Guest Blog - Sarah. P. Blanchard - Writing About the Hard Stuff
Today’s blog is a guest blog written by one of our fabulous authors, Sarah P. Blanchard! Make sure to check out her ARC opportunities at the end of the post, too!
Happy reading,
E
“Small towns are great for scolding the kids who throw too many snowballs, but not so good at spotting real evil.”
But nothing truly evil can happen in your hometown…right?
Grabtown, my second novel, is a multi-generational small-town thriller. It’s a story-within-a-story that follows a 40-year-old old cold-case murder, set within a contemporary timeline.
The novel opens in the present with a vignette portraying three young girls confined in a cargo container, traveling to an unknown destination. The focus then shifts to the seemingly unrelated story, following two adult twins, Cassie and Ana, trying to cope with the death of their mother.
As Cassie and Ana begin clearing their mother’s house after her death, they find an unpublished novel from 1985, written by their mom’s best friend. The manuscript tells of sexual trauma, abuse, arson, and a 40-year-old unsolved murder—and their mother is a key character in the story.
The twins aren’t sure whether to burn it or read it. Is it fiction, or someone’s confession?
They must navigate their own troubled relationship as they try to figure out why their mother left this story for them—and also why Cassie’s husband is now desperate to keep them from digging further into the past.
The two timelines weave together, both raising difficult topics with “a tactful approach [that] exposes a sad reality with understanding and compassion.” (Reviewer Lorraine Cobcroft, Reedsy).
Grabtown has an interesting background. I first wrote the 1985 part of the story about 35 years ago as a way of trying to understand a friend’s trauma. I edited and rewrote the most sensitive parts of the story many times, trying to remain true to the characters’ emotions and avoid anything gratuitous. Then that manuscript went into a box, and I mostly forgot about it.
Fast-forward 30 years. Last year, while moving, I found it, read it, and nearly tossed it. Then I reconsidered because, although it was badly out of date and not very well-written, the core of the story about abuse and betrayal is, sadly, still very relevant.
So, about half of that old novel became the basis for the 1985 timeline in Grabtown.
When readers ask, “Do you follow the classic advice to ‘write what you know’?” I usually say, “sort of.” Because no, I’ve never killed anyone or committed arson. I’ve never had to escape a dangerous spouse, though I do know people who have. Both of the storylines, old and new, are fiction, but with elements of fact woven in.
What I’m always aiming for is truth, carried by a fictional narrative that will bring truth home in a wrapped-up way that real life usually doesn’t do.
My latest work-in-progress, a horror/thriller titled The Unbegotten, is looking for ARCs.
What's an ARC? Advance reader copies go out to people who would like to read and give feedback pre-publication, and on launch day share a review somewhere (Amazon, Goodreads, social media, a blog). So if you're a fan of literary thrillers or horror in the vein of Stephen King, Dean Koontz or Ramsey Campbell, you may enjoy this one. It's launching in October (of course!).
Please message me here or through my website: sarahpblanchard.com
✦ Connect with Sarah ✦
Instagram • Facebook • Threads • Goodreads • Amazon Author Page • Personal Website
