If He Had Been With Me
by Laura Nowlin
Paperback: 336 Pages
Publication: April 1, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire
If he had been with me, he wouldn’t have died.
Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other’s sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she’s always wondered what if…
The night she’s about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy.
Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into writing.
What about contemporary stories draws you to the genre?
Realism in stories is always important to me as a reader, no matter the genre, and I agree that realistic stories can be so very inspiring. When you first came up with the idea of If He Had Been With Me, what was your vision for the novel and how has it grown over time?
I’m so glad that Autumn and Finny have the chance to rekindle their relationship. Autumn and Finny are childhood friends who have grown apart. What inspired you to write about this topic?
Autumn likes to think of herself as an individual with unique qualities. Though she dresses the part, she suppresses her dreams for the sake of conforming to her group, especially, Jamie. She also does the same with her relationship with Finny. How did you go about portraying the conflict between who she wants to be and who she feels ‘everyone’ wants her to be?
I love how it isn’t just Autumn or her close friends that get a chance to show what’s going on within them. I enjoyed getting to know other characters, even if it was just a little.
Thank you for interviewing!
Laura Nowlin holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Missouri State University. Her short stories have appeared in The Moon City Review and STEM. In addition to being ambitious writer Laura is also an avid reader who believes that books allow her to live many lives in one lifetime. When she isn’t at home agonizing over her own novels, Laura works at the public library where the patrons give her plenty of inspiration for her writing. She lives in St. Louis with her musician husband, neurotic dog, and psychotic cat.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
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