ReadWonder: An Inside Look #152 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Lorelei Savaryn

(Authors of The Circus of Stolen Dreams)

*Welcome to my favorite feature of my blog.

*Season #ONE (June of 2016 to March of 2017)

*Season #TWO (Summer of 2017)

*Season #THREE (School Year 2017/2018)

*Season #FOUR (Summer/fall of 2018)

*Season #FIVE (School Year 2018/2019)

*Season #SIX (Summer 2019)

*Season #SEVEN (Fall 2019)

*Season #EIGHT (Winter/Spring 2020)

*I'm excited to be back for season #NINE with brand new interviews/authors.

*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.

*This is the TENTH interview in which I'm calling Season #NINE.

*Thank you to Lorelei Savaryn for being the One-Hundred Fifty-Second author I've had the pleasure of interviewing. I truly appreciate it.

*Here is my Review of the Novel...

The Circus of Stolen Dreams

The Circus of Stolen Dreams

by Lorelei Savaryn

(September 1, 2020)

How did you come to know Andrea?

I pulled from several different places as I developed Andrea’s character. From the first draft through to the final copy, she has always been someone who was fiercely loyal to her brother, and who wanted more than anything to have the chance to save him. But she definitely grew in some very important ways as I developed the theme of the story, and as I considered what kind of kid would find the idea of a circus inviting her to “Forget her troubles” appealing. I also pulled some pieces from my oldest daughter, and the way she interacts with my son. They have about the same age gap as Andrea and Francis, and I did mirror some of Andrea, especially her strengths, off of what I see my oldest daughter becoming over the next few years.

What do you think is her most admirable quality?

I think the love she has for her brother shines through right from the start, which is such a wonderful thing. But, without giving any spoilers away, I think she grows into her most admirable quality over the course of the story. The decisions she makes when things feel hard at the beginning of the story and the decisions she makes when things feel hard at the end are very different. And I hope the fact that she grows and changes in some really vulnerable places will inspire those who read this story to be open to doing the same.

Is there anything you wish she would have changed or done differently in her story?

Even though I wrote this book, the mom in me certainly wishes she wouldn’t carry so much guilt with her at the beginning, or at least that she wouldn’t have chosen to bear the burden alone. Just imagining one of my children carrying that kind of a weight breaks my heart, and my heart broke for Andrea as I wrote the parts where she struggles with guilt, and also the fact that she’s kept her guilt a secret. But, I suppose, if she hadn’t begun that way, then we would have ended up with a very different story.

What do you think Andrea can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?

There were two different things that I very much wanted to represent in this story in a way that would be comforting or would provide hope to kids who might be going through some challenging situations.

The first is how Andrea’s story is wrapped up, in many ways, with her parents’ divorce. I wanted to tell a story that acknowledges how difficult divorce can be for children without sugar-coating it, or making it seem like something that wasn’t a big deal in a kid’s life. At the same time, I wanted to balance that with a sense of hope and the promise that healing is possible, at least, at some point along the way. The sadness and the loss needs to be recognized, and is very, very real. But so, too, is the truth that some good can be found again, and that all is not lost. Knowing it’s okay to hold the loss and the hope at the same time, or to feel more of one or the other at different points, is something I hope kids who might be going through something similar can relate too, and might help them feel a bit less alone.

The other issue is grief. I wrote the first draft of this story in the wake of a sudden loss in our family, and there were so many times when I wanted nothing more than to somehow go back and have a chance to change course and bring back the one I had lost. I found that to be a common thread as I talked to others who have experienced grief as well—that wanting a chance to go back and find a way to change things. Even though in our world, when we lose someone, we can’t transcend time and undo what’s been done, in the world of Andrea’s story, she gets that strange, beautiful, wondrous chance. She literally gets a chance to fight to bring back the one she had lost, and I hope that any child who has experienced grief somehow takes comfort in joining a character on a journey to do the thing so many of us wish were possible for us to do.

How did you research Andrea and the circumstances she found herself in?

My research took so many interesting forms for this story! I definitely spent time making sure that I did a realistic job of representing one person’s possible experience with grief and divorce. The magical aspects of the story were really fun to research, too! I found myself digging into circuses, dreams and their meanings, common nightmares, etc. I had to also research interesting details like typical clothing in different cultures and eras, little things that sometimes ended up as the smallest of details, but that were important that I got right. I also researched the historical legends of the Sandman in various cultures. It was one of my favorite parts to take the snippets I learned, like about the Sandman’s dream umbrella, and incorporate them to create the Ringmaster of the Circus Built of Dreams, the Sandman himself!

Do you and Andrea share any similarities?

Andrea is definitely her own person, but I think many of us writers, in our own way, pull from different threads of our own experience. My parents did get divorced when I was Andrea’s age, and when I was going through that I struggled to find books that really represented my experience. So I wanted to represent that well for kids who are walking that path now. I also have a brother who is about 3 years younger than me, and he’s the reason I know what it’s like to be a big sister, so there’s a bit of that in there too.

What was the hardest scene to write about her?

From a craft perspective, the hardest scene to write about Andrea was the scene where Andrea pulls away from Penny before going to see the Sandman. It was hard to have her looking someone in the eyes who was trying to show her kindness, and for her to justify pulling back from that support in order to supposedly protect herself.

From an emotional perspective, the hardest scene to write was the opening. Even though I knew where I would take her, she starts off in such a wounded place. But I pressed on because I think it’s important to address the fact that that many kids face many difficult challenges even at very young ages, and I didn’t want to shy away from some of the tougher, darker issues or feelings in the stories I write for them.

Who do you think was her biggest supporter and why?

I think Andrea has a lot of supporters in her life, though she doesn’t always recognize who is in her corner, at least at first. But it’s hard for me to pick anyone but Francis as the answer to this question. He has this blind belief in his big sister—he trusts that she is going to figure it out, that she is going to somehow save the day, that of course she is going to protect him. He roots for her to heal. Even as Andrea navigates a path where about a million things could go wrong, Francis is probably the most significant factor in why she keeps pressing forward, even when she’s afraid.

Why do you think young people, like Andrea, handle grief so differently than adults tend to?

One of the things that I’ve learned as I’ve grown older, is that no matter how acute or intense something feels at a given moment in time, that we humans are built of resilient stuff, and that, by some miracle, we will not always and forever feel so very, very sad, or angry, or lonely, or lost. Though grief does often come in cycles or waves, we will find rest and reprieve in time. Healing is possible.

If you are a young person experiencing grief for the first time, and all the tangle of emotions that come with loss, it might possibly be difficult to recognize that there is a path through it. That’s partly why I think it’s important to represent grief in children’s literature. So that, even if they don’t know anyone like them in real life who has experienced a loss, they can follow a kid on a journey through to a better, more hopeful place. As we live and gain life experience, all the good and the difficult that comes with it, hopefully we recognize that really hard, seemingly impossible things, don’t feel seemingly impossible forever. But without that experience behind you, I think it can be harder to see, at least at first.

What do you think Andrea is doing as this present time?

This question is super fun! I’ve been thinking about Andrea a lot lately because, according to the dates in the book, she actually travels into Reverie’s Circus Built of Dreams in October of 2020! So right now, she’s a pretty sad and lonely kid who doesn’t a life-changing, hope-recovering adventure is right around the corner. But it’s out there and it’s coming her way very, very soon.

*Here are links to the One Hundred Fifty-One interviews...

SEASON #ONE (2016-2017)

Interview #1 with Elly Swartz (Author of Finding Perfect)

Interview #2 with Jeff Zentner (Author of The Serpent King)

Interview #3 with Nora Raleigh Baskin (Author of Nine, Ten, A September 11 Story)

Interview #4 with Cammie McGovern (Author of Just My Luck)

Interview #5 with Kate Messner (Author of The Seventh Wish)

Interview #6 with Paul Griffin (Author of When Friendship Followed Me Home)

Interview #7 with K.A. Holt (Author of House Arrest)

Interview #8 with Abby Cooper (Author of Sticks and Stones)

Interview #9 with Melanie Conklin (Author of Counting Thyme)

Interview #10 with Claire Legrand (Author of Some Kind of Happiness)