A Q&A about Fractured
Q&A With Shay Each Sunday
Fractured is set to release in just a little more than a week—October 27! Pre-order the eBook here, paperback will be available for order on release day. In honor of the release I’m doing a short Q&A about the book this week.
Q: What inspired the book?
A: I was inspired to write Fractured shortly after I broke my wrist on my 25th birthday. I was writing a different book at the time as my MFA thesis, but I started jotting down notes for Fractured until “finishing” said other book, and graduating from Sarah Lawrence College. After that, I dove right into Fractured and wrote a very rough draft in one summer. My general idea was that I wanted to explore metaphorical fractures as compared to literal fractures, and how there is so much of a stigma when it comes to mental health in society because it can’t be seen in the same way that a physical break/condition can be seen. I also wanted to write from a teenage boy’s perspective; my first book was from that of a teenage girl, so I wanted to try something totally different. Mason’s voice came to me so easily, and it was fun to write a character whose voice was so drastically different than my own. Plus, I enjoyed writing an unlikeable character/narrator, which I don’t think is terribly common in YA stories, and male narrators in general are not seen as often in YA stories.
Q: What’s your favorite part? Why?
A: My favorite part of Fractured is probably the ending. I don’t know what more I can say about that without being spoiler-y, other than I loved creating the imagery and metaphors that went along with it. Funny enough, the first and last chapters may be the only parts of the book that didn’t change at all through rewrites.
Q: What are a couple fun facts about the book from behind the scenes?
A: 1. I named a character after myself because I thought it was funny. She is in no way me. In fact, the character who is most like me is a different character in the story—Lace.
2. My friend probably doesn’t even remember this conversation, but he once asked me if I’d name a character in one of my books after him, so, I said sure. I remembered the conversation while working on rewrites one day and decided to change a character’s name in Fractured so he was named after my friend—the only catch is that you have to get all the way to the last chapter to meet him!
3. Mason’s mom has him drink Comfrey tea after he breaks his wrist because she heard it was good for knitting bones. My mom also gave me Comfrey tea to drink after I broke my wrist because she knows all the holistic remedies for everything.
4. When I broke my wrist I also chose to get a black cast, like Mason does in the story.
5. I only made Mason’s favorite NY football team the Giants because Pat likes the Jets, and I made his brother Chad’s favorite team the Saints because I went to college in New Orleans and if I had to pick a team to root for it’d be the Saints.
6. Lace used to have a different name (actually two). Maybe if you ask I’ll tell you what they were.
7. Lastly, I don’t know a ton about football but for some reason Mason just had to be a football player instead of playing a sport I know more about. Hopefully I convinced you I know a thing or two about it when you read the book! Tennis has always been my sport.
Q: Did the characters or plot come first?
A: DEFINITELY the characters. Mason’s voice came to me so clearly before I ever even started writing him. Lace’s character was also pretty clear. I had a vague idea about some of the storylines, but didn’t know what the overall story would end up being until I was actually writing a pivotal scene.
Q: Why should readers root for Mason when he’s meant to be unlikeable?
A: They don’t have to root for him, but I hope they can at least learn from him or tap into a new perspective for a little while. I don’t believe that characters have to be people we love in order to enjoy a book and to take something away from a story. In many ways I feel like we can learn more from unlikeable characters than from those we are in total agreement with because it can be more confronting, especially inwardly, forcing us to take a look at not only the world around us, but ourselves. A character doesn’t have to be likable but could at least be A.) redeemable or B.) relatable. Maybe some people won’t want to admit that Mason is either of those things, but I believe everyone can be.
Q: How did you choose the title? And what came first: the novel or the title?
A: The title came before I even started writing the book. I had a vague idea of the storyline and the idea of metaphorical and literal fractures meeting. I considered changing the title a few times because there are quite a few other books, TV shows, and movies with the same title. But, ultimately, I really love the title and feel like it’s the perfect encapsulation of the book, so I made the choice to stick with it.
I hope you’re ready to meet Mason in just a bit more than a week! Subscribe to my newsletter below for a reminder on release day!
