Notes from the desk.

Author Interview

Naomi Vance on writing the mother she didn't have

By Theo Marsh, Editor · November 4, 2026

The book started as a short story. What made you keep going?

"I kept writing the mother's half of the argument even after the story was 'done,' because I realized I didn't actually know what she would have said. That scared me enough to turn it into a novel."

The shoebox of receipts is such a specific image. Where did it come from?

"My own mother kept every receipt from a single terrible year, for reasons she never explained. I found the box after she died and never got to ask. The book is me asking anyway."

You write silence better than almost anyone I've edited. Any advice for writers trying to do the same?

"Don't write the silence as absence. Write it as a decision one character is actively making, every single scene, and let the reader feel the effort it takes."