In Behind These Hands, a teenage piano prodigy’s life is upended when her two younger brothers are diagnosed with Batten, a rare neurodegenerative disease.

In its *starred* review, Kirkus says, “Free verse evokes the myriad emotions brought up by the story’s numerous well-balanced themes. The result is a richly woven, unforgettable symphony of feelings and words.”

Kirkus perfectly sums up the effect this book has had on me. Weeks after reading about it, I’m still thinking about Claire’s family as if they are real: hoping her brothers’ disease progression slows, sending positive vibes to Mom and Dad, wanting to squeeze Claire’s hand and give her a reassuring smile. My heart is still celebrating Claire’s love for her brothers and her strength in navigating the significant hardship to her family and her personal fears all while dealing with everyday teen problems, successes, and relationship issues. Not only is the story heartfelt but the writing is lovely, fast-paced, and captivating.

I had the pleasure of talking with Linda Vigen Phillips about Behind These Hands and writing in verse! Welcome to The Winged Pen, Linda!

Thank you for having me, Michelle!

Like your first novel, Crazy, you’ve tackled a very difficult topic with a skill and grace. Could you tell us about your inspiration for the novel and about your research process?

When I was teaching at a small school for children with learning disabilities in Charlotte, a student named Brandon appeared to have the same struggles with reading, math and processing as his classmates. But unlike many of the other students who thrived with the learning modifications, Brandon began a slow decline, along with some visual issues and unusual clumsiness.  After a lengthy process of medical testing, he was diagnosed with Batten, a rare, neurodegenerative disease that would lead to being bedridden and totally blind before death not much past his teens. 

Brandon left the school and shortly thereafter we heard his younger brother received the same diagnosis.  This is not uncommon, as offspring of carrier parents have a one-in-four chance of inheriting the defective gene. In the meantime, I moved to the only other school in Charlotte that serves the learning-disabled community, and there I met Taylor.  Ironically, she and Brandon are the same age, and were diagnosed by the same doctor in the same month with different forms of the same disease.

It almost felt like I had been given an assignment, and I felt compelled to write about it. I also continued to be amazed by the coincidences that kept lining up. I already knew Laura King Edwards, a fellow Charlotte writer, and soon learned she was writing a memoir about Taylor, who happens to be her little sister. After I was assured her adult memoir and my fictional YA verse novel would not collide, we became each other’s beta readers and she served as my technical advisor. The last connection is that our release dates are just five months apart, and we will be making a joint presentation at Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA) in July.      

Claire, your main character, is dealing with the ups and downs of being a teen all while coming to terms with a family tragedy that will slowly unfold in front of her eyes. She feels very familiar to me, though she’s like no one I’ve ever met in real life. That is a sign of master character development. How did you “find” the right Claire for your story?

I guess I’m partial to teenage girl protagonists who must find their way through overwhelming circumstances.  And since the main character in Crazy is patterned loosely on my own experience coming to terms with a mother with bipolar disorder, I imagine there is still some residual part of me that is able to get inside a stressed-out teen struggling through a life changing and challenging event. Laura King Edwards was a model of an older sister who has turned her grief and anguish into proactive and positive efforts to raise money and awareness for Batten. And lastly, since music is like a second language in our family, it was natural to give that attribute to Claire.  

I’ve recently become a big fan of novels in verse. Crazy, The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Rebound by Kwame Alexander. It seems that by writing in free verse those pivotal moments in a novel are especially vivid and evocative. Oftentimes, the text is very sparse in these areas, but formatted in a way to maximize the power of the words. Could you talk a little about this technique?

Yes, I think you have zeroed in on some key points about verse novels. This style is especially amenable to high stakes subject matter such as drug addiction (Ellen Hopkins), sports competition and family conflict (Kwame Alexander), psychological drama (Neal Shusterman), or self-mutilation (Madeleine Kuderick). For those who are new to the verse novel, there are lists available here and here where you can sample a wide variety of heavy topics depicted through verse. The chemistry of verse novels is a bit mysterious, but I do think the white space gives both the writer and the reader room to breathe, and more time to pause and ponder.  This automatically slows down the pace and allows the reader’s imagination to build on the visual imagery that the author has set up.

Metaphors and similes particularly enjoy the benefits of breathing room in extra white space:

 Batten has rearranged our family

like pieces of familiar furniture

placed awkwardly in a new setting.

Verse novels use fewer words to set up an image or action, and information is often conveyed in a manner that differs from typical prose.  For example, this information is needed to move the story forward:  Two persons in the family have the disease, Batten, while one is a carrier. This is how it rolled out:   

…and no one needs to say a word

            because the beast,

            the monster,

            Batten

is loose in the room,

in our family

not once,

            but twice

                        and a half. 

The fun part, for me, is playing with the format or layout.  From quatrains (usually unrhymed) to shape poems and everything in between—it is my job to lay the words out in the most conducive format. That may be uniform throughout, or it may vary from poem to poem in both size and shape.  Format is the frosting on the cake, the part that frames the words with unique visual appeal while allowing the message to pop out like the colors on a painting.

Very interesting! What resources could you recommend for writers who are interested in learning to write in verse? Craft books, workshops…

Those who are interested in writing a novel in verse usually have some love-connection with pure poetry. If not, they should cultivate that first, and if they already have that connection, they would benefit from a refresher course before tackling a novel. Michelle, you and I met at Table Rock Writers Workshop a few years ago where I attended poet Philip Shabazz’s wonderful workshop, and it was a mountaintop experience in more than one way!  It primed the pump for Behind These Hands, which was in the infant stages at that time. Philip is offering his class again this year and I highly recommend it.

Michelle interjects: I’ll second that! The workshops at Table Rock are fantastic! I highly recommend them, especially Philip’s Poetry workshop and John Claude Bemis’ Creating Stories for Young Readers. More information is in the link.

You mentioned craft books and I’m sure there are tons out there, but I tend to favor intense, hands-on workshops where I can get down and dirty, totally immersed in the craft, and full to bursting before heading home. I attended Lorin Oberweger’s Free Expressions workshop in 2012 and even though it was not a poetry workshop, the presentations and exercises challenged me to go deeper into each of the story elements. Sharpening your skills to such a degree will help with any writing projects, whether you are thinking of a verse novel or not. If you have the time and the means to travel outside of North Carolina, Free Expressions is worth looking into. Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, PA also offers a variety of workshops, and there is one called “The Craft and Heart of Writing Poetry for Children” running from Oct. 14-18, 2018. 

Thanks so much for those great suggestions! Buckle up for the lightning round, Linda! * hands you a brownie for strength

If you had a superpower, what would it be? Master of the hot and cold running dark chocolate faucet.  (Ha! You and me both, sister. Fistbump to you!)

Wooden pencil or mechanical? Never mechanical.  Drove me crazy as a teacher!

Coffee or tea? Breakfast coffee, afternoon tea.

Sweet or salty? Toss up, but not much of either.

Dog, cat, or other? I’ve had both, but neither their hair or dander likes me. 

Plotter or pantser?  I was the one in school who put together the outline after the paper was written.  (smile)

One last question: Any advice for all those aspiring authors out there?

Go to conferences, book festivals, workshops, find a critique group, practice writing exercises.  You’ve heard all this before so what are you waiting for?!

What great advice! Thanks so much, Linda!

Look for Behind These Hands at your favorite bookstores on July 17^th. Better yet, call them today to make sure it will be there and preorder!

Linda Vigen Phillips finds passion in creating realistic fiction told in verse to offer hope to teens and their families who face mental or physical health challenges. Her debut novel, Crazy, earned numerous accolades, including Foreword Reviews lndieFab Book of the Year Finalist, the short-list for SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and an Honor book for the Paterson Prize for Books. Behind These Hands is her second published novel in verse. Linda enjoys advocating for better mental health through National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and conducting writing workshops.  She lives in Charlotte, NC, where she and her husband love to sit on the screened porch to watch the grass grow. Find out more about her at her website or on Twitter.

 Posted by Michelle Leonard.