One Breath Away (29 page)

Acknowledgments

As always, enormous gratitude goes to my agent,
Marianne Merola, for her wisdom, guidance, attention to detail and her
friendship. Thanks also to Henry Thayer for his behind-the-scenes support.

A thousand thanks to my editor, Miranda Indrigo, whose insights
and suggestions are always spot on. Thanks also to all the folks at MIRA
Books—especially Margaret O’Neill Marbury and Valerie Gray. I’m so proud to call
MIRA my home.

Thank you to John and Cathy Conway and Howard and Shirley Bohr
for opening up their homes and farms to me as I researched the novel. I always
enjoy our time together.

Much appreciation goes to Mark Dalsing, whose advice in regard
to police procedure and whose early readings of the manuscript were
invaluable.

A heartfelt thank-you goes out to my parents, Milton and
Patricia Schmida, my brothers and sisters and their families, for their generous
support and enthusiasm.

Much love and thanks to Scott, Alex, Anna and Grace—I couldn’t
do it without you.

Questions for
Discussion

1. One Breath Away
   is set
   in a sudden snowstorm. What role does the weather play in the story, both
   literally and metaphorically?
   
2. Stuart asks, “What kind of town is this? Doesn’t
   anyone know who their father is?” What role do fathers play in the story?
   Discuss the different relationships between fathers and children.
   
3. Discuss the influence of the small-town setting on
   the characters.
   
4. The story is told from multiple points of view. What
   do we learn about the characters from the perspective of their families?
   What do we learn about Holly from her father? About Augie from her
   grandfather? About Mrs. Oliver from Cal
   
5. The gunman in the story poses a physical threat to
   the children in Broken Branch, and several characters are determined to
   protect the children—Mrs. Oliver, Meg, Augie. In what other ways do
   characters try to protect each other? How do they succeed? How do they
   fail?
   
6. On the day the gunman arrives in the school, Will is
   awaiting the birth of the calves. How are the seasons and the cyclical
   nature of life evoked in this novel?
   

Interview with
Heather

What was the genesis for
One Breath Away?

The idea for
One Breath Away
evolved over many years. When I was a senior at the University of Iowa, a disgruntled former student entered a classroom with a gun, killed five and gravely injured a sixth person before turning the gun on himself. At the time of the shooting I was with my roommate near the center of campus. A beautiful, gentle snow started falling, transforming the campus into a winter wonderland, when in the distance we heard sirens. Very quickly we learned of the tragedy and hurried back to our dorm where we called friends and family to assure them that we were safe. When an event like this happens so close to home it can change how you see the world and has the potential of shattering one’s sense of security. I often think of that terrible day and wonder what I would have done, how I would have reacted if I had been in that classroom.

There have also been many high-profile campus and school shootings—Columbine, Virginia Tech, West Nickel Mines School—that have left us reeling and struggling with the question of how events like this can happen at the schools and universities with whom we entrust our children.
One Breath Away
explores this issue and how the fallout of one such event can draw together and wrench apart a community. That said, as an educator of twenty years, our school systems and law enforcement have worked tirelessly to put into place policies and procedures that go a long way to ensure the safety and security of all students.

In addition to your career as a writer, you have also spent many years as a teacher and a consultant within the education system. How did your background as an educator influence this novel?

I come from a long line of teachers and from a family that values education. Over the years I have also been fortunate to work with several wonderful school systems and have had the opportunity to meet some amazing educators. Mrs. Oliver, the third-grade teacher in
One Breath Away,
embodies many of the characteristics I have come to admire in my fellow educators: dedication, high expectations, a true desire to see the children they work with become better students and better people. The educators I know, like Mrs. Oliver, work tirelessly planning lessons, spend their own money on classroom supplies and books, go to sleep worrying about other people’s children, and would willingly put themselves in harm’s way to keep their students safe.

You often write about children or young adolescents. What do you find appealing about this stage of life?

I think that children are so wise, much more than we often give them credit for. Time and time again, as both a mother and an educator, I am reminded of this. The adolescents I’ve encountered are accepting of others, passionate about worthwhile causes and want so badly to make a difference. They are caring, have a great capacity for empathy and still have to be tough and world-wise. No easy feat. We expect so much from our children and they rise to the occasion. I look around at the upcoming generation and I smile. I think we are in good hands.

Every person in town is affected by the presence of the gunman in their school. Talk about your decision to set this book in a small town.

I love small towns, and to me there is something almost magical about them. By setting
One Breath Away
in the fictional town of Broken Branch, Iowa, I wanted to illustrate the familiarity and sense of camaraderie often found in small communities. This same feeling of solidarity can be shaken during catastrophic events, but more often than not, communities are brought together. I also think that there is often a perception that in small towns everyone knows the intimate details of their neighbor’s lives, that there are no secrets. As the reader quickly learns, this couldn’t be further from the truth. As within our own towns and communities, there are many secrets behind the shuttered windows of Broken Branch, and we never really know what’s going on behind closed doors.

One Breath Away
is set in the midst of a sudden snowstorm. Where did this idea come from?

This is one of the great things about living in Iowa; the weather can change in a minute. It can be sixty degrees and sunny one day and the next, a raging blizzard. In
One Breath
Away,
the unexpected spring snowstorm exemplifies how quickly life can change. One moment we are carrying out our usual, often mundane, daily routines and then out of the blue comes an earth-shattering, life-changing event in the form of an accident, an illness, a natural disaster. These are the reminders for all of us, in ordinary, quiet moments, to gather our loved ones close and tell them how much we love and appreciate them.

One Breath Away
tells the story of a small town from five different points of view. How did you develop the individual voices for this story?

Before I even put pen to paper, I begin to develop each character as fully as possible within my mind. I imagine what the character looks like, sounds like, the way she moves, the expressions on her face. I then jot down details about each character, birthdates, favorite colors, prized possessions, the pets they had while growing up. I write down anything I think might help me as the novel progresses. I really love getting inside the minds of each of the main characters and discovering why they make the decisions they do and why they say the things they say. I also enjoy the challenge of writing in this manner—trying to make each character’s voice sound unique and authentic.

One Breath Away
is like a puzzle, with each of the five narrators providing important pieces of the full picture. How did you decide upon the structure of the story?

The events that unfold in
One Breath Away
occur rapidly within approximately an eight-hour time span. Each character, through thoughts, words and actions, gives his or her account of one harrowing day. Each perspective is uniquely framed by the individual character’s memories and experiences. My hope was to give the reader a glimpse into how a teacher, a child, a mother, a grandfather, and a member of law enforcement might react to the same terrible incident.

This is your third novel. How has your writing process changed and developed?

I’ve learned so many lessons about myself and my writing over the past few years. I still begin each of my novels by buying a journal or notebook and writing the first fifty pages or so of the story in longhand. I’ve learned that it’s possible to write just about anywhere—in the car, in a hospital waiting room, at the edge of a creek. The important thing for me is to get my thoughts and ideas down on the paper. I know that I can always revisit and revise what I’ve written.

While I begin a new project with a sense of knowing where I want the story to go, very often the characters will take me in new, surprising directions. I’ve also learned that it is so important to follow my instincts, to write the kinds of books that I would enjoy reading.

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ISBN: 9781459233157

Copyright © 2012 by Heather Gudenkauf

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