A.J. Banner joins the blog this week to discuss her latest novel, Dreaming of Water

Author Name: A. J. Banner

Book Title: Dreaming of Water

Book Genre: Women’s psychological fiction

Release Date: October 10, 2023

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Welcome, A.J.! How would you describe Dreaming of Water?

A forensic document examiner seeks hidden letters that hold the key to what really happened 17 years ago, when her little sister drowned in a shallow reflecting pool. Was it an accident or murder?

How long did it take for you to write the book? Did you do any research?

Each book is different. This one took maybe 18-24 months through all its iterations. I absolutely did research! I consulted typewriter repair experts, as a typewriter plays an important role in the plot. It helps a bit that I’m a typewriter enthusiast and own nearly 100 manual machines. I typed many first draft pages of Dreaming of Water on my collection of vintage typewriters. I also interviewed an ER nurse educator and a former police detective for details about how medics would respond to a drowning, the kinds of questions the sheriff would ask suspects, and evidence that might be left at the scene. Since my main character is a certified forensic document examiner who finds important clues in old typewritten letters, I spent hours interviewing a court qualified, certified forensic document examiner, and I read articles and books about forensic document examination.

What’s your favorite part about writing/being an author? What do you find challenging?

My favorite part about writing/being an author is the writing. I became a writer because I love the craft. I feel compelled to write. I typed my first stories on a toy typewriter when I was growing up in a small town in Manitoba, on the Winnipeg River. Writing is a calling, a creative urge, and a solitary endeavor.

The part I find challenging is book promotion, which demands a different set of skills. More and more these days, authors are expected to excel at the solitary creative process and also the opposite, the very public act of book promotion. I’m a private person at heart. I want my books to speak for themselves, but I’m here if readers love my work and want to contact me.

What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

When I write a book, I think about what Margaret Atwood said: “Hold the reader’s attention.” She also said, “…you don’t know who the reader is…What fascinates A will bore the pants off B.” So my main task is to try not to bore the pants off my readers. I try to create sympathetic characters, an interesting story, interesting scenes, and a twist or two. I also try to end chapters on cliffhangers and make the sequence of events believable. I don’t really think about what I want readers to take away, as I’m too busy revising the manuscript about a million times just to get the story down in a realistic way. Readers will interpret the story based on their own experiences, viewpoints, and expectations. My job is to create the best story I can, to entertain rather than to instruct. If I can avoid being boring, I’ve probably succeeded.

What about the writing/editing/publishing process has been the most surprising to you so far?

I’ve had 15 books published under two names, with translations in many foreign languages, and yet the unforgiving nature of publishing still surprises me. Writers are sensitive creatures. We notice details about the world around us—the way crows talk to each other in the trees, the bees, the dragonflies, the movement of clouds. We have to be empathetic to understand our characters, to get into their heads. Then we takes months or even years to write and revise our novels. When a book goes out into the world, we no longer have any control over our work. Reviewers and readers will love a book, hate it, or ignore it. Publishers will promote it or allow it to languish. Writers love good reviews, but when we receive bad reviews, we must deny that we are sensitive. We must suddenly become thick-skinned. And when our books languish, we must pretend not to be disappointed. We keep going. This still surprises me, the fact that we have to keep remaking ourselves, over and over again. But I shouldn’t be surprised. As Joyce Carol Oates wrote in her book, The Faith of a Writer: “Don’t expect to be treated justly by the world. Don’t even expect to be treated mercifully.”

Any words of wisdom you give your pre-published writer self (or to a new writer)?

My advice to new writers is to respect and learn the craft, practice writing, and read a lot. Take classes, read how-to books, find a mentor, and write, write, write. For me, writing is a lifelong learning process. And see the Joyce Carol Oates quote above.

What are your interests outside of writing and reading?

Aside from writing and reading, I love typewriters and typing letters to my “type pals.” I also play piano, swim laps at the local pool, and I love taking photographs with my Canon DSLR while walking on the beach. I enjoy watching movies and antiquing. When I have time, I also love drawing. I have a large collection of postage stamps. I love listening to vinyl records on our vintage stereo system.   

Where can readers find you?

I love hearing from readers through my website: www.ajbanner.com. Please sign up for my occasional e-newsletter, as I’ll be pulling back from social media, eventually, and providing news, excerpts, insider information, and giveaways via my e-newsletter.

For now, I’m also on Facebook and Instagram:

https://www.facebook.com/ajbannerwriter/

https://www.instagram.com/ajbanner1/

I’m also on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13522695.A_J_Banner

And BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/a-j-banner

Thank you, A.J.! Dreaming of Water is out TODAY.

Dreaming of Water

A woman’s investigation into her past reveals family secrets and lies in this novel of discovery, redemption, and the mutability of memory by the bestselling author of The Good Neighbor and In Another Light.

Astrid Johansen swore she would never return to Heron Bay, Washington. Under Astrid’s watch seventeen years ago, her little sister, Nina, drowned in a reflecting pool. Though guilt has kept her away, Astrid can’t ignore her aunt Maude’s urgent plea to come back. Maude claims to have found a letter that will change everything about the past.

When Astrid arrives in Heron Bay, she finds Maude unconscious, perhaps the victim of an attack. As Maude lingers in a coma, Astrid uncovers alarming evidence that Nina’s drowning that tragic night was no accident. But in a town rife with secrets, and in a family still fractured by grief, who knows the truth?

Astrid’s investigation leads her down a trail of dark memories, lies, and betrayals that will shatter her perception of everyone she thought she knew—even herself.