Q&A With Stephanie Booth 

Stephanie Booth is the author of Libby Lost And Found & I’m thrilled to be doing this Q&A with her! Stephanie has had writing featured in The Boston Globe, Care.com, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Forbes, Glamour, Health, The Los Angeles Times, Marie Claire & many others which you can read about in this link to her website. https://www.stephanieboothwrites.com/other-writing/

Q: Stephanie, would you please give a brief description of Libby Lost And Found & talk about where the idea for the novel came from? 

A: Libby Lost and Found is about 40-year-old Libby Weeks, who writes The Falling Children, the best-selling fantasy series in the world. (In terms of their popularity, think of Harry Potter-mania and dial it up a million.) But when Libby’s diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she reaches out to her biggest fan, an 11-year-old girl named Peanut Bixton, to help her finish the final book.

I had actually been working for many years on a novel about three estranged sisters dealing with the death of their eccentric mother. But as I was doing my millionth revision, I became overwhelmed with the feeling that something was wrong with it. 

As a kid, I’d felt transported into my favorite books. I found it hard to put them down, and the real world would easily fall away. But only two things made me feel that way about the story I was writing. One was a secondary character who bragged about the outlandish best-selling fantasy series he wrote. And the other was a little girl named Peanut who was exasperated by adults and how quick we are to ignore or snuff out all the magic in the world.

Long story short, I realized I’d put Peanut into the wrong book…and I painstakingly started over. But at the same time, I was interviewing people for freelance assignments who would share, during our conversations, how they were caring for a loved one with dementia. Hearing what they were going through — it just broke my heart. So somehow, my imagination wove together those very separate threads.

Q: How long did it take you to write Libby Lost And Found? Would you say that some of your characters might have bits and pieces of you and some of the people you know? 

A: A Very. Long. Time. Years! If I sat down and did the math, I’d probably be too discouraged to keep working on my new novel.

I don’t know any of these characters in real life. All they have in common is that they live very happily in my head. 

Q: On your website it is said, Libby Lost and Found is a book for people who don’t know who they are without the books they love. It’s about the stories we tell ourselves and the chapters of our lives we regret. Most importantly, it’s about the endings we write for ourselves. Would you say that Libby Lost and Found is a love letter to books and why we read them and that all stories speak to our hearts and souls? What important lessons & emotions do you want readers to learn and feel after reading this book? 

A: I’m a big believer that sometimes the “right” book finds you when you need to read it the most. Maybe a character speaks directly to you. Or maybe a story provides an opportunity to escape your real life for a short while. After reading Libby, I hope people will take away how imagination is the closest thing we have to magic. 

Q: You have had writing featured in The Boston Globe, Care.com, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Forbes, Glamour, Health, The Los Angeles Times, Marie Claire & many other publications! What’s it like having your work appear in so many publications and what are the submission requirements for anyone wanting to submit pieces in those publications?

A: My very first byline was an essay in Seventeen, and I still remember the happy shock I felt at seeing it on the page. But seeing my byline appear in print or online feels wholly different than seeing it on the cover of a book. I think that’s because I’ve wanted to be a novelist my whole life, aside from a short-lived passion to be a veterinarian. (And I really wanted to be James Herriot, who cared for animals and wrote books.) It’s a bizarre, exhilarating feeling to have a story in your head transformed into a tangible object you can hold in your hands! 

As for submission advice, I think it’s helpful to deeply understand the outlet you want to write for. Read it regularly. Know the voice and the types of articles they run. Then, once you have an idea, you can craft a pitch that hooks the editor and shows that you know their audience. 

Writing a solid pitch can be time-consuming. But it really is worth the effort, and if you’re writing about something you’re genuinely interested in, it will at least feel like fun work. 

Q: Are you currently writing a sequel to Libby Lost And Found or will your next book be an entirely different story?

A:  I adore all the characters in Libby and went through a legit grieving period once I finished writing them. But I think revisiting this story would be a little like breaking open a snow globe. Sure, you can replace the glycerin and glitter and glue the pieces back together, but it just won’t be the same.

I have finished a second manuscript, which I’m really excited about! It’s entirely different from Libby but filled with characters I love just as much. I had the best time writing it, and it has a hilarious origin story. 

I’m now working on a third novel, which currently resembles primordial ooze. I’m curious (and very impatient!) to see what shape it will ultimately take.

Q: If Libby Lost and Found were to be made into a film or a series, who would be your dream cast to play Libby & the characters you created?

A: This is a tough question! I’ve said before that I could see Alexis Bledel as Libby so let’s just double down on that. And for Peanut, my choice would be a feisty kid who probably has no acting experience, but plenty of passionate opinions on how the script could be better.

Q: What’s it like getting high praise about Libby Lost and Found from several New York Times Bestselling Authors including Erica Bauermeister? It must be a dream come true! I did a Q&A with Erica and I did a mini Q&A called Behind The Book with Erica Bauermeister discussing her novel No Two Persons. 

A: A blurb feels like such a big ask: Not only does a writer have to make time to read your book, but hopefully they’ll like it. And if so, they then must craft a few sparkly jewel-like sentences to catch a reader’s eye. I’m still blown away by Erica’s generosity. Her blurb makes me happy each time I read it. I’m a huge fan of all the writers who endorsed Libby, so I feel tremendously grateful for their support.