Interview with Jennifer Moorhead, author of Broken Bayou

 

Today it gives the Indie Crime Scene great pleasure to interview Jennifer Moorhead, whose novel Broken Bayou has its debut on July 1, 2024.

Broken Bayou is your first published novel. What was the inspiration for the story and how did you research it?

It started with a simple newspaper article. I read a story years ago in The Times-Picayune about a missing schoolteacher whose car was discovered in a bayou near New Orleans. But, for me, the really interesting part revolved around what else the divers found. Turns out bayous make good hiding places. That felt like the real story to me. My research spanned many fields. I toured the North Louisiana Crime Lab for starters and interviewed a forensic pathologist there. I also interviewed an assistant District Attorney about crime in southern Louisiana. They both provided me with stories that fall into the “truth is stranger than fiction” category. The most fun I had, though, was interviewing a friend who is also a clinical child psychologist. Her knowledge and her stories helped me understand my protagonist so much better. Human behavior fascinates me, especially when it pertains to our pasts. She helped me navigate some tricky terrain about family trauma, mental health, Autism, and the impact our childhoods have on us.

The idea of the Bayou is deeply evocative in terms of atmosphere and setting. Why is that?

I think Louisiana in general has an air of mystery about it. Even for someone who grew up in this state, I still find it fascinating. The beauty here is also dangerous and that dichotomy creates an evocative place. The many stories of haunted homes and voodoo in the southern part of the state only add to it. Also, movies like Skeleton Key and TV shows like Season One of True Detective add to that mystery and provide a visual to the notion that things are just different in the Bayou State.

You come from Louisiana yourself and live on the edge of the Bayou. How important was that to your writing and how much influence did it have?

Where I live contributes so much to my writing. The setting I see, touch, smell, and taste every day can’t help but influence me. I live among swamps, bayous, forests, and all kinds of wildlife but I will say living in other cities (Los Angeles and Dallas among them) helped me gain perspective on my Louisiana life. I saw so much more when I returned home (after swearing, at the ripe old age of eighteen, I would never come back). Never say never. But I’m so grateful to be home and that my husband and I had the privilege of raising our girls in a wild, untethered place. A place I got to see anew through their eyes. I hope my readers will get to experience it through mine.

Are you familiar with the idea of Southern Gothic and did it have any influence on Broken Bayou? Yes, I am familiar with Southern Gothic and I do think it had an influence on Broken Bayou even though I didn’t recognize that until after my final edit when I stood back and looked at it as a whole. That’s when a few things stood out like the town itself, the old house, Shadow Bluff, and several of those odd, quirky characters. Side story – Years, okay decades, ago my writing teacher at the time took our group to Wichita Falls, Texas where we dined with Larry McMurtry. His advice to our group: read the classics. That’s when I found William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor. Their books stayed with me, especially O’Connor’s short story, A Good Man is Hard To Find.

Your protagonist, Dr Willa Watters, is a child psychologist who retreats to her aunts’ old home while facing possible disgrace. Who is Willa and what drives her?

Willa is a complicated woman. I think that’s why I love her so much. She is relatable in the sense that she grapples with her trouble past but, like so many of us, she feels she’s still in control. On the outside, Dr Willa is a successful woman at the height of her career but on the inside still lurks a little girl who is trying to navigate a complicated emotion – forgiveness. She is driven by a need to help and advocate for children, especially children on the Autism spectrum. She is called to do that because of her own childhood. She wants to help as many children as she can. But in the process of helping others, Dr Willa has neglected something – helping herself.

When Willa returns to her aunt’s house, she unearths something disturbing in the attic, relating to her unstable mother and her own past. How does the theme of unearthing what is hidden (or submerged) run through the story?

Unearthing secrets is pivotal in Broken Bayou, both emotionally and physically. It starts with the bayou and the attic, but it extends well beyond that. To quote one of my favorite writing books, Story Genius, the past isn’t buried like a stone, it’s buried like a seed. It grows and winds through the story and eventually bursts through the surface, bringing with it all kinds of other secrets. I also liked the idea that things were buried in the bayou (below Willa) and in the attic (above Willa) so no matter where she looked, something was waiting to be discovered. Mostly though, those outer things forced her to look within at what was buried there.

Willa’s hopes for peace are shattered when body parts in barrels are discovered in the drought-afflicted swamp. How is she drawn into the investigation?

 The answer to this ties in a little to the previous question. Without giving too much away, Willa reluctantly finds herself connected to something found in the bayou. Something she was responsible for. It grabs the attention of not only the lead investigator in charge of the barrel case but also a national news reporter. They both need Willa to answer questions about what happened that last summer Willa visited Broken Bayou, the summer she turned seventeen.

Willa’s own life is in peril. What must she do to survive and salvage her reputation?

She must draw upon her talent as a psychologist, reading people and situations, to navigate the disturbing crimes in Broken Bayou. She also must do a deep dive (pun intended) into her own past in order to discover the truth about her actions as a teenager and how they relate to the current investigation. She needs to uncover as much truth as she can to not only protect her reputation and career but also to protect her life.

When did you first realise that you wanted to write, and what can you tell us about your first attempts?

I’ve always loved to read. I was the kid who looked forward to the summer reading list! But it wasn’t until college that I first realized how much I loved writing. My first attempt was a poetry class. I loved learning about the cadence and rhythm of words and playing around with structure and telling stories through stanzas. My first novel attempt happened years later in a continuing education class. That novel has found its final resting place on floppy discs in my attic! I joke I’m going to sell them as drink coasters on Etsy. The only feedback I got on that one was during a trip to NYC where a publisher told me my dialogue sounded like it came from a soap opera and then he proceeded to tell our visiting group we had a better chance of being struck by lightning twice than getting published. And (like the Jim Carrey character in Dumb and Dumber) I thought – so you’re telling me there’s a chance. See, I actually know someone who’s been struck by lightning, twice.

What was your experience with indie and traditional publishing?

In a word: long. Traditional publishing is not for the faint of heart. My path to publication was a fairly typical one: years of rejection, bottomless reserves of tenacity (and sauvignon blanc), and one yes. Okay, technically I got three yeses. I was able to get an agent with the book I wrote before Broken Bayou but that book did not sell. Agent does not equal book deal. After a couple of years, I amicably parted ways with my agent and decided I was going to indie publish my next book. I did a lot of research on what it would take to do that “the right way” and I jumped back into the query trenches. That’s when (after another huge stack of rejections) I got my second yes– an amazing agent who shared my vision for Broken Bayou. Then the third yes came on our second or third round of submissions to publishers. It’s one of those days I’ll never forget. 

You returned to writing when your children had grown up and left home. Talk to us about that transition.

Writing has always been there for me when I needed it. I wrote a novel when my girls were younger as a way to have a moment to myself. But I put that one aside because although I found time for a first draft, I couldn’t find time to edit it. Time came back to me when my girls both started driving. That’s when I actually wrote the first draft of Broken Bayou. Writing helped keep me distracted and helped me manage my anxiety about having two teenage drivers! When my girls both left for college a vast sea of time opened up for me. Jumping back into Broken Bayou helped me utilize that time. It’s not easy to transition from caring for others to caring for yourself, but most things that are good for us we have to work hard for. I started editing Broken Bayou and fell in love with the story all over again. As I started querying agents years later, I realized I was ready to launch it and myself just like I’d launched my daughters. It’s an exciting feeling to create something for yourself and then share it with others.

You say that you have “always been fascinated by the idea that past behaviour predicts future behaviour, even when we know better.” What can you tell us about this theme and its importance to Broken Bayou?

I believe all good stories start in the past – not literally but figuratively. The past is gold. From a psychological standpoint, the past is key to understanding not only the present but the future. That’s because we humans are creatures of habit and we will stick with a behavior because it’s familiar, even if it’s a bad behavior. It takes a lot of self-actualization to identify when it’s not working and change it. This is important to Broken Bayou because I have several characters who are holding onto bad habits because the familiarity of those habits is comfortable. It provides a great arc for a character. That moment they realize what they are doing is detrimental to their growth and happiness is a gem of a moment. It frees them up to change and change is good in a novel – and in life!

What are you working on right now and will there be a sequel? It’s not a sequel but it is a companion book. A character from Broken Bayou stayed with me after I was done editing. This character would not leave me alone so I decided to follow them into a new story. I have to say, I’m completely obsessed.

Have you got any advice for aspiring writers?

Find your people – other writers like you. Having a writing group to brainstorm with, laugh with, and lean on is crucial. It can take time to find them but it’s worth it.  Writers are great at helping other writers! And I’m always on social media or my website so if you ever have any questions, please reach out!

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About Jennifer Moorhead:

Jennifer graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Geaux Tigers! She has written and produced three indie short films that each made top 20 at the Louisiana Film Prize and were awarded at festivals around the world. She lives in Louisiana with her husband, two needy doodles, one very un-needy shelter kitty, and a plethora of farm animals. Her grown daughters are off creating their own life stories. When she’s not writing, she’s photographing the swamps and winding trails in her backyard or she’s on a tennis court laughing and providing job security for her coach. You can learn more about her at her website.

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