When New York-based memoirist Aaron Wilkinson gathers with his high school friends to marry off two of their own, he is forced to spend a week with Nik, the boy who broke his heart.
As they settle into the Texas beach house where the nuptials will be performed, Nik quickly makes his intentions clear: he wants Aaron back. "He's coming hard, baby," a friend warns, setting the tone for a week of transition where Aaron and Nik must decide if they are playing for keeps.
Aaron finishes the song and Stephanie snatches the mic out of his hand, crooks her finger at Nik and launches them into a reprise of their performance of "Dancing on My Own" from the homecoming weekend they all spent here at the house back in senior year. Stephanie still has questionable rhythm and tragic pitch—she loves to sing, which is why they have a karaoke machine in this house, but it's one thing she will admit she doesn't have much of a gift for—but there's a reason Nik majored in music at The University of Texas, and his voice has come a long way.
Somehow, this deliberate throwback to a memory that was never anything but happy seems different than what Aaron has just done. He sits on the sofa, flanked by Alex and Jasmine, hating them both a little for participating in it even while he smiles. Nik dances—how can you not, with this song—but he still watches Aaron, gives him a little head-tilt during the chorus, and it's charming and devastating and infuriating.
Jasmine leans to murmur, "Oh, I see how it is."
"Oh, shut up."
"You might not be desperate, but I'm not sure about him. He's coming hard, baby."
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Mila McWarren, author of The Luckiest.
Hi Mila, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
What book do you wish you could have written?
Oh man. So this one is in a very different genre, but: I really wish I had written The Martian, which is hard sci-fi. Look, this guy wrote this book that has math and/or actual science on pretty much every page, and it's incredibly readable and totally gripping. Then he self-published it on his website, for free, where it sat until his readers asked him to publish it for Kindle so they could download it. He sold it for 99 cents, and it shot to the top of the sci-fi listings for Amazon. He sold the book, and the movie (starring Matt Damon) comes out in November. There is so much about that story that's enviable – the publishing deal, the movie – but mostly what I am impressed by is how easy the book reads, even through all the technical work that he put into it; that's a real gift. And his capture of dialogue is so damn perfect. I have so much envy.
How important are names to you (in your books)? Do you choose names based on liking the way it sounds or meaning? How do you choose your names?
I don't spend a lot of time on meanings; I'm much more interested in sounds and what they represent. I want names that feel like they could belong to actual people and that are really appropriate for region, social class, and race – I spent a lot of time digging through data on historical naming trends for Texas to find the right names for the characters in The Luckiest.
Were you already a great writer? Have you always enjoyed writing?
I'm still not sure I'm a great writer, although thanks for that. ☺ I'm a perfectionist, and we can get a little bit crazy about that kind of thing. Sometime about 10 years ago I started giving myself permission to do things I wasn't very confident about and enjoy the hell out of doing them anyway, and it remains a deliberate act of will but it has made an enormous difference in my life – I wouldn't be here if I hadn't made that decision to try things that scare me so much.
How long have you been writing?
A little over 10 years, really. Like almost all of the writers for Interlude Press (and so many more – you might be shocked, but I can't go telling secrets) I learned a lot writing fanfiction. The fanfiction spaces of the internet are a great place for perfectionist scaredy-cats like me, because the community is so kind and supportive to people who are new at the whole fiction writing thing. My very first fanfiction stories were written, as so many were, about Harry Potter – that community was vast and crazy and very kind. I hadn't written original fiction since I gave it a go back in high school, back when I saved stories that went nowhere on floppy disks that were actually a little floppy, over 5" square, and gave you merry hell if you ever dared to touch the middle, so it was a wonderful re-entry.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
I mean, honestly, writing IS a hobby – for a living I mostly crunch numbers and write science, so this feels like a different skillset and a thing to do for fun. But I also really like doing stuff with my hands. I have been a knitter for years, and I also occasionally like to make stuff with paper or fabric – things for my kids rooms and simple things like that. I like to cook, too, but mostly for big meals and celebrations; anything I have to do everyday is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.
This was fun! Thanks so much for having me!
Mila McWarren grew up in Texas, but has happily made her home on the East Coast for the last decade. In her day job she works as a social scientist and has spent the last 10 years developing her fiction writing online. She lives with her husband and their two kids. When she isn't using working, writing, or hanging out with her family, she likes knitting and watching television, because they go together like peanut butter and chocolate, two of her other great loves.
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