Interview: Daphne Benedis-Grab

Ariel's birthday weekend looks to be the event of the season, with a private concert by rock star Hudson Winters on the grounds of her family's east coast estate, and all of Ariel's elite prep school friends in attendance. The only person who's dreading the party is Sera, Ariel's former best friend, whose father is forcing her to go. Sera has been the school pariah since she betrayed Ariel, and she now avoids Ariel and their former friends. Thrown together, Ariel and Sera can agree on one thing: this could be one very long night.

They have no idea just how right they are.

Only moments after the concert begins and the lights go down, thugs open fire on parents and schoolmates alike, in a plot against Ariel's father that quickly spins out of control. As the entire party is taken hostage, the girls are forced apart. Ariel escapes into the hidden tunnels in the family mansion, where she and Sera played as children. Only Sera, who forges an unlikely alliance with Hudson Winters, knows where her friend could be. As the industrial terrorist plot unravels and the death toll climbs, Ariel and Sera must recall the sisterhood that once sustained them as they try to save themselves and each other on the longest night of their lives.

1) How and why have you started to write? Were there something or someone that gave you an impulse?

I always knew I wanted to be a writer but somehow I could never think of exactly the story I wanted to tell.  Meanwhile, while still in my twenties and then into my thirties, I couldn’t seem to stop reading YA books. I would hide them in my lap on the subway, hoping no one would wonder while the lady well past her teen years was still indulging in teen books.  But then one day I was glancing through the acknowledgments of a book I had just finished and enjoyed, and I saw that the author had gotten an MFA at The New School.  I decided an MFA was just what I needed to find my story and when I got their catalog I saw that in addition to a concentration in adult fiction, they also had one in writing for children and teens.  Bells went off and I realized the stories I had to tell were teen stories- and once I figured that out, I couldn’t stop coming up with story ideas!  I will also tell you that I still read YA on the subway, now held up proudly for anyone to see! 

 2) Tell me something about your book The Girl in the Wall.

It’s a thriller about a party taken hostage.  Over the course of the night old friends are reunited, romance sparks and a group of teens find themselves fighting for their lives.  

3) While youre writing, have you discovered a character that you where developing feelings of love for? And was there a character that gave you headaches?

I tend to love all my characters though some are definitely especially fun to write.  In this book I really enjoyed writing Ariel, one of the main characters and one of the two narrators.  She is strong and sassy, two characteristics that I always have a great time exploring.

I don’t think I’ve ever written a character I didn’t like- it would just be so much work!  There are people who do bad things in all my books but that doesn’t make them a challenge to write- I always try to look for their motivation to give them complexity and that makes the process fun. 

 4) How have you done your research for this novel?

There wasn’t a lot of research for this book and the things I did want to find out a bit more about, I just Googled and went from there. 

 5) Is there a book that inspired your writings?

There are so many great books that I love!  But in this genre, thrillers, my hands down favorite author is Lois Duncan.  Her books kept me up late at night with their perfect plots, great characters and last minute twists. 

 6) In the end, would you like say some words to your fans from Romania?

Thanks so much for reading The Girl in the Wall!

Thank you very much Ms. Grab because you granted me this interview!