interested to know if publishing your first book has changed your writing process or writing goals?​

KAREN GREGORY:
Not so far in terms of my writing process, other than my time can get quite squeezed on occasion! There is a certain amount of pressure which comes from working to deadlines, rather than being able to go at your own pace. I’ve always been a bit of an inconsistent writer – I might write nothing for a month and then splurge out several thousand words in a weekend, which is not always possible once you’re under contract. Luckily, I find deadlines very motivating as my issue is always getting started! Once I’m going, I’m usually fine.

One of the biggest things over the last couple of years has been working with my amazing editor, Hannah. I’ve realised that whenever I get edit notes I go through a process that begins with denial, makes a few detours into tears and general freaking out and then one day it all clicks into place and I know what I need to do. I actually love the editing process, despite all this!   


​

• QUESTION: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

KAREN GREGORY:
Writing and publishing are two separate things! They both have different joys and challenges, but the main thing is to love the writing because that’s the bit you can control. 

• QUESTION: Your new book, SKYLARKS, is being released in May, which is very exciting. Can you tell me a little about it?

KAREN GREGORY:
SKYLARKS is a contemporary f/f love story which looks at social injustice, the poverty gap and activism. It’s set in a fictionalised area around Avebury and the Marlborough Downs and is definitely very close to my heart. I loved writing Joni and Annabel’s story so I’m really excited it will soon be released! 
 
Thank you for having me on your blog and for all your fab questions! 



Thank you so very much for your time Karen, I am so happy to have you here! :) 

Karen is a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, and a project manager by day who’s become adept at writing around the edges (strong coffee and a healthy disregard for housework help).
A confirmed bookhead since early childhood, Karen wrote her first story about Bantra the mouse at the age of twelve, then put away the word processor until her first child was born when she was overtaken by the urge to write. Karen lives in Wiltshire with her family and is represented by Claire Wilson at Rogers, Coleridge & White.

Her debut YA novel Countless (Bloomsbury) is out now and he second YA, Skylarks, will be released by Bloomsbury in May 2018.
You can get in touch on twitter: @K_Gregory33
https://karengregorywriter.wordpress.com/