A dark young adult psychological thriller. We have talked to Amanda Panitch about her debut release, Damage Done.
First of all can you tell us a bit about your new novel, Damage Done without giving too much away?
DAMAGE DONE revolves around Julia Vann, who’s living under a new identity after her twin brother committed a horrific crime, which she claims not to remember. One day, she notices she’s being followed by her brother’s old psychologist. She has to figure out what he’s up to, and why, before he exposes her past to her new friends… or so she tells the reader.
A dark young adult psychological thriller, how did you come up with the idea?
I was reading an article about a suicide bombing that mentioned the bomber’s siblings. I couldn’t help thinking what it would be like to be so close to somebody who did something so terrible – you’d be sad over your sibling, of course, but then you’d feel guilty about feeling sad after what they did. Julia – and her brother Ryan – spun off from there.
Can you give us some insight into your main character, Julia?
Julia is tough – you’d have to be, to survive all that she has and still have the energy and resilience to try and build a new life in the ruins of her old one. So when she sees the possibility of that new life crumbling around her, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.
What goals might you have set for yourself when writing Damage Done and how do you feel about the end result?
My goal was always publication, so I’m thrilled!
Can you tell us a bit about the process that led to the book being published?
I took part in the online pitch contest Xmas in July (to my knowledge it was a one-off thing, but there are a bunch of others I’ve seen, among them Pitch Wars and the Writer’s Voice), though I actually ended up signing with the agent I’d interned for the previous year, Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House. I revised the manuscript for a couple of months with Merrilee and then we went out on submission to editors. Ten days later, we had an offer.
We also have to talk about the title. Initially it was called That Monstrous Thing, why the change?
It actually went through a couple of title changes! The title was originally STILL THEY COME TO HAUNT ME, which made the book sound like it had paranormal overtones (which it doesn’t, it’s fully contemporary) or like a ghost story. It went on submission and sold as THAT MONSTROUS THING, a line from a poem I love, but everybody at the publisher thought it made the book sound too much like it was a horror novel. We went through weeks and weeks of brainstorming, and finally my editor came up with DAMAGE DONE, which we all liked.
How did you start writing? Was there a particular book or moment in your life that spurned you on?
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember – I started off writing picture books, moved on to chapter books, then novels. I still have my pile of old notebooks full of stories from when I was a kid.
What is your favorite and least favorite part of the writing process, and why?
My least favorite part of the writing process is usually whatever I’m doing at the time! When I’m revising, I think longingly about drafting; when I’m drafting, I think longingly about revising; when I’m line-editing or polishing, I get bored and miss the actual writing process. I’m one of those writers who has a hard time writing but loves having written, so I’d say my favorite part is probably holding the finished book in my hands.
What sort of challenges, as a writer, might you have faced before your first book was published? Any insights you would be able to share for those aspiring writers seeking advice?
Don’t give up – DAMAGE DONE was the seventh novel I’d written and the third or fourth I’d queried. Just because you don’t find an agent or a book deal with your first or second or third novel doesn’t mean you never will. At the same time, don’t be afraid to put something aside that isn’t working – I see a lot of writers get trapped in a cycle with their first book, revising and querying something over and over. You need to know when to retire something – whether it’s because it’s in a genre that isn’t selling or because the plot simply isn’t fresh enough or whatever else – and use the lessons you learned from that first book on the next.
For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?
Hard copies all the way! I can’t focus as well electronically, for whatever reason (it may be entirely in my head). Carrying around lots of library hardcovers might hurt my back, but I love it.
What kind of books do you read, any favourite authors?
I read pretty much every genre under the sun. Some recent favorites have been THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE by Patrick Ness, THE LAST GOOD DAY OF THE YEAR by Jessica Warman, THE WRONG SIDE OF RIGHT by Jenn Marie Thorne, and BONE GAP by Laura Ruby.
What do you do when you’re not writing, any hobbies?
I love everything food-related, whether it’s cooking, hunting down new restaurants, or collecting as many cookbooks as can fit in my tiny kitchen. I also play World of Warcraft to blow off steam (I have a worgen feral druid and a blood elf rogue).
You also have a new book planned called Never Missing, Never Found. Anything you can share with us about it?
NEVER MISSING, NEVER FOUND is a second standalone YA psychological thriller. This one follows a girl who spent several years as a child held hostage with another girl. Now it’s years later, and she thinks she’s moving on, going so far as to get a summer job at the local amusement park, when the other girl shows up again… which should be impossible, as she’s dead.
What’s next, do you also have other projects you are working on?
I am working on other projects, but nothing I can talk about publicly at the moment, I’m afraid!
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Interview by Dag Rambraut – SFFWorld.com © 2015
