Skin After Skin Q&A

I asked my Facebook pals if they had any questions about Skin After Skin and here’s what they said:

Andrea asked: Why did you choose to write this story?

While I was writing Spook Squad, the character of Red Turner occurred to me, and I loved the idea of Crash falling for someone who was quiet, serious and introspective. But with the PsyCop series being all about Vic, there really wasn’t any room to develop that relationship within the Spook Squad novel to any level of satisfaction. There’s so much that Vic wouldn’t logically be privy to. And he really only gets to see a tiny corner of Crash’s life.

Samantha suggested: Maybe address why you wanted to give Crash not only his own book but one that runs along side all the other books instead of making one case revolve around him?

This is a great question, because that would certainly work (and could be something I choose to do in a future book.) Because I told the bare bones of Crash’s story in Spook Squad, that there was this guy from his past who came back begging for another chance, it seemed important to show that past sequentially rather than referring back to it in flashback. There was a lot of old ground to cover and it seemed unnecessarily confusing to bounce back and forth in time within one story to do it.

Allison said: The book is long, longer than anything else you’ve published(?). What made you decide to publish it as one book, when it could have been three (based on the sections)?

It is the longest novel I’ve published, and it does contain three sections that are the three big mileposts in Crash’s coming-of-age journey: meeting Red, exploring psychic ability, and starting his own business. But the first two mileposts don’t pan out for Crash by the end of the section. They actually both leave him knocked down a few pegs. So, to end a book at either of those points would have felt distressing for the reader. It was important to me that if a reader would stick with me through the emotional ups and downs of this book for such a long journey, they’ll come to an ending that feels resonant and extremely satisfying.

Skin After Skin release day is June 25, that’s right around the corner!