Authors Interviewing Characters: Tracy Dobmeier & Wendy Katzman

TEN THOUSAND LIGHT YEARS FROM OKAY

A widowed and grieving young novelist believes her words create realities―both tragic and charmed―in a hopeful and surprising novel about family, newfound love, and moving on.

Four years after her husband Sam’s tragic death mirrored a fatal plotline in her debut novel, Thea Packer hasn’t written another word, afraid that what she writes could come true again. Resigned to raising her young daughter in her in-laws’ guesthouse, Thea is on the verge of abandoning her literary career when inspiration strikes.

Her new book is a fairy-tale romance featuring a long-lost astronaut who miraculously returns home to his family, with the hero loosely drawn from Thea’s memories of Sam. Thea considers the fantasy a harmless way to process her grief.

That is, until a charismatic man walks into her life―and he’s an astronaut.

Thea can’t believe it’s happening again. Or is it? Her mother-in-law doesn’t think so―she sees only a woman increasingly detached from reality. Now, as coincidences between Thea’s writing and reality pile up, Thea must unravel the secrets of her past and tackle her grief head-on before she loses more than she ever imagined.

CO-AUTHORS TRACY DOBMEIER & WENDY KATZMAN INTERVIEW PROTAGONIST THEA PACKER & HER BEST FRIEND, FRANNIE 

 

Tracy: Hi, Thea and Frannie! What a thrill to sit down with you both today. Since there are two of us, we figured it was only fair to invite you as a duo. 

Wendy: We didn’t want either of you to feel ganged up on. 

Frannie: Well, that was thoughtful. But I have to say, I’m a little peeved that you didn’t think to give me a last name. I mean, I know I’m the sidekick, but I’m a featured character on many of the 300-plus pages. And let’s face it, Thea would be lost without me. How would you feel if only one of you got to have your full name on the cover of our book? 

Tracy: Ouch. Not good. Did we really forget to give you a last name? 

Wendy: In our defense, we’re middle-aged. It’s a lot of details to keep track of. Don’t let it damage your self-esteem, Frannie. 

Thea (laughing): As if! Frannie’s tougher than that. Look at her! She’s a gorgeous, bubbly, straight-talking tech genius. She’ll figure out a way to own it—like Madonna or Beyonce. 

Frannie (flashing a grin at Thea): True, true. 

Wendy: But hey, I do like that you think of it as “our book.” That’s how we feel too. We definitely drew on aspects of our own deep friendship to breathe life into yours. 

Tracy: And, well, it sometimes feels like you’re not only our characters, but our friends too.   

Thea: Aha! So I’m not the only one who engages in a little magical thinking! 

Tracy: Touché! 

Wendy: Let’s delve into that topic a bit—because, like you, we’re endlessly fascinated with notions of superstition and coincidence. 

Thea: Sure. You know, it sometimes seemed like you crafted this entire novel solely to question my very understandable, reasonably well-founded belief that what I write and publish as a novelist comes true. You even had me questioning my own sanity at times. 

Frannie (nodding): I can absolutely confirm that. Also, Thee, you weren’t the only one questioning your sanity. You can’t deny you’ve got a whole lot of—umm—interesting ideas floating around inside that beautiful mind of yours. It’s what I’ve always loved about you. But sometimes I worry you take it too far. 

Thea: I get that, but I have endured more than my fair share of inexplicable coincidences over the past few years. When Sam died after being hit by a car just like the protagonist in my debut novel—and on the same day I told him I was pregnant with Lucy—well, that was bound to leave a mark. Not to mention meeting Max at the dog park—and then learning he was an astronaut—on the very day I launched my second novel, Love You to Mars and Back. A novel which was, need I remind you, a hopeful love story featuring an astronaut hero. 

Frannie: Yeah, I’ll admit, that was a lot to take in, even for my logical mind.

Wendy: I know, right?! What are the odds? 

Frannie (opening the calculator app on her phone): Are you asking me to compute them? 

Tracy: It’s OK, Frannie. I think that was more of a rhetorical question.

Thea (sounding a bit breathless): And that wasn’t even all. There were so many more crazy coincidences. What about that time when Sam The Dog—

Wendy (holding hand up): Remember the cardinal interview rule today…no spoilers. 

Thea: It’s pretty rich that you’re so eager to enforce your interview rules, but you didn’t give me the same grace during that podcast I did to promote Love You to Mars and Back. It would have saved me a whole lot of trouble if that damn thing hadn’t gone viral. That was brutal!

Wendy: Sorry, but you’re a writer, too, Thea. You know how it goes. Gotta make your characters fight for their happiness. But back to superstition and coincidences. After everything we put you through in our book, do you have anything to say about when a coincidence—or, in your case, a series of coincidences—is so improbable that we simply have to entertain the idea that something bigger than all of us is at work? 

Frannie: I disagree with your premise. Coincidences happen. Bizarre coincidences happen. Attributing meaning to them, or trying to control future outcomes through superstition, is a fool’s errand.

Thea: Oh, Frannie. I adore your practical approach to life—and I acknowledge you’ve pulled me back from the abyss once or twice—but we’re going to have to agree to disagree. I’m with the authors on this one. We have to leave room for other explanations. For imagination. For admitting that we can’t possibly know everything about how the universe works. Where’s the fun in being so rigid?

Frannie: I’m all about fun. Just keep it under control. Don’t let it rule your life. That’s all I’m asking. 

Thea: I know. I know. I’m a work in progress. How about you two? Have you experienced any difficult-to-explain coincidences that have changed the way you think?

Tracy (to Wendy): I mean, where do we start? 

Wendy (shrugging): It’s a long and curious list. But here’s one. When we were almost done writing the first draft of our debut novel, Girls with Bright Futures, which was a story about parents who lose their minds—and even commit crimes—to get their daughters into college, the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal broke and the hijinks we’d dreamt up in our book suddenly paled in comparison to what those real-life parents were doing. We felt like we’d written the scandal into being. 

Tracy: It was really freaky. So then, when we went to write our next book, we found ourselves ruling out certain topics—just like you did, Thea, when you were worried you might endanger your daughter Lucy if you allowed your manuscript about a kidnapping to be published. I’m a breast cancer survivor, so we were never going to write about a character experiencing a cancer recurrence. Too scary to tempt fate like that.

Thea: Wow, so you both really get me. 

Tracy: You bet. We get your fears, and your grief. We get your magical thinking. 

Wendy: And we’re proud of how much you grew. 

Frannie: I guess that’s one thing we can all agree on.

Tracy: We spent years rooting for you to sort out how to keep your superstitions and anxieties from getting in the way of true happiness. And not just so you could explain it to us.

Thea: Wait, something just occurred to me. I’m suddenly seeing in a whole new light why my astronaut novel became a bestseller. Love You to Mars and Back was my second published book, and Ten Thousand Light Years from Okay is yours. It looks like I’m not the only one hoping my written words manifest reality! 

Wendy: There’s nothing wrong with putting happy thoughts out into the universe, right? You never know!

Buy HERE

Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for more than twenty-five years. Their debut novel, Girls with Bright Futures, was a suspenseful journey into the cutthroat world of college admissions that earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, was named a Book Club Winner by Real Simple, and was selected as an Apple Best Book. Tracy holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a JD from UC Berkeley and worked in biotechnology law and nonprofit leadership. Wendy was a nationally ranked youth tennis player and went on to play at the University of Michigan, where she earned her undergraduate degree before pursuing a career in medical marketing. Tracy and Wendy both live in Seattle with their husbands. They enjoy sports, reading (obviously), civic engagement, and spending time with their amazing families and friends. You can often find them together brainstorming and walking their dogs, Shadow and Josie. Connect with Tracy and Wendy on Instagram at @katzndobs.

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing