Q&A With Katy Farber

I recently finished reading a mystery debut titled The Board by Katy Farber & I’m very excited about interviewing Katy! If you enjoy mysteries, you need to pick up a copy of the novel now. It’s also perfect for the fall season! The Board came out on September 9^th and is available now wherever you get your books! 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Katy! For the readers who haven’t read The Board, would you like to give a brief description of the novel? Where did the idea for the novel come from? 

A: Thanks for having me! 

Liv and her third-grade daughter Piper are starting over in a small, New England town in a house she inherits from her aunt, who was a town librarian. Liv sees it as an opportunity to make a fresh start after her recent divorce. But she quickly learns that the principal, who also acts as the superintendent, runs the school like the army and she suspects a lot worse.  As Liv makes discoveries and connections, she is followed, and her child Piper is threatened. Yet, she can’t stop. She puts together that a missing man is part of the coverup. She must prove this case, and that she can solve it, before they silence her, or her daughter, forever.

The spark for the book came from Brendan Deenen of Blackstone Publishing. He had the seed of an idea about a corrupt school board, and a narcissistic principal also acting as a superintendent. Since I have decades of experience in education as a teacher in small towns, and follow education news nationally, I knew I could build this story.  

Q: How long did it take you to write The Board? 

A:  THE BOARD was written in the early AM hours during the pandemic, before I would drive the 40 minutes to teach 5th graders in a scenic, small Vermont town. It was a stressful time and stepping into this world where I could channel parental angst, political drama, and taking on challenging and corrupt systems felt satisfying and calming. It took me about two years of writing before school in that short AM window of time. 

Q: Which scenes were your favorite to create within the novel? I love the fall atmosphere and the setting of New Hampshire. 

A: I too love New England in the fall and the way the setting can almost become a character itself. I loved writing many scenes, from the first snowfall of the year, to the chase scenes through the forest, where the setting steals the show and plays a pivotal role. 

Q: Which characters in The Board do you think you are most like & why?

A: Oh wow! I think I share many aspects of Liv, especially on difficult days where I question my own knowing and internal voice, but also in her persistence to do right by Piper and all students. My work in education is to create schools that are more humane, creative, caring and purposeful, with community integration and many opportunities for outdoor and hands-on learning, so the idea of the shift of Whitebridge away from this connects to my professional work as an educator and professor. 

I aspire to be more like Till, helpful to my community, but also fiercely protective of my found family. I think I am sensitive like Piper, and was as a child, deeply feeling especially about the natural world. Piper is also a beautiful amalgam of the many students who I have had in class over the years that were anxious, sensitive, deeply feeling, beautiful souls who school (and the world) was sometimes challenging for. 

Q: If you were to write a sequel to The Board, what would Olivia, Silas, Piper, Till & Laura be doing right now? 

A: So fun to consider. Liv would have finally passed the bar exam for New Hampshire, and she would be a practicing lawyer. She wants to find out what exactly happened to her Aunt Esther at the end of her life, especially who might have hastened her death. Silas and Liv would probably be together, but that comes with certain challenges in a small town, of course. Piper would be recovering from the very difficult last few scenes and would be doing much better in a school run by a more compassionate a community-oriented leader. Till would be fully integrated into Liv and Piper’s life, eating meals and celebrating holidays together. Lastly, I imagine that Laura and Liv would become friends again, building a deeper level of trust as Liv becomes more integrated into the town. 

Q: If/When Hollywood gets the rights to The Board, who do you think would be the perfect cast to portray the characters in your book? Two of my suggestions would be either Anna Kendrick or Kirsten Dunst to portray Olivia Wilcox, & then for Till maybe Diane Lane or Julia Roberts. 

A:  My brother has been working hard on this!  He picked Margo Martindale for Till, she’d be perfect. My daughter thinks Margaret Qualley for Liv but I think Kathryn Hahn would be brilliant as well. So many great choices! I think it would be an exciting movie or limited series. Fingers crossed. 

Q: Are you currently working on your next mystery novel and can you reveal any details?

A:  I am in the middle of a story of four mid-life women—this one though is a mix of adventure and place-based thriller from the point of view of four different women, all friends from college and stuck in a terrible situation internationally that takes them to the brink. I shall share no more!