The original title of this book was Their Pretty Faces.
Violet was the hardest female character to write. She was aloof and often abrasive which doesn’t make for a likable heroine. Softening her too much went against who she was. I had to find the balance and it took several takes to get it to a place that felt right.
I had no idea where Hossie was the entire book.
I had no clue who the little girl in the photograph was when I wrote it and thought I’d have to scrap it because if it wasn’t a pertinent clue to the story, it didn’t need to be mentioned. But once I got to the mid-way mark, it hit me like a ton of bricks why it was there and who it was.
I’ve never actually seen the movie Deliverance but I know the premise and the song.
My editor asked me to make the first half of the book creepier. Thus I layered in the doll aspect further. It was always there but not quite as prevalent. I added the scene with the doll by the creek outside Mother’s.
