In which getting your editor to write your newsletter is like, uh, getting your editor to write your newsletter
In my defence, it is the 12th anniversary of the OWEN phone call
It has been 8 years since Exit, Pursued By A Bear was published, and as Andrew Karre and I are about to release a contemporary YA for the first time since then on April 16, I thought we could talk about it.
AK: By way of opening remarks, let me say that if Kate’s newsletter is late, only her editor is to blame.
Note: Andrew is working on another project with me, so I have no complaints.
What do you remember the most clearly from your first read through of Exit?
AK: In terms of the actual text, I remember, “Please don’t ask people to pray for me” landing with tremendous force. (I haven’t looked at the original manuscript. I know that scene originally took place later in the book, but I don’t remember if the line changed at all. I feel like it didn’t.)
I also remember the intensity that was present from the first draft. Lots of books are intense, but Exit metes out its intensity in a subtle way that seems perfectly tuned to its characters and its world. I remember finding that thrilling from the jump. “Why is my pulse racing when no one is shouting?”
Note: It was, in fact, in the middle of the book. But I’m pretty sure it was one of the first conversations I wrote down in 2012, when the book was just 8 snippets of dialogue floating around in my head.
How was it different editing contemporary Huron County instead of the fantasy version?
AK: Not that different honestly. I have worked on books set in places where I grew up, and the trick is to treat them all like fantasy.
Note: This is also what I said to myself every time I had a small panic attack about how much high school has changed since I attended it.
At this stage of my career, I had sold you a contemporary because you told me you didn’t edit epic fantasy. What changed between Exit and The Afterward?
AK: Generally speaking, I say I don’t edit a category of book when I don’t feel like I can do the editing enthusiastically or I don’t feel like I can do the publishing well (or some combination of both). Also, editorial survival often depends on having filters, even faulty ones. I’ve said no to lots of hypothetical epic fantasy over the years, but in that seem period, I’ve fallen for specific epic fantasy manuscripts. Sometimes it’s good to have a a mediocre filter, I guess, so the extraordinary books can get by.
In the specific case of The Afterward, I think another important change was experience. I think by that point I understood that I was editing E. K. Johnston books, fundamentally, and that’s was something that always delighted me, so I stopped worrying about the rest.
Note: My main memory of this process is Andrew leading off by saying something about Hemingway, and me being all “Um, no???” and then sending him the clip of the hobbits toasting themselves in the Green Dragon at the end of RotK and saying “Andrew, this whole book takes place between the toast and Sam getting up from the table.”
We’ve used the same town and high school in five books now. What was it like going back to Trondheim/Palermo/[unnamed]/Eganston?
AK: Vastly preferable to attending my high school reunion.
Note: I wanted to be cynical here, but the truth is that the coffee shop I’ve put in at least three of my books is still there, still makes AMAZING doughnuts, and one of the main reasons I have never changed my family doctor is so that I have an excuse to go back.
How is editing contemporary in 2024 different from editing contemporary in 2014?
AK: It’s hard to disentangle the specific dates from the experience gained by the sheer number of years. I’d like to think the reason that editing contemporary now feels more involved and intricate is because I’m better at it and more thoughtful about it.
It’s also important to note than in 2014, Donald Trump was a primarily an embarrassing reality-show huckster and the last global pandemic happened outside of living memory. 2024 is…another story.
Note: See above, re: fantasy.
How many books do I have to set in Huron County before you’ll come and visit?
AK: Sigh.
Note: I send him a picture of a butter tart at least once a year. Last year, it was this one:
What was your favourite part of editing Pretty Furious? Did you learn anything new about Canada?
I think my favorite part overall was how confident you were. You’ve never been an insecure author in my perception, but you had a strong vision for this story and the way to tell it, and I enjoyed very much how you stuck to it, solved the problems, and carried it off.
And regarding my ongoing Canadian education, well… as the parent of a sixteen-year-old, I am extra attuned to all things college-related just now. Suffice it to say, I read those parts with extra interest and no small amount of longing.
Note: *choking noises upon swallowing tongue after reading the opening paragraph* Well, I’m glad I fooled one of us.
What is an EK Johnston book?
An E. K. Johnston book is always incredibly curious about the storytelling potential of human relationships—and not just or even primarily romantic relationships. No author I know of thinks or cares more deeply about friendship in all its forms than you do. Looking back on the complicated web of relationships in The Story of Owen and Prairie Fire, it’s easy to see that the ineffable E. K. Johnston qualities were always there. It delights me now to think back on those characters and all those who’ve followed.
Note: I swear this was not intended to fish for compliments, though I definitely accept them. I mostly just wanted to know what the answer was.
This will be our seventh book together. Have I figured out the dedication for EXIT yet? I have not.
Except, yeah, I probably have. What's next, Karre?
Pretty Furious will be published on April 16, 2024. You can order it from any bookstore, or request it at your library (or both!). Don’t forget that libraries do ebooks and audiobooks, too.
Preorder link: Canada
Preorder link: US
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