Bustle Book Club
Her debut novelBrutescleverly uses a collective voice to communicate so much more than a story.
(Though we do get glimpses of their independent adult lives later on.)
But you also have this love for life but still super weird and obnoxious.
I just find it endlessly funny and endlessly brilliant.
The backdrop is key, too.
Florida has such a huge place in my mind, Tate tells me.
Its where I spent my childhood days, but it was also a place I couldnt really access.
Florida matched with the experience of being 13, how wild and intense those feelings are at that age.
Its a respite from your own writing but also a source of ideas and inspiration.
I readThe Virgin Suicidesa few times as, likeBrutes, that used a chorus voice.
There’s a book calledHousekeepingby Marilynne Robinson, which I adore and the sentences in it are just stunning.
And I found myself going back toTheir Eyes Were Watching Godby Zora Neale Hurston often.
You never know what you might find in those words.
I often had YouTube in the background, videos from a small online community called the Florida Storm Chasers.
And I was devastated.
But then she wrote to me again the following day and told me that nothing is wasted work.
At the time, I didnt believe that, but now I definitely see what she meant.
Im glad that I kept going because now I have something that I want to share with people.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
