A few years ago, I was playing that Christmas gift-giving game – you know the one, where people exchange hilarious gifts and then steal them from one another – when it happened. Eden’s Daughter just popped into my head. Or I should say clunked (it was heavy). I had unwrapped a copy of the 800-page 1974 Sears Spring and Summer Catalogue. The moment I saw it, I knew I would write a novel set in 1974.

What compelled me to concoct flawed characters, carry them around in my head for decades, and then, after endlessly writing and rewriting their stories, dare to trust them to readers who may not even like them? I’m not sure I’ll ever know the answer. But one thing I know for sure. It’s not about the money.